Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla
Chihuahua, Nueva Vizcaya , Viceroyalty of New Spain
| |
---|---|
Cause of death | Execution by firing squad |
Buried | Ángel de la Independencia, Mexico City |
Allegiance | Mexico |
Service/ | Mexican Insurgency |
Years of service | 1810–1811 |
Commands held | Generalissimo |
Battles/wars | Mexican War of Independence |
Signature |
A professor at the
He marched across Mexico and gathered an army of nearly 90,000 poor farmers and Mexican civilians who attacked Spanish Peninsular and Criollo elites. Hidalgo's insurgent army accumulated initial victories in its way to Mexico City, but his troops ultimately lacked training and were poorly armed. These troops ran into an army of well-trained and armed Spanish troops in the Battle of Calderón Bridge and were defeated.[7] After the battle, Hidalgo and his remaining troops fled north, but Hidalgo was betrayed, captured and executed.
Early years
Hidalgo was the second-born child of Cristóbal Hidalgo y Costilla Espinoza de los Monteros and Ana María Gallaga Mandarte Villaseñor, both
In 1759, Charles III of Spain ascended to the throne of Spain; he soon sent out a visitor-general with the power to investigate and reform all parts of colonial government. During this period, Cristóbal was determined that Miguel and his younger brother Joaquín should both enter the priesthood and hierarchy of the Catholic Church. Being of significant means he paid for all of his sons to receive the best education the region had to offer. After receiving private instruction, likely from the priest of the neighboring parish, Hidalgo was ready for further education.[8]
Education, ordination, and early career
At the age of fifteen Hidalgo was sent to Valladolid (now Morelia), Michoacán, to study at the Colegio de San Francisco Javier with the Jesuits, along with his brothers.[16][17] When the Jesuits were expelled from Mexico in 1767, he entered the Colegio de San Nicolás,[3][18][19] where he studied for the priesthood.[3]
He completed his preparatory education in 1770. After this, he went to the
Hidalgo was ordained as a priest in 1778 when he was 25 years old.
Although Hidalgo had a traditional education for the priesthood, as an educator at the Colegio de San Nicolás he had innovated in teaching methods and curriculum. In his personal life, he did not advocate or live the way expected of 18th-century Mexican priests. Instead, his studies of Enlightenment-era ideas caused him to challenge traditional political and religious views. He questioned the absolute authority of the Spanish king and challenged numerous ideas presented by the Church, including the power of the popes, the virgin birth, and clerical celibacy. As a secular cleric, he was not bound by a vow of poverty, so he, like many other secular priests, pursued business activities, including owning three haciendas;[24] but contrary to his vow of chastity, he formed liaisons with women. One was with Manuela Ramos Pichardo, with whom he had two children, as well as a child with Bibiana Lucero.[23] He later lived with a woman named María Manuela Herrera,[19] fathering two daughters out of wedlock with her, and later fathered three other children with a woman named Josefa Quintana.[25]
These actions resulted in his appearance before the Court of the Inquisition, although the court did not find him guilty.[19] Hidalgo was an egalitarian. As parish priest in both San Felipe and Dolores, he opened his house to natives and mestizos as well as criollos.[20]
Background to the War of Independence
The conspiracy of Querétaro
Meanwhile, in the city of
Napoleonic Wars
In 1807, France and Spain signed the
Parish priest in Dolores
In 1803, aged 50, he arrived in Dolores accompanied by his family that included a younger brother, a cousin, two half sisters, as well as María and their two children.[20] He obtained this parish in spite of his hearing before the Inquisition, which did not stop his secular practices.[19]
After Hidalgo settled in Dolores, he turned over most of the clerical duties to one of his vicars, Francisco Iglesias, and devoted himself almost exclusively to commerce, intellectual pursuits and humanitarian activities.
In addition to restricting economic activities in New Spain, Spanish mercantile practices caused misery for native peoples. A drought in 1807–1808 caused a famine in the Dolores area, and rather than releasing stored grain to market, Spanish merchants blocked its release, speculating on price increases. Hidalgo lobbied against these practices but was not successful.[27]
Cry of Dolores
Fearing his arrest,
Hidalgo's Grito did not condemn the notion of monarchy or criticize the current social order in detail, but his opposition to the events in Spain and the current viceregal government was clearly expressed in his reference to bad government. The Grito also emphasized loyalty to the Catholic religion, a sentiment with which both Creoles and Peninsulares could sympathize.[19]
Hidalgo's army – from Celaya to Monte de las Cruces
Hidalgo was met with an outpouring of support. Intellectuals, liberal priests and many poor people followed Hidalgo with enthusiasm.[19] His movement was joined by mestizos and the indigenous in such numbers that the original motives of the Querétaro group were obscured.[2][28] Ignacio Allende, Hidalgo's main co-conspirator in Querétaro, remained more loyal to the Querétaro group's original, criollo centered objectives. However, Hidalgo's actions and the people's response meant he would lead and not Allende. Allende had acquired military training when New Spain established a colonial militia whereas Hidalgo had none. The insurgents who followed Hidalgo also had no military training, experience or equipment. Many of these people were poor who were angry after many years of hunger and oppression. Consequently, Hidalgo was the leader of undisciplined rebels.[2][19]
Hidalgo's leadership gave the insurgent movement a supernatural aspect. Many villagers that joined the insurgent army came to believe that Fernando VII himself commanded their loyalty to Hidalgo and the monarch was in New Spain personally directing the rebellion against the Viceroyalty. Historian Eric Van Young believes that such ideas gave the movement supernatural and religious legitimacy that went as far as messianic expectation.[29]
Hidalgo and Allende left Dolores with about 800 men, half of whom were on horseback.
Through numbers, Hidalgo's army had some early victories.
The extent and the intensity of the movement took colonial authorities by surprise.[31] San Miguel and Celaya were captured with little resistance. On 21 September 1810, Hidalgo was proclaimed general and supreme commander after arriving to Celaya. At this point, Hidalgo's army numbered about 5,000.[2][26] However, because of the lack of discipline, the insurgents soon fell into robbing, looting, ransacking towns and executing prisoners.[2] This caused friction between Allende and Hidalgo as early as the capture of San Miguel in late September 1810. When rioting ran through the city, Allende tried to break up violence by striking insurgents with the flat of his sword, which brought him a rebuke from Hidalgo.[20]
On
From Guanajuato, Hidalgo set off for Valladolid on 10 October 1810 with 15,000 men.[18][26] When he arrived at Acámbaro, he was promoted to generalissimo[33] and given the title of His Most Serene Highness, with power to legislate. With his new rank he had a blue uniform with a clerical collar and red lapels embroidered with silver and gold. His uniform also included a black baldric also embroidered with gold. There was also a large image of the Virgin of Guadalupe in gold on his chest.[26]
Hidalgo and his forces took Valladolid with little opposition on 17 October 1810.
The insurgents stayed in the city preparing to march to the capital of New Spain,
Hidalgo and his troops left the state of Michoacán and marched through the towns of Maravatio, Ixtlahuaca, and Toluca before stopping in the forested mountain area of Monte de las Cruces.[26][36] Here, insurgent forces engaged Torcuato Trujillo's royalist forces. Hidalgo's troops led the royalist troops to retreat, but the insurgents suffered heavy casualties, as they had when they engaged royalist soldiers in Guanajuato.[18][19][37]
Retreat from Mexico City
After the
Hidalgo's forces came as close as what is now the Cuajimalpa borough of Mexico City.[16] Allende wanted to press forward and attack the capital, but Hidalgo disagreed.[26][36] Hidalgo's reasoning for this decision is unclear and has been debated by historians.[29][38] One explanation is that Hidalgo's forces were undisciplined and had suffered heavy losses whenever they encountered trained troops. As the capital was guarded by some of the most trained soldiers in New Spain,[19] Hidalgo decided to turn away from Mexico City and move to the north[38] through Toluca and Ixtlahuaca[30] with a destination of Guadalajara.[19]
After turning back, many insurgents deserted. By the time he got to Aculco, just north of Toluca, his army had shrunk to 40,000 men. New Spain General
Hidalgo established an alternative government in Guadalajara with himself at the head and appointed two ministers.[26] On 6 December 1810, Hidalgo issued a decree abolishing slavery, threatening those who did not comply with death. He abolished tribute payments that indigenous peoples had to pay to criollo and peninsular lords. He ordered the publication of a newspaper called Despertador Americano (American Wake Up Call).[36] He named Pascacio Ortiz de Letona as representative of the insurgent government and sent him to the United States to seek support, but Ortiz de Letona was apprehended by the Spanish army and executed.[2]
During this time, insurgent violence mounted in Guadalajara. Citizens loyal to the viceregal government were seized and executed. While indiscriminate looting was avoided, insurgents targeted properties of criollos and Spaniards, regardless of political affiliation.[19][26] In the meantime, the royalist army had retaken Guanajuato, forcing Allende to flee to Guadalajara.[36] After he arrived at the city, Allende again objected to Hidalgo concerning the insurgent violence. However, Hidalgo knew the royalist army was on its way to Guadalajara and wanted to stay on good terms with his own army.[26]
After Guanajuato had been retaken by royalist forces, Bishop Manuel Abad y Queipo excommunicated Hidalgo and those following or helping him on 24 December 1810. Abad y Queipo had formerly been a friend of Hidalgo, but he was adamantly opposed to Hidalgo's tactics and the resultant disruptions, alleged "sacrileges" and purported ill-treatment of priests. The Inquisition pronounced an edict against Hidalgo, charging him with denying that God punishes sins in this world, doubting the authenticity of the Bible, denouncing the popes and Church government, allowing Jews not to convert to Christianity, denying the perpetual virginity of Mary, preaching that there was no hell, and adopting Lutheran doctrine with regard to the Eucharist. Hidalgo responded that he had never departed from Church doctrine in the slightest degree.[26]
Royalist forces marched to Guadalajara, arriving in January 1811 with nearly 6,000 men.
The insurgent Army
Execution
Hidalgo was turned over to Durango, where Bishop Francisco Gabriel de Olivares had him officially
Hidalgo's death resulted in a political vacuum on the insurgent side until 1812. The royalist military commander, General Félix Calleja, continued to pursue rebel troops. Insurgent fighting evolved into guerrilla warfare,[29] and eventually the next major insurgent leader, José María Morelos Pérez y Pavón, who had led rebel movements with Hidalgo, became head of the insurgents, until Morelos himself was captured and executed in 1815.[19]
Legacy
"Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla had the unique distinction of being a father in three senses of the word: a priestly father in the Roman Catholic Church, a biological father who produced illegitimate children in violation of his clerical vows, and the father of his country."
Later, political movements would favor the more liberal Hidalgo over the conservative Iturbide, and 16 September 1810 became officially recognized as the day of Mexican independence.[38] The reason for this is that Hidalgo is considered to be "precursor and creator of the rest of the heroes of the (Mexican War of) Independence."[26]
Diego Rivera painted Hidalgo's image in half a dozen murals. José Clemente Orozco depicted him with a flaming torch of liberty and considered the painting among his best work. David Alfaro Siqueiros was commissioned by San Nicolas McGinty University in Morelia to paint a mural for a celebration commemorating the 200th anniversary of Hidalgo's birth.[43] The town of his parish was renamed Dolores Hidalgo in his honor and the state of Hidalgo was created in 1869.[37] Every year on the night of 15–16 September, the president of Mexico re-enacts the Grito from the balcony of the National Palace. This scene is repeated by the heads of cities and towns all over Mexico.[29] He is also the namesake of Hidalgo County, Texas, in the United States.[44]
The remains of Hidalgo lie in the column of the
His birthday is a civic holiday in Mexico.[45]
-
Hidalgo was laid to rest at the base of the Angel of Independence, Mexico City
-
Painting of Hidalgo, by José Clemente Orozco, Jalisco Governmental Palace, Guadalajara
-
Romantic portrait, by Claudio Linati (1828)
-
Don Miguel Hidalgo Square and Freedom Route
-
Plaza Hidalgo, Coyoacán
-
Statue in Guadalajara, Jalisco
-
Plaza Don Miguel Hidalgo,Chihuahua
See also
- Minor planet 944 Hidalgo, named after Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla
- Hidalgo: La historia jamás contada(2010 film)
- Statue of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (disambiguation)
References
- ^ "Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla". Mediateca INAH (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 31 March 2023. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-313-30049-3.
- ^ a b c d e f "I Parte: Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (1753–1811)" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 4 January 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2008.
- ^ "Videoteca Educativa de las Américas" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 22 July 2011.
- ^ Mexico: From Independence to Revolution, 1810–1910, edited by W. Dirk Raat, p. 21 [ISBN missing]
- JSTOR 1464830.
Many interpreters of the Lady of Guadalupe have pointed to the importance of the image as a symbol of revolution, most clearly expressed in the legendary story of Miguel Hidalgo rallying the masses for revolt against Spain with the cry of Dolores: "Viva la Virgen de Guadalupe and death to the gachupines!"
- ^ Minster, Christopher. Mexican War of Independence: The Battle of Calderon Bridge [1] Archived 7 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c Noll, Arthur Howard; McMahon, Amos Philip (1910). The life and times of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla. Chicago, IL: A.C. McClurg & Co. p. 5.
- ^ de la Fuente, José María (1910). Arbol genealógico de la familia Hidalgo y Costilla: biografía y genealogía del benemérito cura de Dolores D. Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla. Dolores Hidalgo (Guanajuato, Mexico): E. Rivera.
- ^ Noll & McMahon 1910, p. 3. "In Spanish-American history, the term [ criollo ] signifies one of pure Spanish blood, born, not in Spain, but in one of the Spanish colonial possessions."
- ISBN 978-1-61069-428-5.
- ^ Noll & McMahon 1910, p. 12.
- ^ Noll & McMahon 1910, p. 1.
- ^ a b Marley 2014, p. 168.
- ^ Noll & McMahon 1910, p. 11.
- ^ a b c d e f "Biografía de Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 20 October 2008. Retrieved 27 November 2008.
- JSTOR 1833781.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla". Mexico Desconocido (in Spanish). Mexico City: Grupo Editorial Impresiones Aéreas. Archived from the original on 21 November 2008. Retrieved 27 November 2008.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-313-30351-7.
- ^ a b c d e f g Tuck, Jim. "Miguel Hidalgo: The Father Who Fathered a Country (1753–1811)". Archived from the original on 18 December 2008. Retrieved 27 November 2008.
- ^ Virginia Guedea, "Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla" in Encyclopedia of Mexico, Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn 1997, p. 640
- ^ "Hidalgo y Costilla profile" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 8 December 2008. Retrieved 27 November 2008.
- ^ a b Guedea, "Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla", p. 641.
- ^ Guedea, "Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla", p. 640.
- ^ a b c d e "¿Quien fue Hidalgo?" (in Spanish). Mexico: INAH. Archived from the original on 21 September 2008. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
- ^ ISBN 968-452-050-6.
- ISBN 978-0-7656-1597-8.
- ^ a b "Miguel Hidalgo y Costialla". Encyclopedia of World Biography. Thomson Gale. 2004.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8047-3740-1.
- ^ a b c "Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (1753–1811)" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 22 August 2008. Retrieved 27 November 2008.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-521-58120-2.
- ISBN 978-0-292-70602-6.
- ^ Artes de México Issues 174–178. Frente Nacional de Artes Plásticas. 1960. p. 92.
- ISBN 978-1-4039-7388-7.
- ^ Villalpando, Jose Manuel (4 December 2002). "Mitos del Padre de la Patria.(Cultura)" (in Spanish). Mexico City: La Reforma. p. 4.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Part II: Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (1753–1811)" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 1 February 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2008.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-292-70880-8.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-512317-3.
- ^ a b Garrett & Chabot. "Summary of the Events in Texas for the Year 1811: The Las Casas & Sambrano Revolutions", Texas Letters in Yanaguana Society Publication, Vol. VI. 1941. Op. cit. McKeehan, Wallace. Nueva España. Las Casas Insurrection Archived 12 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine; retrieved 23 March 2010.
- ^ Noll & McMahon 1910, p. 124.
- ^ a b Vidali, Carlos (4 December 2008). "Fusilamiento Miguel Hidalgo" (in Spanish). San Antonio: La Prensa de San Antonio. p. 1.
- ^ Profile Archived 9 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine, mexconnect.com; accessed 31 January 2014.
- ^ "Siqueiros & the Hero Priest". Time. Time/CNN. 18 May 1953. Archived from the original on 22 December 2008.
- ISBN 978-1-58544-549-3.
- ^ "Fechas Cívicas". Instituto Nacional de Estudios Históricos de las Revoluciones de México (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 7 May 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
External links
Media related to Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla at Wikimedia Commons