ABSTRACT
Based largely on a 1557 Inquisition trial from the kingdom of New Spain, this essay examines the trial of sixteen-year-old María de Ocampo, a member of Guatemala’s Spanish elite who accused herself of demonic pact. The case emerges as a complicated blend of demonic fantasy, clandestine romantic entanglement, intimate connections among female youths of varying social status, and flouting of parental authority. Focusing on sexuality and mobility, two of the themes most relevant to the gendered lives of girls and women in early colonial New Spain, this analysis argues that attention to the emotional content of the case – particularly romantic fantasy, anger, and frustration with confinement – reveals both the distinct emotional worlds and the agency of early colonial female youth.
