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On July 21, 1578, the Mexican town of Tecamachalco awoke to news of a scandal. A doll-like effigy hung from the door of the town's church. Its two-faced head had black chicken feathers instead of hair. Each mouth had a tongue sewn onto it, one with a forked end, the other with a gag tied around it. Signs and symbols adorned the effigy, including a
sambenito, the garment that the Inquisition imposed on heretics. Below the effigy lay a pile of firewood. Taken together, the effigy, signs, and symbols conveyed a deadly message: the victim of the scandal was a Jew who should burn at the stake. Over the course of four years, inquisitors conducted nine trials and interrogated dozens of witnesses, whose testimonials revealed a vivid portrait of friendship, love, hatred, and the power of rumor in a Mexican colonial town.
A story of dishonor and revenge,
Death by Effigy also reveals the power of the Inquisition's symbols, their susceptibility to theft and misuse, and the terrible consequences of doing so in the New World. Recently established and anxious to assert its authority, the Mexican Inquisition relentlessly pursued the perpetrators. Lying, forgery, defamation, rape, theft, and physical aggression did not concern the Inquisition as much as the misuse of the Holy Office's name, whose political mission required defending its symbols. Drawing on inquisitorial papers from the Mexican Inquisition's archive, Luis R. Corteguera weaves a rich narrative that leads readers into a world vastly different from our own, one in which symbols were as powerful as the sword.
Sommario
List of Abbreviations
Preface
Prologue: The Crime of Tecamachalco
PART I. 1578
Chapter 1. False Start
Chapter 2. Trial and Failure
PART II. 1581
Chapter 3. Surprise Witness
Chapter 4. The Mother, the Son, and the Stepson
Chapter 5. Mistrial
PART III. 1582
Chapter 6. New and Old Leads
Chapter 7. The Scribe
Chapter 8. The Interpreter
Chapter 9. The Farmer
Chapter 10. Under Torment
Chapter 11. Conspiracy
Chapter 12. More Torment
Chapter 13. The Wife
Chapter 14. Reconciliation
Epilogue
Notes
List of Key Names
Glossary
Index
Acknowledgments
Info autore
Luis R. Corteguera is Professor of History at the University of Kansas.
Riassunto
On July 21, 1578, a small Mexican town awoke to the news of a scandal. Nailed to the door of its church was a double-faced effigy denouncing a neighbor as a Jew who should burn at the stake. Nine trials over the course of four years revealed a story of dishonor, revenge, and the Inquisition's relentless determination to defend its symbols.
