Kachina and the Cross (39 page)

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Authors: Carroll L Riley

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Page 188
Teresa flatly refused, and Peñalosa, on the afternoon of August 26, forcibly removed López from his house arrest and confiscated many of his remaining personal belongings. That evening the papers from the Holy Office of the Inquisition were formally served.
As noted above, Peñalosa had already seized a considerable amount of ex-governor López's property, and in the days that followed, portions of this property were sold to meet his creditors, a great deal of it to Peñalosa's agents at knocked-down prices. Posada and Peñalosa were now at swords' points, and the next few months saw a great deal of legal skirmishing. In the early fall of 1663, Peñalosa actually arrested the custodian for infringing on the civil authority, and held him in Santa Fe at the Casa Real for nine days (October 1-9). Again, the Omnimoda of Adrian VI was invoked by Posada and denied by Peñalosa. It was the only recorded action of this kind, the legal incarceration of a Franciscan prelate by a governor in seventeenth-century New Mexico. Governor Peñalosa had intended to actually expel Posada but lost his nerve. Posada, once freed, began a collection of evidence and witnesses that eventually brought the Inquisition into the picture.
Nearing the end of his governorship, Peñalosa made certain attempts to protect himself from the legal investigation that would follow the end of his period as governor. He removed a number of documents that he considered dangerous from the provincial archives and took others to organize his defense against expected charges. Peñalosa attempted to counter the clerical accusation that he had appointed only personal friends to lucrative offices. In late 1663, but backdated to May 1662, he made appointments of
escudero
, or temporary substitute holder of the encomiendas, vacated by the arrest of two adherents of ex-governor López, Diego Romero and Francisco Gómez Robledo. Cristóbal Durán y Chávez was issued an escuderia to the former encomienda, and Juan Domínguez de Mendoza to the latter. Durán y Chávez had, in fact, been jailed by Peñalosa, and Juan Domínguez had been a follower of López de Mendizábal. Of course, Juan Domínguezs brother, Tomé, was faithful to the Church party, and the Domínguez de Mendoza family was influential in New Mexico.
In the early part of 1664, Peñalosa set out for Mexico City, leaving Tomé Domínguez de Mendoza as acting governor. On his way south, Peñalosa met the new governor, Juan Durán de Miranda, who reached New Mexico in the spring of 1664. Meanwhile, Posada continued to collect evidence against Peñalosa. Like Manso and López before him, Peñalosa was somewhat of a Don Juan. In Parral, on his way to New Mexico, Peñalosa had established a liaison with a young woman, Maria de Barrios, who later bore him a daughter. Peñalosa flaunted his mistress in Santa Fe, establishing her in the governor's palace, and had a number
Page 189
of affairs with other women as well. Peñalosa was also accused of mistreating the Indians and with making fun of religion and of the missionaries. These accusations were presented to the Inquisition; Peñalosa was arrested by the Holy Office on June 16, 1665, and his first hearings were held in late June of that year. The trial dragged on, as Inquisition trials were apt to do, although a part of this was due to an extended illness of the ex-governor.
Peñalosa fought back in the same manner as López, attacking the missionaries. According to Peñalosa, his main accuser, Posada, also had a black record. Peñalosa reported that when he was in Awatovi (probably in 1662), he had been given information by the convent guardián, Father Mompeán, (but also attested to by Friars Joseph de Espeleta, Fernando de Monroy, and Miguel de Guebara) about the scandalous activity of Posada when the latter man was the missionary in charge at Awatovi:
being fearful that a leading Indian of the pueblo, whose name was Sixto, was making trouble with an Indian woman with whom Fray Alonzo [Posada] had improper relationsthe woman's name, according to the deponent's memory being IsabelFray Alonzo ordered two
capitanes á guerra
to kill Sixto. When they had killed him, the friar feared that they would reveal the crime, and asked one Salazar, a
mestizo
who was
alcalde mayor
in the pueblo, to bring the two captains to swift and summary trialin accordance with the practices of warupon some pretext of disobedience, and hang them, which he did.
Peñalosa went on to say that on the order of Custodian Xeres, Posada was imprisoned at Santo Domingo, but that he had been released by order of then Governor Juan Manso. Peñalosa insisted that the incident was widely known in New Mexico. However, there seems to have been certain discrepancies in Peñalosa's account. It is not entirely clear just when or under what conditions Posada was in residence at Awatovi. At any rate the custodian in this time periodthat is, during Manso's governorship, 1656-59does not seem to have been a missionary named Xeres. Custodians include Antonio de Ibargaray, Antonio de Aranda, (vice-custodian) Juan González, and Juan Ramírez. The latter was custodian in 1659; dates on the earlier men are not certain.
In any case, the defense was to no avail. In February of 1668, Peñalosa was sentenced to public penance and levied a fine of five hundred pesos. He was also forbidden to hold political office and was banished from New Spain and the West Indies, the banishment to take place within thirty days after sentencing. In point of fact, Peñalosa remained in New Spain until December 1668. Meanwhile, the Holy Office proceeded with liquidation of any assets of the former governor on which they could lay hands. Peñalosa was a ruined man, unable
Page 190
to stay in Mexico and a fugitive from justice in his native Peru. He now decided to cut his losses, desert Spain, and offer his services to Spain's enemies. He sailed to England to try to interest the English Crown in seizing Spanish colonies in America. Failing to arouse English enthusiasm, Peñalosa moved on to France, where he had a part in promotion of the 1685 La Salle expedition to the Gulf Coast. Peñalosa never returned to the New World, dying in France in 1687.
Peñalosa's nemesis, Father Alonso de Posada, also returned to Mexico, partly to present evidence against the former governor, and was replaced as custodian and as commissary of the Holy Office by Father Juan Paz. Meanwhile, in New Mexico a new governor, Juan Durán de Miranda, took office in the spring of 1664. Relatively little is known of this governor except that he quickly became embroiled in a quarrel with the Santa Fe cabildo and especially with Tomé Domínguez de Mendoza, its most powerful member. The cabildo, in its first major flexing of muscles since the disastrous aftermath to the Rosas affair, seems to have had Durán imprisoned for a time. The governor was removed from office by decision of the viceroy and replaced by Fernando de Villanueva in the summer of 1665. As far as is known, the missionaries were not involved, this being primarily a power struggle between the governor and the local citizenry. That a furious factional fight was going on, one that also involved the new governor, is indicated by the fact that Villanueva in 1665 accused both Durán de Miranda and former governor Juan Manso for suppressing documents, ones primarily concerning commercial transactions.
At about this time the Mexican office of the Inquisition came to the realization that Inquisitorial powers were being recklessly used in New Mexico to promote missionary aims. Father Juan de Paz, who had replaced Posada as commissary of the Holy Office, quickly had a clash with Cristóbal de Anaya Almazán. As we have seen, the latter man, because of his support for Governor López de Mendizábal, was jailed in Mexico City by the Tribunal of the Inquisition but returned to New Mexico relatively unscathed. He was favored by Governor Villanueva, who appointed him as alcalde provincial de la Santa Hermandad, a sort of rural police officer. Father Paz persuaded, or forced, the governor to cancel this appointment. It was arguably an illegal appointment, and Paz was probably within his rights. Cristóbal, by the way, was the husband of Leonor Domínguez de Mendoza, sister of Tomé and Juan. He continued a successful career in spite of the Franciscans until 1680 whenduring the first days of the Pueblo RevoltCristóbal, his wife, and six of their children were killed at the family estancia near San Felipe Pueblo.
Another case at about the same time was brought against the popular Juan Domínguez de Mendoza, who in early 1666 was serving as lieutenant governor.
Page 191
Returning from a raid on Apaches in the Acoma area, Juan Domínguez received a deputation of Acoma Indians who charged their missionary, Nicolás de Freitas, with abuse. Domínguez probably did no more than take evidence in the matter, but Freitas and his companion minister, Fray Diego de Santander, promptly accused him of meddling in the affairs of the Acoma mission. They also brought up the matter of his unrepentant support of the late López de Mendizábal. This case dragged on for some time. The Santa Fe cabildo was drawn into it and petitioned the bishop of Durángo to appoint civil clergy who would have jurisdiction in cases that pitted the lay population against the missionaries. Cabildo members were especially exercised by the Franciscan involvement of the Holy Office for the most frivolous of reasons. The Franciscans managed to stave off this power-sharing move, but the Holy Office sharply ordered the Franciscans to drop both the Anaya and Domínguez cases and to be more cooperative with the civil authorities.
In the waning months of 1667, Father Juan de Paz was replaced as custodian by Friar Juan Talabán. He held on to the commissary position for another year, finally being replaced by Fray Juan Bernal, who served for the next decade. That the Inquisition authorities were not totally pleased with Paz can be seen in a letter to his successor, dated October 25, 1669. In this letter, referring to the Juan Domínguez affair, the Inquisitors said that
because the impropriety and lack of civility with which his predecessor, Friar Juan de Paz, proceeded have been recognized, it has seemed wise to warn our commissary that in dealing with matters which may present themselves in future, he is to take due care not to use the jurisdiction of this Holy Office except in cases for which the instruction given to our commissaries make disposition. Enmities or lack of respect for the friars and the custodian shown by the royal justices or other private individuals are not to be introduced into the fuero of the Inquisition nor are our commissaries to meddle in matters so remote from our office, eager to make every affair and case an Inquisition matter, thus giving rise to much prejudice and hatred against this Tribunal.
Strong words these, but they came too late to save López and Peñalosa. Bernal continued to send reports of malfeasance to the Tribunal, but they mainly concerned such trivia as bad language.
Although the missionaries had some cause to resent Governor Villanueva, and the cabildo opposed Governor Durán de Miranda, there is evidence that, at least as far as the Pueblo Indians were concerned, church and state were now working closely together. Even though their Inquisition weapon had been weakened, the missionaries were now dominant in their control of the Pueblo population, and

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