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The trial of the pastry-maker of Madrigal

Madrigal de las Altas Torres, La Moraña, Ávila

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The trial of the pastry-maker of Madrigal

Historical milestone · Madrigal de las Altas Torres, La Moraña, Ávila

Image of Madrigal de las Altas Torres, not of the place itself.

The trial, documented in the Archivo Histórico de Simancas, began when the pastry-cook Gabriel de Espinosa, who had arrived in the village in 1594, was arrested in Valladolid while carrying valuable jewels given to him by doña Ana de Austria, a nun at the convent of Madrigal de las Altas Torres, who claimed they were for its restoration; the detainee claimed to be the vanished king don Sebastian of Portugal. Letters from doña Ana and from the chaplain fray Miguel de los Santos — a Portuguese and former confessor of don Sebastian — which addressed Espinosa as “Majesty”, made the judge in the case doubtful, and he asked Philip II to send someone able to recognise him. The king followed the trial by correspondence, and Espinosa ended up hanged, quartered and displayed at the gates of the town wall.

1 de agosto de 1595

Photo: B25es (CC BY-SA 3.0)

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