Narbona Dacal

Narbona Dacal, aka Narbona D'Arcal (? in Cenarbe – 12 February 1498, in Zaragoza) was an Aragonese healer in the 15th century who was condemned and executed by the Inquisition in 1498 after accusations of practicing witchcraft.

Biography Dacal belonged to a family that practiced healing in her rural community using medicinal plants and substances. She had two brothers, Juan and María, and was married to Juan de Portañya, although she was abandoned by him and thereafter lived alone and supported herself as a healer. At the time, the highest concentration of witchcraft persecutions occurred in the rural areas of the Pyrenees near Aragon where she lived, as well as in the Aragon capital of Zaragoza, in Cinco Villas and in the Moncayo mountains.

Accusations

In 1498, a grandmother believed that her granddaughter had overcome a serious illness thanks to her prayers to Saint Cebrián. Shortly after the grandmother's death, another grandchild fell ill and her family lamented that the grandmother could no longer pray for the sick child. Dacal scoffed at these religious beliefs and instead recommended that the family heal the patient using plants instead of prayer.

At the time, according to Herrero, "Saint Cebrián is represented as a bishop before a penitent magician." In this depiction, Cebrián "in the name of goodness, protects those affected by hexes and enchantments, and snatches Lucifer's magical book, full of healing formulas, and over time has become a symbol of healers."

On 12 February 1498, Dacal was convicted and burned at the stake in the Aljafería Palace. Her brothers, Juan and María, who were also accused of witchcraft, managed to escape.