Paula de Eguiluz

Paula de Eguiluz (fl. 1636) was a healer of African descent on the island of Hispaniola. Well known as a health-care practitioner in one of the largest slave cities in the New World, she was tried for witchcraft three separate times. She has made an important impact on the understanding of 17th-century African healers and modern conceptions of love magic in the Caribbean.

Early life Paula was born on the island of Hispaniola, at the time referred to as Santo Domingo. Paula lived with her mother on Leguizamon's estate until the age of thirteen, when she was sold to Juan Nieto Criollo.

After three months and thirteen hearings, de Eguiluz understood what the Inquisitors wanted to hear as her testimony: the story of the Witches' Sabbath. They would not settle for any explanation unless it included a confession of witchcraft. De Eguiluz complied and spoke of her pact with the devil. There has been extensive scholarly debate around the validity of the charges filed against de Eguiluz, with academics such as Kathryn Joy McKnight believing de Eguiluz chose to comply with the Inquisition's story. "Paula de Eguiluz portrayed herself alternately as a woman deceived by the devil, a skillful healer, a repentant sinner, and a faithful Christian in contrast to the morally lax members of Cartagena elite society who sought adulterous pleasures and who sinned so much that they could not earn indulgences." De Eguiluz stayed in Cartagena after her trial and remained free until her second trial, in 1632.

Her second trial consisted of 21 hearings, where she developed a script of what the Inquisitors wanted to hear. By this time, however, she had made friends and connections within her local area, and she used them to try and reduce her sentence. She also provided the Inquisitors with a list of names of people suspected of witchcraft, which led to the arrest of 21 women. In her testimony, de Eguiluz mentioned her experience with herbs, recipes, and healing, stressing the fact that her intention was to heal, not harm. De Eguiluz remained confined in prison for the next two years, between her second and third trials. However, when inquisitors read de Eguiluz a summary of López's accusations, de Eguiluz was furious and denied the charges brought against her. When given the opportunity to respond, she reportedly stated, "I say that I know nothing about this because this witness is my enemy Diego López. I take him as a man with a bad conscience and I challenge his statements". De Eguiluz would be found guilty, facing another unspecified stay in prison and two hundred lashes. During this time, López would continue his efforts to denounce de Eguiluz's character. After multiple instances of threatening fellow inmates, inquisitors moved López to another cell, where he would have less communication with the women. Now isolated, he would go on to retract all 147 of his accusations and confessions, including those made against de Eguiluz. He was subsequently tortured by the Cartagena inquisitors.

Life after the trials After de Eguiluz's final trial in 1634, she largely remains undocumented. She would spend the next few years in her Cartagena prison cell, conversing with the friends she made during the second and third trials. She became a de facto prison leader as a result of her status, and she was able to temporarily escape her prison confines in exchange for bribes or sexual favors for the guards. After her Auto-da-fé, de Eguiluz remained in prison but "enjoyed furlough to travel in a sedan chair, luxuriously dressed and well paid, to advise bishops and inquisitors on their medical care". No information exists regarding her life after prison.