The witnesses summoned in Antonio’s defense verified his family background. He was the son of Juan Ruiz de Alanís who had faithfully served His Majesty in the conquest of New Spain, and Antonio and Leonor Bello were cousins, as Antonio’s mother Leonor de Castañeda was the sister of Leonor’s mother Gracia Iñiguez de Valdosera (aka Valdeosera). Many of the witnesses had known both sisters since they had arrived from Spain with their other siblings. Regarding the conspiracy, sev

On 6 December 1567, the jailers led Antonio Ruiz de Castañeda from his cell to appear for his first hearing before judges Alonso Muñoz and Luis Carrillo. They asked him a series of questions about his background and his involvement in the conspiracy. Antonio stated he was a native of this land, the son of Juan Ruiz de Alanís and Leonor de Castañeda. He was not employed because his encomienda of half of the pueblo of Tehuacán provided him an annual income of 2,000 pesos. He a

My 13x-great-grandfather, Antonio Ruiz de Castañeda, son of the conquistador Juan Ruiz de Alanís and Leonor de Castañeda, was the first cousin of Leonor Bello, wife of Gil González de Ávila (one of the principal conspirators in the rebellion of 1566). Antonio was also a second-generation encomendero , having inherited his father’s encomienda of half of the pueblo of Tehuacán. These circumstances entangled Antonio in the investigation into the rebellion. On 1 August 1566, t

The audiencia real of Mexico City summoned my 13x-great-grandmother Antonia de Benavides to testify in the trial of Alonso de Ávila (aka Dávila) Alvarado and his brother Gil González Dávila, who were accused of conspiring with don Martín Cortés, the Marqués del Valle , to overthrow the government. Her testimony was not critical to the case, but it is one of the very few examples that exist of a woman’s testimony in a high-profile criminal trial of the era. We can imagine

On 9 January 1568 (the same day the Quesada brothers were executed), the prosecutor Francisco de Sande presented the summary of his evidence against Antonio de Carvajal to Muñoz and Carrillo. He argued that Antonio was an active and knowing participant in the conspiracy—not based on any explicit actions or evidence of rebellion—but on his pattern of conduct during the investigation: concealment, coordination with other suspects, manipulation of testimony, and deliberate effor

On 4 December 1567, Alonso Muñoz and Luis Carrillo—the two officials from the Council of Indies who had been sent to Mexico City to oversee the criminal trials of those accused in the rebellion—summoned Antonio de Carvajal to appear before them. Antonio was sworn in as a regidor (city council member) and resident of Mexico City, about 30 years old, more or less. He stated he was the son of Antonio de Carvajal and Catalina de Tapia and that he was married to María de Sosa,

The audiencia intended to proceed with the trials of Don Martin Cortés and his brothers but the new viceroy, Gastón de Peralta, Marqués de Falces , wrote asking them to suspend their deliberations to await his arrival. He arrived in Mexico City on 19 October 1566 and began his own inquiry into the conspiracy. Much to the chagrin of the oidores , he appeared to favor the side of the marqués , relaxing the conditions of his imprisonment and even allowing him to receive visitor

In preparation for the criminal trial of Don Martín Cortés, Marqués del Valle de Oaxaca , hundreds of witnesses were summoned to give their depositions according to a list of 93 questions. The defense sought to paint the charges against the marqués as false accusations resulting from the rivalry between the late viceroy Luis de Velasco and his allies on one side, and the marqués and his brothers on the other. They also attempted to show that the marqués was a faithful and

The principal cause of the 1566 conspiracy in New Spain to rebel against the king was the introduction of the “New Laws” of 1542 which prohibited the inheritance of encomiendas . This threatened to dispossess the richest, most distinguished families of their principal source of wealth and income. Understandably, the first generation of Spanish criollos— the children of conquistadors and first settlers who had been born in the colonies—were aggrieved by the change and were det