historicwomendaily:

Caterina Tarongi i Tarongi (1646, Palma, May 6, 1691) was a Jewish woman burned alive by the Spanish Inquisition She was born in Palma, the capital of the then Kingdom of Majorca (which recovered its Roman name Palma in 1715). She was the daughter of Rafel Josep Felós Tarongí i Aguiló, and Francina Tarongi i Martí. She was the wife of Guillem Morro Tarongi Fès. Caterina’s parents had seven children in total: Caterina, Isabel, Margalida, Francina, Francesc Guillem and Rafel. Between 1677 and 1678, 237 xuetas were imprisoned for celebrating Yom Kippur in the orchards of Pere Onofre Moixina Cortès, after being denounced by Rafel Cortès d’Alfons; among the prisoners of the so-called “Conspiracy of 1678”, were all the members of the Tarongí family, who were imprisoned and put on trial by the Inquisition. All the family assets were seized and everyone went away with several light sentences.

Just after the autos-da-fé of 1678, the two oldest siblings of Caterina, Francesc and Guillem, managed to flee the island and arrived in Alexandria (Egypt), where they openly returned to Judaism, taking back their jewish names, David and Salomón, respectively. On the afternoon of Sunday March 7, 1688, a group of xueta (Majorcan Jewish) families from Palma tried to flee the island on an English ship, but the vessel failed to set sail and they returned to their homes; however, they were discovered by Mallorcan Catholics, and as a result they were quickly imprisoned.

Unlike the captured during the “Conspiracy of 1678”, almost all the conversos were declared Jews and they refused to repent of their intention to return to Judaism in the countries where it was permitted. The trials were conducted during three years. In 1688, apparently because of the tortures that were applied on them, her parents and her sister Francina died. Caterina Tarongí was burned alive in the auto-da-fé on 6 May 1691. It is said that the inquisitors were impressed not only with her beauty, but her determination in not abjuring her beliefs, even defiantly, which they attributed to the “diabolic qualities” she possessed.Her auto-da-fé was witnessed by about thirty thousand people.