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Brief Biographies
- Vanderbilt University Press
- Chapter
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195 BRIef BIogRAPhIes Abarca de Bolea, Ana Francisca (1602–late 1680s): A Cistercian nun from Zaragoza, Abarca took vows in the Real Monasterio de Santa María in Hueca in 1624. A poet and writer of prose fiction and nonfiction , Abarca was very active in the literary culture of her region. Angela María de la Concepción (Sor) (b. 1600s): Founder and prioress of Convento de las Recoletas Trinitarias in Toboso, Sor Angela María wrote the spiritual treatise Riego espiritual para nuevas plantas (1686). Azevedo, Angela de (c. 1600–?): Born in Lisbon, Azevedo moved to Madrid with her parents and served in the court of Philip IV as lady-inwaiting to Queen Isabel de Borbón. She wrote plays with secular and religious themes. Upon widowhood, she entered a Benedictine convent with her only daughter. Bernal, Beatriz (b. 1500s): This native of Valladolid was the author of the chivalric novel Don Cristalián de España (1545), originally published anonymously. Bernal married and had a daughter who later became instrumental in republishing the book under her mother’s name. Caño, María de (b. 1500s): Wife of Eleno/a de Céspedes, who was a licensed surgeon and a hermaphrodite, Caño was accused, and later exonerated, of having married a woman during Céspedes’s Inquisition trial in the 1580s. Caro Mallén de Soto, Ana (c. 1600–?): Author of secular and religious plays, Caro was born in the south of Spain, possibly in Granada, and is on record as having received payment for her writing in Seville. It is not known if she ever married. Carvajal, Mariana de (c. 1610–?): A mother of nine children, whose financial situation was difficult after her husband’s death, Carvajal published a novella collection in 1663. Carvajal y Mendoza, Luisa de (1566–1614): A member of the powerful Mendoza family, Carvajal traveled to England in 1605 with the goal of converting Anglicans to Catholicism. She wrote poems, an auto- 196 The Lives of Women biography, and more than one hundred letters before dying in England in 1614. Catalina de Jesús y San Francisco (Sor) (1639–77): Born near Toledo in central Spain, the young Catalina was raised by an aunt in Alcalá de Henares. Probably for financial considerations, she was required to marry Juan Bernique. After bearing three children and becoming widowed , Catalina Bernique joined a third-order Franciscan convent in Alcal á, where she took her religious name and later founded a school for poor girls. Cecilia del Nacimiento (Sor) (1570–1646): Born Cecilia Sobrino Morillas , Cecilia took the veil with her sister, María de San Alberto, at the Convento de la Concepción in Valladolid in 1588. Together the women wrote, translated, and exercised leadership as Discalced Carmelites. Céspedes, Eleno/a de (c. 1545 or 1546–?): Born a morisca slave girl and named after her owners, Céspedes married, gave birth, and developed a protrusion that eventually led to her transformation from woman to man. Tried by the Inquisition in the 1580s, Céspedes was sentenced to ten years of service in a hospital and was forced to live as a woman. Cueva y Silva, Leonor de la (b. 1600s): Born in Medina del Campo early in the seventeenth century, Cueva y Silva wrote plays and poetry. It is not known if she ever married. Díaz del Valle, Mariana (b. 1600s): Prisoner of the Inquisition and witness in the sorcery trial of María Romero in 1702, Díaz was married to a volatile man and paid Romero to provide her with remedies to stop the violence and to attract lovers. Enríquez de Guzmán, Feliciana (b. 1500s): Probably born before 1580 in Seville, Enríquez wrote a two-part play with elaborate requirements for staging. The playwright married twice, experienced financial problems upon the death of her second husband, and had no known surviving children. Escobar, Zebriana de (b. 1600s): Witness in the sorcery trial of María Romero in 1702, Escobar was a widow who had been beaten by her domestic partner. She testified to the Inquisition that she paid Romero for remedies to stop the violence. Estefanía de la Encarnación (Sor) (1597–1665): Born Estefanía Guarre de la Canal, Estefanía became a nun at the convent of Santa Clara in Lerma. Artist and author, she wrote several texts, including a beautifully illustrated autobiography. Francisca de Santa Teresa, (Sor) (1654–1709): Born Manuela Francisca Escarate in Madrid...