The discovery of the New World offered European civilisation the chance to generate a process of circulation of its own cultural values-the spiritual conquest-that has no comparable precedents. The missionary orders played an important role during this Westernisation of the world, not only as key players in the spread of Christian values, but also as mediators between different worlds. Indeed, missionary practices imposed the dominating culture's values and institutions on the vanquished peoples. At the same time, they also promoted the circulation of new knowledge and the negotiation between...