Another book on the early Mexican Inquisition! one exclaims on hearing of Richard Greenleaf’s work; but it is the merit of this handsomely printed volume issued by the Academy of American Franciscan History that it demonstrates how great is the need and how rich the possibilities for considerably more research. The Inquisition in Mexico from 1536 to 1543, the period when Juan de Zumárraga held appointment as Apostolic Inquisitor, delegate of the Holy Office in Spain, is the theme that Greenleaf has set himself. His findings are presented in terms of the major categories of problems that Zumárraga dealt with as Inquisitor. Two chapters handle the varied cases arising from the newly converted Indians and resistance to missionary work. The famous case of Don Carlos of Texcoco in 1539, which led to the replacement of Zumárraga as Inquisitor by Tello de Sandoval, is once again discussed at some length. Greenleaf’s assessment of Zumárraga as an upright, though perhaps inflexible judge, in the ease is undoubtedly fair but avoids the problems of political context and Indian policy that were so much a part of the problem. Nearly half the volume is devoted to cases arising from jurisdiction over the European and Negro population, Christians Old and New, accused of heresy, practice of Jewish rites, blasphemy, immorality, sorcery, and superstition. Greenleaf concludes that “Zumárraga’s activities as Apostolic Inquisitor and real founder of the Mexican Inquisition were comparable to those of Mendoza as founder of the viceregal system in the Spanish empire of America.”

The contribution of the volume lies in its summaries of cases. Greenleaf proves that there were many more in the earliest years than Medina found and more than the records preserved in the Ramo de Inquisición in the Mexican National Archives would indicate. His summaries demonstrate, furthermore, that the actual records in many instances have not been read with care. Greenleaf has brought to his task an examination of almost all publication on the Mexican Inquisition (except unaccountably that of Boleslao Lewin and oddly enough, use of the Catholic encyclopedia but not the Jewish encyclopedia). The unresolved problems of the volume lie in the need for assessment of the cases in far wider contexts. It is symptomatic of this need that the least satisfactory parts of the work are those on the intellectual atmosphere of the early sixteenth century and on Indian culture. The case summaries raise very real questions. What is one to think of the following? “There was testimony that Alonso had rebaptized other children in conformity with the Mosaic Law.” Diego de Ocaña ate shark and other fish in accordance with Jewish custom. The “most scandalous crime” of Juan de Baeza “was the circumcision of Indian children with his fingernails.” Greenleaf is aware that the person accused of cryp to-Judaism was one “who showed great disrespect and contempt for Christianity by word, deed, and example especially in sexual morality. He frequently tried to undermine the faith of others and of the native population.” An examination of other cases, involving no charge of Jewish practice, suggests a common characteristic of neuroticism and eccentricity that singled out the accused for public attention. The general mildness of Zumárraga’s verdicts arose, one suspects, from perception of this. It may well be that further exploration of the history of the early Inquisition in Mexico demands a knowledge of intellectual and religious history, ethnology, and social and abnormal psychology.