Alexandra Cook and Noble Cook’s text, Good faith and sincere ignorance, traced the lives of one of the first settlers of the New World and his two wives. The authors’ purpose in writing this book was to provide modern readers with a “mirror of a segment of 16th century Spanish society, the middle class and the lesser nobility” (Cook xii). The authors explored all facets of this society: its values and customs, legal structure, its economy, and its home life.
The authors intertwined the history of this man’s life with other historical backgrounds, legal procedures, and social customs of the time so skillfully that the reader did not get bogged down in mundane details. The writing was lively and interesting; it kept the reader in suspense while the court case unfolded. Although the trial for bigamy was the main theme of the book, the authors inserted other instances of Spanish law into the text, such as that the family of a murdered man can make claims against the assets of the person who murdered him (Cook 2).
In unraveling the Francisco Noguerol trial, the authors recounted many aspects of Spanish society, such as the power and control that widowed women could exhibit in this patriarchal society (seen through Nougerol’s mother and Dona Catalina). The text also offers examples of life in Spanish convents through the Nougerol sisters. It was very interesting that the nuns who lied to Noguerol did not accept responsibility for what caused their actions, except for their brother. This shows, I believe, how the Catholic Church tried to protect its religious orders from scandal.
The Spanish judicial system was considered to have attempted to protect the rights of women in their society, as seen in the experience of Dona Beatriz and Dona Catalina. For Beatriz, she was protected from being helpless by her husband’s new marriage, and Catalina was protected from losing the husband with whom she had made her life and her home.
The authors offered the reader logical motivations for people’s actions during this time. An example were the reasons why Noguerol left his homeland to come to Peru. The authors indicated that his main motivation was to escape an unwanted marriage, and this seemed highly plausible as he stayed away from her for a long time and returned to Spain only when he believed she had died. Another example was why Dona Beatriz waited until after Noguerol’s death to affirm that the marriage was consummated; if he couldn’t deny it, she would be more successful in winning the test. That she was bitter at being left aside in favor of Doña Catalina became very explicit in her actions.
Noguerol also remained bitter with his family for having cheated on him. This bitterness was seen in the fact that he deliberately disinherited his family in his last will and testament, preferring to enact a line of succession for his inheritance in his wife’s descendants (Cook 137). Dona Catalina’s character, that is, her abhorrence for the scandal, was demonstrated by her agreement to pay more money to Dona Beatriz after Noguerol’s death (Cook 143).
In the above examples and many others, the authors presented a strikingly clear picture of Spanish society during the conquest of America. The reader can discern the many ways in which women were able to circumvent the Spanish law that restricted them in this patriarchal society. The Spanish emphasis on values such as respectability was marked in the characters of Noguerol, Catalina and Beatriz. The reader can also see how the custom of arranged marriages can cause unexpected catastrophes among those forced to participate in them. Through their extensive research of church records, legal documents and others, Alexandra Cook and Noble Cook gave us an exciting glimpse into the social history of Spain in a period of continuous change caused by the exploration and conquest of the Americas.
Bibliography
Cook, Alexandra Parma and Noble David Cook. Good faith and truthful ignorance: a case of transatlantic bigamy. Duke University Press, 1991.