La Jornada: University project compiles detailed records of the Inquisition

The project Witchcraft and sorcery in the 18th century in Michoacán: Catalog raisonné of viceregal files, developed by Cecilia López Ridaura, researcher at the National School of Higher Studies, Morelia unit, of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), recovers files from the Inquisition that are part of the collection of the Casa de Morelos Museum and Historical Archive (AHCM), of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), located in the capital of Michoacán.

Since 2018, the also doctor of letters has used the support of students and scholarship holders to work on the curation and transcription of around 90 New Spain documents.

In interview with The Day, López Ridaura explained that the testimonies, although written, recover the way of speaking of those who testified. By having all the files in one place, he added, it is easy to distinguish repetitions in the speeches. “When people are forced to talk about witchcraft, they turn to the collective imagination.” Thus, according to the expert, you can find elements of popular literature, which is transmitted from generation to generation.

The idea for the project arose during her doctoral research, when she found a document in the General Archive of the Nation (AGN) that referred to a group of women in Coahuila who used a spell to fly: “from town to town, without God and without Saint Mary.” Some time later, he located other files in which “the same spell reappeared”; Later, he found one more mention in the AHCM collection.

House of Morelos

According to Sergio Monjaraz Martínez, heritage manager of Casa Morelos, the archive in his charge arrived at the premises around 1932. During the Mexican Revolution, the documents were kept in buildings in Morelia, including the Michoacano Museum, the old seminary of the bishopric and the current local government building.

In an interview with this medium, the expert explained that the collection contains material from the activities carried out by the Catholic Church in the territory in charge of the bishopric of Michoacán, which included the current states of Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Querétaro, Guanajuato, part of Colima, Guadalajara, Guerrero and Michoacán.

In Mexico, the AGN has a large number of documents related to the Tribunal of the Holy Office; However, López Ridaura, who has studied the archives, explained that the doctor in history Gabriel Torres Puga has pointed out to him that the material from that bishopric is not found in Mexico City because during “the independence movement, the inquisitors sent everything that belonged to Michoacán to the state capital.”

The compendium

The AHCM Diocesan Fund includes a series entitled Inquisition, composed of 164 files. Cecilia López’s project focused on 59 of these professions, which are related to witchcraft or sorcery. Furthermore, because the Tribunal of the Holy Office did not judge the indigenous population, the researcher decided to add 34 documents from the series criminal proceedings, in which the functioning of ecclesiastical justice is observed in crimes against the faith, such as the witchcraft practices of the native population, is explained on the page of the Catalog raisonné.

The relevance of this record lies in the fact that, unlike other materials that only show the name of the accused and a summary of the case, this one seeks to give investigators access to all the material. “I need to know all the details, and the only way to achieve this is with access to the complete transcripts of the file,” explained Cecilia López Ridaura.

However, the project is not yet completed, he noted. “Therefore, if you review it carefully, you will see that there are some things that are almost in drafts.” He explained that due to the lack of personnel, he relies on his students from the paleography subject, from the degree in intercultural literature, with whom he transcribes “each one a small piece of a file.” Subsequently, the expert dedicates herself to reviewing and correcting errors on the platform.

Access for all

He Catalog raisonné of viceregal files It is constantly nourished and is always being updated. Among the researcher’s plans is to add images of the documents, in order to have access to the original and the transcription; This will be achieved once the INAH grants the necessary permits.

The material, in addition to increasing the repertoire of the National Laboratory of Oral Materials of the UNAM, as well as assisting in studies, is the property of the university and, therefore, of the Mexicans.

Anyone can access the page (https://lanmo.unam.mx/brujeriayhechiceria/index.php) and learn about cases such as that of Rita Gertrudis Báez, who accused Ysabel Melgosa of making “her belly grow as if she were pregnant and being tied and not being able to have sexual intercourse with her husband,” or that of Petrona Melgosa, sentenced to 25 lashes and a general confession after she was accused of “having “He helped his mother and his niece to curse Juana Gertrudis Duarte.”