THE TRIAL OF DIEGO LÓPEZ


Introduction and Translation by

STANLEY M. HORDES, Ph.D.

During the course of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, it is estimated that several thousand crypto-Jews, or secret Jews, emigrated from Spain and Portugal to the Indies. Sometimes referred to as conversos, marranos, or New Christians, these people were descended from those Jews who were forced either to convert to Catholicism or face exile from Spain in 1492, by decree of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.

Many of these crypto–Jews found their way to the Viceroyalty of New Spain, with the heaviest period of immigration occurring in the 1620s. A strong motive for emigrating was the improvement of their material condition; moreover, New Spain served as a potential haven for crypto-Jews who wished to practice their secret religious rites in an atmosphere of relative security. In contrast to the Iberian Peninsula, where the Holy Office of the Inquisition posed a constant threat to New Christians, the Mexican Inquisition was not particularly concerned with the persecution of judaizantes. Except for two notable periods of activity against crypto–Jews, one in the 1580s and '90s and the other in the 1640s, the Holy Office focused its attention upon less spectacular breaches of Catholic orthodoxy, such as witchcraft, bigamy, blasphemy, and the solicitation of women by priests. Thus, once the troubled crypto-Jews left their Iberian homeland for New Spain, they would be able to begin new lives, relatively free from the persecutions of the past and filled with the expectation of a comfortable material existence.

Those conversos who arrived in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries joined crypto-Jewish communities that had flourished in Mexico City and other towns since the early 1520s. Mexican crypto-Jews tended, more often than not, to pursue mercantile trades. Some, stationed for the most part in Mexico City or Veracruz, engaged in trade across the Atlantic, importing goods from Spain, as well as slaves from Angola, while exporting silver, dyestuffs, and other Mexican products. Others worked out of Acapulco and concerned themselves with the Philippines trade. Some sought to take advantage of the profitable cacao trade with Maracaibo and Caracas, while certain others maintained commercial ties with Peru. Many crypto-Jewish merchants dealt with sources and markets within New Spain, including the remote area of the far northern frontier.

Mexican crypto-Jews were able to practice their faith secretly in an atmosphere of relative toleration, except for two periods when the Holy Office of the Inquisition embarked on vigorous campaigns against the conversos. The first of these, which lasted from 1589 to 1601, was initiated in response to the activities of one Luis de Carvajal, a Portuguese New Christian, and nephew of the Governor of Nuevo Leon. The younger Carvajal (el mozo, as he was called) had begun to proselytize within the converso community of Mexico, urging the people to embrace their old faith. The Inquisition came down hard on Carvajal, his family and associates. Several dozen were arrested and tried by the Holy Office. Most were "reconciled" to the Church, suffering penalties of partial confiscation of their estates and loss of status. A handful were burned at the stake, including Carvajal himself.

The following excerpt from the 1595 trial of Diego López for the crime of judaizante provides a glimpse into the formal procedure carried out by the Holy Office of the Inquisition. Typically, the defendants would be called before an audience with the inquisitors and be asked to give their occupation, genealogy, and a brief biographical sketch. During the course of this and succeeding audiences, they would be urged to confess their crimes and provide the names of others engaged in observing the "Dead Law of Moses." Contrary to popular belief, torture was used sparingly and selectively to gain confessions. Several months after their initial audience with the inquisitors, defendants were presented with a formal accusation, itemizing point by point the crimes with which they had been charged. After consultation with a court-appointed defense attorney, they responded to these charges. They were then presented with transcripts of the testimony of anonymous witnesses and were offered the opportunity to respond. After a prolonged period, the inquisitors met, agreed upon the verdict, and pronounced sentence.

Throughout this lengthy procedure, often lasting five to seven years, the Inquisition staff was careful to record every stage of the process. The resulting documentation provides historians with valuable archival material, analogous to today' transcripts by court reporters, with which to analyze the social, economic, and cultural history of the peoples of New Spain.

THE TRIAL

Excerpts from the Trial of Diego López, charged by the Holy Office of the Inquisition of Mexico with the crime of observing the Law of Moses.

(Hispanic Documents Collection, Document No. 6, Folios 23 R & V.)

First Audience

In the City of Mexico, Friday, the third day of March 1595, presiding in the afternoon audience, Inquisitor Lic. Don Alonso de Peralta, it was ordered for a man to be brought from the secret jail of this Holy Office. Once he was present he swore in the proper legal manner to tell the truth, in this audience as well as in all future audiences that may occur until the closing of the case, and to keep confidential all that he might see and understand regarding his case.

—He was asked his name, place of birth, age, occupation, and the circumstances surrounding his imprisonment. He said that his name is,

Diego López, born in San Vicente Davera, in Portugal, twenty-one years of age, and his occupation is peddling goods through the streets; and last Saturday he was taken prisoner and placed in one of the secret jails of this Holy Office; and he declares his genealogy to be as follows:

PARENTS

Genealogy —Simon Méndez, whose place of birth he does not know, other than the fact that he is a vecino [resident] of the said Villa of San Vicente Davera, and that he is a tanner; and Leonor López, his wife, born and a vecina of the said Villa of San Vicente Davera, whose occupation is sewing and embroidering; and it is his understanding that they are alive.

PATERNAL GRANDPARENTS

—Diego Méndez, whose place of birth he does not know, nor has he ever known, other than the fact that he has heard that he had been a shoemaker, now deceased; with regard to his grandmother, he does not know her name, nor where she was born, only that she is deceased.

MATERNAL GRANDPARENTS

—Alvaro López, vecino and native of the said San Vincente Davera, and according to what he had heard from his mother, he was a tailor, and Beatriz Alvarez, his wife, native of the said Villa; deceased.

AUNTS AND UNCLES ON FATHER’S SIDE

—Antonio Méndez, who is either a youth or a bachelor; he does not know his occupation, nor his age, nor his place of residence, nor if he had any children; he understands from his father that his uncle is deceased; he does not know if his father had any other brothers or sisters.

AUNTS AND UNCLES ON MOTHER’S SIDE

—Simon López, merchant who lives in Sevilla, married to Clara Rodríguez; he does not know his age, only that he is a merchant, and he understands that he has three or four children, that one daughter, ten years old, is named Beatriz; with regard to the others, he does not know their names, but understands that they are all alive.

—Leonardo Núñez, married in the said Villa of San Vicente; he does not know the name of his wife, nor his age, nor where he is at present; later he said that he remembered that he lives in Montilla, that he has four children, two of whom are named Alvaro López, and the other Beatriz; he does not know their ages, and understands that they are all alive.

Folio 27 R:

He said that he had reexamined his memory and remembered that when he arrived in this City of Mexico of [New?] Spain, he lived in the house of the said Manuel Díaz three or four months, as he had stated. During this time he witnessed the said Manuel Díaz and his wife, Ysabel Rodríguez, put out clean bed linen on Saturday afternoons and Friday nights. Later he said that some Friday nights they would put on clean shirts. They would observe the Sabbath, since he observed that Ysabel Rodríguez would not perform any work on Saturdays, saying that she was indisposed and was not able to work. He also observed that on some Saturdays she would wear her nicer clothes; when she did not do so, she would stay in bed, saying, as he had already explained, that she was indisposed.

And the said Manuel Díaz went to his store on Saturdays, as on other days, and did not change his clothes, because this witness always saw him carry extra clothes; and on the said Saturdays he put on a clean shirt and neckcloth, in contrast to the rest of the week.

And when he would eat fowl, he would order a slave (whose name he could not remember) to cut off its head.

And when they had the opportunity, Manuel Díaz and Ysabel Rodríguez would with their own hands slit the jugular vein and drain the blood from the meat that they planned to eat; other times they ordered their slave to do so, telling him that the meat stayed fresher longer butchered in this manner.

He was asked if he had any other observations regarding the said Manuel Díaz and Ysabel Rodríguez, his wife.

He responded that he had not seen them doing anything else, because he had spent little time in their house.

He was asked what he suspected with regard to the said Manuel Díaz and Ysabel Rodríguez . . .

* Diego López ultimately was found guilty by the inquisitors, appeared in the Auto da Fe of 1596, reconciled to the Catholic Church, and was sentenced to three years in prison.

Translated from

Document No. 6 of the

Hispanic Collection

THOMAS GILCREASE INSTITUTE

Tulsa, Oklahoma

Supported by a grant from

NATIONAL ENDOWMENT

FOR THE HUMANTIES