View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by British Columbia's network of post-secondary digital repositories SEEN AND NOT HEARD: THE CASE AGAINST MARIÁ DE CAZALLA by Marina Lee-Anne Stuparyk B.A., University of Northern British Columbia, 2013 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FUFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN HISTORY UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA August 2016 © Marina Stuparyk, 2016 Abstract During the sixteenth century, rulers responded to perceived threats against Catholicism, complicating the religious climate in Spain. The Inquisition’s establishment affected all people in Spain, not just the elite. The development of gendered ideals and the theological response to concerns that the Church faced complicated the role that women played as second and third orders within the church. Religious women faced increased scrutiny and tighter control which concerned their gender more than their theological beliefs. The heretical charges levied against María de Cazalla concerned her status as a mother and wife and her insistence on assuming an authorial role as a teacher within her community. Maria's defense hinged on her understanding of gendered ideals in response to her perceived role as a woman. Its success rested on her own application of these ideals as a woman and how she responded to the Inquisition’s expectations. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ii Table of Contents iii Glossary and Important Terms iv Dedication vi Acknowledgements vii Introduction 1 Women and Religion in early modern Spain 7 The Spanish Inquisition as a body of sources 13 Alumbradismo, mysticism, and women’s religious experiences 16 “Seen and Not Heard: The Case Against María de Cazalla” 20 Chapter One: The Good, the Bad, & the Holy 24 Religious Communities 26 “Good” Religious Women 36 María de Santo Domingo 38 Teresa of Avila 42 “Bad” Beatas 45 Francisca de los Apóstoles 47 Francisca Hernandez 49 Isabel de la Cruz 51 María de Cazalla 54 Chapter Two: Some People Just Resist Authority 62 More than just a community of women 67 Alumbradismo: A potential Protestant threat 73 Views on doctrine and church authority 76 Chapter Three: Lie Back & Think of Religion 90 Roles for women within marriage: Protestant threats 93 Virginity versus matrimony 96 Motherhood’s ideals: from conception to adulthood 98 Motherhood 102 Authority within the home 111 Conclusion 116 Bibliography 122 iii Glossary and Important Terms alumbrada/o: Often this was a term applied to those accused of alumbradismo rather than adopted by the accused themselves. It refers to those who were considered to engage in the mystical and heretical practice of alumbradismo. alumbradismo: A movement that focused on interior spirituality which stressed illumination (the direct translation of alumbradismo) by the Holy Spirit. In particular, adherents would practice mental prayer and focused on transformation of the soul rather than outward acts and practices. auto de fé: a private or public ceremony in which those found guilty by the Inquisition had their sentences read out including their punishment. This included the wearing of a sanbenito, which was a garment that the penitent wore that listed their crimes, their family name, and finally the insignia of the Holy Office. bachiller: according to my research, the designation bachiller can refer to one who is a lawyer or as the designation of one’s educational status within the university system, to include a bachelor of arts, science, etcetera within the western university systems. beata: a woman outside of the convent system dedicated in service to God. These women often lived by themselves or within communities of other religious women. They sometimes attach themselves to a particular religious order and don the habit of that order. They could engage in acts of service within the community, or enumerate on mystical experiences which could include prophecy and visionary writing and dreams. beaterio: a community or house in which two or more beatas lived together. calificador: a theologian who examined trials and determined whether the proposed charges were heretical in nature. Together calificadores would vote and the result could be an arrest order for the accused to be brought under the authority of the Inquisition with their goods seized and held during the course of the trial. claustration: the act of cloistering or confining nuns within a convent. The end result being in a cloister. convent: a house or building in which a group of nuns live in under the authority of a mother superior and other clergymen from the Catholic church. Conversa/o: A common term for Jews who were baptized into the Catholic faith, including their descendants. convivencia: An academic hypothesis put forward regarding a so-called uneasy coexistence of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish groups in medieval Spain before the forced conversion and subsequent expulsion of the Muslim and Jewish peoples under Ferdinand and Isabella in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. Council of Trent: Held between 1545-1563 in Trento, Northern Italy, it is considered one of the most important ecumenical councils of the Catholic Church. Though it takes place after events studied in this thesis, issues pertaining to Catholic reform and the Protestant Reformation in the early sixteenth century were directly addressed by the Council and leading up to it by other theologians. iv dejamiento: the act of abandonment by a practitioner of alumbradismo where they surrendered themselves to the love of God and where they have no need of Church sacraments. enclosure: an area completely sealed off from the world through a barrier of some sort. For religious communities, especially convents, this meant being cloistered, where they had no contact with anyone from outside their convents. ilusa: a disparaging term essentially meaning “deluded” in Spanish that was applied to false visionaries. layperson: a non-ordained member of the Catholic Church; often referred to as a parishioner, and considered part of the laity or body of believers. Laypersons could interact with the Church as active members in a variety of contexts. For the purpose of this thesis, beatas were laypersons involved in tertiary (third) orders outside of the clergy. They could work under the supervision of a clergyman, but this was not always the case. mysticism: A form of religious worship observed throughout the medieval and early modern period amongst Catholicism in particular, mysticism focusses on a being receptive to the Holy Spirit. This can include visions, prophecy, or mystical writing. The latter of which was particularly popular among Spanish mystics, most famously of which was Teresa of Avila who was canonized in the early seventeenth century. recogimiento: The act of “recollection” through the act of mental prayer by practitioners of alumbradismo. Spanish Inquisition: The religious and political body created by Isabella and Ferdinand in response to issues of doctrine and heterodoxy within the morisca/o (Muslim converts) and conversa/o communities. Their oversight was expanded to include other forms of heresy especially in light of the Protestant Reformation. The Spanish Inquisition wielded an impressive amount of power and was backed by a large bureaucracy. The purpose of the Inquisition was to educate and reform Catholic belief and dogma amongst the peoples of Spanish controlled territories. Suprema: The Supreme Council of the Inquisition. tertiaries: Also known as “third orders” tertiaries could be individually comprised or in associations as people who lived in accordance with church ideals and orders but did not take religious vows; for example, the Order of St. Francis of Assissi. These differed from first orders who were generally the male clergy (priests, friars, etcetera) and second orders (female religious often associated with convents). Such people often participated in public acts of good works and some donned habits of the orders that they associated themselves with. v In dedication To knowledge seekers everywhere: Never stop looking Fall in love with asking “Why?” “The important thing is not to think much but to love much; and so do that which best stirs you to love.” – Teresa of Ávila vi Acknowledgements There are many people who helped me in the years leading to the completion of this thesis. However, I would first like to thank my thesis supervisor, Dr. Dana Wessell-Lightfoot, not only for providing this opportunity, but also for her guidance, help, and for her passion concerning women and medieval Spain. Her work on medieval Iberia directly influenced my choices in research. More importantly, however, was both her encouragement and her feedback. Every paper I received, every exam, she continued to further challenge me and to be a better student and academic. Words cannot describe how fortunate I am for her teaching, her mentorship, and her calm encouraging words whenever I inevitably needed them throughout the trials of researching and writing a thesis. I would also like to thank my committee members, Dr. Jacqueline Holler and Dr. Anna Casas Aguilar for their feedback and help. I would especially like to thank Dr. Holler for her classes during my undergraduate and graduate studies. Her own work and her focus on gender in classwork, even in survey courses like the West and the World, tested my own preconceived notions on gender, gender roles, and more importantly, the type of history that can be done. Finally, I would like to thank Dr. Poska for being my external examiner. To both the History and English departments, I want to extend thanks. I would not be the academic I am today without the encouragement, class discussions, challenges, and especially the feedback I received and experienced. Every professor in each department is focused on encouraging student success and academic achievement, and I firmly believe that their dedication to both their craft and their students is what makes UNBC the first rate institution it is.