Self-accused Moriscos were drowned and suspected informers executed within the community.

Evidence

What are we to make of the Morisco who, on January 1, 1541, went to his parish priest in Valladolid and then brought an accusation against himself? He believed in the sect of Mahomet, he said; a few days later he was found drowned. What of the individuals who, nine years later, but in the same part of the city, were found killed, because, so the Inquisitors speculated in their report, “the Moriscos suspected that they had been giving evidence against them to the Holy Office”? — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 546

Categorization

• SHARE: A chilling detail for anyone into early modern Spain or communal vigilantism — self-accusation followed by drowning within days suggests community enforcement against informers of any kind.