The voice of the underground America in judicial documentation. Indigenous and Portuguese new christian witnesses in legal processes of the 16th Century

Abstract

The article examines judicial processes that involved, as witnesses, two groups present in the Spanish Empire during the early modern period (16th and 17th centuries). These are individuals usually considered, by the imperial authorities, as subverters of the system: indigenous on the Chilean border and Portuguese new Christians. The analysis of records produced in ecclesiastical and secular forums surprises us with the richness of the material that shows the affinity between both realities.