Podcast Summary:

New Books Network: "The Heretic of Cacheu: Crispina Peres and the Struggle over Life in Seventeenth-Century West Africa" with Toby Green
Host: Dr. Miranda Melcher
Guest: Professor Toby Green
Date: January 27, 2026

Overview

This episode features historian Toby Green discussing his book The Heretic of Cacheu: Crispina Peres and the Struggle over Life in Seventeenth-Century West Africa (University of Chicago Press, 2025). The discussion centers on the life of Crispina Peres—a powerful mixed-heritage female trader tried by the Portuguese Inquisition in the 1660s—and uses her story to explore broader themes in 17th-century Cacheu, such as gender, religion, economics, colonialism, and the lived experiences of West Africans. Green and Melcher unpack how reconstructing daily life through fragmented archival sources can challenge historical assumptions about narrative, power, and global connections.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

Introducing Toby Green and the Subject (02:13–05:00)

• Green’s Background: Specialist in West African history, previous works focused on transatlantic slave trade and inequality.
• Crispina Peres' Story: Only person from this region to face a full Inquisition trial in the 17th century; Green has edited the trial documents (with colleagues).
• The Book’s Purpose: Bridging micro-history with global context, highlighting rare archival materials that offer unique insights into daily life in Cacheu.

Rethinking Time and Narrative Structure (05:00–07:17)

• Green challenges linear, Western constructs of time in historical narrative, instead structuring the book cyclically to mimic local conceptions:

  “We come back to [fragments] in different ways in different places through the book. And that's a way of trying to...reproduce that idea of time...it's not just a linear narrative, necessarily.” (06:37)

Challenging Economic and Social Assumptions (07:17–10:13)

• Critique of "new institutional economics": Western economic frameworks don't account for the local, internally-generated institutions that shaped societies like Cacheu.
• The Inquisition itself was a potent external institution—its attack on Peres reveals the limits and impact of imposed systems.

The Figure of Crispina Peres and Local Power Structures (10:13–13:22)

• Peres was a powerful female trader in a town where women dominated commerce and social life, which “reductively patriarchal settings...found impossible to accept.” (11:39)
• Her prominence was viewed as threatening by both local Portuguese and the colonial administration. Arresting her aimed to assert Portuguese power in a contested environment.

The Role of Women and Kinship Systems (13:22–16:51)

• Inheritance, cultural transmission, and language primarily flowed through matrilineal lines.
• Difference in marriage customs highlights the value placed on women:

  “In the West African context, it is not the role of the parents of a bride to pay a dowry.... It's the reverse in West Africa. So that's an indication really, of the different types of gender roles...” (15:59)

• Most local leadership and religious life were also driven by women.

Everyday Life in 17th-Century Cacheu (16:51–25:27)

• Cacheu was a small, interconnected trading town—larger than a village, smaller than a city—reliant on river transport, with active local and regional commerce in goods, textiles, and enslaved captives.

  “Somebody going to Cacheu from 2026, walking into it in the 1660s, [would] probably think this is...not hardly even a town. It’s almost like a large village with a few different neighborhoods....” (17:36)

• The town's waterfront bustled with trade; the fortress was fragile, reliant on local alliances.
• Transatlantic slave traffic was significant but not as large as in Angola.

The Social and Psychological Impact of Enslavement (22:26–25:27)

• Most exported enslaved people were prisoners of war or criminals from other regions.
• Tensions and fears within household and society, especially for enslaved individuals, are evidenced by moments in the trial:

  “One of the main witnesses in her trial was a household slave... who said he’d done all this because he had been promised his freedom...” (24:13)

Socializing, Celebration, and Conceptions of Time (25:27–28:04)

• Leisure was intertwined with social and ritual obligations; time was event-based rather than clock-driven.
• Funerals and extended social gatherings played central roles:

  “People had a different relationship to time... not driven by...clock time, but by events. So you sit down, you start socializing, you drink some palm wine... might do this alongside your work....” (25:55)

Religion, Healing, and the Inquisition (28:04–34:38)

• The trial stemmed officially from heresy—Peres was a Catholic who also engaged with healers (Muslim, traditional African, and Catholic religious practices were intertwined).
• The Inquisition often targeted powerful community leaders; religious accusations masked political and economic motivations.
• Religious coexistence as a “melting pot”:

  “...people were sharing very much in one another's practice. So Crispina was a Catholic...[she] also went to these other festivals as well. And so that was a grounds for heresy for the Catholic Church...” (30:44)

• The trial as a “bellwether indicating the changing winds of global politics, economics, and society in the 1660s.” (32:00)

Medicine, Healing, and Empire (34:48–37:11)

• Final chapter explores medicine as both a site of challenge to colonial/imperial ideas and a domain heavily influenced by women.
• Indigenous knowledge, especially women’s healing practices, were later overwritten or attacked by colonial medicine.
• Notably:

  “Many of the medical treatments... herbs which were given...now [are] known...to have anti-inflammatory properties...most of the herbalists were women. And ...medicine was not only increasingly linked to colonialism, but...to patriarchy.” (36:20)

Cacheu Today and Reflections (37:39–40:40)

• Cacheu remains a small town; contemporary hardships reflect failures of postcolonial economic and political structures in West Africa.
• Striking contrast: more vibrant economic and social life in the 17th century compared to the present, possibly reflecting centuries of disruption and exploitation.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Time & Narrative Structure:

“Historians...write about the past. You know, obviously time is a pretty important aspect of what we're doing, but we're usually actually pretty bad at writing about time.”
— Toby Green (05:44)

On the Inquisition and Gendered Power:

“Lisbon was a city in the 17th century where girls...destined to be entered into a convent, were dressed in...wimples at the age of four or five. So, you know, this was not a setting which could really tolerate...female power.... Cashel was a town which was largely run by women.”
— Toby Green (11:20)

On Social Fabric & Difference:

“One of the interesting aspects of the trial...is...marriage...in the West African context, it is not the role of the parents of a bride to pay a dowry. It's actually the role of the parents of the groom to pay a bride price, which indicates that actually, women are more valued in the society...”
— Toby Green (15:25)

On Religion and Multiculturalism:

“This was very much a religious melting pot...people were sharing very much in one another's practice. So Crispina was a Catholic...[but] also went to these other festivals...that was a grounds for heresy for the Catholic Church.”
— Toby Green (30:25)

On Healing and Knowledge:

“Many of the medical processes...herbs which were given...now known to have anti-inflammatory properties...and most of the herbalists were women.”
— Toby Green (36:19)

On Cacheu Then and Now:

“It's completely clear to me...that there was far more activity...in the 17th century. It was a far more vibrant setting. The economic and social life was, in a way, there was greater access to the needs for social and economic reproduction...than is the case today. And that's quite striking.”
— Toby Green (40:25)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Toby Green’s Background & Book Introduction: 02:13–05:00
• Book Structure & Time: 05:00–07:17
• Challenging Economic Theories: 07:17–10:13
• Crispina Peres' Importance: 10:13–13:22
• Women’s Role in Cacheu: 13:22–16:51
• Everyday Life in Cacheu: 16:51–21:58
• Impact of Slavery and Social Tensions: 22:26–25:27
• Socializing, Alcohol, and Time: 25:51–28:04
• Religion and Syncretism: 28:04–31:43
• The Trial as Global Change Marker: 31:43–34:48
• Healing, Medicine, and Colonialism: 34:48–37:11
• Cacheu Today: 37:39–40:40
• Toby Green’s Next Projects: 41:03–42:09

Conclusion

The episode provides a compelling look at how one woman's trial illuminates shifting political, social, and metaphysical realities in 17th-century West Africa and the early modern Atlantic world. Through expert analysis and vivid storytelling, Green challenges standard narratives of time, economics, and the very structure of colonial power, foregrounding African agency and complexity in a period of profound global transformation.

Listeners come away with a sense of how small histories act as "bellwethers" for much larger tides—shaping, and being shaped by, the world around them.