Missions of San Antonio

Mission Nuestra Senora de la

Concepcion, c.1755

Mission Nuestra Senora de laConcepcion

Missions of San Antonio

• Mission San Antonio de Valero

(The Alamo)

• Mission San Jose c.1720

• Mission San Juan Espada aqueduct

• Mission Najera

• Mission Concepcion c. 1717

• Mission Espada c. 1690

They came from Spain

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A little history lesson………..

• Spain's expulsion of the Moors and its decision to support Columbus's voyage of discovery, both of which took place the same year, opened a new world of posibilities. In the Americas, Spain soon began to use its soldiers to extend its domain, find wealth, and spread the Catholic faith.

• After Cortés's conquest of Mexico in 1519,

the Spanish moved north in search of further riches and potential converts.

• Though they failed to find gold and silver as they had farther south, in present-day Arizona and New Mexico they established missions to work with peaceable American Indians and presidios (forts) to control hostile ones.

More history …………….

• In the late 1600s the French, already in Canada, explored the Mississippi River to the point where it emptied into the Gulf of Mexico.

• This expansion posed a threat to Spain's territory and Spain responded by extending its settlements into what is now Texas, thereby creating a buffer between the wealth of Mexico and French Louisiana.

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• The Spanish established themselves in

Texas by using the same system they had established in Arizona and New Mexico.

• Through missions, presidios, and an adjoining civilian community (a villa), missionaries and soldiers Christianized and Hispanicized the native population.

• The Spanish hoped that with the help of these now-loyal Indians a relatively small number of men would be needed to defend the empire's frontier.

• -Though created to observe and control French colonies in the Mississippi Valley and central Gulf coast, these operations later opposed other rivals.

• Between 1763 and 1776, the main challenge came from the English and their Indian allies; after 1776, from the United States and the Comanches

• One base for Spanish missionary and

military operations in Texas developed around San Antonio.

• Two missions and a presidio were established in the San Antonio River valley between 1718 and 1720, and the Spanish added three new missions in the valley in 1731.

• A single presidio protected the five missions, which were closely grouped for two important reasons.

• First, the fields required irrigation and a system could only be set up along the valley's upper ten miles.

• Second, the threat of attack from northern Indians was constant, and the missions needed to be near the presidio and each other for mutual protection.

• The missions were important to

agricultural production. Each had a ranch for raising the sheep, goats, and cattle that supplied necessities like meat, wool, milk, cheese, and leather.

• The entire cattle industry, from ranching to the driving of cattle across long distances to markets, was developed in Mexico during the two centuries prior to the establishment of San Antonio.

• Spanish ranching as it was practiced in Texas formed the basis for the American cattle industry, which drew many of its original cattle from the mission herds.

• The Spanish also brought to the San Antonio valley a specialized method of farming that used irrigation.

• This system, which was extended by later settlers, was the foundation of the San Antonio economy for more than a century; portions of mission-built irrigation systems are still in use today in San Antonio and other parts of Texas.

Espada Aqueduct

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• The mission contributed to the

economy in other ways. • It established necessary industries such

as weaving, iron working, and carpentry; these were important to the maintenance of the entire military and political structure of the eastern portion of the Spanish American frontier.

• Mission-trained artisans and workers provided a principal source of labor and finished goods in a region at the far end of a long and expensive supply line reaching up from the south.

• The goals of the church and the

Spanish Crown overlapped.

• Because there weren’t enough Spaniards to colonize so vast an area, the plan was to turn the lands over to the new converts who would develop the missions into towns, where they could live as Spanish citizens.

Native peoples came to the missions for diverse reasons

• Some were coerced• Sought safety from their enemies• Other responded to the missionary

message

• Nomadic tribes may have found the safety of mission life, with its steady supply of food and a life that was less difficult and precarious.

• However, it was less appealing for sedentary farming communities like the Hopi, who lived in greater security on high mesas.

• In 1680, decades after the Spanish conquest of New Mexico, Pueblo tribes, under the leadership of the Tewa medicine man Pope, forced the Spanish out and destroyed many of their missions.

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• The mission contributed to the economy in

other ways.• It established necessary industries such

as weaving, iron working, and carpentry;

• These were important to the maintenance of the entire military and political structure of the eastern portion of the Spanish American frontier.

• Mission-trained artisans and workers provided a principal source of labor and finished goods in a region at the far end of a long and expensive supply line reaching up from the south.

• All Indians were expected to work at a

variety of tasks such as farming, ranching and carpentry.

• Each mission had similar routines – they traded or sold goods to nearby villa and presidio, sometimes making great profits on food stuffs and cattle (3000 in a typical herd) which were raised mainly for their hides.

• Small Pox killed many native Americans. In 1739, at Mission San Jose, of the 300 natives 251 died.

Catholic Missionary Orders

• Dominican• Jesuit• Franciscan

• Were looking for spiritual treasure in the form of converts to Christianity.

• They followed the gold-seeking Spanish who were using native allies to explore and lay claim to the increasing area of the Americas.

The Missions **

• Brought control of the nearby Indians

• Introduced Christianity to Indians

• Brought “modern” technological skills

• Established ways of life necessary for meeting the ruling Spanish on their own terms

• Protection from other more aggressive tribes in the region

Mission Nuestra Senora de la Concepcion, c.1755

Mission Concepcion• Was home to a number of distinct nomadic

tribes collectively known as Coahuiltecans.• Franciscan Order• Organized like a small village, with storage

buildings, a workshop and a church at its core.• Friars lived in cubicles in the convent that

flanked the church, and mission Indians lived in housing built along the inside perimeter wall of the complex.

• Beyond lay orchards, fields of crops and ranches for grazing livestock.

Church Design

• Ornate seventeenth-century Spanish Baroque style.

• Baroque: ba·roque a period of arts, visual and musical from about

1600 – 1750, marked by elaborate ornamentation and efforts to create dramatic effects.

Gaudy, verging on excessive, bizarre; extravagant.

Construction Materials

• Adobe and rubble

• Then faced inside and out with stone

• Lastly, coated with plaster

Catholic Traditional Floor plan

• From a bird’s-eye view, formed a cross.• A long central hall (Nave). This is the part of the church

were people sit. It looks a little like an upturned boat. Latin for boat is Navis, where we get the word ‘Navigate’ and ‘Navy.’

• The Nave leads from the Southwest entrance to the alter at the Northeast end

• Then is intersected by a second, horizontal hall (Transept).

• The place where they meet, called The Crossing, is crowned with a Cupola to let in light.

• Narthex is the entrance

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Garden Courtyard of Mission San Jose

Adornment

• The mission church was adorned on the interior and exterior with frescoes

• Frescoes: The art of painting on fresh, moist plaster with pigments dissolved in water. When plaster dries the painting is bonded to the wall.

• Examples: The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci; Sistine Chapel by Michaelango

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• On the exterior, borders were painted

using geometric and floral designs emphasized the building’s architectural parts, outlining windows and creating the fictive columns that frame the openings in the bell tower.

• The flat expanses of wall on the towers were given an overall pattern that resembled Spanish tile work, with each square containing the floral cross inside a circle.

If you visit today….

• The mission still contains some fragments of the frescoes that once enlivened the interior with color and religious imagery.

• The most unusual of these is a sun with rays painted on the ceiling of the library. Although the sun is often used as a symbol of God in Christian art, it is a little surprising here to see the mustachioed face (perhaps a mestizo, a man with mixed Spanish and American Indian ancestry) peering back at us. See: “Eye of God”

Check it out…….

• Locate the lanterns and crosses at the top of the tower.

• Observe the slight variances in the symmetry of this building.

• A buttress is on the right corner, the mission wall extends to the right, and windows vary slightly in size on each side of the building.

Towers

• What was the function of the two towers on the front of the church?

Bell Towers

• They were BELL towers, used to summon the community

Mission Concepcion

• Compare how the mission’s façade looks today with how it once looked.

• Why is it no longer white with painted designs?

Mission’s Exterior

• It was originally white with red, blue, yellow and black patterns. Now it is exposed rock.

• The plaster and designs weathered away.

Why were the Missions built?

• Why did the Spanish build the Missions in Texas?

• The Spanish built missions to stop the French from expanding their colonies into Texas.

• To convert American Indians to Christians.

What was the purpose of this Building?

• To worship and …….

Other functions

• To raise food

• Train American Indian workers and artisans

• Produce goods: leather saddles and cloth

Why did Indians live at the mission?

• Some were forced

• Others converted and wished to be near the church

• Others sought safety from their enemies.

What buildings were often part of the Mission?

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• The church

• The granary

• Workshops

• Houses for soldiers

• Living quarters for friars and Indians

Why were the missions constructed like European-style churches?

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• The Spanish wanted churches like those in Spain.

• Let’s look at the Obradorio façade of the famous Spanish pilgrimage church of Santiago do Compostela in Spain.

Santiago de Compostela in Spain

Mission Conception

• This frontier church was constructed with local building materials and artisans.

• Although some Spanish artists worked on the mission, most of the builders were American Indian who learned European construction techniques from the Spanish.

What does the sun detail represent?

• It may represent the face of God

• What is unusual about this depiction of God?

• The face has a mustache like that of a man of both Spanish and American ancestry.

How does this church design symbolize Christian beliefs?

• There are many crosses on it symbolizing Christ’s suffering and death.

• Throughout the design there are references to the number three for the triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Find design elements that suggest the number three.

• The triangle over the door

• The three openings above the door

• The façade which has three major parts – the center flanked by two bell towers.

Next week’s Assignment

• Begin reading “Common Sense”

by Thomas Paine.

Introduction to page xxvi

• Be prepared to discuss it !