Words of fidelity: The letters of Bishop González del Campillo during the Novohispanic insurrection. An analysis with Voyant Tools

Abstract

This article analyzes the pastoral letters of the Bishop of Puebla, Manuel Ignacio González del Campillo, as political tools during the period of the insurgency. My main objective is to demonstrate how, in a context of crisis and transformation, written communication served as a crucial resource for maintaining the population’s loyalty to the Spanish monarch.

To achieve this, I will employ a methodology rooted in the Digital Humanities, using the Voyant Tools software as the primary instrument of analysis. Additionally, the study incorporates the distant reading approach to identify discursive patterns within the documentary sources. In this initial exploration, I will examine four pastoral letters written between 1810 and 1811, in which concepts such as patria, religion, and king reveal the bishop’s strategy of portraying the insurgency as a threat to both government and society.

This study integrates digital tools into the analysis of historical documents, combining quantitative methods with critical and contextual interpretation. This approach not only reinforces historiographical perspectives on clerical propaganda in New Spain but also opens new avenues for research in the field of digital history, reaffirming the commitment of this dossier to exploring methodologies that enrich the study of the Social Sciences and Humanities.