Opposite views: regal civil servants, priests and Indians in Yucatán during the colonial period

ABSTRACT IN SPANISH: El presente texto estudia las diversas formas en que funcionarios civiles y eclesiásticos miraron a los indígenas de Yucatán durante el período colonial. La imagen que de los mayas construyeron quienes los gobernaron nos dará una visión más amplia de los diferentes esquemas impuestos para su gobierno espiritual y temporal y el carácter de la relación españoles-mayas yucatecos. Con este fin, como hilo conductor se tendrán los juicios construidos sobre la vida indígena respecto a tres aspectos considerados esenciales: su vida en "policía y civilidad cristiana", su fidelidad a Dios y al rey y sus características y capacidades como personas. // ABSTRACT IN ENGLISH: This text examines the various ways in which civil servants and church officials perceived the indigenous people of Yucatan during the colonial period. This image of the Mayans from the perspective of their colonial rulers will broaden our picture of the different schemes imposed by the Spaniards for the spiritual and temporal governing of the Yucatecan Mayans and the character of their relationship. To this end, we will analyze the judgments formed upon the life of the indigenous people with respect to three essential issues: their lives in accordance with Christian civility, their fidelity to God and the king, and their characteristics and capacities as human beings. Reprinted by permission of the Instituto Colombiano de Antropología e Historia