Spanish Colonial Women and The Law
Spanish Colonial Women and The Law
Synopsis
In the early eighteenth century, Spanish colonial women of New Mexico submitted petitions and complaints to the alcalde mayors and governors about things that were not quite right in their lives. These included complaints about abusive spouses, adultery, breach of promise, abductions, dowries, and rape as well as theft, fights (between men over women and with each other), property boundaries, and inheritance. It also shows the alcaldes and governors listening to their concerns, hearing the testimony of numerous witnesses, trying to follow legal procedures as they knew them, and mandating punishment or compromises.
For this volume, Tigges and Salazar have selected 35 documents for translation and transcription. Many of these documents exist in the original hand-written manuscripts in Spanish Archives of New Mexico in Santa Fe. Others come from the Archivo General de la Nacional in Mexico City and elsewhere. To the many descendents of the Spanish colonials these translations will provide first hand information about their ancestors. They can read about their behavior, listen to their testimony and, for better or worse, learn more about them than just their names. This book can be considered a companion, in part, to Ralph Emerson Twitchell’s Spanish Archives of New Mexico.
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