Conflicting Certainties or Different Truths? Healers and Inquisition in Baroque Spain

Abstract

In 1653, Isabel Gómez, a midwife from Portugal who lived in Madrid, was accused of being a Jew. The inquisitors asked her whether she could read and write and whether or not she had any forbidden books. The docu-ments of the Inquisition contain her answer: “She said that she cannot read or write, nor does she have any forbidden books, although she has books relating her work.”