1629. Carta de Maria Pinta para a irmã, Isabel Pinta, e para a mãe, Catarina dos Reis.

Family letter from Maria Pinta to her sister, Isabel Pinta, and to her mother, Catarina dos Reis

The author writes her sister and her mother, telling them the tortures she suffered in jail. But she has also made a friend.

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.