It has taken many years of struggle to ensure that crimes against women are given visibility and judged with severity. Centuries ago, cases had to be very flagrant to reach the judicial authorities. This is what happened in the 18th century in a small village near Castelló d’Empúries.
In 1726, Teresa Vidal was fifteen years old and, like so many girls of her time, already considered of marriageable age. Little did she imagine that her marriage would turn into a nightmare that would be recorded forever in the archives. Her husband’s name was Josep Bach, and he was a labourer from a village in the Empordà region called Palau de Santa Eulàlia.
From at least 1733, the man began to exhibit violent behaviour. He was obsessed with practising anal sex with his wife. At that time, sodomy was one of the gravest sins one could commit, and because his wife did not consent, he assaulted her repeatedly and brutally. He did it with such aggression that it caused her haemorrhages. Desperate, Teresa sought help from her mother. The woman, named Margarida, turned to the parish priest. The priest’s judgement was harsh: before committing what he deemed a mortal sin, his daughter should rather allow herself to be killed.
1. General view of Santa Eulàlia. 2. Bell tower of the church of Santa Eulàlia.
In 1736, when Josep Bach and Teresa Vidal had been married for ten years, a formal complaint was lodged against the husband before the mayor of Siurana d’Empordà, who held jurisdiction over Palau de Santa Eulàlia. It then emerged what many people had long suspected. Bach’s abuses were not confined to his wife. There was much more. He had the women of the village living in fear, especially the younger ones. They were his preferred victims.
Two carved wooden corbels that were found in the building of the Cúria Comtal. The one on the left depicts the Count and Countess of Empúries, who commissioned the building’s construction; the one on the right shows a judge and a notary-scribe of the Cúria Comtal, the court of justice of the Regional Court of Empúries during the Middle Ages.
The criminal proceedings began on the last day of March, and during the trial eighteen witnesses gave testimony. The first was Teresa, who explained that her husband forced her to have anal sex and that it caused her severe bleeding. To confirm her account, the victim was examined by the midwife Maria Candi Garrigàs, who was horrified by the brutality when she saw the injuries the girl had sustained to her rectum. Margarida also gave her version of events and recounted her encounter with the priest.
Details of the original document.
But that was only the tip of the iceberg, for numerous attempted rapes committed by the accused came to light. The labourer Joan Ferrer testified, for example, that in 1733 Bach had attacked two girls aged seven and eight, who fortunately managed to escape from him. The same witness also stated that his own daughters had suffered assaults by the accused. In 1734, he had abused the younger child, then seven years old, and in 1735 the elder, aged thirteen, who was rescued at the last moment by some shepherds.
The same happened with the children of Josep Berenguer, who declared that the accused had first tried to assault his six-year-old daughter, luring her into his house under false pretences, and later his seven-year-old daughter, whom he encountered in an olive grove near the rectory.
Road from Santa Eulàlia to Sant Miquel de Fluvià (where Bach assaulted some of his victims).
Llorenç Darder offered a similar account, stating that Bach had attempted to rape his thirteen-year-old daughter and his forty-year-old wife. The girl had managed to escape, but her mother had not been so fortunate. Nor had the shepherdess Marianna Palau, who was assaulted in a place known as El Racó, within the parish of Santa Eulàlia, according to the testimony of Maria Ferrer and Jerònima Gasch, the first to come to the victim’s aid.
Despite this series of witnesses, Josep Bach denied everything and claimed he was innocent. The authorities, however, found him guilty and sentenced him to five years in the galleys.
Medieval prison still preserved in Castelló d’Empúries (the capital of the Regional Court of Empúries until the 19th century).
Castelló d’Empúries Municipal Archive
The judicial process was meticulously transcribed by the notary and clerk of the royal court of Siurana, who recorded everything in his careful hand. Thanks to the preservation work of the Castelló d’Empúries Municipal Archive, which safeguards this extensive document, we can now, three centuries later, recognise that women in those times also suffered from gender-based violence.
View of the Castelló d’Empúries Municipal Archive Author: Lorena Ruiz Pellicero
Do you want to know more details about this story?
Consult the original document on which this story is based at Arxius en Línia (Archives Online).
And if you want to consult it in person at the Castelló d'Empúries Municipal Archive, ask for the document “Procés de la cort del batlle de Siurana contra el jornaler Josep Bach de Santa Eulàlia (Palau de Santa Eulàlia)”, with reference code AMCE560-3-T2-338.
The importance of the document
And, if you still want to delve deeper, watch this video in which the director of the Castelló d’Empúries Municipal Archive, Marisa Roig, explains the selection of the document and its importance in telling this story.
