The Inquisition

In 1571, the king removed the Inquisition from bishops’ hands and decreed the establishment of the Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition in Mexico. The Holy Office enforced respect for religious principles and defended Spanish religion and culture against heretical views. Heretics were assumed to be traitors, and dissenters were assumed to be social revolutionaries attempting to subvert the political and religious stability of the community. Most cases investigated by the Inquisition in New Spain concerned bigamy, blasphemy, sodomy, witchcraft, solicitation in the confessional, healing (curandismo), misguided interpretations of the faith, and other offenses against the Catholic religion. Virtually none of these offenses—bigamy is the exception—would be cause for judicial action in modern Spain or Mexico.247

Bigamy and blasphemy formed the most frequent charges. The number of bigamy charges reflected the high degree of social and geographical mobility in New Spain. Often individuals abandoned wives back in Spain, remarried, and started a new life in Mexico. The Inquisition frequently charged people with heresy, a crime seen as a contagion requiring vigorous prosecution. Many such cases involved those whose Jewish ancestors had fled from Spain to Portugal after the expulsion of the Jews. During the 1580—1640 union of crowns of Spain and Portugal, many emigrated to Mexico. Their descendents were among the chief targets of the Inquisition in New Spain. Persons of African descent also received a disproportionate number of accusations.248

Since Protestantism had emerged from the Catholic clergy, enforcing clerical orthodoxy received special attention. This led to the Inquisition’s delving into minute doctrinal matters, such as one’s interpretation of the real presence in the Eucharist. In 1551, the Inquisition fined Dr. Pedro de la Torre a hundred golden pesos, exiled him from New Spain, and forced him to publicly abjure his heretical views for simply declaring that no difference existed between God and nature.249

The Inquisition’s interest in keeping Catholicism pure led to an ever widening circle of concern. It frequently charged people with witchcraft and sorcery, which constituted two separate offenses. Non-Indians were frequently prosecuted for idolatry after they turned to pre-Columbian indigenous traditions to improve their status or procure wealth. Possessing the Koran or the Bible in a Romance language constituted an offense.250

The Inquisition created some offenses simply to facilitate its own operation. Those who failed to denounce an offense within the purview of the Inquisition could be excommunicated. Demeaning the Inquisition became an offense.251

Generally the Inquisition began proceedings only when it received a denunciation. It would then evaluate the charge to see if it had any foundation. If it found the charge plausible, it would order the accused arrested. Those arrested remained ignorant of the charges against them and did not know who had accused them. Those under investigation were asked which of their actions could have resulted in an accusation. The Inquisition maintained secret prisons where the accused could spend months during an investigation. The Inquisition did not use torture as a punishment, but frequently employed it in interrogation, as occurred in practically every country in the Western world at the time.252

The Inquisition could impose a wide range of punishments, including fines, forced labor, seizure of property, forced public confessions, whippings, and exile. In addition, the guilty could be sentenced to obligatory service working in a hospital or convent, on a state or city project, or in galleys. The Inquisition turned unrepentant heretics over to civil authorities to be burned at the stake. However, fewer than fifty people suffered that fate in New Spain.253

Although the Inquisition enjoyed extremely broad powers, the limitations imposed by its small staff and New Spain’s geographical expanse restricted it. Between 1571 and 1700, it considered only 12,000 matters, of which fewer than 2,000 resulted in a trial. This amounted to only sixteen trials a year in the vast area stretching from Central America to California. Due to the Enlightenment’s effect on the Spanish empire, the role of the Inquisition declined. In the 1700s, the Inquisition tried only 534 cases and put only one individual to death.254

During its existence, the nature of offenses considered by the Inquisition changed markedly. Bishop Zumarraga, the outstanding figure of the early Inquisition, headed it between 1536 and 1543. During this time, blasphemy, the most frequent charge, resulted in fifty-six trials.255

Under Zumarraga, the Inquisition also directed its attention to Indian religious practices. In one well-publicized case, the Inquisition tried Don Carlos, the cacique of Texcoco. He was definitely not a model citizen when judged by Spanish norms. He did not attend church and openly kept his niece as a concubine in addition to his wife. Don Carlos was convicted of declaring, “This is our land and our way of life and our possession and the rule of it belongs to us and will remain with us.” The Inquisition declared him guilty of heretical dogmatism and he was burned at the stake.256

Attempts to enforce religious orthodoxy peaked between 1640 and 1650. During this time, the success enjoyed by those of Jewish ancestry in Mexico caused widespread jealousy. The Inquisition tried more than 200 individuals for Jewish practices during this decade. In 1649 alone, it had thirteen Jews burned at the stake in Mexico City.257

During the late colonial period, the Inquisition focused on political matters. In 1752, unfaithfulness to the Crown became an offense. Individuals committed this offense if they indulged “in the grievous error of disobedience, unfaithfulness, or defamation of the king our lord. . ..” The Inquisition scrutinized works that popularized the libertarian principles of the French Revolution and lamented the “passion for the French books which have led so many to the abysm of corruption.” It prohibited and confiscated books by Rousseau, Diderot, Voltaire, and Montesquieu.258

To evaluate the Inquisition, one must choose what criteria to use. The early Inquisition reflected Mexican society, which was a product of the Middle Ages. To the modern observer, the limits put on freedom of religion and expression offend human dignity. However, by European standards of the period, the Inquisition did not appear cruel. As historian William Manchester noted, at the time “men believed in magic and sorcery and slew those whose superstitions were different from, and therefore an affront to, their own.”259

Even when judged by the standards of the times, the Inquisition was frequently abusive. Don Carlos of Texcoco was convicted solely on the uncorroborated testimony of one neophyte who lived with the Franciscans. Don Carlos claimed he was unjustly charged. Apparently the Council of the Indies agreed, since it severely reprimanded Zumarraga for his role in the trial and deprived him of inquisitional power. Early on, blasphemy charges against conquistadores formed part of a political campaign against Spaniards loyal to Cortes. Given the lack of safeguards to protect the accused, many individuals realized that false denunciations could be used to further their own interests. Indian nobles falsely accused rivals of idolatry. Convicted heretics denounced others in a desperate attempt to receive lighter sentences. Businessmen used charges of practicing Judaism to attack their competitors. Staffing the Inquisition with individuals who saw the tribunal as a path to personal wealth and selling confiscated goods to finance operations of the Inquisition also increased the possibility of abuse.260