L’usage du fouet par le clergé local des communautés indiennes du diocèse de Oaxaca (Nouvelle-Espagne) à la fin du xviiie siècle

Abstract

This article presents an analysis of a number of reports written in 1784 by twenty priests in the diocese of Oaxaca. Written at the request of bishop José Gregorio Alonso de Ortigoza, these reports contain highly detailed accounts of corporal punishment –whipping– meted out by ecclesiastical personnel to Indians from village communities. An examination of these accounts reveals that ecclesiastical justice in those communities was not confined to defending the faith but also intervened in social affairs, to an extent that is not yet clear. This ambivalence suggests that this kind of punishment existed in a local situation, where in some cases there was tension between the different jurisdictions represented by Alcaldes mayores or by Indian authorities (Justicias de indios)

Keywords

• Corporal punishment
• Ecclesiastical justice
• Indians
• New Spain
• Oaxaca
• Whip