As Spaniards built colonies in the New World, men of the cloth saw within ancient ruins and inhabited native towns great potential for easing the colonization effort. In the Yucatan, which is the locus of this study, Franciscan friars seized upon the opportunity to "conquer" Maya places for Christianity. Their practice of remaking a Maya town into a Christian town--often building their church on the very foundations of an ancient sacred site--represented the absolute triumph of their religion, the ultimate defeat of the pagan demonic forces by the true faith.

This book addresses the...