The Legal Case of José Soller, Accused of Impersonating a Priest and Other Crimes in 17th-Century Spain: A Bilingual Edition

FAIN: FEL-258143-18

John K. Moore, Jr
University of Alabama, Birmingham (Birmingham, AL 35294-0002)

A bilingual critical edition and scholarly translation of the 17th-century legal case of José Soller, a traveler of African descent prosecuted in Galicia for impersonating a priest.

This project intends an introductory study, critical edition, and scholarly translation of His Majesty’s Prosecutor v. José Soller, Mulatto Pilgrim, for Impersonating a Priest and Other Crimes (El fiscal de Su Majestad contra Jose Soller, peregrino mulato, por fingirse sacerdote y otros delitos), a heretofore unedited and unpublished legal case that dates from 1693 and 1694, is housed in the Archive of the Kingdom of Galicia (Arquivo do Reino de Galicia) in A Coruña, Spain, and is catalogued in the Royal Tribunal of Galicia “Prosecutor’s documents” (letra fiscal) series under file bundle (legajo) 26.339 / 13. My bilingual edition and study will be the first project to treat this intriguing case in a comprehensive and critical manner as the primary object of investigation. An analysis and presentation of the criminal proceedings against José Soller are important as an example of the lived experience of people of black African descent in the early modern Iberian-Atlantic world.

Associated Products

El hábito no hace al monje: José Soller, a peregrino mulato Accused of Impersonating a Priest, and Other Disguised Figures in the Early Modern World (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: El hábito no hace al monje: José Soller, a peregrino mulato Accused of Impersonating a Priest, and Other Disguised Figures in the Early Modern World
Author: John K. Moore, Jr.
Abstract: This paper offers a comparative analysis of early modern historical and fictional figures who dressed in disguise. The principal narrative stems from a Spanish legal case from 1693-1694, El fiscal de su Majestad contra José Soller, peregrino mulato, por fingirse sacerdote y otros delitos. My talk will compare Soller’s story and mode of disguise with those of other historical figures such as Catalina de Erauso, the monja alférez, and Martín Garatuza, also a priest impersonator, as well as fictional characters such as the morisco Ricote in the second part of Don Quijote.
Date: 06/27/18
Primary URL: https://www.aatsp.org
Primary URL Description: Website of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP), the entity that hosted the conference in Salamanca, Spain from June 25-28, 2018.
Secondary URL: https://www.aatsp.org/page/2018Conference?&hhsearchterms=%22100th+and+annual+and+aatsp+and+conference%22
Secondary URL Description: 100th Annual AATSP Conference page.

Mulatto · Outlaw · Pilgrim · Priest: The Legal Case of José Soller, Accused of Impersonating a Pastor and Other Crimes in Seventeenth-century Spain (Book)
Title: Mulatto · Outlaw · Pilgrim · Priest: The Legal Case of José Soller, Accused of Impersonating a Pastor and Other Crimes in Seventeenth-century Spain
Author: John K. Moore, Jr.
Abstract: In Mulatto · Outlaw · Pilgrim · Priest, John K. Moore, Jr. presents the first in-depth study, critical edition, and scholarly translation of His Majesty’s Representative v. José Soller, Mulatto Pilgrim, for Impersonating a Priest and Other Crimes. This legal case dates to the waning days of the Hapsburg Spanish empire and illuminates the discrimination those of black-African ancestry could face—that Soller did face while attempting to pass freely on his pilgrimage from Lisbon to Santiago de Compostela and beyond. This bilingual edition and study of the criminal trial against Soller is important for reconstructing his journey and for revealing at least in part the de facto and de jure treatment of mulattos in the early-modern Iberian Atlantic World.
Year: 2020
Primary URL: https://brill.com/view/title/55120
Access Model: print and e-book
Publisher: Brill
Type: Single author monograph
Type: Translation
Type: Scholarly Edition
ISBN: 9789004417779
Translator: John K. Moore, Jr.
Copy sent to NEH?: Yes

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