The history of the witch of Ilhabela

Ilhabela

History

Ilhabela (Portuguese for Beautiful Island) is an archipelago and city situated 4 miles off the coast of São Paulo state in Brazil. The island is 205 km (127 mi) from the city of São Paulo and 340 km (210 mi) from the city of Rio de Janeiro. The largest island, although commonly called Ilhabela, is officially named Ilha de São Sebastião (St. Sebastian Island). It, the other islands (Búzios, Pescadores and Vitória) and the islets (Cabras, Castelhanos, Enchovas, Figueira, Lagoa and Serraria) make up the municipality of Ilhabela.
The islands in total cover 348 km² (134 sq mi). The population of Ilhabela in 2006 was 26,230,^[3] and in 2012 it was around 29,308, but during the holiday months, up to one hundred thousand people may be on the island,^[4] since it is a popular destination for tourists. To access the city, one must take a boat or ferry in São Sebastião, as there are no roads which reach it. During the summer, one may wait more than an hour to take the ferry boat. The ferry takes 15 minutes to cross the channel between the two cities.

Before Portugal colonized Brazil in 1500, an indigenous tribe called the Tupinambas, inhabited the island. They called the island 'Ciribai', which means tranquil place.
The island was named São Sebastião Island by Americo Vespuccio, on January 20, 1502. During the 16th century, the Portuguese set up military points on the shore of São Sebastião Island.
On September 3, 1805, the Governor of the Province of São Paulo, Antônio José da França e Horta, decreted the political-administrative independence of the county. The Island had already 3.000 inhabitants at that time. The new county was named Villa Bella da Princeza, paying homage to the princess of Beira.
On November 30, 1938, during the Getúlio Vargas' Estado Novo, an act altered the name of the county to Formosa. Six years later, on November 30, 1944, another act ultimately changed the name to Ilhabela.

The history of the witch 

The Mrs. Maria Perpetua Calafate de Souza was accused of witchcraft in 19th century, by the residents of Ilhabela. The case began after an incident with a black called Joana, slave Domingos captain, she would have sworn Joana and this in turn retaliated with a stone. Maria Perpetua would have sworn revenge. A few days later, Joana started vomiting pieces of cloth with blood and chicken feathers and soon after died. The population then accused Maria Perpetua of having cast a spell against the slave.

The Ilhabela authorities became aware of the incident and the Maria Perpetua's house was searched. In addition to many objects of magic, were found animal bones and a dry human ear. Later, she was charged again for several other cases involving witchcraft.
In 1817 the Captain General of Ilhabela decided to file a case against her. But Maria Perpetua was never arrested because she was murdered before the investigations are closed.