Francisco Tenamaztle - Trial in Spain

Trial in Spain

In Spain, Tenamaztle was imprisoned in Valladolid and later took up residence in a Dominican monastery. Here he met Bartolomé de las Casas who helped him plead his case. The wheels of justice rolled slowly and it was July 1, 1555 before he had an opportunity to present his case to the King and the Council of the Indies.

Tenamaztle’s strategy was to (1) establish that he was the rightful tlatoani of Nochistlan; (2) demonstrate that the Caxcan had received the Spanish in peace and that he should have all the rights of a vassal of the King of Spain; (3) accuse Nuño de Guzman, Cristobal de Oñate and Miguel de Ibarra of exploiting and murdering Indians; and, (4) declare that the war of the Caxcanes was “natural justice” because of the abuses of the Spaniards. He petitioned that his lands, wife, and children be returned to him.

Tenamaztle asked the king to consider "the unparalleled wrongs and evils that the Caxcanes had endured at the hands of the Spanish” and said that the objective of the Indians was not to rebel but to “flee the inhuman cruelty to which they were subjected." The trial proceeded without decision for more than one year. The last known document related to the trial is dated August 7, 1556. Nothing more is known of the disposition of the case or of Tenamaztle. He probably died in Spain.