The Holy Child of La Guardia (Spanish: El Santo Niño de La Guardia) (died 1491) was the purported victim of a ritual murder by the Jews in the town of La Guardia in the central Spanish province of Toledo (Castile–La Mancha). On November 16, 1491 an auto-da-fé held outside of Ávila concluded the case with the public execution of several Jewish and converso suspects who confessed to the crime under torture. Among the executed were Benito Garcia, the converso who initially confessed to the murder. However, no body was ever found, and due to contradictory confessions, the court had trouble coherently depicting how events took place.
Like Pedro de Arbués, the Holy Infant was quickly made into a saint by popular acclaim, and his death greatly assisted the Spanish Inquisition and its Inquisitor General, Tomás de Torquemada, in their campaign against heresy and crypto-Judaism. The cult of the Holy Infant is still celebrated in La Guardia. Significantly, he became known in the legend as Christopher (Cristóbal) meaning Christ-bearer.
Read more about Holy Child Of La Guardia: Background, Judicial Process, Legend, In Art and Literature, Impact
Famous quotes containing the words holy and/or child:
“Our fathers’ God! to Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing;
Long may our land be bright
With freedom’s holy light;
Protect us by thy might,
Great God, our King!”
—Samuel Francis Smith (1808–1895)
“Not all conflicts between siblings are good, of course. A child who is repeatedly humiliated or made to feel insignificant by a brother or sister is learning little except humiliation and shame.”
—Lawrence Kutner (20th century)