Abstract

ROSELLO SOBERON, Estela. Mother Chepa: a history of feminine fame in the port of Veracruz. Relac. Estud. hist. soc. [online]. 2014, vol.35, n.139, pp.69-91. ISSN 2448-7554.

This essay deals with the everyday construction of prestige and fame for many women who, like Mother Chepa in the port of Veracruz in the 18^th century, plied important trades in their communities. The goal is to demonstrate how the processes of the Inquisition continue to constitute indispensable sources for microhistorians interested in New Spain. Although documents of this kind have been widely used by historians of that society, this text reveals a novel way of reading them, one based on the physical descriptions of numerous ordinary individuals who reached specific levels in the hierarchies of that social order. Identity, prestige and femininity are key concepts discussed in the article.

Keywords : history of women; healers in New Spain; prestige; feminine identity; feminine body.