Murder in Mérida, 1792: Violence, Factions, and the Law

329 Pages·2018·1.982 MB·English

by  Mark W Lentz

Murder in Mérida, 1792
Diálogos Series
kris lane, series editor
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For additional titles in the Diálogos Series, please visit unmpress.com.
Murder in Mérida, 1792
Violence, Factions, and the Law
.
Mark W. Lentz
University of New Mexico Press \ Albuquerque
© 2018 by the University of New Mexico Press
All rights reserved. Published 2018
Printed in the United States of America
ISBN 978-0-8263-5960-5 (cloth)
ISBN 978-0-8263-5961-2 (paper)
ISBN 978-0-8263-5962-9 (electronic)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data is on file with
the Library of Congress.
Cover illustration by Felicia Cedillos based off of artist rendering(cid:1)
Cover by Felicia Cedillos
To Aunt Kathleen,
a constant supporter of education and good writing

Contents
.
List of Illustrations
ix
Prologue
xi
Acknowledgments
xv
Chapter 1
Introduction
A Province at Risk
1
Chapter 2
The Intendant’s Enemies
Chronicle of an Assassination Foretold
17
Chapter 3
The Suspects of 1792
Prosecuting the Powerless
35
vii
viii contents
Chapter 4
Neither Free nor Family
Criados and Slaves in Spanish Households
61
Chapter 5
Into the Countryside
Outsiders, Intermediaries, and the Maya World
95
Chapter 6
A Stratified Cah, United by Language
Cabildos, Church Auxiliaries, and Indios Hidalgos
129
Chapter 7
Divided at the Top
Politics of the Personal
145
Chapter 8
A Strange Turn of Events
183
Conclusion
207
Glossary
219
Notes
221
Bibliography
289
Index
305
Illustrations
.
Figure 1 Artist’s rendering of the murder weapon sketched
from the original xiii
Figure 2 “Map of the Bay of Honduras shewing the situation
of the Spanish town and fort of St. Fernando
de Omoa . . . ,” 1779 5
Figure 3 An eye draft of Logger-head Cay near to
Cape Catoche . . . , 1760 6
Figure 4 Full view of La Cruz de Gálvez, monument in between
Calles 26 and 28, intersecting with Calle 65, Jardines de
Miraflores, Mérida 19
Figure 5 Caption of La Cruz de Gálvez 20
Figure 6 Intersection marker of La Cruz de Gálvez 21
Figure 7 Caption of intersection marker of La Cruz de Gálvez 22
Figure 8 Second artist’s rendering of the murder weapon
sketched from the original 189
Figure 9 Hacienda Wallis’s main building, now a neighborhood
community center in Mérida 211
ix