Lindsay is joined by author Nicole Von Germeten to discuss her book, “Violent Delights, Violent Ends: Sex, Race, and Honor in Colonial Cartagena de Indias.”

How did women fulfill their needs and desires in the seventeenth century? This book takes readers into the witches' sabbaths and spell-casting of Cartagena de Indias, a vibrant Caribbean port city. Women from Africa, Spain, Portugal and indigenous women from Colombia bought and sold love magic potions and remedies as they tried to find lovers and husbands. They risked the dangers of violent men and cruel inquisitors to satisfy their need for love ... and money.

Trained as a historian of Spain and its global empire at the University of California, Berkeley, Nicole von Germeten’s research has taken her to dozens of archives and libraries on three continents. Her first two books investigated African populations and their social and religious organizations. More recently, she has written five books about the history of crime and policing in Colombia and Mexico.

We discuss her book “Violent Delights, Violent Ends: Sex, Race, and Honor in Colonial Cartagena de Indias.” Violence and desire intertwine as readers take a trip to the 1600s and learn how women found love and satisfied their desires in a tropical port city.

Nicole is an associate dean in the College of Liberal Arts at Oregon State University, and has written extensively on the history of crime, violence, gender, and sexuality in Latin America.

You can learn about the other books on her website, or purchase them on Amazon.

Become a member on Buy Me A Coffee for as little as $1/month to support the show. 

You can write to us at: Ye Olde Crime Podcast, PO Box 341, Wyoming, MN 55092. Join the conversation over at the Cultiv8 Discord and join the Olde Crimers Cubby to chat with us and other listeners of the show.

Leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, Podchaser, Spotify, Podcast Addict, Audible, or Goodpods!

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Threads, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices