Luis de Carabajal the younger
Encyclopedia
Luis de Carabajal the younger (d. December 8, 1596, Mexico City
), son of Doña Francisca Nuñez de Carabajal
and nephew of Luis de Carabajal y Cueva
, governor of Nuevo León
, was the first Jewish author in America. He was a Castilian by birth, and a resident of Mexico City; he died there in an auto-da-fé
in 1596. He had been "reconciled" at that city on February 24, 1590, being sentenced to perpetual imprisonment in the lunatic hospital of San Hipolito. On February 9, 1595, he was again arraigned as a "relapso," subsequently testifying against his mother and sisters (if the records are to be believed). At one of the hearings (February 25) he was shown a manuscript book beginning with the words: "In the name of the Lord of Hosts" (a translation of the Hebrew invocation, "be shem Adonay Zebaot"), which he acknowledged as his own book, and which contained his autobiography. On February 8, 1596, he was put on the rack from 9:30 in the morning until 2 in the afternoon, and then denounced no less than 121 persons, though he afterward repudiated his confession. He threw himself out of a window to escape further torture. He and his brother Baltasar composed hymns and dirges for the Jewish fasts: one of them, a kind of "widdui" (confession of sin) in sonnet form, is given in El Libro Rojo.
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
), son of Doña Francisca Nuñez de Carabajal
Francisca Nuñez de Carabajal
Francisca Nuñez de Carabajal was a Marrana in New Spain executed by the Inquisition for "judaizing" in 1596....
and nephew of Luis de Carabajal y Cueva
Luis de Carabajal y Cueva
Luis de Carabajal y Cueva was a Spanish-Portuguese adventurer, slave-trader and governor of Nuevo León.-Background:...
, governor of Nuevo León
Nuevo León
Nuevo León It is located in Northeastern Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Tamaulipas to the north and east, San Luis Potosí to the south, and Coahuila to the west. To the north, Nuevo León has a 15 kilometer stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border adjacent to the U.S...
, was the first Jewish author in America. He was a Castilian by birth, and a resident of Mexico City; he died there in an auto-da-fé
Auto-da-fé
An auto-da-fé was the ritual of public penance of condemned heretics and apostates that took place when the Spanish Inquisition or the Portuguese Inquisition had decided their punishment, followed by the execution by the civil authorities of the sentences imposed...
in 1596. He had been "reconciled" at that city on February 24, 1590, being sentenced to perpetual imprisonment in the lunatic hospital of San Hipolito. On February 9, 1595, he was again arraigned as a "relapso," subsequently testifying against his mother and sisters (if the records are to be believed). At one of the hearings (February 25) he was shown a manuscript book beginning with the words: "In the name of the Lord of Hosts" (a translation of the Hebrew invocation, "be shem Adonay Zebaot"), which he acknowledged as his own book, and which contained his autobiography. On February 8, 1596, he was put on the rack from 9:30 in the morning until 2 in the afternoon, and then denounced no less than 121 persons, though he afterward repudiated his confession. He threw himself out of a window to escape further torture. He and his brother Baltasar composed hymns and dirges for the Jewish fasts: one of them, a kind of "widdui" (confession of sin) in sonnet form, is given in El Libro Rojo.
Sources
- Vicenta Riva Palacio, El Libro Rojo, Mexico, 1870.
- C.K. Landis, Carabajal the Jew, a Legend of Monterey, Vineland, N. J., 1894.