Francisco, “Indio Natural De Tenochtitlan,” in Early Colonial Peru

Francisco, Indian of Tenochtitlan, arrived in Peru around 1540. In 1543, in the city of Cuzco, he sued Juan de Salamanca, his owner, to claim his freedom asserting that he had born as free person and macehual in pre-Hispanic Tenochtitlan. In his narrative, he presented himself a loyal servant of Francisco Pizarro, the Spanish conqueror of Peru. He was enslaved by the Almagrista faction that killed Pizarro in Lima, in June 1541. Afterwards, he was brought to Cuzco, where Juan de Salamanca purchased him as a slave. This presentation examines the stoy of Francisco, his memories on pre-Hispanic and early colonial Mexico, and his struggle for freedom in Cuzco and Lima (the seat of the Audiencia). His case illustrates the existence of indigenous slavery in early colonial Peru and the usage of law for discussing the status of freedom. Both parties, Francisco and Juan de Salamanca, employed legal facilitators to assert their rights in the lower and upper courts of colonial Peru. This paper also presents the human experience of Francisco, who was an exceptional witness of the pre-Hispanic capital centers (Tenochtitlan and Cuzco) and the emergence of a new colonial order.