Statement of Captain Juan López Olguín to the Inquisition, 1626

Juan López Olguín had already made two other statements to the Inquisition, one denouncing Juan Gómez de Luna and another denouncing Alonso Varela. In his third statement he denounced the conduct of the former governor Don Juan de Eulate, recounting many of the same episodes that other witnesses had already spoken about.

A paleographic transcription of López Olguín’s testimony in Spanish is available in the Cibola Project’s “Cross vs. Crown in New Mexico, 1626.”

---

Statement of Captain Juan López Olguín to Friar Alonso de Benavides

22 May 1626

Santa Fe

In the town of Santa Fe, on the morning of the 22nd day of the month of May in the year 1626, before Father Friar Alonso de Benavides, Commissary of the Holy Office of these provinces, there appeared without being summoned and swore under oath to tell the truth a man who said his name was Captain Juan López Olguín, married and a resident of this town, and one of its first founders, aged 64 to 65 years.

To relieve his conscience, he says and denounces that about a year and a half ago, more or less, while he was in the house of Don Juan de Eulate, who at that time was governor of these provinces, in conversation with many other persons whose names he does not recall nor the purpose, Don Juan de Eulate publicly said to all that in his land a student had wished to be ordained, but the bishop had rejected him for being a novice; whereupon that student, either the next day or shortly thereafter, set forth certain propositions claiming that the persons of the Holy Trinity were four or five. At these words, everyone was scandalized, and this declarant does not recall that any of those present reproved him, for he was not a man whom anyone dared to contradict.

Likewise, he declares that he heard Don Juan de Eulate on another occasion in his own house, and before persons whose names he does not remember, save for one, Captain Rodrigo Bellido, say that in his land he used to confess to a priest or a beneficiary priest (one receiving rents for a particular office) while walking up and down along the river.

He also declares that on the same occasion, and before those same persons, he heard Don Juan de Eulate say that any person would commit a mortal sin if he heard mass from any priest, knowing for certain that such priest was in a state of sin; and to prove this he produced a book called Manuel Rodríguez and read from it in confirmation of his claim. He then gave it to Diego de Vera, husband of this deponent’s great-granddaughter (actually, his granddaughter), to read it aloud to others wherever the matter might arise.

He further declares that he heard Father Friar Andrés Baptista, guardian of San Ildefonso, say that he had been at odds with Don Juan de Eulate over his insistence that a cathedral chapter of a church, in opposition to its bishop who refused to perform ordinations, could itself carry them out.

All these things were scandalous both to this declarant and to those present, who were simple men; and thus this declarant holds a poor opinion of the Christianity of Don Juan de Eulate, having seen him remain excommunicated for a long time without paying heed to the censures of the Church, and not showing devotion to the Mass. When he came to hear it, often it had already begun or was halfway through, and during all of it he would sit down, pull at his beard, mock the preacher as he preached, and speak ill of the priests. In particular, this declarant says he heard him call Father Friar Asencio de Zárate a great scoundrel, saying that a greater one had never entered this land, though he was at that time its prelate and a religious man of very holy life and reputation.

And this is the truth, according to the oath he has taken. Having had his statement read to him, he said it was well written, and that he did not say it out of hatred. He promised secrecy and signed his name.

Friar Alonso de Benavides {rubric}    {rubric} Juan López Olguín                  Witnessed by

Commissary                                                                                      Friar Pedro de Ortega {rubric}

                                                                                                                              Notary

---

Sources:

Viridiana Rivera Álvarez and Jerry R. Craddock, “Cross vs. Crown in New Mexico, 1626” UC Berkeley Research Center for Romance Studies, Cibola Project, 2019. Available at: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0xq1g5b3 

Archivo General de la Nación 

Inquisición, Volumen 356, Expediente 107, fol. 270r-270v, (Images 83399-83400)

Available at: https://repositorio.agn.gob.mx/