Violence and homicides in the Franciscan Missions of Alta California: illicit sexual relations and gender variables (New Spain, 1796-1803)

Abstract

 This paper focuses on the influence of gender relations in the planning and execution of three homicides —two indigenous women and one man— perpetrated by other Indians in the Franciscan missions of Alta or Nueva California at the dawn of the 18th century. The analysis emphasizes the judicial handling of the cases by the military justice system on this frontier as well as the interference of ecclesiastical asylum in the resolution of the cases. On the one hand, this approach examines how gender variables determined the way the homicides were premeditated or not and the manner arguments were presented by the accused, accomplices, and witnesses. On the other hand, it seeks to show how gender configurations influenced the moral and penal categories used to judge and punish the murderers and the role played by illegitimate relationships outside of marriage during the judicial proceedings. We assume that homicidal violence occurred within a missionary context where demands, physical punishment, resistance, outflows, and uprisings formed the basis upon which multiple forms of violence manifested.