Estos indios brujos han manchado mi honor»: juicio contra Don José Mariano de la Peña, cura párroco de Santa Elena en el siglo XVIII

Abstract

With the European incursion into the New World, the Church had established categories and networks to dominate and acculturate the Indians, and any form of uprising that endangers the power exercised in this territory. In this way, he used different social actors such as: bishops, priests, friars, parish priests, etc., for his evangelizing purpose in American lands. This led to a complex relationship between Europeans and Indians in their attempt to eradicate the ancient cults of the natives that soon ended up coexisting. In this sense, a trial against the parish priest of Santa Elena in the year of 1788 in Santa Elena was the starting point of this work. This investigation was carried out through the historical method, where each accusation and defense that is reflected in the trial of Auto de Capítulos contra el cura de la Punta de Santa Elena, Dr José Mariano de la Peña. Corre con la Causa Criminal contra Varios Indios de dicho pueblo por el delito de sacrilegio (1788) it allowed to explain the circumstances in which this judicial process was carried out, how the accused person coped, the consequences of the process and what categories are developed through the trial. In this case, the parish priest of Punta de Santa Elena, José Mariano de la Peña, was accused of certain crimes by the Indians and they will be turned into "idolaters" and "witches" as a means of defense by this religious. Therefore, this work constitutes a contribution to the study of the legal processes mediated by the Catholic Church that displayed its concepts and values, in addition, it allows us to approach the investigations of the interethnic relations between Spaniards and Indians in a little studied context such as in Santa Elena in the 18th century