Allegations of Superstition and Witchcraft Before the Inquisition, 1626 (Part 2 of 2)

Catalina Bernal and Juana López came forward in May to denounce themselves and others for practicing witchcraft. Catalina testified against her sister-in-law, a mestiza woman named Juana de la Cruz, daughter of the deceased Spaniard Juan de la Cruz and Doña Beatriz de los Ángeles, an indigenous woman from New Spain. Juana de la Cruz was a cornucopia of knowledge about charms and spells for all sorts of purposes. 

Juana López, who had sent Lucas de Figueroa to testify on her behalf five months earlier, evidently felt the need to do so again in person, denouncing María de Abendaño, her mother María de Villafuerte and Isabel Olguín.  

Friar Benavides also recorded that Juana de la Cruz was under suspicion for having murdered Alférez Hernando Sambrano and another woman (unnamed) through sorcery in May 1626. It is unclear where this information came from, as no witnesses testified about it during the inquiry. Benavides was sufficiently alarmed by the statements to suggest that Doña Inés, Juana de la Cruz, and María de Villafuerte all warranted some form of punishment. It is interesting that Benavides singled out the indigenous or mestiza women for punishment while overlooking the transgressions of the Spanish women who had made use of the charms or spells. We do not know if any of them were ever punished or sentenced by the Inquisition. 

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

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Statement of Catalina Bernal to Friar Alonso de Benavides 

26 May 1626 

Santa Fe 

In the town of Santa Fe on the 26th day of the month of May of the year 1626, in the afternoon, before Father Fray Alonso de Benavides, Commissary of the Holy Office of these provinces, there appeared, without being summoned, and swore in due form to tell the truth, a woman who said her name was Catalina Bernal, wife of Juan Durán, residents of this town, and she was the daughter of Juan Griego and Pascuala Bernal, now deceased, also residents of this town, and she said she was fifteen years of age. 

To relieve her conscience, she declares and denounces that about two months ago, in this winter, while this declarant was in her house, her sister-in-law Juana de la Cruz came there to speak with her (because she was also living there). She is the daughter of Juan de la Cruz, now deceased, a Catalan, and of Doña Beatriz, an Indian native of New Spain, who is still living today, and Juana de la Cruz is the wife of Juan Griego the younger (el mozo), brother of this declarant. Juana de la Cruz, in the time and place above mentioned, said to this declarant, as they were about to go bathe in the temascal[1] together, that they should not go, but rather that she wished to bathe there in a washtub. And this declarant refusing, Juana de la Cruz bathed alone in the presence of this declarant, and from her own shift she drew, in a little piece of chamois, a small bundle with an herb, which she chewed, and with it she anointed her whole body, leaving nothing untouched. And when this declarant asked her why she did that, Juana de la Cruz replied that it was so that men might love her, and that thus anointed, after the herb dried on her body, she dressed again and begged this declarant not to say anything to anyone. 

And on another occasion, the same Juana de la Cruz showed this declarant a root that she carried with her and told her that in the same way she chewed it and rubbed it on her private parts and her hips and her back, so that men would die for her. Likewise, she told her that on another occasion she had placed a grain of maize in her mouth, having first removed the heart of it, and likewise a little stone, and that when a man was passing unsuspecting in the street, she took the little stone from her mouth and threw it at him without his seeing, and immediately the man turned back to seek her friendship. 

On another occasion, she gave to this declarant an herb made into powder and made her put it into two tortillas, and after this declarant prepared them, Juana de la Cruz asked her for them, and told her, “these go in your name,” though she did not say to whom. And she sent them to a man, who that very night came to seek this declarant, and Juana de la Cruz made her go out to speak with him, though she (Catalina) says that she dismissed him, and Juana de la Cruz told this declarant that the man had come because he had eaten the tortillas. 

And that on another occasion, this declarant ate some bread that Juana de la Cruz had made, thinking it was good, and immediately began to suffer great anguish (grandes ansias). And what remained of the bread this declarant sent to her sisters, and they all were raving (rabiaban[2]), and Juana de la Cruz scolded this declarant because she had eaten it, saying that she had made it to give to a man to make him rave. And she gave her as a remedy to drink hot water, as hot as she could endure, and thus she did, and she became well, and her sisters likewise; for before drinking the water, she had been raving. 

And likewise, Juana de la Cruz told this declarant that she had one herb that made people rave and another to kill. Until then she had not given it to anyone to kill, but she intended to give it to someone because although she still did not bear him (unspecified person) ill will, she would give it when she saw fit.  

Likewise, Juana de la Cruz told this declarant that she would take the grime underneath the nail of her middle finger, and from her big toe, and from the pit of her stomach, and from her back, and from her forehead between the eyebrows, and from the hollow of her throat, and that putting all that together and carrying it with her in the waistband of her petticoat, and upon throwing it into a man’s food, he would die for her. And when she (Catalina) wanted her to do this in front of her, she did not allow it, telling her she wouldn’t teach her those things because she was a young girl, and as such might someday do it and be punished. 

Likewise, the very next day after this declarant married, Juana de la Cruz told her that she had seen her that night with her husband, telling her everything that had happened with him, and when this declarant asked how she could have seen it since the room was dark, Juana de la Cruz replied: “We, when we go about in that way, we have no need of a candle. We saw everything.” And this declarant asked her no more. 

Likewise, she told her that to make the people of the house sleep, it was only necessary to take a little earth from the graves and place it tied in a cloth under someone’s pillow, and he would immediately fall asleep, and then she could get up and walk about the house and go wherever she pleased without anyone noticing her. And she said that she would tame her husband in such a way that even if before his eyes she did something, he would neither see it nor scold her, for she knew the remedy. And she advised this declarant to go outside the house to find some long little worms that are raised in the fields, and to roast them on a griddle and give them to her husband to drink in atole[3] and that it would have the same effect and tame him, but this declarant did not wish to.  

Another time, this declarant saw that Juana de la Cruz caught an ant and split it in two and then blew on it and made it fall, and when this declarant asked what that was, she replied: “Be quiet, you do not know what this is.” Likewise, she told this declarant that she had a root that, when she chewed it, she would begin to think, and then in her head would appear the man or woman who bore her ill will, and upon knowing that someone hated her, she would kill him or her with an herb. And all these things, this declarant says she knows from living in the same house with Juana de la Cruz, her sister-in-law, and having seen her do them in the manner she has declared, and that she did and said these things being of sound mind. 

And this declarant does not know anyone else who can testify in this matter except a ladina[4] Indian woman called Ana, of the Tewa nation, who, when this declarant told her what had happened when she ate the bread, the Indian woman replied: “Leave it, do not tell me anything, for the Holy Inquisition is there; let them punish her alone, not us.” 

On another occasion, this witness stated that, because Juana de la Cruz had carried two little boys in her arms at different times, one of them died and the other lived—but only because this witness treated him with incense from burning clothes that had belonged to Juana de la Cruz, and that in the opinion of this witness it must have been the evil eye of Juana de la Cruz. 

And that this is the truth by virtue of the oath she has taken, and that she does not say it out of hatred. She was charged with secrecy. Her testimony was read aloud to her, and she said it was well written, and she did not sign because she did not know how to write, and the said Father Commissary signed in her stead. 

Friar Alonso de Benavides {rubric} Witnessed by 

Commissary Friar Pedro de Ortega {rubric}

Notary 

Of this Juana de la Cruz there is great suspicion that she used spells to kill Alférez Hernando Zambrano and a woman, both of whom died at the time this declaration was being made, and Zambrano himself said so when he died. And if it please Your Lordship, it seems to me it would be of the utmost importance, in order to put a stop to these acts of witchcraft that are spreading greatly among the Spaniards, that some punishment be carried out here against these women who have been denounced, in particular against Doña Inés, Juana de la Cruz, and María de Villafuerte, for there is already much harm and scandal. 

Friar Alonso de Benavides {rubric}  

Commissary

Statement of Juana López to Friar Alonso de Benavides 

29 May 1626 

Santa Fe 

In the town of Santa Fe, on the 29th day of the month of May in the year 1626, in the morning, before Father Fray Alonso de Benavides, Commissary of the Holy Office of these provinces, there appeared without being summoned and swore in due form a woman who said her name was Juana López, wife of Francisco de Almazán, residents of this town, eighteen years of age.  

To relieve her conscience, she says and declares that about a year ago, more or less, while this declarant was in the house of Doña María de Abendaño, wife of Diego de Vera, residents of this town, alone and with no one else present, the said Doña María de Abendaño asked this declarant if she wanted some powders to give to her husband so that he would love her well, which had been given to her by Doña Inés, a very ladina Indian woman who is treated as a Spaniard, of the Tano nation, resident of this town, for her to give to her husband Diego de Vera, who scolded her a lot out of jealousy because of a young man, Hernán Martín, son of the said Doña Inés, who was flirting with Doña María. She told this declarant that she had given them to her said husband Diego de Vera and that they had worked, because even if he saw her with the said Hernán Martín, or that she went out into the street, he no longer scolded her. 

To this, this declarant told her that she did not want them, lest it be something that might kill her husband, and Doña María replied that she should not be afraid, since she had already given them to her own husband. She further told this declarant that the powders were made from some little “blue birds,” little flies that live in the piciete (tobacco leaves), and from a root that is found in the pueblo of Galisteo, and she offered them to this declarant, who did not wish to receive them. 

Likewise, she declares that in the past month of August, María de Villafuerte, mother of this declarant, a widowed resident of this town, gave this declarant a root to feed to her husband Francisco de Almazán, and this declarant gave it to him in his food so that he would love her, as her mother had told her, and she noticed that after this her husband did indeed love her more, and for this she asks for mercy. 

Likewise, she declares that about twelve years ago her mother told her that Doña Isabel Olguín, wife of Captain Juan de Vitoria Carbajal, had said how she had given some powders, which had been given to her by an Indian servant of hers, to Lope Romero, resident of this town, so that he would love her. And that this is the truth, according to the oath she has taken. When it was read to her, she said it was well written and that she did not say it out of hatred, she was charged with secrecy, she promised it, and did not sign because she did not know how to write. The said Father Commissary signed in her stead. 

Friar Alonso de Benavides {rubric} Witnessed by 

Commissary Friar Pedro de Ortega {rubric} 

Notary 

Doña Inés and María de Villafuerte are more ladina than the Spaniards, and they conduct themselves as such, wearing the mantle (in the Spanish way), and Doña Inés is from this land while María de Villafuerte is from New Spain, and there is no distinction from Spanish women. I have not wished to make further inquiries concerning sorceresses, since the essential matters are already written, and because they would reveal themselves to one another and make it public, which would cause a scandal. 

Friar Alonso de Benavides {rubric}  

Commissary  

^[1] Low adobe house where steam baths are taken.

^[2] It’s not quite clear what the symptoms were. The word can mean to become sick with rabies or to become crazy or furious.

^[3] Hot drink made from corn flour dissolved in water or milk.

^[4] The term was used to refer to indigenous people who had become completely acculturated to Spanish customs.

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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 118 and 119, fol. 312r-314r (Images 83723-83727) 

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