"This work reconstructs the history of Mexico's forgotten "Religionero" rebellion of 1873-1877, an armed Catholic challenge to the government of Sebastin Lerdo de Tejada. An essentially grassroots movement-organized by indigenous, Afro-Mexican, and mestizo parishioners in Mexico's central-western Catholic heartland-the Religionero rebellion erupted in response to a series of anticlerical measures raised to constitutional status by the Lerdo government. These "Laws of Reform" decreed the full independence of Church and state, secularized marriage and burial practices, prohibited acts of public worship, and severely curtailed the Church's ability to own and administer property. A comprehensive reconstruction of the revolt and a critical reappraisal of its significance, this book places ordinary Catholics at the center of the story of Mexico's fragmented nineteenth-century secularization and Catholic revival"-- Provided by publisher

Revision of the author's thesis (doctoral)--University of Texas at Austin, 2015, titled Victory on earth or in heaven : religion, reform, and rebellion in Michoacn, Mexico, 1869-1877.

Death to the Protestants! long live religion!: The Religionero rebellion in Michoacn, 1873-1876 -- The other Reforma: clerical accommodation and Catholic Restoration in central-western Mexico -- A Levitical city divided: religious culture and Religionero violence in northwestern Michoacn -- Martyrs for Our Lord: Baroque Catholicism, Religionero mobilization, and the taming of the Reforma in Central Michoacn -- "Spiritual orphans": Religioneros and the modernization of southwest Michoacn -- Lerdismo derailed: the Religioneros, Porfirio Díaz, and the twilight of the Reforma in Michoacn, 1876-1878.