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Beatriz de Padilla

Beatriz de Padilla (b. 1620s) was a Mexican-born Morisco woman who rose from slavery to property ownership. Her legal battles and persecution by the Spanish Inquisition gained her notability during her lifetime. In 1650 de Padilla was accused of using magic to seduce and poison priest Diego Ortiz whom she had a long-lasting love affair with. De Padilla was born into slavery by a black, Mulatta mother and a white Spaniard father.^[1] She and her mother were eventually freed for their exemplary service. De Padilla was the mistress to many powerful men, but the man she spent the longest with and was the closest to, Diego Ortiz, eventually promised her and their son his land and estate. Her relationship with Ortiz and his subsequent death sparked legal accusations against her and she was put on trial by the Spanish Inquisition in Mexico City. However, due to her candid testimony (and allegedly her beauty) she was acquitted of all charges and returned to her home in Lagos as a free property owner.

Early Life

Beatriz de Padilla was born into slavery in Lagos, Mexico. Her mother, Cecilia de Alvarado, an unmarried Mullata servant had also been born into slavery in the household of viceroy don Luis de Velasco. Her father, Lorenzo de Padilla was a Spaniard and a descendant of a powerful Guadalajaran family. Her mother had two other children with different fathers: Francisca Ramirez who was legally recognized by her white father and emancipated, and Fransico de Alvarao, the unrecognized son of a Basque immigrant.^[1] De Padilla and her mother were freed by their owner, a parish priest named don Francisco Perez Rubin, but her mother continued to worked for him. At the time of her arrest, de Padilla was working in the household of don Diego de las Marinas, the mayor of Juchipila.

Caste system

During de Padilla's life, New Spain followed a caste system that categorized people based on the amount of "pure blood" or Spanish blood.^[2] This system limited the already restricted social mobility of non-Spaniard races and those who possessed a lesser amount of Spanish blood were segregated from jobs, were banned from carrying arms, had to live with their masters and could not be in large groups.^[3] As one of de Padilla's parents was a mulatta slave and possessed African blood, de Padilla was not considered a Spaniard and lived as a slave.

Despite being categorized as a non-Spaniard under the caste system, de Padilla would have been able to enjoy some of the flexibility that came with being considered a non-Spanish woman. Caste females did not have to adhere to the same social regulations as "pure blood" Spanish women. Spanish colonial society did not believe that caste females had any honor to keep or defend, whereas Spanish women were expected to adhere to purity standards - however this did not stop some from seeing caste females' behaviors as a threat to Christian order and morality.^[1]^[4]^[5]

Private Life

De Padilla had a very active private life and was involved in relationships with a multitude of men. She never married but had two daughters and two sons with three different men. Her eldest, Agustin Oritz, was the son of priest Diego Oritz Saaverdra, with whom she had a long lasting affair with and was accused of having practiced witchcraft on. Her daughter Maria, whom she had with Hernando Lopez de Lara was raised by de Padilla's mother while her other son and daughter, Micaela and Diego, were the results of her relationship with Diego de las Marinas. De Padilla worked as a servant in the household of Diego de las Marinas until de Padilla moved to Diegoa Ortiz's hacienda and made her relationship with him public.^[1]

Inquisition Trial

After the death of Priest Diego Ortiz, de Padilla was arrested by the Inquisition and charged with poisoning her late lover. Ortiz's mother, dona Luisa Oriza, his sister, and her husband, the royal agent Juan Sanchez Vidaurre, accused de Padilla of using magic to weaken the Priest's mental capacities before killing him with poisonous bath water. Before his death, Ortiz had promised his estate to de Padilla and their son. Ortiz's relatives, jealous of de Padilla's inheritance, charged her with orchestrating his death in order to secure his property. The accusations were also used as a way to voice frustration against de Padilla for breaking out of the colonial social structure. As women of color and former slave, de Padilla's public and genuinely affectionate relationship with Diego Ortiz went against all preconceived notions of colonial acceptability.^[6] Ortiz's relatives and the townspeople of Lagos could understand why the Priest had left his estate to his Morisca mistress.

During de Padilla's inquisition trial in Mexico City, witnesses testifying against her accused her of driving Diego Ortiz to madness before taking his life. De Padilla resolutely denied these claims, emphasizing her distress at the passing of her lover. De Padilla was also accused of mistreating her slaves and servants. In one instance, one of de Padilla's servants, Catalina Ia Garay, accused her of burning her with hot grease and branding her. These claims were unfounded, but De Padilla confessed to them.^[7]

Other witnesses testified that de Padilla had placed her menstrual blood in Ortiz’ bath in an attempt to poison him, as his bath often appeared red. However, she responded that the red color was due to the skin of a prickly pear dying the water red.^[1]

Outcome

As the investigation proceeded, conflicts of interest among the accusers were brought to light. In promising his property, the Priest brought the hatred of his family against de Padilla, as they were jealous that she would inherit her loversland and wealth. De Padilla testified that after Diego’s death, his family hurried through his funeral as they were only focused on collecting on their inheritance. Once the relatives realized that it was de Padilla and not them who would receive Diego’s estate, the family spread the charge of murder against de Padilla. Ortiz’s sister invented the charge that de Padilla kept birds to use in her love charms while his brother in law, Juan Sanchez Vidaurre, spread a rumor that de Padilla was a witch and a murderer, eventually resulting in her trial. Furthermore Diego’s replacement for commissioner of the Holy Office in Lagos was one Andres Lopez, a man with an intimate resentment for de Padilla. She had been the mistress of both his brother whom she had her second child Maria with, and the mistress of his sisters fiance don Diego de las Marinas who eventually left his sister for de Padilla. Lopez was charged with receiving the depositions of the witnesses testifying against de Padilla. Thus. the accusations against de Padilla were used as an outlet to punish de Padilla for her involvement in familial drama. Eventually the Inquisition recognized these alternative motives and, struck by de Padilla's genuine defense, she was acquitted of all charges and returned to Lagos a free property owner.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Sweet, David (1981). Struggle and Survival in Colonial America. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. [1]. ISBN 9780520045019. OCLC 494515089.
^ Douglas, Cope, R. (1994). The Limits of Racial Domination : Plebeian Society in Colonial Mexico City, 1660-1720. Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press. p. 24. ISBN 9780299140441. OCLC 723435922.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Douglas, Cope, R. (2010-01-01). The limits of racial domination : plebeian society in colonial Mexico City, 1660-1720. Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 18, 21. ISBN 9780299140441. OCLC 723435922.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Levine, Melammed (2010). "Judeo-Conversas and Moriscas in Sixteenth-century Spain: A Study of Parallels". Jewish History. 24 (2): 157.
^ Sweet, David (1981). Struggle and Survival in Colonial America. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 252–253.
^ Martínez, María Elena (2004). "The Black Blood of New Spain: Limpieza de Sangre, Racial Violence, and Gendered Power in Early Colonial Mexico". The William and Mary Quarterly. 61 (3): 479–520. doi:10.2307/3491806. ISSN 0043-5597.
^ Mills, Kenneth R.; Taylor, William B. (1998). Colonial Spanish America: A Documentary History. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 178–184. ISBN 9780842025737.

[:1-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Sweet, David (1981). Struggle and Survival in Colonial America. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. [1]. ISBN 9780520045019. OCLC 494515089.

[2] Douglas, Cope, R. (1994). The Limits of Racial Domination : Plebeian Society in Colonial Mexico City, 1660-1720. Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press. p. 24. ISBN 9780299140441. OCLC 723435922.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[3] Douglas, Cope, R. (2010-01-01). The limits of racial domination : plebeian society in colonial Mexico City, 1660-1720. Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 18, 21. ISBN 9780299140441. OCLC 723435922.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[4] Levine, Melammed (2010). "Judeo-Conversas and Moriscas in Sixteenth-century Spain: A Study of Parallels". Jewish History. 24 (2): 157.

[5] Sweet, David (1981). Struggle and Survival in Colonial America. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 252–253.

[6] Martínez, María Elena (2004). "The Black Blood of New Spain: Limpieza de Sangre, Racial Violence, and Gendered Power in Early Colonial Mexico". The William and Mary Quarterly. 61 (3): 479–520. doi:10.2307/3491806. ISSN 0043-5597.

[7] Mills, Kenneth R.; Taylor, William B. (1998). Colonial Spanish America: A Documentary History. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 178–184. ISBN 9780842025737.

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