María Josefa De La Encarnación. Posesa, Endemoniada y Loca Frente a los Inquisidores de Lima, 1714-1719

Abstract This article examines one of the trials of the Inquisition in Lima during the 18th century. In the trial, María Josefa De La Encarnación — a poor, mulata servant — claimed to have a special connection to God. Her case file, which is held in Madrid’s Archivo Histórico Nacional, relates a series of acts linked not only to the celestial and the spiritual realms, but also to poverty, ethnic hierarchies and typically feminine transgressions. The appearances of the Virgin or the temptations of the devil that María Josefa experienced were a reflection of a society that, despite its...