Abstract
Preserved in the archives of the National Historic Archive in Madrid, the life story of Catalina Muñoz uncovers the ways in which she, as a triply marginalized subject – black, woman, and slave – obtained power and social clout by capitalizing on the fame she acquired because of her role as spiritual advisor and healer to the Valencian religious community of Sanct Martín Church. This essay positions Catalina as an astute agent and spiritual advisor who navigated with savvy the intricacies of Valencia’s sixteenth-century religious elite. In doing so, the article aims to re-assign and parse Catalina’s agency as a prophet. It is through the caveat of prophecy where Catalina obtains her power and position by capitalizing on the fame – often referred to as ‘escándolo’ [‘scandal’] – she acquired as a spiritual advisor and healer to the Valencian religious communities.
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Notes
Unless otherwise noted, all translations are mine.
Benjamin Ehlers urges against taking at face value the Jerónimo’s influence on Catalina via his prediction of a supernova in 1572. See Ehlers (1997), 101–16.
Blumenthal (2005, 225–46).
Graullera Sanz (1978, 136–69).
Conversos and moriscos were the baptized converts to Catholicism from Judaism and Islam.
For more information on these two women’s trials, see Homza (2006).
Palacio o Palao (1644, fol. 167v).
See Dangler (2001).
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Jones, N.R. Valencia’s miraculous prophet: The Inquisition dossier of Catalina Muñoz (1588). Postmedieval 10, 36–49 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41280-018-0113-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41280-018-0113-3