La Quintrala | Something Wicked #11

On this week's bonus episode, Martin takes us back to colonial South America for a tale of mass murder, witchcraft, sex, torture, and Jesus's ghost peering disappointedly down upon the sinful...

Part of the "Something Wicked" series, we start by chatting through the ancient history of the western coast of South America, from the Nazca, Inca and Mapuche through to the arrival of Spanish conquistadors and their subjugation of indigenous populations.

Out of this heady patch of history, we then explore the salacious legends of Chilean aristocrat Catalina de los Ríos y Lísperguer, better known to the world as La Quintrala – a flame-haired beauty with a reputation as a witch, seductress, and mass murderer who, to this day, is seen as a scion of familial evil.

With her story encompassing several different flavours of murder, the torture and killing of hundreds of enslaved people, government corruption, bewitchment, earthquakes, private militias and more, it's a legend that beggars belief. And for good reason, as, despite what you might read about La Quintrala on the internet, there's a massive gap between what the historical record tells us she did and the narratives we know today, all of which paint her as a sex-crazed monster, sadist, and Devilish bogeyman feared in Chile and Peru alike.

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Three Ravens is a completely independent English myth and folklore podcast where we share stories, celebrate folk culture, and fall backwards through the hedgerows of history.

Hosted by real-life couple Eleanor Conlon and Martin Vaux, and mostly recorded at our home in rural Sussex in southern England, Three Ravens is rated 4.8/5 from over 500 reviews and has grown by word of mouth care of our lovely listener community ‘The Conspiracy of Ravens.’

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