Lucrecia De León: Biography Of A Witch Condemned By The Inquisition

It is the story of a woman who dreamed of stories that came true. Prophetic dreams and everything related to the dream world have captivated human beings since ancient times. But in the time of Lucrecia de León, this gift was linked to magical practices, spells and incantations.

These types of people, although much despised, have also aroused the interest of kings, governments, politicians and institutions of power of all kinds. Magicians, alchemists, and even card shooters have always been a part of all royal courts.

Lucrecia de León’s story is a story that reflects three realities : the magical world of prophetic dreams in which she has always lived, the political manipulation that people have tried to put her through and the tragic end that awaited her.

A special girl

Lucrecia de León was born in Madrid in 1567, into a family of plebeian origin. His education was based on religion and preparation for marriage. But by a twist of fate, Lucrecia learned to read and write thanks to her father’s legal profession.

From her childhood, Lucrecia de León had prophetic dreams and aroused the curiosity of those close to the king. However, his dreams scared his father to the point that he ended up abandoning her because of this fact.

Dreams as divine messages

In Spain at the time, the agreement reached at the Lateran Council on dreams had a great influence. In this Council, it was concluded that prophetic dreams were messages that God sent through enlightened people.

The Church has taken a keen interest in these types of people and the interpretation of their dreams. The last was used s  as reinforcements to support the monarch. Philip II was known for many things, but his taste for the occult, magic, relics, rituals, and prophecies was perhaps his darkest part.

King Philip II

At the court of Philip II swarmed intrigues and tensions. The king had sent his personal secretary to prison and ordered other important members of his entourage to be poisoned and imprisoned as well. Corruption scandals were constantly made public and the Castilian people endured wars and the illusions of grandeur of their king. Conspiracy factions have sprung up everywhere.

The conspirators

There were some very influential people who were connected with the events that took place in Lucrecia’s life. One of them was Miguel Piedrola, a descendant of the last kings of Navarre and a former infantryman who had formed a large group of conspirators against the king.

The other was Alonso de Mendoza, brother of the Viceroy of Mexico. Mendoza was a cleric attached to the Cathedral of Toledo who aspired to be a bishop and belonged to the Piedrola group of conspirators.

Mendoza also had an obsession with the world of prophetic dreams and spent huge sums of money on its investigations. Both were very impressed with Lucrecia’s dreams and decided to start a daily recording of them and their political interpretation.

Prophetic dreams

Lucrecia predicted in great detail an impending invasion of Spain by the French, English, Turks and Moors, which would end the Austrian kingdom, king and dynasty forever. She predicted that the only ones who would survive the invasion would be those who took refuge in the walls of Toledo or in the caves of Ocaña.

She also predicted the defeat of the Invincible Armada sent by Philip II against England. It is said that Piedrola had built caves in the vicinity of the Tagus which served as a bunker during the invasion. After the defeat of the Invincible Armada, Mendoza himself ordered the expansion of the caves.

The Inquisition against Lucrecia de León

At this time, the king instructed the Inquisition to prosecute Lucrecia and the conspirators. As a result, the documents relating to the dreams were confiscated. During interrogations, Lucrecia maintained that it was not she who interpreted his dreams and denied that they had political content, she even supported his version under torture. Despite this, she was condemned for making a pact with the devil. And, from that moment on, his trace was lost forever.

Lucrecia was a woman with a special gift, known and respected in antiquity, but relegated to mythology. A gift that the men of the time feared as much as they wanted. When her gift ceased to serve the power machine, she ceased to be known as an oracle. And was named as a witch.

Once again, history leaves us with a dark past that does not seem to have completely disappeared. The Inquisition was one of the institutions that took the most lives. And who always did so with the protection of power. Lucrecia de León experienced the protection of power and, later, its rejection to no longer be “useful”. However, she remained true to her gift and her truth, even though it cost her her life.

Our thoughts

Jungian analysis is an analysis of the symbolism of dreams that suggests the existence of a collective unconscious in addition to a person unconscious …