Maria Duran

Various members of her community testified against her prior to her arrest.[10]

First to testify was Josefa Maria Xavier of São Nicolão, who stated that Duran was born into an inferior social class, that others in the community suspected her of being a man, that Duran was to be kept away from young women in the convent, and that Duran showed her scratches on her arm from the devil.[11] Second was Maria de Jesus, from Lisbon, who stated that Duran professed her love for her as though she were a man and attempted to have sex with her on more than one occasion (resulting in Duran's ejaculation), that Duran told her she had attempted to have sex with a woman named Verónica Maria, and that Duran threatened her to not tell anyone.[12]

Maria de Jesus also testified that Duran had impregnated a woman named Agostinha, but Agostinha had a miscarriage.[13] Third was Vitória da Rosa, from Rome, who stated that Duran professed her love for her, that Duran raped her with a penis several times, that Duran had both a penis and a vulva, and that Duran had told her to keep the rapes a secret.[14] Vitória da Rosa also corroborated the testimony of Josefa Maria Xavier and Maria de Jesus: She had seen injuries on Duran's body from a demon, and she knew that Agostinha had been impregnated by Duran after their sexual relationship.[15] Fourth was Verónica Maria, from the convent, who said Duran (using the name António and with a penis) had sex with her.[16] Verónica Maria believed Duran was not involved in witchcraft, but was instead a hermaphrodite.[17] The last witness was António Soares, the doctor who inspected Duran; he testified that she had the physical characteristics of a woman.[17]

Duran was arrested by the Portuguese Inquisition on 17 February 1741 for witchcraft.[18] The details of her detention are not known, but prosecutors heard further testimony from others in the community about her sexual advances and biology.[19]

She was interrogated on 13 March 1741.[20] Around this time, they interrogated Agostinha—then a nun under the name Agostinha Teresa da Purificação—who testified that the two had sexual contact, but said she had never seen Duran with a penis.[21] Nuns in Évora were sent a list of questions in April, and in the same month, several of them were interrogated.[22] On 8 July, Duran was interrogated again, and she said she was a woman, did not have a penis, and did not have sex with any women.[23] Almost two months later, she was interrogated again, and she denied having contact with the devil.[24] She never confessed to working with the devil,[25] though she admitted to sexually penetrating and engaging in tribadism with women.[26]

Duran was indicted on 7 November 1741.[25] She was charged with 13 crimes, including contact with the devil and having sex with women.[27] The next day, she selected João Nunes da Silveira as her attorney, and they responded to the charges the next week.[28] Some witnesses were re-interrogated, and on 19 May 1742, her charges were updated.[29] The next month, physicians and a midwife physically examined Duran; they all testified that she appeared to have only female genitalia, and one physician testified that although some women have large clitorises that resemble penises, Duran's was small.[30] She was placed in warm water by investigators in order to have her penis appear, but it did not.[31]

In September, the inquisitors overseeing Duran's trial voted to torture her.[32] The torture was postponed to 15 April 1744 to allow the inquisitors to deliberate on her guilt and seek outside legal guidance.[33] In May, the inquisitors voted to have Duran denounce her heresy, leave Portugal, and have her verdict read in a private auto-da-fé (criminal procession).[34] The General Council of the Inquisition overturned the vote, and sentenced her to a public auto-da-fé, a public flogging, and to leave Portugal.[35]

Alongside 33 others on 21 June 1744, Duran experienced her auto-da-fé in the presence of King João V of Portugal.[35] The last extant evidence of her life comes from after the auto-da-fé; in it, she is recorded as accepting her sentence of being expelled from Portugal.[36]