A witchcraft trial in Manila in 1577

This first conversation in the " Débats d'histoire " series will be devoted to Romain Bertrand's book, Le long remords de la Conquête. Manila-Mexico-Madrid. L'affaire Diego de Avila (1577-1580) (Seuil, 2015). Its starting point is the trial of an eleven-year-old child and two native women, accused of witchcraft, by the Governor of Manila. Exceptional in many respects, this trial provides an insight into several profound realities : the conflicts between the new administrators and the veterans of the Conquest, the role of the missionary orders and the remorse of the conquistadors, or the encounter between the Indian servants and the judges who subjected them to torture. The presentation of this book, in the company of Patrick Boucheron, will examine how the combination of a micro-historical approach and a connected history project enables a fresh look at Spanish colonization and the encounter between the words of the conquerors and the silences of the colonized.