Sebastiana del Castillo: New and famous ballad in which the atrocities of Sebastiana are told, and of how she killed her father, her mother and two of her brothers, because they had kept her locked up for more than a year, away from her lover, and the punishment that was meted out to her in Ciudad Rodrigo, and other things that the curious reader will learn.

Madrid: Imprenta de Marés, 1847

This energetic image of Sebastiana shows her in heroic mode, rather than as the author of atrocities; she is depicted differently elsewhere in this exhibition. Although the title alludes to some of her killings, it does not reveal the grisly detail that when she killed her parents, she removed their hearts and fried them. It is not clear why she is portrayed in such heroic mode, but departing from the model of a meek daughter who does what her parents tell her seems to be being applauded.

The University Library holds eight different versions of the story of Sebastiana. The earliest datable edition of her story, held in the Biblioteca de Catalunya, says that the events happened “en este año de 1735”. She may have been a real person, but there is a lack of hard evidence for many of the Spanish tales.
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