Ines of Herrera: The Martyred Convera Prophetess

by Laura Vance

During the height of Jewish persecution in the Spanish Inquisition, a young prophetess emerged as a beacon of hope. Spreading her visions of Jewish salvation from the Inquisition, she started one of the most powerful movements of Jewish resistance in the Inquisition’s early years.

Her name was Ines of Herrera, and at just twelve years old, she was martyred for her truth.

Otherwise known as Ines Esteban, the prophetess was born in 1488. These were the early years of the Spanish Inquisition; beginning in 1478, the Inquisition wouldn’t officially dissolve until 1834. These many centuries were a time of mass forced conversion to Catholicism as sanctioned by Ferdinand II of Aragon, who sought to unite the country beneath the singular religion. Any other religion and its consequent practices, including Judaism, were banned. Fueled by threats of heresy within the church, the Inquisition ultimately resulted in an estimated 300,000 deaths of non-believers by its end. 1 And at twelve years old, Ines of Herrera would join that number.

Herrera and her father Juan, a shoemaker in the Badajoz province, were what are known as judeoconversos: Jews forced to convert to Catholicism to avoid Inquisition-sanctioned expulsion, trial, and death. 2 Not much is known about her early childhood, aside from her birth town (Herrera del Duque) and her mother’s early death. While the name of her late mother remains unknown, she would become a central figure in Herrera’s visions, which began when she was as young as eleven years old.

The first reported vision occurred between 1488 and 1499, where Herrera testified of her ascension into heaven with her deceased mother. While in heaven, her mother comforted the eleven-year-old child, providing her with a peace that was not easily felt by jeudoconversos at the time. 3 She was further greeted by other martyred Jews, who were reported to be seated in heavenly thrones of gold. In later visions, she saw the angel prophet Elijah, who would play a central role in the arrival of the Messiah – the Jewish deliverer as prophesied in the Hebrew Bible. 4 She testified of the beauty of their promised land, lush with many tables of bread and fruit. 5 Considering the poverty and persecution in Herrera del Duque, these visions were of great appeal and inspiration to the growing masses.

Ultimately, Ines of Herrera testified of peace, comfort, and salvation during an unimaginable time for the persecuted Jews.

Word of her visions spread fast. Extremadura – the larger leather-making region surrounding Herrera del Duque – became a place of community among Jewish shoe-makers and tanners in the area. 6 As this growing community of Spanish Jews congregated to hear her words, Herrera’s visions soon became instructional.

At this point, it is important to note the role of women and the divine feminine in her prophecies. While Elijah remained a figure in these visions, they were ultimately delivered by women, for women. The first invitation to her followers consisted of instruction from Herrera’s deceased mother: fast on Mondays and Thursdays in accordance with ancient Talmud instruction– a practice that was banned in the Inquisition. Her mother further instructed the faithful to give alms, wear clean clothes to observe Shabbat, and to exercise faith in the Torah. 7

Perhaps the most beautiful vision consisted of Herrera’s fellow young women and their role in Jewish salvation. To begin, the faithful maidens were promised wonderful marital matches. Additionally, while all the believers would traverse a river to their deliverance (similar to the Red Sea in ancient scripture), the young girls would lead the Jews to the promised land in pure white dresses. 8 Many young girls were inspired by this prophecy, which only fueled the movement of re-embracing Jewish practices and dearly-held doctrine. Older men and women alike, despite their false conversion to Catholicism, reverted back to Jewish practices.

While these demonstrations meant certain expulsion or death, many jeudoconversos showed immense bravery in their belief, hoping that salvation would be soon. Unfortunately, the breadth and influence of Herrera’s movement swiftly caught the attention of Inquisition authorities. About a year after her visions began, the now twelve-year-old was imprisoned in April of 1500. Her interrogations began in May, and by August, she was pronounced a heretic. Herrera met her fate at the stake, and in early August, the young girl perished by fire. 9

While Herrera’s “court” documents have been destroyed or lost with time, her influence did not perish with her. Several other Inquisition documents in consequent years displayed women who seemed to continue Herrera’s instruction: recitation of her prayers, observance of the Sabbath, and fasting for Yom Kippur in far greater numbers than the years before her death. Other documents bear witness to Herrera’s deliverance to the afterlife, carried by the angel Elijah to meet their Messiah. 10 In other words, the movement did not die with her, and her martyrdom merely strengthened her followers’ conviction.

Ines of Herrera was unjustly martyred for her testimony of salvation amid a time of unimaginable persecution. She was martyred by the fear of the tyrannical; they knew the power of a woman’s voice, and they feared it. While their cowardice prematurely ended her mortal life, her strength as a symbol for women knowing God prevails as we continue to remember her name.

Remember Ines of Herrera. 

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Footnotes

1 Edward A. Ryan, “Spanish Inquisition,” Encyclopædia Britannica, October 25, 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Spanish-Inquisition.

2  Renee L. Melammed, “Conversas,” Jewish Women’s Archive, February 7, 2009, https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/conversas.

3  Renee L. Melammed, “His/Her Story: A Conversa Prophetess,” The Jerusalem Post, October 28, 2011, https://www.jpost.com/magazine/judaism/hisher-story-a-conversa-prophetess.

4 The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica,“Messiah | Definition, History, & Facts,” Encyclopedia Britannica, November 11, 2024, https://www.britannica.com/topic/messiah-religion.

5 Renee L. Melammed, “Inés of Herrera,” Jewish Women’s Archive, June 23, 2021, https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/ines-of-herrera.

6 Melammed, “His/Her Story.”

7 Melammed, “His/Her Story.”

8 Melammed, “His/Her Story.”

9 Melammed, “Conversas.”

10 Melammed, “Conversas.”