1629. Carta de Maria Pinta para a irmã, Isabel Pinta.

Family letter from Maria Pinta to her sister, Isabel Pinta

The author tells her sister all she has learned about the safety of their family. She also tells her on the behaviour of other prisoners who can implicate them.

Maria Pinta was accused of Judaism by the Inquisition. She was arrested in Lisbon, in 1626, along with her sister, Isabel Pinta and their mother, Catarina dos Reis. In March 1629, after being taken to a torture session, she was placed in a different cell. As she had previously shared a cell with her sister, mother and other four women, she wanted to send them news. Therefore, she convinced the jailer that she had brought another woman's cloak by mistake and wanted to give her back and bring her own. When the switch was made, the jailer got suspicious and found the notes sewed in the hems of the cloaks; eventually, he handed the notes to the Inquisition.