Mexican Legal Documents, 1577-1805. "Denunció" of a black slave named Ana or Mariana of the city of Guastepeque, 20 December 1658. 1-8, Harvard Law School Library.

This collection contains various legal documents from colonial Mexico, from the 16th to the early 19th century. Included are proceedings of the Mexican Inquisition, as well items related to the business of the Casa de Moneda (Mint) of Mexico and Roman Catholic Church.

Historical/Biographical Information

In 1521, with the defeat of the Aztec Empire by Hernán Cortés, Mexico became a Spanish colony, where the European forms of government and religion were imposed on native cultures and Spanish emigres. The colonial government itself was established in 1535, the same year that the Casa de Moneda de México (Mint of Mexico), the first mint in the Americas, was founded. 1571 saw the beginning of another imported institution -- the Inquistition. Largely concerned with sexual and blasphemous actions by the clergy as well as false converts to Catholicism, the Mexican Inquisition tried both natives and Spanish citizens for their crimes. Spanish control of Mexico came to an end in 1821 after 10 years of revolution.