In Spain, the Saints, especially the Virgin Mary, were very important. The Virgin Mary appeared in many different forms in Spain. For instance, there was the Virgin of the Assumption, Our Lady of Walsingham, Our Lady of the Rosary, and so on. There were many different forms of the Virgin Mary in the old world. It was not uncommon in Spain to have an apparition of the Virgin Mary appear. More apparitions of the Virgin Mary were reported in late 1400s and early 1500s than any other Saint. The Virgin Mary would be imported to the new world and put into different context.

The Aztec religion, itself, had a host of virgins. Quetzalcoatl’s mother, Coatlicue, was a virgin herself when she gave birth to him and his twin brother. What the Spanish would do is attempt to overlap the Aztec’s different virgins with their own depictions of the Virgin Mary.

In the conquest of Spain, Cortes rode with a picture of a virgin flag. The image of a virgin was used as protection and strength. In La Noche Triste, as Cortes fled Tenochtitlan, he praised Our Lady of Remedies for the protection of most of his men. As Cortes conquered areas, he would leave idols of the Virgin Mary on the altars of the temples. Thus, the Virgin Mary was seen as a conquering symbol. It was her image that would eventually overthrow the indigenous religion.

Ironically, ten years after the conquest of Mexico, an apparition of the Virgin Mary appeared before a native, Juan Diego, at a place for worship of the mother goddess Tonantzin. The apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe, possibly a fraud, helped to legitimize the Catholic religion as the new religion in Mexico. The apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe would be popularized by the Catholic Church and would eventually become the symbol of national unity for Mexico.

The depictions of the Virgin Mary were more than just religious, they were political motivated. The Spanish used not only conventional weapons of war but also religion, to conquer and subdue an opposing force. By converting the natives of the Americas, they made them more like themselves. The Spanish use of the virgin as a symbol of protection would eventually become the symbol of the Mexicans.