María de Zozaya
María de Zozaya y Arramendi | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1529 Oyeregui, Navarra, Spain |
| Died | c. 1609 |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Occupation | Spinster |
| Criminal charges | Witchcraft |
María de Zozaya y Arramendi (sometimes spelled Zozoya) was prosecuted for being a
María de Zozaya was a spinster from Oyeregui, in the kingdom of
aquelarre.[2] In 1609, the 79-year-old María de Zozaya was handed over to the Spanish Inquisition for being a witch.[1] She was tried along with a group of women that she was said to have led.[3] Her confession included praise for sexual pleasure.[4] She also declared that an apparition replaced her in her bed when she went to the Sabbath.[5] It is said that a young priest in the same town went out hunting all day without catching any hares.[1] He blamed María de Zozaya, who reportedly confessed to the inquisitors that after the priest had passed her house she turned herself into a hare and ran ahead of him and his hounds the whole day long, thus making them exhausted.[1] She said this happened eight times during 1609.[1] She died in prison nine months after she was turned in, when she was 80 years old.[1] After her death, her bones were burned as part of a public auto de fe.[2]
References
- ^ ISBN 0394582691.
- ^ ISBN 9781429426879.
- ISBN 0879756837.
- ISBN 9780203819029.
- ISBN 9780812276459.