Corruption and Justice in Colonial Mexico, 1650–1755

364 Pages·2019·5.517 MB·English

by  Christoph Rosenmüller

CorruptionandJusticeinColonialMexico,1650–1755
CorruptionisoneofthemostprominentissuesinLatinAmericannews
cycles,withchargesdecidingtherecentelectionsinMexico,Brazil,and
Guatemala. Despite the urgency of the matter, few recent historical
studies on the topic exist, especially on Mexico. For this reason,
Christoph Rosenmüller explores the enigma of historical corruption.
By drawing upon thorough archival research and a multi-lingual
collection of printed primary sources and secondary literature,
Rosenmüller demonstrates how corruption in the past differed
markedly from today. Corruption in Mexico’s colonial period
connoted the obstruction of justice; judges, for example, tortured
prisoners to extract cash or accepted bribes to alter judicial verdicts.
Inaddition, theconcept evolvedovertime toinclude severalformsof
self-advantageinthebureaucracy.Rosenmüllerembedsthisimportant
shift from judicial to administrative corruption within the changing
Atlantic world, while also providing insightful perspectives from the
lowersocialechelonsofcolonialMexico.
Christoph Rosenmüller is a professor at Middle Tennessee State
University.His publicationsincludethe edited volumesCorruptionin
the Iberian Empires: Greed, Custom, and Colonial Networks (2017),
“Dávidas,Dones,Dinero”:Aportesalanuevahistoriadelacorrupción
(2016, with Stephan Ruderer), and the book Patrons, Partisans, and
Palace Intrigues: The Court Society of Colonial Mexico, 1702–1710
(2008).
cambridge latin american studies
GeneralEditors
KRISLANE,TulaneUniversity
MATTHEWRESTALL,PennsylvaniaStateUniversity
EditorEmeritus
HERBERTS.KLEIN
GouverneurMorrisEmeritusProfessorofHistory,ColumbiaUniversityandHoover
ResearchFellow,StanfordUniversity
OtherBooksintheSeries
113. Corruption and Justice in Colonial Mexico, 1650–1755, Christoph
Rosenmüller
112. Blacks of the Land: Indian Slavery, Settler Society, and the Portuguese
ColonialEnterpriseinSouthAmerica,Weinstein/Woodard/Montiero
111. TheStreetIsOurs:Community,theCar,andtheNatureofPublicSpacein
RiodeJaneiro,ShawnWilliamMiller
110. Laywomen and the Making of Colonial Catholicism in New Spain,
1630–1790,JessicaL.Delgado
109. Urban Slavery in Colonial Mexico: Puebla de los Ángeles, 1531–1706,
PabloMiguelSierraSilva
108. The Mexican Revolution’s Wake: The Making of a Political System,
1920–1929,SarahOsten
107. LatinAmerica’sRadicalLeft:RebellionandColdWarintheGlobal1960s,
AldoMarchesi
106. Liberalism as Utopia: The Rise and Fall of Legal Rule in Post-Colonial
Mexico,1820–1900,TimoH.Schaefer
105. BeforeMestizaje:TheFrontiersofRaceandCasteinColonialMexico,Ben
VinsonIII
104. The Lords of Tetzcoco: The Transformation of Indigenous Rule in
PostconquestCentralMexico,BradleyBenton
103. Theater of a Thousand Wonders: A History of Miraculous Images and
ShrinesinNewSpain,WilliamB.Taylor
102. IndianandSlaveRoyalistsintheAgeofRevolution,MarcelaEcheverri
101. Indigenous Elites and Creole Identity in Colonial Mexico, 1500–1800,
PeterVillella
100. AsianSlavesinColonialMexico:FromChinostoIndians,TatianaSeijas
(ContinuedaftertheIndex)
Corruption and Justice in Colonial
1650–1755
Mexico,
CHRISTOPH ROSENMÜLLER
MiddleTennesseeStateUniversity
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www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781108477116
doi:10.1017/9781108756761
©ChristophRosenmüller2019
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Firstpublished2019
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
names:Rosenmüller,Christoph,1969–author.
title:CorruptionandjusticeincolonialMexico,1650–1755/Christoph
Rosenmüller.
description:Cambridge,UnitedKingdom;NewYork,ny:CambridgeUniversity
Press,.2019.|Series:CambridgeLatinAmericanstudies|Includesbibliographical
referencesandindex.
identifiers:lccn2018061284|isbn9781108477116(alk.paper)
subjects:lcsh:Mexico–Politicsandgovernment–1540–1810.|Mexico–History–
Spanishcolony,1540–1810.|Politicalcorruption–Mexico–History.
classification:lccf1231.r7652019|ddc972/.02–dc23
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Contents
ListofMaps,TablesandFigures pagevi
Acknowledgments vii
ANoteonTerms xi
ListofAbbreviations xiv
Introduction 1
1 EmpireofJustice 11
2 FromJudicialtoAdministrativeCorruption 53
3 “ThisCustomorBetterSaidCorruption”:LegalStrategies
andtheNativeTradewiththeAlcaldesMayores 92
4 “VileandAbominablePacts”:TheSaleofJudicial
AppointmentsandtheGreatDeclineofViceregal
Patronage 123
5 CriminalProcessandthe“JudgeWhoIsCorruptedby
Money” 153
6 GuiltandPunishmentsforFraud,Theft,andthe“Grave
OffenseofBriberyorCorruption” 196
7 ThePoliticsofJustice:FranciscoGarzarón’sVisita
(1716–1727) 222
Conclusion:ApproachingHistoricalCorruption 255
Appendix 273
Glossary 283
Bibliography 289
Index 334
v
Maps, Tables, and Figures
maps
1 TheViceroyaltyofNewSpainin1700 page5
2 TheGlobalIusCommune 22
3 TheIberianPeninsulain1700 43
4 TheJurisdictionorAlcaldíaMayorofHuejotzingo 157
tables
1 AbsoluteCochinealExportPricesintheHarborof
Veracruz 109
2 MeanInflation-AdjustedCochinealPricesinAmsterdam 109
3 TheBeginningsoftheBeneficioofAlcaldíasMayores 140
4 ViceregalAppointmentstoAlcaldíasMayoresofNewSpain 149
5 SuspendedandAbsolvedMinisters 243
6 VerdictsagainstMinistersinGarzarón’sVisita 274
7 TheElevenDismissedAudienciaOfficials 281
figures
1 TheDecreeoftheUnjustJudge 59
2 Unknownartist,MexicanBiomboofthefirsthalfoftheeighteenth
century,representingtheentryofaSpanishking(detail) 68
3 Unknownartist,RefugiumPeccatorum/
VirgendelRefugiodelosPecadores(detail) 76
4 Unknownartist,TheKingReformsJustice,1764 88
5 JoséAntoniodeAlzate,IndianWhoGathersCochinealwith
aDeerTail,MexicoCity,1777 99
vi
Acknowledgments
mephistopheles. Butchoosesomefaculty,Ipray!
student. Ifeelastrongdisliketotrythelegalcollege.
mephistopheles. Icannotblameyoumuch,Imustacknowledge.
Iknowhowthisprofessionstandstoday.
Statutesandlawsthroughalltheages
Likeatransmittedmaladyyoutrace;
Ineverygenerationstillitrages
Andsoftlycreepsfromplacetoplace.
Reasonisnonsense,rightanimpudentsuggestion;
Alasforthee,thatthouagrandsonart!
Ofinbornlawinwhicheachmanhaspart,
Ofthat,unfortunately,there’snoquestion.
johannwolfgangvongoethe,Faust:ATragedy,chap.7,
thestudychamber,transl.CharlesT.Brooks,7thed.
Boston:TicknorandFields,1868,http://www.gutenberg.org/
cache/epub/14460/pg14460.html.
IamgratefultotheserieseditorsKrisLaneandMatthewRestallandto
acquisitions editor Deborah Gershenowitz for their thoughtful sugges-
tions and for including the book in the Latin American Series of
CambridgeUniversityPress.
Several grants supported research and writing. A Fulbright García
Robles Grant took me to Mexico in the academic year 2014–15. The
Center for Historical Studies at El Colegio de México accepted me as a
visiting scholar and offered fabulous working conditions during this
fellowship and on later occasions. I particularly wish to thank Erika
vii
viii Acknowledgments
PaniandArielRodríguezKuri,theCenter’sdirectors.Inaddition,Bernd
Hausberger,AndrésLira,CarlosMarichal,AdrianPearce,GabrielTorres
Puga,andGuillermoZermeñodiscussedwithmeideasofjusticeonmany
occasions. Sandra Kuntz kindly invited me to present my work in her
PermanentSeminaronEconomicHistory.
Subsequently, a German Academic Exchange Service (Deutscher
Akademischer Austauschdienst) Grant in the fall 2015 allowed me to
continue my research at the University of Münster, where I profited
much from discussions with Silke Hensel and Stephan Ruderer. In the
winter2015,IreturnedtoMexicotoresearchandlecture,supportedbya
FulbrightSpecialistGrant.Duringtheacademicyear2016–17,theMax
Planck Institute for Legal History in Frankfurt, Germany, gave me the
chance to advance the manuscript and use its wonderful facilities. I am
especiallygratefultoitsdirector,ThomasDuve,forthisopportunity.The
conversations at the Institute with Alejandro Agüero, Angela Ballone,
PamelaCacciavillani,ÁlvaroCasoBello,FernandaBretonesLane,Peter
Colin,MacarenaCordero,OttoDanwerth,DoraDávila,MaxDeardorff,
Wim Decock, José Luis Egío, Karl Härter, José María Humanes,
Constanza López Lamerain, María del Pilar Mejía Quiroga, Heinz
Mohnhaupt, Osvaldo Rodolfo Moutin, José Luis Paz Nomey, Jakob
Fortunat Stagl, Michael Stolleis, and Javier Villa Flores considerably
shapedmythinkingaboutcorruption.
I finished the manuscript and added sources while on a fellowship
sponsored by the Gerda Henkel Foundation, to which I am much
indebted. The Foundation also provided support for the index and
substantial editing work. In addition, the Middle Tennessee State
University has awarded me three Faculty Creative Arts and Research
grants to travel to international archives. I am also thankful to the
libraryoftheUniversityofFloridaforsupportingtravelin2006toread
themicrofilmedArchiveoftheCountsofRevillagigedo.
Mark Burkholder, Susan Deeds, Marc Eagle, Tamar Herzog, Renzo
Honores,RenatePieper,SusanSchroeder,andBradWrightreadchapters
of the manuscript and gave very insightful suggestions. The 2018
Southwestern Seminar and especially Mark Lentz, Ryan Kashanipour,
José Carlos de la Puente Luna, Kevin Gosner, Eva Mehl, Bianca Premo,
Joaquín Rivaya-Martínez, Dana Velasco Murillo, and Juliet Wiersema
commentedinsightfullyonchapterthree.TheworkinggrouponEmpire
intheLongEighteenthCentury, composedofIvánEscamilla,Francisco
Eissa-Barroso,GibránBautistaLugo,GuadalupePinzón,FrancesRamos,
AntonioRubialGarcía,andMatildeSoutoalsodiscussedthreechapters