Documents of Pedro de Quesada’s Lawsuit Related to the La Santísima Church in Mexico City
Mexico: 1580–1583. Manuscript in ink by different hands. The documents are bound together by sewing. Pages are numbered (18–33). 17 ff. Manuscript in ink by different hands. The documents are bound together by sewing. Pages are numbered (18–33).
The lawsuit was filed by Luis de León the prosecutor (fiscal) of the Archdiocese of Mexico, against Pedro de Quesada, to fulfill the will of his parents, founding the chaplaincy at La Santísima Church in Mexico City (Iglesia de la Santísima Trinidad) by 2,800 gold pesos. In the statement of defense, Pedro de Quesada claims that he lacks the resources as his assets are seized. The documents are signed by Luis de León, the prosecutor, and other officials, among them Juan de Salcedo (dean of Mexico and professor of canonical law in the university, secretary of the Third Mexican Council of 1585), Pedro de Agurto (1544–1608; bishop), and Francisco(?) Maldonado.
Pedro de Quesada (1543 – 1606) was the grandson of Malinche or doña Marina (Malintzin; c. 1500 – 1528 or 1529), Cortés’s Nahuatl-speaking translator and mistress, the mother of Cortés’s son, Martin.
Pedro’s father was Luis de Quasada (aka. López de Mendoza; 1510–?), and his mother María Jaramillo (1525 – c. 1570), the only legitimate daughter of Malinche from her husband Juan Jaramillo (Xaromillo; c. 1490 – c. 1551). Jaramillo was the son of a conquistador (Alonso Jaramillo, who had been active in the conquests of Hispaniola and Venezuela) and himself a prominent one, Cortés’ trusted men and lieutenant in the conquest of Mexico, second in command for the duration of the expedition to Honduras, and the owner of the encomienda of Xilotepec.
In his pleading Pedro states that he is unable to fulfill his parents will because his assets are seized, which might refer to his part of the inheritance from his maternal grandfather, as there has been considerable confusion regarding Jaramillo’s possession – or lack of possession — of Xilotepec because there were so many people involved, and therefore so many lawsuits were filed in relation to the encomienda (Townsend, 2010), of which the most well-documented one was Jaramillo’s second wife Beatriz de Andrada’s case.
Literature: Townsend, C. (2010). Malintzin's choices: An Indian woman in the conquest of Mexico. Albuquerque, NM: Univ. of New Mexico Press.
Documents of Malinche’s grandson Pedro de Quesada’s lawsuit related to his parents' will.
Price: €13,000.00