1804. Carta de Tomás García, preso, para Fernando.

Letter from tomás García, a prisoner, to Fernando.

The author explains to a Fernando the reasons why he is in prison and the abuses he suffered from the judge who imprisoned him.

Following an accusation of cohabitation between Tomás García and María Cunga, the plaintiff of this litigation is Gertrudis Rodríguez, Tomas García´s wife. The defendant was a native to Ferradillo de San Pedro (León) and a resident of San Esteban de Valdueza (León). His wife accused him of cohabitating with María Cunga. This letter was provided to the case files by Tomás Gracía´s lawyer in order to prove the abuses his client underwent in prison and to apply for his release from prison. Specifically, the lawyer argued: "In the judge´s house, the latter overreached by slapping my client on the face and tried to hit him with a stick [...] and not content the judge with these real and verbal offences, driven by a notorious caution and a renowned artifice, he proceeded, with the help of six men, to the derogatory imprisonment of my client, who is still kept there in inhuman conditions [...] All these hasty, unjust and attested procedures stem from disagreements, discord and uneasiness occurred between the two parts. While these disagreements are worth reflecting on, it is for the best to put them behind. " (folio 7r). The lawyer´s application was not successful and, eventually, Tomás García and María Cunga escaped from prison.