page_title: Mexican Inquisition
section_title: Episcopal Inquisition
hierarchical_section_title: Mexican Inquisition / Episcopal Inquisition
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: de:Juan de Zumárraga (* um 1468; † 1548), erster spanischer Erzbischof von Mexiko
context_page_description: The Mexican Inquisition was an extension of the Spanish Inquisition to New Spain. The Spanish Conquest of Mexico was not only a political event for the Spanish, but a religious event as well. In the early 16th century, the Reformation, the Counter-Reformation and the Inquisition were in full force in most of Europe. The Catholic Monarchs of Castile and Aragon had just re-conquered the last Muslim stronghold in the Iberian Peninsula, the kingdom of Granada, giving them special status within the Roman Catholic realm, including great liberties in the conversion of the native peoples of Mesoamerica. When the Inquisition was brought to the New World, it was employed for many of the same reasons and against the same social groups as suffered in Europe itself, minus the Indians to a large extent. Almost all of the events associated with the official establishment of the Holy Office of the Inquisition occurred in Mexico City, where the Holy Office had its own "palace", which is now the Museum of Medicine of UNAM on Republica de Brasil street. The official period of the Inquisition lasted from 1571 to 1820, with an unknown number of victims.
context_section_description: At the time of the discovery and conquest of the New World, Cardinal Adrian de Utrecht was the Inquisitor General of Spain. He appointed Pedro de Córdoba as Inquisitor for the West Indies in 1520. He also had inquisitorial powers in Mexico after the conquest, but did not have the official title. When Franciscan Juan de Zumárraga became the first Bishop of Mexico in 1535, he exercised inquisitorial powers as bishop.
  One of Bishop Zumárraga's first acts as episcopal inquisitor was the 1536 prosecution of a Nahua man, baptized Martín, with the indigenous name of Ocelotl ("ocelot").  He was prosecuted as a nahualli, a priest with supernatural powers, as well as heretical dogmatism, and concubinage. The trial record of his case was published in 1912, Scholars have been attracted to this early case prosecuting a Nahua holy man.
  Another of Bishop Zumárraga's inquisitorial prosecutions was that of Nahua lord of Texcoco, who took the name of Carlos upon baptism and known in the historical literature as Don Carlos Ometochtzin. The trial record was published in 1910 and is the main source for this high-profile case. Don Carlos was likely a nephew of Nezahualcoyotl. Zumárraga accused this lord of reverting to worship of the old gods and following a trial with indigenous witnesses and Don Carlos's own testimony, the Texcocan lord was declared guilty. He burned at the stake on 30 November 1539. However, this persecution was not considered prudent by either the Spanish secular or religious authorities and Zumárraga himself was reprimanded for it.
  For a number of reasons persecution of the Indians for religious offenses was not actively pursued. First of all, since many native practices had parallels in Christianity, and since this "paganism" was neither the Judaic or Islamic faiths that Spanish Christians had fought so zealously against, ecclesiastical authorities opted instead to push native practices in Christian directions. Also, many of the friars sent to evangelize the native peoples became protectors of them from the extremely cruel treatment at the hands of secular authorities. This would contrast sharply with treatment of European heretics later in the colonial period. However, as a practical matter it was probably not prudent to pursue such rigid enforcement in an environment where native peoples vastly outnumbered the European conquerors, who also needed to rule through indigenous intermediaries.
  This is part of the reason why the Inquisition was not formally established in New Spain until 1571. However, this is not to say that Inquisition-like tactics were never used after the Nahua lord Don Carlos's execution. Antagonism with the Spanish led to the Maya resistance in the Yucatan in 1546–1547. The failure of this movement prompted more aggressive evangelization, with the Franciscans finding out that despite their efforts much of traditional beliefs and practice survived. They, under the leadership of Fray Diego de Landa, decided to make an example of those they considered back-sliders without regard to proper legal formalities. Large numbers of people were subjected to torture and as many of the Maya sacred books as could be found were burned.
caption: Bishop Juan de Zumárraga, who as bishop exercised inquisitorial powers
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