Fugitive Freedom: The Improbable Lives of Two Impostors in Late Colonial Mexico

The curious tale of two priest impersonators in late colonial Mexico

Cut loose from their ancestral communities by wars, natural disasters, and the great systemic changes of an expanding Europe, vagabond strangers and others out of place found their way through the turbulent history of early modern Spain and Spanish America. As shadowy characters inspiring deep suspicion, fascination, and sometimes charity, they prompted a stream of decrees and administrative measures that treated them as n...