Citation

Méndez S. Americania 2021; 2021(14): 34-62.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021)

DOI

10.46661/americania.6266

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The Maya goddess Ixtab is mentioned as 'goddess of the gallows' in the defence of the provincial Fray Diego de Landa against the accusations of having caused hangings during the inquisitorial processes of 1562 in Yucatan. This allegation has motivated the study and analysis of the main testimonies related to these trials to glimpse at the motivation of these suicides. The results of the analytical-synthetic investigation of the main testimonies of the inquisitorial processes conclude that the hangings synchronous to the development of the episode were related to the violence of this one, discarding the suicides by religious cult or cultural tendency to suicide. In the same way, the deity Ixtab as deity of the gallows, could come from an external perversion to the Mayan culture with the purpose of exculpating the religious of the hangings during the persecution of idolatries of 1562. © 2021, Universidad Pablo de Olavide. All rights reserved.

Language: es

Keywords

Auto de Fe; Fray Diego de Landa; History of Yucatán; Ixtab; Maya; Suicide