16 th -century colonial Peru
particular example of this triumph and ‘cultural replacement’ is evident in the architecture of Cuzco Cathedral. Built in the city centre of the former Incan capital, the Gothic-Renaissance cathedral serves as a symbol of Spanish hegemony, with 82% of the palace built over a demolished Incan palace.
Whilst it would seem that Spanish artists and architects managed to influence the art and visual culture of the Incan people, other significant Incan traditions became a form of native resistance, with initial success. Whilst Incans wanted their dead to be buried in ancestral tombs so the families could bring regular tribute for blessings of good harvests, the Catholics challenged these beliefs and insisted upon burial in church. Incans rebelled clandestinely, as of 1541 Spanish clerics from the First Lima Council reported ‘ secret disinterments of bodies ’ , seen by the Spanish as mockeries of Catholicism. Along the north coast of Peru in the colonial town of Mórrope, archaeologists have discovered secret Incan burial sites, with nearly 7% of burials in the Catholic church having been exhumed and transported from Catholic burial sites. Spanish authorities took desperate measures, and after increasing reports of secret disinterments, a public demonstration was held in 1559; the most important Incan mummies, 10 emperors and their wives were taken to the Hospital of San Andres in Lima, and Incans were prohibited from entering the building. Neglectfully kept as a token to foster Spanish pride, the mummies rotted swiftly in the damp climate before being burnt or reburied under Catholic churches. Although Incans attempted to continue their practices, it was evident that the Spanish had managed to control and prohibit Incan funeral practices; the destruction of the Incan mummified ancestors eroded hope for continuation of these practices, only exacerbated by the increase of Spanish pillaging and destruction of Incan tombs, often decorated with precious trinkets. Perhaps the Spanish were most successful in securely controlling the Incans politically. Although Atahualpa had been executed in 1532, many Incans lived in remote settlements under the Vilcabamba regime outside of Spanish authority. However, under Viceroy Francisco del Toledo, Incan political influence was almost completely dissolved. His resettlement programme transported Incans to Spanish political and cultural strongholds (with Incan elites only nominally holding power), as well as dismantling the remains of the Inca regime by destroying the Vilcabamba government in 1572. Toledo’s resettlement program me resettled 3 million natives from Inca strongholds to various locations across the Spanish Americas, with 1.5 million of these people moved into reducciones , Spanish-style towns in Peru, built with central plazas of churches and colonial offices, peopled with Hispanicizing Andeans. Terrified of losing their influence, Incan-sympathetic nobility and religious leaders attempted to bribe the viceroy to cease resettlement with 800,000 pesos, but to no avail. Inside the reducciones, Incan elites were made into caciques , who retained minor and superficial power, able to arbitrate legal disputes regarding solely natives; if any Spanish authority had an interest in the case, the cacique would lose all authority. After exerting Spanish influence over political matters in the reducciones, Toledo had one obstacle to obtaining control across Peru. Having organized a company of Spanish soldiers in 1572, Toledo ordered the tracking and destruction of the Vilcabamba government. In 1572, the last Incan emperor Túpac Amaru was killed, and thus the figurehead of the Incan empire and the Neo-Inca state was dissolved; without any leader to stay loyal to, Incan citizens submitted to the Spanish regime.
In conclusion, it is evident that the Spanish were largely successful in controlling the Incan people culturally and politically. Although the Spanish struggled to create genuine native converts to
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