The unburied prisoners from the jail of the Inquisition of Évora, Portugal

Abstract

a b s t r a c tEach society has cultural rules to deal with the death of its members, including the burial practices. This study aims to present and interpret the mortuary context associated with the human remains recovered at the so-called Jail Cleaning Yard of the Inquisition Court of Évora (1536-1821). Approximately 12% of the yard was excavated, an area of 20.75 m 2 , which consisted of layers of sediment containing domestic waste. The sample under analysis consists of 12 adult individuals in articulation (3 male, 9 female) and a minimum of 16 individuals identified from a commingled context. Funerary structures were absent and no grave goods were found. Moreover, the orientation and position of the body and limbs are variable. The archaeological and anthropological contexts, including the Inquisition individual historical records consulted, are consistent with individuals not reconciled with the Catholic faith. The manuscripts from the Inquisition allowed the identification of 87 prisoners who died during the period in which the dump had been in use (somewhere between 1568 and 1634), and attested that 11 (12.6%) of them were confirmed discarded in the dump, likely because they were charged of 'Judaism, heresy and/or apostasy'. More than a penalty to the body, this was a punishment to the soul of the deceased. The specific context of this place, as well as all anthropological, archaeological and historical information helped to characterize these individuals as unburied dead, once a proper funeral had been denied to them.

Discarded in the trash: Burials of African enslaved individuals in Valle da Gafaria, Lagos, Portugal (15th–17th centuries)

“…In other words, a burial outside a consecrated place would not guarantee the salvation of the soul. Such proceeding was reserved to the outlaws of Christendom, to those not deserving care, to people with stigmatizing diseases, or to the condemned ones (Costa, ; Magalhães, Fernandes, & Santos, ). Relatively near to the dump site of Valle da Gafaria (but separated by a small river), both the building and cemetery of a leprosarium, already known from the historical and cartographic sources, were identified (Neves et al, ).…”

“…This is not the only case of humans being dehumanized in Portugal in modern times. Other humans, more specifically prisoners from the jail of the Inquisition of Évora (Portugal), have been also discarded in a dump, but in this case, likely because they were charged of “Judaism, heresy, and/or apostasy” (Magalhães et al, ). In the present study, most burials—adults (79.4%) and non‐adults (80.0%)—were classified as not obeying the canonical norm at the time (head to west and feet to east).…”

“…These positions were not typically Christian, but they were not as disrespectful as the prone (Gonçalves & Santos, ). Prone position was used in cases of infectious/contagious diseases, such as tuberculosis and leprosy, individuals accused of witchery (in order to avoid their resurrection), convicted to death, prisoners, suicides, or handicapped (Gonçalves & Santos, ; Magalhães et al, ). Moreover, the fact that significantly more non‐adults (66.7%) appear to have been buried with care than adults (38.8%) may mean a greater compassion for the dead children or that they have been buried by other enslaved people.…”