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A Cautionary Tale: The Crown Versus Antonio Gandulla

By Pat Werner

I note with interest messages on Facebook from people asking people they do not know to take an envelope or package, from here to the US or vice versa. I would be cautious about doing this, especially if the thing transported is sealed. Things may be in the envelope or package that violate the laws of Nicaragua or the United States. Sometime ordinary acts can lead to unexpected consequences. A close call of old Antonio Gandulla, who almost got roasted alive, illustrates the point.

Gandulla was a Spaniard and carpenter who probably worked as a carpenter at the port of El Realejo, where ships were occasionally built. He lived in El Viejo, about 10 km (nowadays) to the north, and rented a room from one Thomas Fernando de Silva. One day in 1771, Silva filed a formal criminal complaint against Gandulla, claiming that he had seen Gandulla performing the crime of , delito peculado y nefasto en contra natura, or sodomy, with a 15 year old boy named Martinez. He described the scene using a quaint, slightly medieval spelling for ¨secso¨. Gandulla and Martinez were arrested by alcalde Joseph Antonio de Arrechavala, and thrown in jail, awaiting trial.

Both Gandulla and Martinez were in big trouble. The Spanish criminal code, found in the laws of the Siete Partidas of the 13th century and incorporated into the laws of Castile that applied to the overseas empire, punished sodomy between men by being burned alive at the stake. And that law had been applied to Nicaragua. In 1535 Andres de Caballero, one of the original conquistadores in the first successful entrada into Nicaragua in 1524 in Francisco de Fernandez de Cordoba´s army, was burned at the stake for the crime of sodomy, in the town square of Leon Viejo. He was accused of having relations with the elderly acting governor Francisco de Castañeda. Witnesses complained that there was a secret door between his house and Castañeda´s and they secretly saw each other. Who knows; Castañeda was arthritic, sickly, and cared for by his elderly wife.

Castañeda´s letters to the Crown constantly whine that he was sickly and had to go back to Spain because of poor health and in need of treatment. What is clear is that, politically, Castañeda lost out to the Contreras family when Rodrigo de Contreras, son in law of deceased Pedrarias Davila, who had been a political enemy of Castañeda, was appointed governor of Nicaragua, replacing Castañeda. Upon hearing this, Castañeda left Nicaragua suddenly for Santo Domingo, where he was arrested. He was a very good judge and was made a traveling judge by the authorities in Santo Domingo even though he was technically under arrest. He sailed to the island of Cubagua, off Venezuela, made inspections, fell off his horse, was injured, and eventually died before returning to Spain for trial. In the interim he filed at least eight lawsuits and included in those lawsuits many juicy details that make Nicaraguan history so interesting. Caballero did not escape from Nicaragua in time, and was burned at the stake, possibly in June of 1535. He had participated in the conquest of Nicaragua, had received an encomienda, took part in the local municipal elections, had paid his share for defending, unsuccessfully, the garrison in the mines in the northern mountains, and was a political ally of Castañeda. And he got burned alive at the stake.

Gandulla was in line to be at least the second Spaniard to be roasted alive. Arrechavala, a friend of Silva, filed an affidavit supporting the truth of Silva´s complaint. And then something unexpected happened, making one think that occasionally justice is done. The governor of Nicaragua was Domingo Cabello, an old man who signed documents with a very shaky hand and ended up in what was later Texas. He was also a competent administrator. He was assisted by advisor to the Audiencia, Enanique de Aguila, who also was a competent lawyer and administrator. We will never know why, perhaps a weasel worded answer, perhaps shifty eyes, perhaps community reputation, but Aguila did not believe the evidence against Gandulla and Martinez, which was communicated to Cabello. One must remember the duty of a prosecutor or administrator is in the end to find the truth, not necessarily get a conviction. In the second half of the 18th century, in the kingdom of Guatemala, one sees in many areas, including penmanship, marked improvement in government and administrators, perhaps as the result of the appointments of a very competent monarch, Charles III.

Cabello, took seriously the severe punishment of the criminal code, and felt that Silva should put up a bond to guarantee that the court costs of the case would be reimbursed should Gandulla and Martinez be found not guilty. It took time and the case inched along, but Cabello finally let Gandulla and Martinez out of jail on a sort of personal recognizance and looked to Silva to pay 500 pesos in court costs. Silva´s response was to head for the Costa Rican border, was last seen in Bagaces, and was rumored to be heading towards Panama, where he could probably find a ship leaving for ports unknown. As it turns out, Silva owned money to Gandulla and rather than pay up, tried to get the debt extinguished by burning alive Gandulla. This way of taking care of debts had some tradition in medieval Spain, as historians report that some denounced Sephardim practices, as an excuse for not paying the debt to a Spanish, Sephardic Jew who was a creditor.

Nicaragua has many colonial tales like this that serve to make teaching Nicaraguan history entertaining. And it illustrates what happens when someone does something in good faith, lending money, or carrying an envelope or package access international borders, with unintended consequences. Be careful as you might not know what is in the package or envelope. Antono Gandulla made a mistake by lending money to Thomas Fernandez de Silva and almost got burned at the stake for it. Things are not always as they seem.

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For those that may interested in old Antonio Gandulla´s case, it is based on a criminal case I found in the Archives of Central America in Guatemala City 15 years ago. I wrote a paper on the case and later presented it at a history conference in Guatemala City. The paper can be found on my web page, nicaraguanpathways.com.

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