Confession

Isabel Rodríguez of Agudo

1501

I admit my guilt . . . in that I was told of a maiden who was [there] the daughter of Juan Estevan who had ascended to heaven and was approached there by an angel, and how she had told of the many marvelous things she had seen there and how Elijah was due to come and prophesy and the Messiah would come to take the conversos to the Promised Land…

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Creator Bio

Isabel Rodríguez of Agudo

15th to 16th Century

The New Christian Isabel Rodríguez lived in Agudo, Spain. She had renounced Judaism, confessing her sins (which included eating kosher meat, fasting on Yom Kippur, keeping the laws of Passover, following mourning rituals, and giving charity) and devoting herself to the Catholic church. However, in 1499, Isabel heard about the child prophetess Inés of Herrera. She subsequently visited Inés in her father’s home and listened to the accounts of her visions. Rodríguez believed the child’s prophecies of redemption, even sewing a special blouse that she planned to wear on the journey to the Promised Land. She began to observe various Jewish laws, including lighting Sabbath candles, avoiding eating nonkosher animals, and fasting on Mondays and Thursdays. Isabel was arrested by the Inquisition and interrogated in 1500/1501.

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