Strange Characters
On 30 January 1540, the Mexican Inquisition's trial of Pedro Ruiz Calderón began in New Spain. Calderón was a priest accused of using magic to find hidden gold, but what if that's exactly what a Spanish colonist was supposed to do?
Researched, written, and produced by Corinne Wieben with the voice talent of Jack Krause and original music by Purple Planet.
Music
Purple Planet - Midnight Bell
J. S. Bach - Goldberg Variations, BWV. 988 - Variation 1 - Performed by Shelly Katz
Purple Planet - Brave New Age
Purple Planet - Civilisation
Purple Planet - Nightmare
Purple Planet - Sense of Loss
Purple Planet - Shadowlands
Sources
Primary
Castillo, Bernal Díaz del. The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico: 1517–1521, edited by Genaro Garcia and translated by Alfred Percival Maudsley. London: Routledge & Sons, 1928.
Castillo, Bernal Díaz del. The True History of the Conquest of New Spain, edited by Genaro Garcia and translated by Alfred Percival Maudslay. London: Hakluyt Society, 1908.
Columbus, Christopher. “Columbus’ letter to the King and Queen of Spain, 1494.” Internet Medieval Sourcebook. Last revised January 20, 2021.
Medina, Pedro de. Libro de grandezas y cosas memorables de España. Seville, 1549.
“Trial Proceedings against Br. Pedro Ruiz Calderón, Clergyman, for Superstitions, Witchcraft, and Practicing the Black Arts of Necromancy.” In The Inquisition in New Spain: 1536–1820. Edited and translated by John F. Chuchiak IV, 299–301. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012.
Secondary
Aurell i Cardona, Jaume. “Juan II de Aragón (1398-1479): Monarquía y revolución en la España del siglo XV.” Hispania: Revista española de historia 67, no. 227 (2007): 1083–1085.
Brown, Kendall W. A History of Mining in Latin America: From the Colonial Era to the Present. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2012.
Chuchiak, John F., IV. The Inquisition in New Spain: 1536–1820. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012.
Greenleaf, Richard E. Zumárraga and the Mexican Inquisition: 1536–1543. Washington, D.C.: Academy of American Franciscan History, 1962.
Jarus, Owen. “His ‘black magic’ powers failed 16th-century priest on trial.” NBC News. September 10, 2012.
Prescott, William H. History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic. vol. 1. London: Bickers & Son, 1885.
Wagner, Henry R. “Early Silver Mining in New Spain.” Revista de Historia de América, no. 14 (1942): 49–71.
West, Rebecca. “Juan de Zummáraga.” In Survivors in Mexico, edited by Bernard Schweizer, 85–91. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003.
