Testimony of Antonia de Benavides, 1566
- Feb 19
- 6 min read
Updated: Mar 11
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 the trepidation that Antonia must have felt as she was ushered into a room in the casas reales of Mexico City on a midsummer day to stand before the president and judges (oidores) of the audiencia to answer their questions. As a noble woman from a prominent family and daughter of a conquistador, she was surly aware of the stakes involved—her testimony had the potential to ruin the family if she wasn’t careful. It’s clear that parts of her statement were meticulously worded to be truthful while attempting to avoid earning the enmity of the faction that had brought accusations against the marqués. But it is also clear from her testimony that she felt the Ávila brothers were wrongly accused. Just a few weeks later, the audiencia pronounced judgment and sentenced the Ávila brothers to death, (see this blog post about the origins of the rebellion).
She stated that she was 27 years old, almost 28. If true, it means she had her first child when she was only fourteen years old (her son Juan Ruiz was baptized in Mexico City on 4 September 1552). Her testimony also revealed a genealogical clue—she stated that her husband Antonio Ruiz de Castañeda and Gil González de Ávila’s wife, Leonor Bello, were first cousins. A future update to the blog will go into this relationship in more detail.
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Testimony of Antonia de Benavides
Mexico City
21 July 1566
Witness: And doña Antonia de Benavides, wife of Antonio Ruiz de Castañeda, resident of this city, witness presented on behalf of Alonso Dávila Alvarado and Gil González Dávila, his brother, having sworn in due legal form, promised to speak the truth; and being questioned upon the articles of the interrogatory under which she was presented as a witness, she stated as follows:
Question 1: First, whether they know the aforementioned Alonso Dávila Alvarado and Gil González Dávila, and whether they knew Gil González Dávila, a resident of this city, now deceased, father of Alonso Dávila and Gil González Dávila, and doña Leonor de Alvarado, his wife, and the adelantado don Pedro de Alvarado, who was governor for His Majesty in the province of Guatemala; and whether they know don Luis de Velasco, Agustín de Villanueva, and Baltazar de Aguilar, residents of this city; and Melchor Bravo, who lodges in the house of don Luis; and the licenciado Espinosa de Ayala, cleric; and Pedro de Aguilar, who is accustomed to lodge at the inn of the licenciado; and don Baltazar de Quesada and don Pedro de Quesada, his brother — all witnesses in this cause, examined — and whether they have knowledge of the matter and reason upon which they have heard, and which is the subject of this lawsuit, let them state what they know.
To the first question, she said that she knows and did know all those contained in the question that was read aloud and those named; and that Gil González Dávila el viejo, deceased, and the adelantado don Pedro de Alvarado — these she did not know personally, but has heard of the matter and reason of this lawsuit.
General Questions: Being asked the general questions, she stated that she is 27 years of age, approaching 28; and that Antonio Ruiz de Castañeda, the husband of this witness, and doña Leonor Bello, who was the wife of Gil González Dávila, one of the parties in this lawsuit, were first cousins. And this witness, by reason of this kinship, has associated in friendship with Alonso Dávila and his brother; but that for this reason she will not fail to speak the truth, for her desire is that the truth be known and that His Majesty hear the truth. And she stated that the other general questions which were put to her do not concern her, nor do they apply to her.
Question 30: Item, whether they know, etc., that it may be about three months, a little more or less, that Octavio de Ibarra, Baltazar de Aguilar, Juan de Sámano, Agustín de Villanueva, and Juan Juárez, residents of this city, and don Sancho Sánchez de Muñón, maestre escuela of the cathedral church of this city, who showed themselves to be enemies of don Martín Cortés, Marqués del Valle, and of Alonso de Ávila, gathered together on various occasions in a certain house in this city, which the witnesses shall declare; and being assembled, they discussed and sought by all means they could to destroy the honor and lives of the marqués and of Alonso Dávila. Let them state what they know and what they understood and inferred therefrom.
To the thirtieth question, she said that what she knows is that it may have been about four months, a little more or less, that one day during that time, while this witness was in her home, which is next to those that belonged to don Diego de Guevara, deceased, where his wife and children now live, Isabel Juárez, widow, daughter of Miguel de Sosa, came to this witness’s house to visit her.
And among other conversations which they had, the aforementioned woman told this witness that in the houses of don Diego de Guevara, Octavio de Ibarra, Baltazar de Aguilar, Juan de Sámano, Agustín de Villanueva, and Juan Juárez had gathered, and that all those whom she has declared were there in secret, speaking for a long while. And that among the words she had heard were some that concerned the Marqués del Valle and Alonso Dávila, and their relatives and associates, by which they demonstrated that they bore them hatred and enmity, and gave to understand that they sought to harm them and to do them all the evil and injury that they might be able, both to their lives and to their honor. And this witness was not surprised, because previously she understood that they were enemies, and thus it was publicly spoken of in this city.
And that some of the faction of don Luis de Velasco, and Octavio de Ibarra, and Baltazar de Aguilar, and Juan de Sámano, whose names she does not presently recall, visited this witness, and they often said that they bore hatred and enmity toward the Marqués del Valle and Alonso Dávila, and that on the other side they must seek all infamy against them, diminishing their reputations. And that this witness, on some occasions, being at the entrance of her house, saw that Octavio de Ibarra, Baltazar de Aguilar, Juan de Sámano, and Juan Juárez, and the maestre escuela, entered the aforementioned houses, sometimes together and other times separately. As a result, and by what else she has stated, she inferred that what Isabel Juárez had told her was true. And this is what she knows and answers to this question.
Question 37: Item, whether they know, etc., that from what has been stated in the other questions of this interrogatory, the witnesses believe and hold for certain that Alonso Dávila Alvarado and Gil González Dávila, his brother, not only would not have done what has been alleged (what they are charged as being culpable of), nor would such a thing ever have entered their thoughts; and that the licenciado Espinosa and the other witnesses who sought to harm them committed perjury by falsely raising such accusations against them, let them state what they know.
To the thirty-seventh question, she said that, from what this witness has known and knows of the goodness and temperance of Alonso Dávila and Gil González Dávila, his brother, and by reason of their Christianity, which is very notorious, this witness believes and holds as true what the question states and declares.
And that this is the truth, under the oath which she took; and therein she affirmed and ratified her testimony, it having been read aloud to her, and she signed it with her name.
And she was not questioned upon the remaining questions of the interrogatory, as requested by the attorney of Alonso Dávila Alvarado and Gil González Dávila, Juan Caro, in their name. She was charged with secrecy regarding her statement and deposition, and she promised it in due form.
Doña Antonia de Benavides
Witnessed by, Antonio Sancho López de Agurto
Witnessed by, Diego Mejía, scribe
Source:
Archivo General de Indias
“Proceso general Audiencia de México: rebelión Nueva España”
Patronato, 203, R.6
(Antonia’s testimony begins on Image 387 of 2,184)
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