“Iglesia me llamo”: realidad y ficción en los alias criminales del Siglo de Oro

This study has both the purpose of re-introducing scholars to a rich trove of information about many criminal nicknames from the seventeenth century and the purpose of demonstrating that the creativity, and even exaggeration, present in the real nicknames are no less than those of the era’s author’s literary creations. At times truth is stranger than fiction, as the old saying goes. This article will be an invitation to return to the source in order to free ourselves from circular chains of association based on citations found in modern editions of comedias, poems, and novels from the Golden Age. These associations can trap us and impede us from verifying if what we are reading in a work is pure fiction, inspired by something real, or information from an undeniable reality. It is important to note that, as with my predecessors, I have not attempted to make an exhaustive list, but rather offer to some examples that belong to particular tendencies.