Prison in Mexico City in the late 1500s
Time: late 1500s (possibly 1593, but possibly twenty or so years earlier
Setting: Mexico City
Google attempts: a whack of variants on prisons/jails historic/historical/history/ first/original Mexico City, etc.
My main character gets tossed into jail for desertion from the armed forces and suspicion of witchcraft in Mexico city in the late 1500s. He is held for about a month before something happens to clear his name.
So far I've found very little about what that prison would have been like. Cells? A big room? Chains? No? Segregation of the genders? Mixica and Spaniards together or not? I'm not even sure if imprisonment was used as a punishment, as opposed to just a way of keeping people tucked away until punishment/trial.
I know this is pretty specific, but I thought I'd give it a try. If anyone knows anything about Spanish practices in general at the time, or even European practices, that would probably be helpful too.
Setting: Mexico City
Google attempts: a whack of variants on prisons/jails historic/historical/history/ first/original Mexico City, etc.
My main character gets tossed into jail for desertion from the armed forces and suspicion of witchcraft in Mexico city in the late 1500s. He is held for about a month before something happens to clear his name.
So far I've found very little about what that prison would have been like. Cells? A big room? Chains? No? Segregation of the genders? Mixica and Spaniards together or not? I'm not even sure if imprisonment was used as a punishment, as opposed to just a way of keeping people tucked away until punishment/trial.
I know this is pretty specific, but I thought I'd give it a try. If anyone knows anything about Spanish practices in general at the time, or even European practices, that would probably be helpful too.