1816. Carta de fray Rafael de Almagro, franciscano descalzo, para Josefa Márquez.

Letter from Fray Rafael de Almagro, a bearfoot Franciscan, to Josefa Márquez.

The author writes to Josefa Márquez trying to convince her to give away the person who pushed her to be wrong in matters of faith and for her to avoid the Holy Office’s conviction.

The trial was opened for scandalous words against Josefa Márquez in 1816, at the end of which she was acquitted. Josefa Márquez declared extra confessionem to her spiritual director, Fray Rafael de Almagro, that a military officer told her that there was no hell and she believed it. The whole situation was unleashed because Josefa and her husband were having marital discord. She wanted to move out from the house they were living in because two people had passed away from contagious diseases. She threatened her husband to poison his food and run away. (fl. [2]r). Fray Rafael mediated to try to help the marriage and in one of his visits to Josefa she told him that her husband found out she was preparing to flee and he prevented her from doing it. It was in those circumstances when she met the military officer. Josefa made acquaintance with this military officer around 1815 when he was staying at her parent’s house and it was back then when she told him about her troubles with her husband. The officer promised to defend her and told her there was no hell, he said that “hell is here among us, or among men” (fl. [2]r). Fray Rafael de Almagro tried to give her some advice and guide her, and taking advantage that her husband was traveling, he wrote her a letter. He also made a copy of the letter and sent it to a Holy Office’s Officer. A few days later Josefa reprimanded him for having done so and told him she had burnt the letter. Eventually, Josefa gave the name of the military officer, who was Antonio Blesa, a member of the cavalry regiment of Navarra.