Description
Book SynopsisWhen María Vela y Cueto (15611617) declared that God had personally ordered herto take only the Eucharist as food and to restore primitive dress and public penance in heraristocratic convent, theentire religious community, according to her confessor, rose upin wrath. Yet, when Vela died, her peers joined with the populace to declare her a saint.In her autobiography and personal letters, Velaspeaks candidly of the obstacles, perils,and rewards of re-negotiating piety in a convent where devotion to God was no longerexpressed through rigorous asceticism. Vela's experience, told in herown words, revealsher shrewd understanding of the persuasive power of a woman's body.
Trade ReviewMaría Vela y Cueto was a controversial figure in Counter-Reformation Spain. Some of her contemporaries regarded the visions, voices, and strange maladies she received as signs of divine favor; others suspected her of fraud or even heresy. After her death, her account of her life and spiritual experiences was lost to posterity until the twentieth century. This volume allows English-readers to encounter the sometimes infuriating, always fascinating, María Vela in her own words. Susan Laningham’s insightful introduction and notes, based on years of persistent scholarship, helpfully locate Vela in historical and historiographical context. Jane Tar’s careful and sensitive translation renders the Spanish nun’s writing accessible to a modern audience. This book will be of great interest to scholars and students of religion, gender, and the body in post-Tridentine Catholic culture.
Jodi Bilinkoff
Professor, Department of History, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
"María Vela y Cueto was a controversial figure in Counter-Reformation Spain. Some of her contemporaries regarded the visions, voices, and strange maladies she received as signs of divine favor; others suspected her of fraud or even heresy. After her death, her account of her life and spiritual experiences was lost to posterity until the twentieth century. This volume allows English-readers to encounter the sometimes infuriating, always fascinating, María Vela in her own words. Susan Laningham’s insightful introduction and notes, based on years of persistent scholarship, helpfully locate Vela in historical and historiographical context. Jane Tar’s careful and sensitive translation renders the Spanish nun’s writing accessible to a modern audience. This book will be of great interest to scholars and students of religion, gender, and the body in post-Tridentine Catholic culture." -- Jodi Bilinkoff, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments xiii
Introduction 1
Note on Translation 49
Vida of María Vela y Cueto 53
Letters of María Vela y Cueto 140
Appendix I: Chronology of the Life of María Vela y Cueto 167
Bibliography 171
Index 183
