Los matices de la resistencia: Trayectorias vitales de mujeres esclavizadas ante la justicia eclesiástica de Santiago. Chile, siglos XVII y XVIII

The article asks about the uses of ecclesiastical justice by enslaved women of African origin, taking the case of the episcopal court of Santiago between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Through a qualitative research methodology, first a general analysis is made of the twelve lawsuits related to this type of women, which are preserved today in the Historical Archive of the Archbishopric of Santiago. Then, the ecclesiastical lawsuits of Juana Antonia, Teresa and María Josefa are examined in detail, to describe the life trajectories of different women and to contrast their practices of resistance in the context of a legal petition. This comparative exercise makes it possible to visualize, on the one hand, stories in which these women were able to articulate strategies of judicial resistance to confront the discourses of power or obtain their freedom and, on the other hand, stories in which that resistance was submerged between inheritance conflicts, concealment and acts of dispossession carried out by masters and mistresses. In short, the data provided demonstrate the tones of resistance in Hispanic America and the pressing need for case studies that can enrich the interpretation of this practice.