Abstract

CUNILL, Caroline. A Mosaic of Languages: The Interpreters of the Audiencia of Mexico in the Sixteenth-Century. Hist. mex. [online]. 2018, vol.68, n.1, pp.7-48. ISSN 2448-6531.  https://doi.org/10.24201/hm.v68i1.3637.

In Laberintos de justicia Víctor Gayol analyzed the minor offices that enable the Audiencia of Mexico to administer justice in the territories under its jurisdiction. Nevertheless, he did not pay attention to an office that played a crucial role in the colonial courts: the interpreters of indigenous languages. How many native languages were spoken in the Audiencia of Mexico? Were the interpreters Indians, Spaniards, or Mestizos? How did they develop their linguistic skills? This study identifies the interpreters who served the court of Mexico during the sixteenth century in order to provide a chronology of the occupation of the office, as well as an analysis of the social and ethnic profile of its holders. This reflection highlights the process by which the institutions of the Spanish Empire sought to adjust themselves to the multilingual reality of America.

Keywords : justice; indigenous languages; interpreters; New Spain; Spanish Empire.