On Sacred Ground: The Church and Burial Rites in Nineteenth-Century Yucatáán, Mexico

Abstract

Throughout mid-nineteenth century epidemics of cholera, smallpox, and yellow fever, state and Church officials vied for control over the sacred terrain of cemetery management and burial regulations. Amidst sweeping national attacks on Church privilege, state officials crafted policies to contain contagion and undermine Church authority over the sacred realm of death. Between 1847 and 1855, mortality skyrocketed in Yucatáán from the dual calamities of disease and the civil war known as the Caste War. As the war unfolded and epidemics persisted, residents were drawn into a power struggle between emergent public health policies and long-practiced Catholic and Maya burial customs.