The papers on this panel represent new approaches to the history of the family and marriage in Mexico and Spain during the 17th and 18th centuries. The authors analyze new sources or revisit traditional ones to examine the role or representation of women and/or families as part of trans Atlantic cultural exchange and colonial Mexican political and social issues of control. The panels approach the large issue of marriage and family from unique perspectives: familial survival tactics while facing the inquisitorial persecution, governmental policy to regulate indigenous marriage and the popularity of certain elite-generated cultural texts, representations of the Spanish queen as mother linked rhetorically to the apocalypse, and the consumerism and cultural impact of indigenous brides.