Title: Razon del juicio seguido en la ciudad de Granada ante los ilustrisimos señores don Manuel Doz, presidente de su Real Chancilleria, don Pedro Antonio Barroeta y Angel, arzobispo que fue de esta diocesis, y don Antonio Jorge Galban, actual sucesor en la mitra, todos del Consejo de Su Magestad, contra varios falsificadores de escrituras públicas, monumentos sagrados y profanos, caracteres, tradiciones, reliquias, y libros de supuesta antigüedad
Description: Record of judicial proceedings in Granada concerning a case against Juan de Flores for false documentation of "authentic" antiquities which he allegedly had excavated from the Albaicín neighborhood of Granada between 1754 and 1763, artifacts which he had fabricated himself. In addition, Flores had produced documents which falsely confirmed his family's ownership of certain properties, and privileges of nobility. And finally, Flores was charged with fraud when he put forward documentation falsely justifying the ecclesiastical tax known as the Voto de Santiago after this tax had been shown to be fraudulent and illegal, based as it was on the so-called Battle of Clavijo, a battle which had actually never taken place (see "Representación contra el pretendido Voto de Santiago que hace al Rey Nuestro Señor D. Carlos III el Duque de Arcos," printed by Joaquín Ibarra in Madrid in 1771). Implicated along with Flores were Luis Francisco de Viana y Bustos, canon of the Iglesia Colegial del Sacromonte, a priest, Cristóbal Conde, one of de Viana's disciples, another clergyman of Sacromonte, Padre Juan Ramón Velázquez de Echevarría, and a group of artists and artesans, including the painter Lorenzo Marín and engraver Manuel Rivera. Flores was sentenced to prison on March 6, 1777; all false artifacts were destroyed, the excavated ruins were buried, and the entire excavation zone was sealed off. For a detailed analysis of this case, see "La Granada 'falsificada;' el pícaro Juan de Flores" / Margarita Orfila [and 4 others]. Granada: Diputación de Granada, 2012 (available online).
Subjects: Trials, litigation, Trials (Forgery), Trials (Sacrilege)
Places: Granada, Spain
People: Juan de Flores Oddouz (active 18th century)