Death by Effigy: A Case from the Mexican Inquisition

Prologue: The Crime of Tecamachalco

Prologue The crime of tecamachalco Poor tecamachalco, so unfortunate, it never lacks some misfortune! Diego de trujillo, spanish farmer, 1581 in the early hours of monday, 21 July 1578, an effigy hung from an iron rod nailed to the door of the church of the Franciscan monastery of tecamachalco , located about eighty miles southeast of mexico city (see Figure 2). The effigy has not survived, but eyewitness testimonies provide detailed descriptions of its strange features. The “statue,” or effigy, looked like a small man or a doll. it was made of tochomite, an indian wool cloth, sewn together and stuffed with hay. The effigy’s head had black chicken feathers instead of hair, as well as two faces drawn with ink, one in front of the head and the other “where the nape of the head should be.”1 Each mouth had a tongue sewn onto it. one tongue looked like a snake’s with a forked end; the other tongue had a gag tied around it—or a needle piercing it, according to conflicting descriptions.2 The effigy’s arms and feet were made of reeds. The effigy wore a sambenito, the garment that the inquisition imposed on those found guilty of acting against God and the catholic church. The effigy’s sambenito had a red saint andrew’s cross (like the letter X) painted over a yellow background. heretics condemned to death wore sambenitos on their way to the stake. Below the effigy lay a pile of firewood. The effigy held in one hand a spindle and a distaff, common implements for spinning thread. The other hand held a sign in large Gothic script that read: “i, the great Comendador of mount calvary, rubio naranjo, as the lord of this town, order all the neighbors to present me with all my forebears’ property, which are the coats of arms of the most blessed san Benito; no one is Zacatecas Veracruz Tlaxcala Río de Alvarado Puebla Oaxaca Michoacán Mexico City Guaxolotitlan Guanajuato Atlixco Citlaltepetl (Pico de Orizaba) Matlalcueyatl (La Malinche) Popocatepetl Iztaccihuatl G u l f o f M e x i c o P a c i fi c O c e a n YUCATÁN G u l f o f M e x i c o A t l a n t i c O c e a n P a c i fi c O c e a n Mexico City Veracruz 0 0 50 100 150 Miles 50 100 200 Kilometers Chalcoatengo/Lake Xochimilco Veracruz Tlaxcala Tepeaca Quecholac Puebla Mexico City Cholula Atlixco Acatzingo Citlaltepetl (Pico de Orizaba) Sierra del Monumento Cerro Techachales-Techalrey Matlalcueyatl (La Malinche) Popocatepetl Iztaccihuatl Chalcoatengo/ Lake Xochimilco 0 0 50 100 Miles 50 100 150 Kilometers Gulf of Mexico Tecamachalco Valle de San Pablo Tecamachalco Sierra del Monumento Figure 2. central mexico in the sixteenth century. Prologue 5 more worthy to have them than me, thanks to my great deeds, which are known to everyone. [signed:] hernando rubio naranjo.”3 in addition to the effigy, two other sambenitos were nailed to the church’s facade, on either side of the door of the temple (see Figure 3). These sambenitos were about one foot by eight and a half inches and did not have effigies. They were made of the same tochomite used for the effigy, glued onto deerskins. They had a big red saint andrew’s cross painted over a yellow background. Below each sambenito was a sign, about half the size of the sambenito. one sign read: “no one take my coat of arms.” The other sign warned: “Whoever removes me, let the same happen to you.”4 Both signs bore the signature of rubio naranjo, a trader (tratante). Was the effigy’s enigmatic message an inside joke “known to everyone” in town, like hernando rubio naranjo’s alleged “great deeds”? its ominous message was certainly no laughing matter. The sign ordered the neighbors of tecamachalco to recognize rubio naranjo with the coat of arms of saint Benedict, or “san Benito,” a play on the word sambenito. such a coat of Figure 3. rendition of the placement of effigy and sambenitos on the facade of tecamachalco’s church on the morning of 21 July 1578. 1578 6 arms could bring only shame, or worse. sambenitos branded their wearers with the infamy of heresy, which theologians defined as treason against God (laesae majestatis divinae). however...