El paganismo romano en la estrategia teológica de la misión cristiana: de Martín de Braga a Bernardino de Sahagún (siglos VI-XVI)

This work analyses how the construction of Roman paganism was employed in different contexts of Christian mission. In the 16th century, during the evangelization of the New World, Bernardino de Sahagún described Mexica gods as counterparts to Roman ones: the Mexica gods were «another Jupiter, another Venus, another Mars, another Bacchus» alongside the sun, moon, earth and sea. A millennium earlier, in 6th-century Gallaecia, Martin of Braga condemned the continued worship of Roman gods such as Jupiter, Venus, Mars, Neptune and the Nymphs in the seas, rivers, springs and forests. Although both authors shared the goal of discrediting idolatry, the way they invoked the Roman religious imaginary reveals the different audiences, strategies and historical conditions that shaped the production of their works.