The lives of women from the distant past are notoriously hard to know. Ordinary women were barred from public life and often did not read or write. This leaves the social historian in a quandary: how do we piece together the lives of our historical sisters based on scant evidence?

In this presentation I will discuss how I use storytelling techniques alongside historical research in order to tell stories that have been buried by more conventional history writing. My case study will be based on the trial of Marina Gonzalez, who was arrested, tortured and burnt at the stake by the Spanish Inquisition on the charge of heresy. By bringing stories such as hers to light the hope is that we gain insight into how big political events and ideas impact the emotions and bodies of vulnerable human beings.