The Life and Writings of Luisa De Carvajal Y Mendoza (The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe: The Toronto Series) (Volume 29) [Bilingual ed.] 0772721564, 9780772721563

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The Life and Writings of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza E d i te d a nd tr a n s l ate d by

Anne J. Cruz

The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe: The Toronto Series, 29

THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF LUISA DE CARVAJAL Y MENDOZA

The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe: The Toronto Series, 29

The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe: The Toronto Series

S e r ie S ed i to r S Margaret L. King and Albert Rabil, Jr. S e r ie S ed i to r , e ng l i S h te x tS Elizabeth H. Hageman

Previous Publications in the Series Madre María Rosa Journey of Five Capuchin Nuns Edited and translated by Sarah E. Owens Volume 1, 2009

Pernette du Guillet Complete Poems: A Bilingual Edition Edited by Karen Simroth James Translated by Marta Rijn Finch Volume 6, 2010

Giovan Battista Andreini Love in the Mirror: A Bilingual Edition Edited and translated by Jon R. Snyder Volume 2, 2009

Antonia Pulci Saints’ Lives and Bible Stories for the Stage: A Bilingual Edition Edited by Elissa B. Weaver Translated by James Wyatt Cook Volume 7, 2010

Raymond de Sabanac and Simone Zanacchi Two Women of the Great Schism: The Revelations of Constance de Rabastens by Raymond de Sabanac and Life of the Blessed Ursulina of Parma by Simone Zanacchi Edited and translated by Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski and Bruce L. Venarde Volume 3, 2010 Oliva Sabuco de Nantes Barrera The True Medicine Edited and translated by Gianna Pomata Volume 4, 2010 Louise-Geneviève Gillot de Sainctonge Dramatizing Dido, Circe, and Griselda Edited and translated by Janet Levarie Smarr Volume 5, 2010

Valeria Miani Celinda, A Tragedy: A Bilingual Edition Edited by Valeria Finucci Translated by Julia Kisacky Annotated by Valeria Finucci and Julia Kisacky Volume 8, 2010 Enchanted Eloquence: Fairy Tales by Seventeenth-Century French Women Writers Edited and translated by Lewis C. Seifert and Domna C. Stanton Volume 9, 2010 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Sophie, Electress of Hanover and Queen Sophie Charlotte of Prussia Leibniz and the Two Sophies: The Philosophical Correspondence Edited and translated by Lloyd Strickland Volume 10, 2011

The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe: The Toronto Series

Se r ie S ed i to r S Margaret L. King and Albert Rabil, Jr. Se r ie S ed i to r , e ng l i S h te x tS Elizabeth H. Hageman

Previous Publications in the Series In Dialogue with the Other Voice in Sixteenth-Century Italy: Literary and Social Contexts for Women’s Writing Edited by Julie D. Campbell and Maria Galli Stampino Volume 11, 2011 Sister Giustina Niccolini The Chronicle of Le Murate Edited and translated by Saundra Weddle Volume 12, 2011 Liubov Krichevskaya No Good without Reward: Selected Writings: A Bilingual Edition Edited and translated by Brian James Baer Volume 13, 2011 Elizabeth Cooke Hoby Russell The Writings of an English Sappho Edited by Patricia Phillippy With translations by Jaime Goodrich Volume 14, 2011 Lucrezia Marinella Exhortations to Women and to Others if They Please Edited and translated by Laura Benedetti Volume 15, 2012

Margherita Datini Letters to Francesco Datini Translated by Carolyn James and Antonio Pagliaro Volume 16, 2012 Delarivier Manley and Mary Pix English Women Staging Islam, 1696– 1707 Edited and introduced by Bernadette Andrea Volume 17, 2012 Cecilia Del Nacimiento Journeys of a Mystic Soul in Poetry and Prose Introduction and prose translations by Kevin Donnelly Poetry translations by Sandra Sider Volume 18, 2012 Lady Margaret Douglas and Others The Devonshire Manuscript: A Women’s Book of Courtly Poetry Edited and introduced by Elizabeth Heale Volume 19, 2012 Arcangela Tarabotti Letters Familiar and Formal Edited and translated by Meredith K. Ray and Lynn Lara Westwater Volume 20, 2012

The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe: The Toronto Series

Ser ie S edi to r S Margaret L. King and Albert Rabil, Jr. Ser ie S edi to r , e ng l i S h te x tS Elizabeth H. Hageman

Previous Publications in the Series Pere Torrellas and Juan de Flores Three Spanish Querelle Texts: Grisel and Mirabella, The Slander against Women, and The Defense of Ladies against Slanderers: A Bilingual Edition and Study Edited and translated by Emily C. Francomano Volume 21, 2013

Mary Astell The Christian Religion, as Professed by a Daughter of the Church of England Edited by Jacqueline Broad Volume 24, 2013

Barbara Torelli Benedetti Partenia, a Pastoral Play: A Bilingual Edition Edited and translated by Lisa Sampson and Barbara Burgess-Van Aken Volume 22, 2013

Katherine Austen Book M: A London Widow’s Life Writings Edited by Pamela S. Hammons Volume 26, 2013

François Rousset, Jean Liebault, Jacques Guillemeau, Jacques Duval and Louis De Serres Pregnancy and Birth in Early Modern France: Treatises by Caring Physicians and Surgeons (1581–1625) Edited and translated by Valerie Worth-Stylianou Volume 23, 2013

Sophia of Hanover Memoirs (1630–1680) Edited and translated by Sean Ward Volume 25, 2013

Anne Killigrew “My Rare Wit Killing Sin”: Poems of a Restoration Courtier Edited by Margaret J. M. Ezell Volume 27, 2013 Tullia d’Aragona and Others The Poems and Letters of Tullia d’Aragona and Others: A Bilingual Edition Edited and translated by Julia L. Hairston Volume 28, 2014

The Life and Writings of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza

•

Edited and translated by ANNE J. CRUZ

Iter Inc. Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies Toronto 2014

Iter: Gateway to the Middle Ages and Renaissance Tel: 416/978–7074 Email: [email protected] Fax: 416/978–1668 Web: www.itergateway.org Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies Victoria University in the University of Toronto Tel: 416/585–4465 Email: [email protected] Fax: 416/585–4430 Web: www.crrs.ca © 2013 Iter Inc. & Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies All rights reserved. Printed in Canada. Iter and the Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies gratefully acknowledge the generous support of James E. Rabil, in memory of Scottie W. Rabil, toward the publication of this book. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Carvajal y Mendoza, Luisa de, 1566–1614 [Works. Selections. English] The life and writings of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza / edited and translated by Anne J. Cruz. (The other voice in early modern Europe. The Toronto series ; 29) Translated from the Spanish. Autobiography is translated from: Camilo María Abad, S.J., ed. Luisa de Carvajal: Escritos autobiográficos. Espirituales Españoles, vol. 20. Barcelona : Juan Flors, 1966; Poetry is translated from: Luis Muñoz, Vida y virtudes de la venerable virgen doña Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza. Madrid : Casa Real, 1632. Rpt. 1897; Correspondence is translated from: Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza. Epistolario y poesías. Ed. Jesús González Marañón and Camilo María Abad, S.J., vol. 179. Madrid : Biblioteca de Autores Españoles, 1965. Includes bibliographical references and index. Issued in print and electronic formats. ISBN 978-0-7727-2156-3 (pbk.).—ISBN 978-0-7727-2157-0 (pdf) 1. Carvajal y Mendoza, Luisa de, 1566-1614. 2. Carvajal y Mendoza, Luisa de, 1566–1614— Correspondence. 3. Carvajal y Mendoza, Luisa de, 1566–1614—Translations into English. 4. Christian poetry, Spanish—Translations into English. 5. Catholics—England—Biography. 6. Spiritual life—Catholic Church. I. Cruz, Anne J., editor of compilation, translator II. Victoria University (Toronto, Ont.). Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies, issuing body III. Iter Inc, issuing body IV. Title. V. Series: Other voice in early modern Europe. Toronto series ; 29 BX4705.C334A3 2014

282.092

C2014-900199-1 C2014-900200-9

Cover illustration: Portrait of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza. Anonymous, n. d. Monasterio de la Encarnación, Madrid. © Patrimonio Nacional. Cover design: Maureen Morin, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries. Typesetting and production: Iter Inc.

A la memoria de mis abuelas, mis tías, y mi madre.

Contents Illustrations

xi

Acknowledgments

xiii

Introduction The Other Voice Luisa de Carvajal’s Life Writings The World of the Spanish Nobility Early Childhood Reminiscences Adolescence and Penitential Discipline Spiritual Poetry The Sacred and the Profane in Carvajal’s Spiritual Poetry Correspondence Desire for Martyrdom in England Missionary Life in London A Roman Priest in Women’s Clothing The Traffic in Relics Circulating Her Life Story Luisa de Carvajal’s Afterlife

1 6 13 17 25 36 41 48 54 66 71 78 91 98

Autobiography

111

Selected Spiritual Poems

153

Selected Correspondence

201

Bibliography

351

Index

365

ix

Illustrations Cover Illustration: Portrait of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza. Anonymous, n.d. Monasterio de la Encarnación, Madrid. © Patrimonio Nacional. Figure 1. The Infantas Isabel Clara Eugenia and Catalina Micaela, ca. 1575. Oil on canvas. 1.35 x 1.49 m. Alonso Sánchez Coello, (1515–1590). Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid. Art Resource, NY. 21 Figure 2. Recumbent Christ, detail. Attributed to Gaspar Becerra (1520-1570). Convent of the Descalzas Reales, Madrid, Spain. Album/Art Resource, NY. 44 Figure 3. Letter to King Philip III from Rodrigo Calderón. Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid. 65 Figure 4. Sarcophagus, Luisa de Carvajal. Reliquary, Monasterio de la Encarnación, Madrid. © Patrimonio Nacional. 103

xi

Acknowledgments I am indebted to Mary Elizabeth Perry for first drawing my attention to a sonnet by Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza in the late 1980s. Intrigued by its singular spirituality, I initiated what has seemed an endless study of this remarkable woman’s life and writings. Along the way, I have accumulated many other debts, which I now acknowledge with pleasure. My research on this and other projects has been generously supported by fellowships from the University of Miami, the University of Illinois-Chicago, and the Newberry Library. While at the Newberry, I became familiar with the important work on Catholic recusants by Frances E. Dolan and Arthur Marotti, who kindly read early drafts of this book, as did my Hispanist friends and colleagues Darcy Donahue, Ronald Surtz, and Lisa Vollendorf. My thanks, at last, for offering their time and unparalleled expertise. It is an honor to thank the Agustinas Recoletas of the Convent of the Encarnación for granting me access to their archives; I especially appreciate their act of kindness in serving me lemonade in the locutorio during two sizzling Madrid summers. I thank Javier Burrieza, St Alban’s College historian, for allowing me entry into the College’s Pigskin Library. My infinite gratitude to Leticia Sánchez Hernández, Conservadora of the Patrimonio Nacional, for unlocking the convent doors to the only secular portrait known of Luisa de Carvajal. Its image, which graces the book cover, fittingly reflects her dignity, vivacity, and strength, qualities that I hope to convey in my version of her life. For their warm collegiality and guidance during my visits to Spain, I am immensely grateful to be able to count on Nieves Baranda Leturio, Aurora Egido, Ma. Carmen Marín Pina, and Carmen Sanz Ayán. Many thanks are due Carmen Vaquero Serrano for her hospitality and for sharing her unsurpassed knowledge of Toledo genealogy. Throughout my career, Georgina Sabat-Rivers and Elias Rivers were always incomparable intellectual role models; my admiration for them remains boundless. Among the many friends whose scholarship continuously challenges and improves my own, I particularly wish to thank Fred de Armas, Emilie Bergmann, Jodi Bilinkoff, Raquel Chang-Rodríguez, Ed Friedman, Silvia Mitchell, Sally Nalle, Carmen xiii

xiv Acknowledgments Peraita, Isabel Torres, Alison Weber, and Diana de Armas Wilson. From as early as their—and my—graduate days, Rosilie Hernández, Adrienne Martín, and María Cristina Quintero have sustained me with their friendship, laughter, generosity, and occasional responses to my phone calls. I hope never to repay my debt. A note of thanks to Glyn Redworth for regaling me with genial conversation and controversy on our choice of subject. My colleagues in early modern studies at the University of Miami—Viviana Díaz Balsera, Laura Giannetti, Karl Gunther, Pam Hammons, Mary Lindemann, Perri Lee Roberts, Guido Ruggiero, Maria Galli Stampino, Mihoko Suzuki, and Barbara Woshinsky—inspire me constantly with their exceptional scholarship. I am grateful for their support. My final, but no less heart-felt, thanks to Albert Rabil, Jr., for patiently awaiting the manuscript. My previous books have been dedicated to my living family; I dedicate this volume to the memory of my admirable women elders, mujeres fuertes whose lives, though far too brief, were always beacons of matriarchal strength and love: my grandmothers, María Bianchi Arce and Francisca Bianchi Ferguson; my aunts, Alicia Arce Larrave and María Antonia Arce Hernández; and my mother, Margarita Arce Ferguson.

Introduction The Other Voice From the number of biographies written about her peripatetic life, the noblewoman, author, and religious activist Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza (1566–1614) emerges as one of the most controversial female figures of early modern Spain. Rejecting the traditional paths for women of marriage or the convent, Carvajal left Madrid for London at thirty-nine years of age as a self-appointed missionary to England with the intention of converting the Anglicans to Catholicism.That she could take such an unprecedented voyage was undoubtedly due to her connections as a member of the powerful Mendoza family, as well as to the donation of her inheritance to the Jesuit order, which had long supported the English Catholics’ resistance to Protestant rule.1 Yet after her arrival in London only six months before the Gunpowder Plot,2 she was persecuted and twice incarcerated for what were considered insurrectional acts, and both the Spanish and English governments demanded her departure. After her second stay in prison, however, Carvajal became ill and died in London on her birthday, January 2, 1614 at 48 years of age. As tumultuous as her adult life was in England, Carvajal’s childhood in Spain proved equally, albeit more personally, trau1. Many Jesuits championed the “English enterprise,” the restitution of Catholicism in England, and advocated for a Catholic claimant to the English throne. Among the strongest proponents was Robert Persons, prefect of the English Mission and founder of the English College of Saint Alban at Valladolid in 1589, which Carvajal visited often when the court moved there in 1601. For Persons’ involvement with the enterprise, see Calendar of Letters and State Papers relating to English Affairs, vol. IV Elizabeth, 1587–1603. Ed. Martin Hume (London: H.M.S.O., 1899), 628ff. See also Michael E. Williams,“Years of Promise and Fulfillment, 1589–1613” in St Alban’s College, Valladolid: Four Centuries of English Catholic Presence in Spain (London: St Martin’s Press, 1986), 14–33. 2. The failed attempt to blow up Parliament on November 5, 1605 by a small group of English Catholic dissidents; the most infamous, Guy Fawkes, visited Spain in 1603. Several Jesuits accused of having been implicated in the plot were visited by Carvajal in jail. See Alice Hogge, God’s Secret Agents; Elizabeth’s Forbidden Priests and the Hatching of the Gunpowder Plot (New York: HarperCollins, 2005).

1

2 Introduction matic. Orphaned as a child, she experienced a disrupted family life that included four idyllic years with Philip II’s daughters at court before being placed in the care of her uncle, Francisco Hurtado de Mendoza, the Marquis of Almazán and Count of Monteagudo, who moved the family to several towns and, finally, to Madrid.3 A zealous Catholic who was recalled from his post as ambassador to the Vienna court in 1576, the marquis took over his young niece’s spiritual education, ordering her to undergo harsh corporal discipline and spending long hours reading theological treatises to her from his vast library.4 Contrary to his wishes, Carvajal refused to marry and declined to enter a convent; instead, immediately after the marquis’s death, she moved into a small house in a poor neighborhood in Madrid where she lived an ascetic life, sweeping the streets in ragged clothing, joining in soup lines, succoring the poor, and caring for prostitutes. Although Carvajal’s noble relatives and friends were shocked by her behavior, others, impressed by her piety, sought her counsel and prayers. Free from the enclosure of a convent, she not only kept apprised of the daily occurrences at court, but once in England, in her letters, she continued to comment frequently on the political conflicts across Europe. Given her travels, the time Carvajal devoted to writing is remarkable: her extant correspondence numbers over two hundred letters to relatives and political allies in Spain and the Netherlands. She also composed a small but impressive col3. Carvajal’s maternal uncle was the Spanish ambassador to the Habsburg Viennese court when Carvajal was sent to live with his family at age ten; upon his return, he moved the family to the northeastern towns of Monteagudo and Almazán, and to Pamplona where he served as Vicerroy of Navarra. The marquis returned to Almazán in 1579, then moved to Madrid in 1588 or 1590. His role as ambassador is detailed by Magdalena S. Sánchez, “Los vínculos de sangre: la emperatriz María, Felipe II, y las relaciones entre España y Europa Central,” in Congreso Internacional Felipe II (1598–1998), Europa dividida, la monarquía católica de Felipe II (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 20–23 abril 1998), vol. 1.2 (Madrid: Parteluz, 1998), 777–793. 4. Fernando Bouza, “Docto y devoto: La biblioteca del Marqués de Almazán y Conde de Monteagudo (Madrid, 1591),” in Hispania — Austria II. Die Epoche Philipps II. (1556– 1598), ed. Friedrich Edelmayer (Vienna: Verlag fur Geschichte und Politik; Munich: R. Oldenbourg Verlag, 1999), 247–308. See also Anne J. Cruz, “Reading Over Men’s Shoulders: Noblewomen’s Literary Practices in Early Modern Spain.” In Women’s Literacy in Early Modern Spain and the New World, ed. Anne J. Cruz and Rosilie Hernández (Farnham: Ashgate, 2011), 41–58.

Introduction 3 lection of spiritual poetry, and penned numerous autobiographical writings. Indeed, thanks to her capacious writing throughout her life, we know more about the history of this remarkable woman than of most early modern Spanish women writers. The various genres—autobiographical, poetic, and epistolary—through which Luisa de Carvajal expressed her private thoughts, political notions, and spiritual sentiments do not merely reflect different aspects of her personality, but assume contradictory and even opposing stances. These writings project a multifaceted voice that variously narrates her interior feelings, at times in conflict and other times in conformity with her social experiences. Not surprisingly, readers throughout the centuries have formed diverse opinions of the poet and missionary. Carvajal’s life early on became the subject of several biographers: her confessor and spiritual advisor, the Jesuit Michael Walpole,5 wrote her life story in both Spanish and Latin shortly after her death. Soon afterward, another biography by the licentiate Luis Muñoz, who knew her family and had met Carvajal as a child, appeared in 1632; a biography written by a Catholic Englishwoman was published in London in 1873.6 These histories focused primarily on her spiritual journey and her travails in England as Carvajal recounted them in her autobiographical writings and letters. Judging her on the literary merits of her poetry, in 1903, the Spanish historian Manuel Serrano y Sanz lauded Carvajal as “undoubtedly, the most illustrious religious female poet of those who

5. Walpole belonged to a Catholic Norfolk family that produced several Jesuits: his brother Henry Walpole was martyred in 1595. See Augustus Jessopp, One Generation of a Norfolk House: A Contribution to Elizabethan History (London: Burns and Oates, 1879), 298–300. A prolific writer, Walpole was the probable translator of Saint Teresa’s Lyfe (1611). See Kathleen T. Spinnenweber, “The 1611 Translation of St. Teresa’s Autobiography: A Possible Carmelite-Jesuit Collaboration.” http://www.pulib.sk/skase/Volumes/JTI02/pdf_doc/1.pdf; [accessed 30 July 2011]. 6. Walpole’s manuscript Spanish and Latin biographies are archived in the Convento de la Encarnación, Madrid, and the English College of Saint Alban, Valladolid, respectively. Luis Muñoz’s Vida y virtudes de la venerable virgen doña Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza (Madrid: Casa Real, 1632) addressed to Philip IV requesting that he support Carvajal’s beatification, was reprinted in 1897; Lady Georgiana Fullerton’s The Life of Luisa de Carvajal (London: Burns and Oates, 1873) is based on Muñoz.

4 Introduction flourished in seventeenth-century Spain.”7 In 1930, one of Spain’s first feminist intellectuals, the socialist Margarita Nelken, comparing her favorably with Saint Teresa of Ávila, concluded that “in religious poetry, and in her century, no one surpassed [Carvajal] in the Castilian language.”8 In 1933, the renowned philologists Antonio Rodríguez Moñino and María Brey Mariño published a collection of her poems “so that the reader may judge for him or herself the literary talents of this poet and martyr.”9 Since the latter half of the twentieth century, a growing number of readers have done just that. Scholarly awareness of the noblewoman has increased in tandem with the developing interest in women’s and gender studies, along with Counter-Reformation religious studies. From 1965 to 2012, no fewer than eight books and a doctoral dissertation, as well as various book chapters and journal articles, have been published on her life and writings.10 Given its conflicting gender 7. “Indudablemente, la más ilustre poetisa religiosa de cuantas florecieron en España durante el siglo XVII.” Manuel Serrano y Sanz, Apuntes para una biblioteca de escritoras españolas, vol. I, (Madrid: Casa Real, 1903), 235. Unless otherwise stated, all translations are my own. 8. “En poesía religiosa, y en su siglo, nadie la sobrepasa en castellano.” Margarita Nelken, Las escritoras españolas (Barcelona: Labor, 1930), 75. Although Nelken advocated for improved social conditions for Spanish women, ironically, she opposed their right to vote, fearing they were not yet sufficiently educated and would first consult with their confessors. See Paul Preston, Doves of War: Four Women of Spain (London: HarperCollins, 2002). 9. “[P]ara que el lector pueda formar por sí juicio de las dotes literarias de esta mujer que fue poetisa y mártir” (8). Antonio R. Rodríguez Moñino and María Brey Mariño, “Luisa de Carvajal (poetisa y mártir); Apuntes biobibliográficos, seguidos de tres cartas inéditas de la Venerable Madre,” Revista de la Bibliotecas, Archivos y Museos (1933): 5–26. 10. The eight biographies, some of which reproduce or translate selections from Carvajal’s poetry, autobiographical writings, and letters, include Jesús González Marañón and Camilo María Abad, S.J., Doña Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza, epistolario y poesías, vol. 179 (Madrid: Biblioteca de Autores Españoles, 1965); Camilo María Abad, S.J., Una misionera española en la Inglaterra del siglo XVII (Santander: Universidad Pontificia Comillas, 1966); Camilo María Abad, S.J., ed., Escritos autobiográficos (Barcelona: Juan Flors, 1966); Elizabeth Rhodes, This Tight Embrace: Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza (1566–1614) (Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 2000); María Nieves Pinillos Iglesias, Hilando Oro: Vida de Luisa de Carvajal (Madrid: Laberinto, 2001); Margaret A. Rees, The Writings of Doña Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza, Catholic Missionary to James I’s London (Lewiston, ME: Edwin Mellen Press, 2002); María Luisa García-Verdugo, Luisa de Carvajal en su contexto (Madrid: Pliegos, 2008); and Glyn Redworth, The She-Apostle: The Extraordinary Life and Death of Luisa de Carvajal (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008). The articles

Introduction 5 messages, Carvajal’s life story does not lead any of her biographers to assume that she was a proto-feminist along the lines of a María de Zayas or a Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz.11 Rather, to a greater or lesser extent, some attribute her extraordinary decision not to marry or profess but instead to proselytize in Anglican London, to her intense childhood deprivation and suffering at the hands of her uncle; others, to her impassioned “desire for martyrdom;” while still others see her as a mystic, following in the tradition of medieval saints and of Spain’s own Teresa of Ávila. This study argues that such scholarly approaches contribute only partially to our knowledge of Luisa de Carvajal, and that more research is needed in order to understand both her subject position as a woman and the conflictive roles she played out in early modern Spain and England. Certainly, no woman experienced the turmoil of the wars of religion between these two enemy nation-states as did Luisa de Carvajal. We are fortunate that she left a lengthy paper trail that both enriches and complicates her life history.12 Unlike the letters she writes from England that record the agitation of her missionary work, Carvajal’s spiritual poems and mystical fragments surface from an emotional wellspring, expressing her interiority. Although her poetry was composed while she was still in Spain, her correspondence to her relatives and friends, along with letters from her religious contacts and the dispatches of the Spanish ambassadors, streamed back and forth between England and the continent. These documents, which discuss the frusand chapters are too numerous to cite here; I refer to several individually in this study. Christopher James Henstock’s outstanding dissertation, “Luisa de Carvajal: Text, Context, and (Self-)Identity” (2012) is filed with the Department of History, Manchester University. I thank him for making a copy available to me. Carvajal’s letters are transcribed in Cervantes Virtual, http://www.biblioteca-antologica.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/CARVAJALY-MENDOZA-Epistolario.pdf. 11. For an insightful feminist analysis of Zayas, see Lisa Vollendorf, Reclaiming the Body: María de Zayas’s Early Modern Feminism (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2001). 12. Carvajal’s autobiographical writings do not follow a neat linear history, since they are comprised of several manuscripts written at different times. As I explain in my translation of her “Autobiography” in this volume, Camilo María Abad’s Escritos autobiográficos collates the manuscripts into an acceptably fluid narration, which I have compared with the originals. I am indebted to Nieves Baranda Leturio for facilitating the copies.

6 Introduction trations she encountered in her apostolate role in England and relate the high-level political dealings among the two governments, weave a web of historical intrigue that remains enthrallingly entangled to this day.13 Thanks to her abundant writings and to the increased interest in women’s lives by social and literary historians, we are able to contextualize Carvajal’s life more fully, engaged as it was in the private and public spheres of early modern Europe. The understanding we may glean from these sources allows us to compare her experiences as they are analyzed from different historical and ideological viewpoints. Surprisingly, however, despite the recent scholarly attention paid her, she remains little known outside Hispanist circles. My contribution to “The Other Voice” series—my introduction to her work and my translations of selections from her autobiography, correspondence, and poetry—intends to complement and enter into dialogue with earlier studies of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza’s singular life and writings. It is my hope that this volume will call this remarkable woman to the attention of the broader academic community and the general public, and that it will encourage other readers to judge for themselves her superb literary talents and her fascinating history.

Luisa de Carvajal’s Life Writings The contradictory opinions held about Luisa de Carvajal reveal just how much women’s lives—those written no less than those lived— present a conundrum to her readers. Autobiographies by definition require the selective composition and assessment of one’s life experiences, since most are written years after the events take place, but they are also intended to address a particular readership. In the early modern period, women’s writings simultaneously echoed and challenged the complexities of their culture’s misogyny and exclusivity. Studies of English women authors, for instance, note that society expected 13. The correspondence of Diego Sarmiento de Acuña, Count of Gondomar, Spanish ambassador from 1612, may be accessed at the Biblioteca Real de Palacio, Madrid. The 1526 Interrogatorio or ordinary process of Carvajal’s beatification, initiated by and archived in the convent of the Encarnación (ARMEN), offers yet another vision, one adjusted to the particular requirements of the process.

Introduction 7 women to be quiet, chaste, and submissive; the concept of the “self ” held negative connotations, since it had to be repressed in order to receive divine grace.14 Moreover, literacy levels were low across Europe, so writing about one’s self was necessarily limited to those who had successfully garnered an education beyond reading. Only eleven percent of English women were literate, and in London, between 1580 and 1640, fully ninety percent of women could not sign their names.15 That women were encouraged to read (or be read to) rather than write is evinced by the fact that over 85% of the 163 books published during those same years were addressed to women or intended to regulate their behavior.16 Spanish women’s literacy was higher than that of English women; during the same period, literacy rates in Castile, Spain’s largest kingdom, compared favorably for men (over 50%) and women (one-fourth of women in Madrid could sign their names).17 Although there were significant differences in literacy across the various European countries (and within each country), there remained substantial similarities among women’s writings throughout early modern Europe, especially in the formulation of what have been called “ego-documents,” which include memoirs, diaries, travel accounts, family chronicles, and Inquisitional confessions, along with

14. Sheila Ottway, “Autobiography,” in A Companion to Early Modern Women’s Writing, ed. Anita Pacheco (Oxford; Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2002), 233. For other studies of early modern English women’s writings, see Sharon Cadman Seelig, Autobiography and Gender: Reading Women’s Lives, 1600–1680 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006); and Elspeth Graham et al., eds., Her Own Life: Autobiographical Writings by Seventeenth-Century Englishwomen (London; New York: Routledge, 1989). 15. Patricia Demers, Women’s Writing in English: Early Modern England (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2005), 23. 16. Helen Ostovich and Elizabeth Sauer, “Introduction: Rereading Women’s Literary History,” in Helen Ostovich and Elizabeth Sauer, eds. Reading Early Modern Women: An Anthology of Texts in Manuscript and Print, 1550–1700 (New York: Routledge), 6. See also Suzanne W. Hull, Chaste, Silent & Obedient: English Books for Women, 1475–1640 (San Marino: Huntington Library, 1984). 17. According to Sara T. Nalle, these high rates do not hold true in provinces such as Cuenca. I thank Professor Nalle for allowing me to cite from her unpublished manuscript, “The Unknown Reader: Women and Literacy in Golden Age Spain.”

8 Introduction conventional autobiographies.18 Because similarities also extend throughout the different historical periods, Domna C. Stanton, when discussing “autogynographies”—a term she coins for women’s writings across time and space—assuredly quotes Saint Teresa of Ávila’s complaint that she was “subjected to severe restrictions” in her writing.19 According to Stanton, in women’s writings especially, “intrasubjectively, the self-censoring speaker invariably display[s] impulses toward both exposure and concealment” (12). In the early modern period, the move to simultaneously reveal and conceal aspects of her life was a crucial one, given that no woman was at liberty to express herself completely due to the many external and internal cultural pressures she experienced. As Stanton states, “the autogynographical narrative was marked by conflicts between the private and the public, the personal and the professional” (13). Clearly, the convergence in Spanish women’s writings of categories such as gender, social class, ethnicity, and religion demands our close attention, since the tensions among these categories elide any uniform interpretation of women’s lives and the formation of their subjectivity.20

18. See Rudolf Dekker, ed. Egodocuments and History. Autobiographical Writing in its Social Context since the Middle Ages (Hilversum: Verloren, 2002). Although they do not address gender, James Amelang and Antonio Castillo Gómez make a strong case for these documents’ abundance in Spain, as they include “bureaucratic autobiographies” such as soldiers’ memorias de servicio and Inquisitional trazas; spiritual autobiographies; fictional autobiographies such as picaresque novels; relations; and letters; see their article “First Person Writings in European Context,” http://www.firstpersonwritings.eu/spain/spain_project. htm#_edn1 [accessed July 30, 2010]. See also James Amelang, “Spanish Autobiography in the Early Modern Era,” in Winfried Schulze, ed., Ego-Dokumente: Annäherung an den Menschen in der Geschichte? Vorüberlegungen für die Tagung, Ego-Dokumente (Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1996), 59–71; and Antonio Castillo Gómez and Verónica Sierra Blas, eds., El legado de Mnemosyne: Las escrituras del yo a través del tiempo (Gijón: Trea, 2007). 19. “I wish I had also been allowed to describe clearly and in full detail my grave sins and wicked life [but] I have been subjected to severe restrictions [by my confessors] in the matter.” Cited and translated by Domna C. Stanton, ed. The Female Autograph (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987), 12. 20. I agree with George Mariscal that in early modern Spain “subjectivity was constituted through a wide range of complex networks rather than through any single practice.” I would, however, add gender, social behavior, and religious affiliation to his “blood, status, and kinship relations” as sites of class status and conflict. George Mariscal, Contradictory Subjects:

Introduction 9 Luisa de Carvajal’s literary production forms part of the various religious discourses that circulated in early modern Spain, as personal beliefs and confessional systems played determining roles in women’s experiences across early modern Europe. Spiritual autobiographies, which had initially materialized within the medieval Church, flourished during the Catholic reformation under Isabel of Castile and Fernando of Aragón and again after the Counter-Reformation.21 At those times, clergy reform and Inquisitional fear of heresy compelled the regulation of devotional practices, thereby encouraging and even obliging the spiritual writings of many religious, who were under pressure to prove their orthodoxy.22 The order given to nuns by their confessors to write their life experiences is a key factor in conventual autobiography; behind this mandate was usually the spiritual advisor’s intent to investigate mystical visions in order to ensure the nun’s holiness and therefore protect her from the scrutiny of the Inquisition. Many of these texts also stemmed from the need by confessors to protect themselves as well as their spiritual charges from accusations of heresy or demonic possession. Yet, as Jodi Bilinkoff explains, Quevedo, Cervantes, and Seventeenth-Century Spanish Culture (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1991), 76. 21. For examples of Spanish religious women’s writings besides Saint Teresa of Ávila, see Ronald Surtz, Writing Women in Late Medieval and Early Modern Spain: The Mothers of Saint Teresa of Avila (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1995); Ronald Surtz, The Guitar of God: Gender, Power, and Authority in the Visionary World of Mother Juana de la Cruz (1481–1534) (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990); and Ana de San Bartolomé. Autobiography and Other Writings, ed. and trans. Darcy Donahue, The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008). For writings by French religious, see Marie-Florine Bruneau, Women Mystics Confront the Modern World: Maria de l’Incarnation (1599–1672) and Madame Guyon (1648–1717) (New York: SUNY Press, 1998). 22. For an excellent discussion of early monastic reform, see Elizabeth Lehfeldt, “Habits of Reform: Religious Women before Trent,” in her Religious Women in Golden Age Spain: The Permeable Cloister (Aldershot, UK; Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2005), 137–174. Saint Teresa’s history with the Inquisition is well known; for its impact on other women visionaries, see Richard L. Kagan, Lucrecia’s Dreams: Politics and Prophecy in Sixteenth-Century Spain (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990); Mary E. Giles, ed., Women in the Inquisition: Spain and the New World (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998); and Gillian T.W. Ahlgren, ed., Francisca de los Apóstoles: The Inquisition of Francisca, a Sixteenth-Century Visionary on Trial (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005).

10 Introduction confessors had other reasons for recording their charges’ lives.23 Not only did they encourage nuns and lay persons whom they believed spiritually gifted to compose their autobiographies, but they went so far as to record their lives themselves, “eager to publicize the pious lives and divinely endowed gifts of their spiritual daughters and offer them as models for emulation” (Bilinkoff, “How To,” 35). Of course, as she notes, few confessors failed to stress their part in making these holy figures public, and some had personal reasons, such as repaying debts or lauding family members. The main goal for many, however, was to elevate their charges to the level of sainthood.24 Although spiritual autobiographies reflect the author’s historical specificity and have varying formats, they are conditioned by such similar factors as the author’s gender and purpose, as well as by their expected readership.25 The profusion of spiritual biographies and autobiographies produced in Spain gave these texts a generic weight that began to assume predictable patterns: from Saint Augustine’s Confessions and saints’ lives such as the Flos Sanctorum to Saint Teresa of Ávila’s Libro de la vida [Book of Her Life] as their sources, the life stories first recounted the protagonists’ apparently sinful life, then their repentance, penitential acts, and, finally, conversion.26 Saint Teresa’s classic autobiography, known to Carvajal and translated into 23. See Jodi Bilinkoff, “How to be a Counter-Reformational Hagiographer,” in Jodi Bilinkoff, Related Lives: Confessors and their Female Penitents, 1450–1750 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2005), 32–45. 24. Bilinkoff mentions the Jesuit Pedro de Ribadeneyra in particular, credited as the “creator of modern hagiography” (182) for the many lives he wrote: “The Many ‘Lives’ of Pedro de Ribadeneyra,” Renaissance Quarterly 51.1 (Spring 1999): 180–196. His biography of Saint Ignatius was translated by Carvajal’s confessor Michael Walpole. Her biographer Luis Muñoz may count as a lay hagiographer, having written the lives of numerous other religious, including those of Juan de Ávila, Luis de Granada, and Mariana de San José. 25. For a discussion of male versus female autobiography, see Darcy Donahue, “Teresa of Ávila and Ignatius of Loyola: A Gender-Based Approach to Spiritual Autobiography,” in Approaches to Teaching Teresa of Ávila and the Spanish Mystics, ed. Alison P. Weber, (New York: Modern Language Association, 2009), 208–217. 26. See Alison P. Weber, “Religious literature in early modern Spain,” in The Cambridge History of Spanish Literature, ed. David Gies (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 149–58. She cites Melquíades Andrés Martín’s number of 444 individual “hagiobiographies” alone, published between 1480 and 1700 in Spain (149).

Introduction 11 English very probably by her confessor Michael Walpole, was printed in 1588 and circulated widely in Spain and England.27 Despite the two women’s markedly different social levels, the saint’s Vida and Carvajal’s autobiographical writings have numerous points in common, especially as regards their childhood narratives, since both begin by addressing their confessors, lamenting their mothers’ early deaths and lauding their many virtues, and commenting on their own childhood attraction to saints. As in other spiritual autobiographies of religious women, both Teresa and Luisa narrate their physical ailments and their obsessive concerns over their spiritual faults. Yet another similarity, which carried through to their personalities, was the rhetorical fluctuation in their writings from abject humility to occasional bursts of authoritarianism, despite their efforts to establish a radical egalitarianism in their treatment of the uneducated women with whom they resided. While these likenesses may well be attributed to a conscious desire on Carvajal’s part to imitate the Teresian narrative, their lives also seem to dovetail on a number of important issues. As a young girl, Teresa rejected marriage, and even the convent: “[B]ut I still did not wish to become a nun, as it did not please God to give me this state, although I also feared marriage.”28 Both women became active missionaries, each in her own way: even though the saint never left Spain, she famously reformed the Carmelite order and founded seventeen convents across the country, from Soria to Granada. Similarly to Carvajal’s wishes that her writings not be divulged because they were about matters of conscience, Teresa requested that at least part of her autobiography be kept secret, spurred by her fears of persecu-

27. In her pioneering study, Teresa of Ávila and the Rhetoric of Femininity (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990), Weber notes perceptively that Teresa’s “life” lacks an autobiographical motive in that she is not interested in having others consider her a unique individual, but in defending the authentic receptivity of divine favors (42–43). Nonetheless, although not planned for this purpose, its writing resulted in showcasing the nun’s singularity and inspiring other religious women’s texts. 28. “[M]as todavía deseaba no fuese monja, que éste no fuese Dios servido de dármele, aunque también temía el casarme” Santa Teresa de Jesús, Libro de la vida, ed. Dámaso Chicharro (Madrid: Cátedra, 1987), 129.

12 Introduction tion by the Inquisition.29 In the end, however, the difference in their social positions proved too great to overcome. The fact that both Carvajal and Teresa of Ávila were highly conscious of their hierarchy in a society that, under the terms of “honor” and “blood” valued family lineage above all, vastly outweighed their resemblances and was at the root of all other differences.30 A conversa (descendant of Jews) whose grandfather, father, and uncle had been made to parade in Toledo wearing the Inquisition penitential garments called sambenitos, Teresa was at constant risk of scrutiny by the Inquisition.31 By contrast, Carvajal was not only the grand-daughter of a powerful bishop and niece of a Spanish grandee and marquis, she was also the niece of Bernardo de Sandoval y Rojas, Cardinal of Toledo, who became Inquisitor General in 1608.32 And, despite their gender, both women negotiated unparalleled life choices within the climate of the Counter-Reformation: Teresa opted for the communitas of the convent while Carvajal, whose devotion was equally as compelling if not as manifestly mystical as the Carmelite nun, sought instead a life of spiritual solitude amid the dangers of persecution in Protestant London.33 29. “From what I say from here on, I do not [give permission], if it is shown to anyone, I do not want it to be said to whom it was given, nor who wrote it” [Para lo que de aquí adelante dijere, no se la doy; ni quiero, si a alguien lo mostraren, digan quién es por quien pasó, ni quien lo escribió] (Vida 187–88). 30. Saint Teresa often had conflicting relations with noble women, especially Carvajal’s relative, Ana de Mendoza, Princess of Éboli. See Alison P. Weber, “Saint Teresa’s Problematic Patrons,” Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies 29.2 (Spring 1999): 357–79. See also Anne J. Cruz, “Las relaciones entre las mujeres religiosas y sus patrocinadoras: confluencias e influencias,” in Escritoras entre rejas. Cultura conventual femenina en la España Moderna, ed. Nieves Baranda Leturio and Ma. Carmen Marín Pina (Madrid: Iberoamericana Vervuert, forthcoming). Teresa’s concern with lineage has been attributed to her Jewish antecedent; see Teófanes Egido, “Ambiente histórico,” in Introducción a la lectura de Santa Teresa, ed. Alberto Barrientos et al. (Madrid: Espiritualidad, 2002), 63–155. 31. Jodi Bilinkoff, The Avila of Saint Teresa: Religious Reform in a Sixteenth-Century City (Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP, 1989), 109. 32. Son of María Fajardo Chacón, Luisa’s great aunt, Sandoval y Rojas was the nephew of Francisco Gómez de Sandoval y Rojas, Duke of Lerma, Philip III’s influential favorite. 33. Dámaso Chicharro gives Teresa’s probable desire for a “spiritual lineage” as one reason for entering the convent (Vida 23). For an analysis of Carvajal’s mysticism, see Glyn

Introduction 13

The World of the Spanish Nobility Carvajal’s rejection of married life and the convent could not have been sustained without her assurance of receiving a substantial dowry as her inheritance. Although her father’s will stipulated that the amount should be calculated on whether or not she became a nun, she reversed the testamentary logic to argue that by not professing in a religious order, she was entitled to the same inheritance as if she chose to marry. The difference was considerable: 2,000 ducats for her dowry if she entered a convent, 20,000 ducats if she did not. In order to claim her inheritance, she took her father’s executors to court. Once she won, however, her brother, who stood to gain from her loss, opposed the verdict, so Carvajal sued him for her right to inherit.34 The lengthy legal battle forced her to move to Valladolid when Philip III transferred the royal court to that city in 1601. Her residence next to the English College of Saint Alban permitted her to frequent the Jesuits and pray in their chapel to the Virgen Vulnerata, the image of the Virgen Mary desecrated by the English at the raid on Cádiz in 1596.35 By happy coincidence, there she met the Jesuit Michael Walpole, who championed her cause and became her confessor while in England. Most probably after her first imprisonment in London in 1608, Walpole asked Carvajal to write her life story.36 Although we are not Redworth, “A New Way of Living? Luisa de Carvajal and the Limits of Mysticism,” in A New Companion to Hispanic Mysticism, ed. Hilaire Kallendorf, (Leiden: Brill, 2010), 273–95. 34. Carvajal’s brother’s countersuit, which was resolved by her releasing 5,000 ducats to him, resulted in lowering her inheritance to 12,000 ducats. Borrowing 2,000 ducats to add to her inheritance of 12,000 ducats, Carvajal turned over the rent on this amount to the English College of Saint Alban in Valladolid (see her letter 31 to Padre Ricardo Valpolo [Richard Walpole]; González and Abad, Epistolario y poesías, 147). The Jesuit Order later founded a seminary in Louvain with the funds (see her letter 21, González and Abad, Epistolario y poesías, 139, n.3). 35. For the devotion to the Virgen Vulnerata, see Anne J. Cruz, “Vindicating the Vulnerata: Cádiz and the Circulation of Religious Imagery as Weapons of War,” in Material and Symbolic Circulation between Spain and England, 1550–1650, ed. Anne J. Cruz (Aldershot, UK; Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2008), 39–60. 36. As Henstock describes in his dissertation, Carvajal composed several versions; the clean copy goes only to age 11; the rest is a draft from age 11 to 20. Since the most polished and complete autobiographical narratives are those of her life before she left Spain, some critics

14 Introduction given his reasons, it is obvious that the Jesuit, who wrote two biographies of Luisa after her death, was not only anxious for Carvajal to assume the level of spirituality usually claimed by religious women, but to have her document her efforts in writing. If the Jesuit had a self-serving motive for mandating the autobiography, he more than made up for it by the care he devoted to her. Having helped to arrange Carvajal’s voyage and accompanying her to England, he incurred the anger of the Spanish ambassador for his support of her mission. He was jailed with her in 1608, after which he left England; on his return, he was nearly jailed alongside her in 1613, and was present at her side when she died. He escorted her cadaver back to Spain, where he and Magdalena de San Jerónimo, Carvajal’s early correspondent, served as witnesses to her body’s arrival (Jassopp 270–71). Walpole’s relations with Carvajal further defied the conventional confessor-penitent model in that she expressly mandated her wishes, despite her humble tone: after a grave illness in 1611, when he was out of the country, she wrote a codicil to her 1604 will, in which she leaves her inheritance to the English Fathers of the Society of Jesus: And I humbly request that Father Michael Walpole of the Society of Jesus bless me and that he truly help me with his sacrifices and prayers. He should be given all my papers, monies, and other items belonging to me or in my possession, so he may dispose of everything, as I have already discussed with his grace. And I beseech him to aid and comfort my good companions as much as possible.37 assume that Carvajal wrote them while waiting to leave the country. It is far more likely that these early narratives were written in England but given more emphasis and care because Walpole was unfamiliar with that period of her life. She did not continue her autobiography while in London, and we know of her life after age 20 only through her letters. 37. “Y pido humildemente al Padre Miguel Valpolo de la Compañia de Jesús, que me eche su bendición, y ayude con sus sacrificios y oraciones muy de veras. Al cual se entregue todos los papeles, dineros y otras cosas que fueren mías, o estuvieren en mi poder, para que disponga de todo conforme a lo que tengo tratado con su merced. Y le suplico ampare y favorezca, cuanto sea posible, a mis buenas compañeras” (her will is transcribed in full as “letter” 128 in González and Abad, Epistolario y poesías, 327–28).

Introduction 15 On Carvajal’s death, the recently appointed ambassador to England, Diego Sarmiento de Acuña, future Count of Gondomar, wrote to King Philip III: This priest [Walpole] was her confessor and attended to her, and he has agreed to look after everything, as he is an exemplary and very prudent person, and took charge of her keys and papers and everything this lady had. And he has also agreed to write a narrative of her life and death, which will no doubt be of great solace and edification.38 Given the public anger aroused by Carvajal, jailed twice for her insurrections, Walpole’s association with the missionary placed him at grave risk, and he never returned to his native country. Her noble standing and innate intelligence invited the Jesuit’s admiration and loyalty; although highly educated, he did not form part of the English aristocracy and would consider himself lower on the social scale. Even though she had met him earlier, it is not until 1603 that Carvajal mentions him in a letter asking Magdalena de San Jerónimo at Brussels to help bring his sister to Spain: “and here [in Valladolid] she has two brothers [Christopher and Michael Walpole], both priests in the Society, very well educated and with spirits like angels.”39 Carvajal’s strong resolve, exhibited since her youth and so admired by Walpole, was nonetheless considered by others and even by herself a source of sinful excess and aristocratic pride. Although she seemingly bowed to the will of her childhood governess and her uncle—and certainly did so when they demanded that she do penance—she internalized the control imposed by them, which in turn

38. “Este Padre era su confesor y la asistía, y se ha hallado a todo, que es persona muy ejemplar y prudente, y se encargó y puso cobro en las llaves y papeles y todo lo que esta señora tenía; y también se ha encargado de hacer una relación de su vida y muerte, que sin duda será de gran consuelo y edificación” (cited in Abad, Una misionera, 359). Walpole kept his promise to Carvajal in aiding her companions; in 1624, he wrote to Gondomar requesting the continuance of a pension for the Englishwoman Jane Mills (Jessopp 271). 39. Letter 14 to Magdalena de San Jerónimo (Epistolario y poesías, 128).

16 Introduction gave her the strength to attain her desire to travel outside Spain.40 To be sure, any understanding of Carvajal’s writings must rely not only on an appreciation of the author’s deep religiosity and political beliefs, but of her feelings of entitlement as part of the aristocracy. In this regard, Carvajal’s extraordinary life is undoubtedly problematic, since it cannot be taken as a typical example of religious women’s lived experiences: her early pampered life, her connections with the court and with the Jesuits, and her decision to travel to England depended on her allegiance to her social class.41 In this, as in her earlier experiences, she was as much a product of the power elite as were the male members of the Mendoza and Carvajal families. Spanish historian José Antonio Maravall has described the history of the Spanish aristocracy as one of “demilitarization.”42 By the early modern period, the military function of the nobility, which had previously constituted its major service to the monarchy, had almost ceased to exist, displacing the members to other areas of interest, whether bureaucratic, courtly, or patrimonial. The transformations undergone by the nobility may be seen at close range in the lives of Luisa de Carvajal’s male relatives. Initially residing in their townships as befitted the medieval landed aristocracy, both her father and her maternal uncle left their distant residences to assume government posts they had garnered by means of their family connections and their political dealings at court. Although her father’s untimely death cut short his burgeoning career, her uncle, who held the title of first marquis of Almazán and grandee of Spain, was appointed Spanish ambassador to the court of Habsburg emperor Maximilian II and, on his return to Spain, named viceroy of Navarra. 40. Anne J. Cruz, “Willing Desire: Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza and Female Subjectivity,” in Helen Nader, ed., Power and Gender in Renaissance Spain: Eight Women of the Mendoza Family, 1450–1650 (Urbana-Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2004), 177–93. 41. Even though the conventional term “caste” (casta) is often employed to demarcate social rank by religion and culture, and those of “estate” or “order” (estamento, ordo) to confer distinctions by social function, these prove too static to encompass the intricate social movements characteristic of the period. Class, as I employ the term, refers to the groups socially aggregated and institutionalized through birth, economic, and/or occupational status, whose identity is promoted by means of social behavior. 42. José Antonio Maravall, Poder, honor y élites en el siglo XVII (Madrid: Siglo Veintinuno, 1984), 203.

Introduction 17 The change from inherited positions to political appointments relied strongly on a notion of honor no longer based solely on class privilege, but, in opposition to the collective nobility, on individual merit and concern with personal recognition and reward (Maravall 21). By the late 1600s, the distinction of the Mendoza name did not depend exclusively on its protracted aristocratic lineage as a consolidated family, but also on the significant social and political roles earned by family members.That Luisa de Carvajal was as aware as were her male relatives of the ways in which social comportment influenced her aristocratic position and, conversely, how her class status affected her gendered behavior, demonstrates both the inherent inseparability of the two categories and their unstable relations. Carvajal would scandalize her relatives by utilizing her aristocratic power to refuse marriage, restore her inheritance, and arrange for her voyage to England. Once there, she depended on her connections for donations and for protection by the Spanish embassy, yet she acted in as humble a manner as possible.The disturbance she caused, by which she hoped to achieve her martyrdom, was due less to her aristocratic status than to her transgressive gender conduct. In England, she publicly agitated for the Catholic cause through her knowledge and preaching of theology; a behavior for a woman that was prohibited in Spain.

Early Childhood Reminiscences Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza was born January 2, 1566 in the small Extremaduran town of Jaraicejo, Cáceres, of noble and wealthy lineage. Her mother María de Mendoza y Pacheco was a daughter of Juan Hurtado de Mendoza, the 7th Lord of Almazán and 3rd Count of Monteagudo, descendant of the second branch of the powerful Mendoza clan, one of the most distinguished families in Spain.43 Luisa’s father, Francisco de Carvajal, was the son of the formidable 43. María de Mendoza’s dowry of three million maravedíes included those of her sisters, who probably entered a convent (Guerrero Mayllo 78). For the Mendoza family, see Helen Nader, The Mendoza Family in the Spanish Renaissance, 1350–1550 (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1979), accessible online: http://libro.uca.edu/mendoza/mendoza. htm See also the chapters of individual Mendoza women in Helen Nader, ed., Power and

18 Introduction bishop of Plasencia, Gutierre de Vargas y Carvajal, a respected theologian who attended the Council of Trent and became an ardent devotee of the Jesuit order.44 Immensely rich, the bishop was a descendant of the Vargas family, the owners of the fields near Madrid since at least the eleventh century, where the city’s future patron saint, Isidoro the Laborer [San Isidro Labrador], toiled during his lifetime.45 The bishop secured his son several government appointments; Francisco served as magistrate [regidor] in Madrid from 1560 to 1565 and as chief magistrate of León, prompting his wife and five children to move there from Jaraicejo.46 Carvajal’s political ascendancy was cut short by a virulent disease, likely typhus, that ended both his and his wife’s life and left Luisa orphaned at six years of age. When writing of her first years in Jaraicejo and León, Carvajal states to an interlocutor, no doubt her confessor Michael Walpole who had requested that she pen her autobiography: “It will be necessary to speak of childish things until my twelfth birthday, since your grace insists that I do not leave out anything that I may remember.”47 Gender in Renaissance Spain: Eight Women of the Mendoza Family, 1450–1650 (UrbanaCampaign: University of Illinois Press, 2004). 44. Although in his synods Bishop Vargas preached the conventional creed against concubinage, he followed the worldly lifestyle of Pedro González de Mendoza, Cardinal of Toledo, known as the “Great Cardinal,” who fathered three children. The bishop’s importance is evinced in his burial site, not in Extremadura, but in Madrid, where he commissioned an elaborate Renaissance chapel built as a family mausoleum next to the church of San Andrés, still known as “the bishop’s chapel” [la capilla del Obispo]. Antonio Matilla Tascón, Iglesia y eclesiásticos en la documentación de Madrid (Madrid: Fundación Matritense del Notariado, 1993), 287–88. 45. The diocese of Plasencia was the richest in Extremadura province; in 1630 its episcopal rents ascended to 60,000 ducats annually, making it the fourth richest diocese of the thirty-six episcopal churches in Castile, with rents of over 500,000 ducats. Ángel Rodríguez Sánchez, Miguel Rodríguez Cancho and Julio Férnandez Nieva, Historia de Extremadura. Los tiempos modernos, vol. 3 (Badajoz: Biblioteca Básica Extremeña, 1985), 429–30. 46. Ana Guerrero Mayllo, Familia y vida cotidiana de una élite de poder: los regidores madrileños en tiempos de Felipe II (Madrid: Siglo Veintiuno, 1993), 29. See also Francisco Tomás y Valiente, “Las ventas de oficios de regidores y la formación de oligarquías urbanas en Castilla, siglos XVII y XVIII,” Historia, Instituciones, y Documentos 2 (1975): 525–74. 47. “Necesario será, hasta los doce años, tratar de niñerías, pues tan de veras manda v[uestra] m[erced] que no deje nada de cuanto se me acuerda” (Abad, “Autobiografía,” Escritos autobiográficos, 132).

Introduction 19 Yet Carvajal’s life history—which may be divided into two periods, her childhood and early adulthood in Spain, and her missionary activities in England—discloses that she wrote meticulously at all times, expressing her spiritual longings in her poetry, and narrating her daily experiences in her prose writings and through her correspondence. In obeisance to her confessor’s request, she begins her autobiography by recollecting her earliest years with her parents: one of Carvajal’s first remembrances is of her mother caring for her when she falls ill the first year in León with cuartanas, an intermittent fever: “she spent many nights by my bed fully dressed, crying as if I were dead. But instead she died the first day of January of that first year from a fierce typhoid fever that, I heard, she caught from a poor person whose burial she went to arrange, as she so often did, and from taking in the sick in her own room and having them lie on her velvet pillows by her chimney.”48 The Jesuit biographer Camilo María Abad perceptively notes the severity that creeps into Carvajal’s tone when mentioning her mother’s death: Luisa was aware that her mother often circulated in public throughout León, to the detriment of her health, a practice that the narrator, assuming the child’s perspective, retrospectively judges harshly, inverting the parent-child role: Although my mother was an uncommon example of modesty and demureness, I would often say to the servants, “My mother is too lenient, for she allows so many visits! When I grow up, I will not let so many visit me.” I judged it more as permissiveness than immodesty, but I still did not approve of it. I would carry on like this, they tell me, on other issues, pleasing all who heard me.49 The opposition that Carvajal sets up between her mother and her childhood self suggests an inchoate desire to compete with her, trying to outdo her mother’s pious behavior yet also wishing to secure her maternal approval. It is evident that these thoughts could not have 48.Abad, Missionary, 10. 49. Abad, “Autobiografía,” Escritos autobiográficos, 133.

20 Introduction been held by the young child. They are, instead, indicative of the tension brought about by her perception, as an adult, of the role that was expected of her as her mother’s daughter. These conflictive emotions cast a shadow over her childhood recollections, manifesting her unresolved frustration over what she may well have imagined might have been maternal abandonment. Indeed, Carvajal’s loss of her mother at such an early age could not help but leave a deep sense of loneliness, which the grown woman’s autobiography assuages by pretending to know the mother’s most intimate feelings and by extolling her physical beauty and goodness. Yet Carvajal must rely on others to form a visual image of her mother and to describe her mother’s charitable acts toward the poor. Following conventional hagiographies, she stresses her mother’s piety and her own wish, even as a toddler, to imitate her devout acts of charity. By imitating her mother’s charitable acts, the young child became cognizant of her own position within the social hierarchy. She loved nothing more, she admits, than to sit atop a high table, among her household pages and the poor, who humiliated themselves by calling her their queen and bowing low to her, while she showered them with fruits and nuts.50 The language she uses to describe herself—a “queen” among her humble subjects—both assumes her displacement of her mother’s domestic role and echoes a concern with class difference pervasive throughout her autobiography. Paradoxically, given the humiliation that she will impose later on herself, this apparently innocent desire for attention, which we may attribute to her privileged childhood, spoiled as she was by her parents and servants, transforms, as we see later in her narrative, into a self-perceived obstinate imperiousness that she will struggle to control. After her parents’ death, Carvajal spent four years at the Infanta Juana of Austria’s palace at the Convent of the Descalzas Reales,51 where her maternal great aunt held the post of governess [aya] to King Philip II’s children. Luisa quickly adapted to court life; together 50. Abad, “Autobiografía,” Escritos autobiográficos, 135. 51. The Monasterio de Nuestra Señora de la Visitación, also known as the Descalzas Reales or Discalced Royals, was founded by Philip II’s sister in a separate but attached building next to the palace, where Juana had been born. The nuns, of the order of the Poor Clares, were mainly of aristocratic and royal origin and brought by Francisco de Borja from Denia.

Introduction 21 with the king’s orphaned daughters, the infantas Isabel Clara Eugenia, exactly Luisa’s age, and Catalina Micaela, one year her junior. Juana’s close ties to the Jesuit order are well known: brought up by Francisco de Borja, she was the only woman ever to join the order, and her form of religiosity undeniably left its mark on the young girls.52

Figure 1. The Infantas Isabel Clara Eugenia and Catalina Micaela, ca. 1575. Oil on canvas. 1.35 x 1.49 m. Alonso Sánchez Coello, (1515–1590). Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid. Art Resource, NY.

52. In 1554, after consultation with the Jesuit Order in Rome, Saint Ignatius Loyola authorized a memorial in which the princess is called “Mateo Sánchez, commuting her religious vows to the Jesuit Order, according to the Constituciones: ‘That this person could be admitted and it would be best to admit [her] under probation, as the Jesuit students are admitted’ ” [Que podia ser admitida esta persona y convenía que se admitiese al modo que se resciben los escolares de la Compañía a probación]. Ricardo García-Villoslada, S.I., San Ignacio de Loyola: Nueva biografía (Madrid: Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, 1986), 762.

22 Introduction Although Carvajal makes no mention of Isabel Clara Eugenia’s future role as archduchess of the Netherlands the four years she spent at court as her playmate would serve as a base on which to build her abiding interest in the infanta’s political prospects, demonstrated in her correspondence to Brussels. The peaceful years at the Madrid convent ended unexpectedly upon her great aunt’s death. Adopted by her uncle, the Marquis of Almazán, she was abruptly taken to live with his wife and her cousins, first in Monteagudo, then in Almazán, while he resided in Vienna as ambassador. Describing the days with her great aunt and the infantas as spent in an excessively lenient atmosphere where she was tempted to play rather than study or say her prayers, Carvajal attributed the radical change in her life situation to God’s infinite mercy. Her need for a maternal substitute would be partially fulfilled by a close servant of her mother’s, a woman named Isabel de Ayllón whose strict discipline and harsh punishment had been allayed while at court.53 Although Carvajal had stayed in Ayllón’s care since her parents’ death, she writes most specifically of her governess’s authoritarian demands after moving to her uncle’s house. Ayllón taught her how to behave in public and made sure that the child’s face, hands, and dress were always spotless. However, she continually scolded Luisa, forbidding her to repeat any gossip or to read any books of fiction. When she put her to bed, she would make Carvajal cross her arms over her chest, stitching the bed sheets together in the summer, both for her health and for her modesty. Carvajal’s narration of her willingness to endure what others perceived as mistreatment by the governess, however, should not be seen solely as an attempt to provide an exemplary model of childhood, but as a strong critique of the nobility’s laxity in rearing their children. 53. Nieves Pinillos Iglesias states that the governess was named Isabel de Milla, called “de Ayllón” as a reference to her birthplace (26). However, she may also have been a distant relative of Carvajal’s, since the family title of Monteagudo was inherited from María Ruiz de Ayllón, wife of Pedro González de Mendoza, 2nd Lord of Almazán. Diego Gutiérrez Coronel, Historia genealogica de la casa de Mendoza. Biblioteca Conquense, Vol. IV, ed. Angel González Palencia (Cuenca: Instituto Jerónimo Zurita del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas y Ayuntamiento de la Ciudad de Cuenca, 1946). The fact that Ayllón was so beloved by the family and given so much power over the child, despite her position of servant in the household, may indicate a familial relationship.

Introduction 23 The socialization of children formed an important theme in the instructional literature of the period. Among the numerous tracts written on childhood is the Franciscan Juan de la Cerda’s Libro intitulado vida politica de todos los estados de mujeres [Book Titled Political Life of all Women’s States] dedicated in 1599 to Empress María’s daughter, the nun Margarita de la Cruz.54 Cerda recommends that at twelve, young girls should be taught to revere and honor, but also to fear their parents, never contradicting them so as not to anger them. To instill fear in the girls, he advocates that they should be punished and not allowed any sign of frivolity, talking back, or other bad behavior (Cerda, 9r–9v). He is quick to point out that girls past ten years of age should no longer be hit on the head, but on the shoulder with a rod, a statement that indicates corporal punishment was not considered unusual for children. We can see how closely Carvajal has echoed Cerda’s tract in the passage cited below, which is taken from his section “Second Treatise for Nuns Consecrated to God,” and is intended for members of religious orders: And she [the novice] should make sure to always lie in bed with much modesty, in winter and in summer, putting her hands in the habit’s sleeves and placing her arms across her chest in the form of a cross. She should not lie face up or with her face down, as this is immodest and could make her snore, and bother those sleeping next to her, and thus it leads to dreams of fantasies; and because of this, she should lie on one side, keeping so still that if another religious enters, she will have nothing to be ashamed of.55 54. Juan de la Cerda, Vida política de todos los estados de mujeres; en el qual se dan muy provechosos y Christianos documentos y avisos para criarse y conservarse deuidamente las mujeres en sus estados (Alcalá de Henares, 1599). Margarita de la Cruz came to Spain with Empress María in 1581; rather than marry her uncle, Philip II, who had recently widowed for the fourth time, she entered the Convent of the Descalzas Reales in Madrid. See Magdalena S. Sánchez, The Empress, the Queen, and the Nun: Women and Power at the Court of Philip III of Spain (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University, 1998), 77–82. 55. “Y mire mucho que en la cama esté siempre con mucha honestidad ansí en verano como en invierno, metiéndolas manos en las mangas del hábito y poniendo los brazos encima los pechos a manera de cruz. No se acueste el rostro hacia arriba ni menos hacia abajo porque

24 Introduction Indeed, Cerda reinforces Ayllón’s disciplinary methods and recalls Carvajal’s own behavior toward the poor: Saint Ambrose states that it is the mother or nurse who should teach the maiden the virtue of humility and impose upon her the right way to walk, speak, and look, and how to be forbearing and patient, and it is these women from whom she should receive correction and doctrine. The maiden should give thanks to God and to the person who corrects her for guiding her toward the good: she should esteem and obey her with complete submissiveness … Good maidens should have a heart full of compassion and a will that is eager to give alms to the needy, and when she has nothing to give, she should take from her own food to give to the poor.56 It is clear that Carvajal accepted Ayllón’s punishment as the right way to bring up young girls. She implicitly compares her strict upbringing to the negligence and inattention given children’s misconduct that she first saw at court and to the lax upbringing received by her cousins, the Marquis of Almazán’s daughters. Nonetheless, the governess’s treatment was sufficiently traumatic to form part of Carvajal’s explicit reminiscences, which are colored by her desire to achieve a state of goodness as a child, while simultaneously being conscious of her juvenile failings. She constantly berates herself for her willfulness and for her excessive regard for “honor” during her youth: “It seemed that she knew how important it was for me that she try es cosa deshonesta y podría roncar, y dar pesadumbre a las que están cabe sí durmiendo y ansí es causa de soñar fantasías; y por eso se acostará de un lado tan bien compuesta que si alguna otra religiosa entrare, no tenga de qué se avergonzar” (Cerda 114v). 56. “Dice San Ambrosio que la madre o el aya han de enseñar a la doncella la virtud de la humildad y que por mano de estas ha de ser impuesta en su andar, en su hablar, en su mirar, y en saber a ser sufrida y paciente y desta ha de recibir la corrección y la doctrina. La doncella ha de dar muchas gracias a Dios y a la persona que la corrige porque la encamina a el bien, estimándola y obedeciéndola con toda mansedumbre. … La buena doncella ha de tener unas entrañas llenas de misericordia y una voluntad muy prompta para hacer limosna a los menesterosos y quando no tuviere otra cosa de que hacerla, se ha de quitar algo de su propia comida para dar a los pobres” (Cerda 11r–11v; 12r).

Introduction 25 everything possible to guide me toward virtue and to destroy anything in its way. … I dearly abhorred her whipping me, due to the dishonor I felt, but I willingly withstood the pain so that no one would find out.”57 Carvajal’s excellent memory, even of those early years, communicates at all times her awareness of what she believed was expected of her, and how she should act in contrast to other young noblewomen. She notes that Ayllón’s punishments, exchanged as the girl grew older from whippings to hard pinches that left angry bruises on her arms, were judged far too rigorous, not only by her cousins, who called Ayllón a “jailer,” but even by her stern aunt.58 By conflating Ayllón’s strict supervision of her childhood behavior with the austere conduct demanded of religious women, Carvajal re-invents her upbringing to fit with her later self-imposed behavior. Although Carvajal recognizes Ayllón’s severity, she speaks lovingly of the governess, ignoring the family’s concerns over her mistreatment: “In the end, I resolved to love her and appreciate her deeds more each day, finding it easy to forgive her excesses, as it was obvious that they led me to virtue and kept me from vice.”59 After the loss of her parents and her great-aunt at such an early age, it is likely that Ayllón’s harsh treatment, which the adult rationalized as necessary for her spiritual and social well-being, fulfilled in some way the child’s deep emotional need for love and attention. Nothing, however, could have prepared her for the ordeal she would experience in Pamplona.

Adolescence and Penitential Discipline Carvajal tells us that when the marquis returned from his post in Vienna, she was so happy to see her uncle and aunt that she cried for joy; he reciprocated by showing her “great love” and by noticing 57. “Parece que conocía lo que me importaba cuanto ella hacía por enderezarme a virtud y destruir lo que puede impedirla. … Sentía bravamente que me azotase, por lo que tocaba a la honra; y como no se entendiese, cualquiera dolor sufriera de buena gana” (Abad, “Autobiografía,” Escritos autobiográficos, 139–40). 58. Abad, “Autobiografía,” Escritos autobiográficos, 144. 59. “Y al fin me resolvía en amarla y estimar lo que hacía, cada día más, hallando facilidad en perdonar demasías que me llegaban a la virtud y apartaban de vicio tan conocidamente” (Abad, “Autobiografía,” Escritos autobiográficos, 144).

26 Introduction “things in her that gave him great pleasure,” which he related often to others.60 When the marquis leaves for the Madrid court, Luisa describes with delight the two years she lived with her cousins playing in the fields that surrounded their palace on the banks of the Duero river. When the marquis is named viceroy of Navarra, the family settles in Pamplona without Ayllón, who leaves for her family home to claim her inheritance. Although Ayllón would eventually return to the family, her departure at the time left a maternal void that no woman ever again filled. Placed in a strange home where she felt rejected by her aunt and abandoned by her other mother figure, the young girl became extremely close to her maternal uncle. Significantly, it is when she reaches puberty that she makes a case for her difference from the rest of the family. She complains that her cousins did not treat her well, envying her “great beauty” and physical build. Her relationship with her aunt is equally fraught: she depicts her as having a harsh, unkind, and jealous temperament, despite the young girl’s attempts to placate her. Chafing under her aunt’s cold treatment, on her uncle’s return, she welcomed his attention and transferred her affection for the governess to him. The idealized descriptions of her uncle in her autobiography and in one of her poems border on the hagiographic: she lauds his political prowess, physical attractiveness, religious devotion, and willingness to forgive his many enemies. Most striking is Carvajal’s empathy towards him, portraying him as a great man, both in his political and family roles and in his religious stance, and with whom she strongly identifies. In the same way that she notes how she imitated her mother’s charitable impulses, she stresses the qualities in her uncle that she will later emulate, in particular, his knowledge of theology and sacred texts, his devotion to the Jesuit order, and his predilection for writing spiritual poetry. By this time, Carvajal, who had been encouraged earlier by Ayllón, had already developed a strong inclination toward meditating on the horrors of Hell and the love and pain of Christ’s suffering.61 Without defining it as such, Carvajal is surely referring to Ignatian meditation, based on the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola first published in 1548. She mentions that, despite her young age, her de60. Abad, “Autobiografía,” Escritos autobiográficos, 145. 61. (“Autobiografía,” Escritos autobiográficos, 146).

Introduction 27 votion was strengthened by “an old book on the Passion,” which may have been the Passio deorum.62 In Pamplona, her uncle obliged her to set aside an hour every evening for mental prayer; she had already begun her own penitential rituals and spiritual exercises, but declined to inform her uncle, who noticed that unless he questioned her, she kept her private thoughts to herself. Carvajal’s relations with her uncle grew increasingly more complex as she became aware of his expectations that she should confess her spiritual weaknesses to him and ask his permission for such slight actions as going out with her aunt or which special outfit to wear. Realizing that this sort of dependency was suspect between two lay persons, she kept her thoughts to herself, although she states that she obeyed him in all other details. The uncle repaid Carvajal’s apparent docility by complimenting her in public and exclaiming how much he loved her, a display of emotion that she apprehensively describes as exaggerated. In spite of her obedience, one aspect of her personality that would prove extremely troubling to them both was her strong will. The marquis’s concern over her adamant willfulness and her own desire to be more submissive, together with her meditative exercises on the Passion, prepared the scenario for what she calls “extraordinary trials of obedience.” According to Carvajal’s narrative, the marquis intended to inculcate in the fourteen-year-old a “perfect obedience and negation of my will, which he said was a contagious spiritual plague and the root of a million evils.”63 However, the graphic accounts she relates in her various autobiographical writings of the discipline she is made to undergo is sufficiently chilling to place in doubt the marquis’s pious intentions. One of the most controversial issues in interpreting Carvajal’s life history remains the corporal discipline she received at the hands of two servants contracted for this purpose by her uncle. Biographers are at odds in interpreting the uncle’s orders: despite his 62. “Un libro antiguo de la Pasión” (Abad, “Autobiografía,” Escritos autobiográficos, 143). Passio duorum; Tractado de devotísimas y muy íntimas contemplaciones de la Pasión del Hijo de Dios, y compasión de la Virgen su Madre, por esta razón llamado Passio duorum (Valladolid, 1526). 63. “Perfecta obediencia y negación de mi propia voluntad; que decía era contagiosa peste espiritual y fundamento de millones de males” (Abad, “Autobiografía,” Escritos autobiográficos, 161).

28 Introduction laudatory tenor, Carvajal’s contemporary biographer Luis Muñoz questions the marquis’s decision in forcing penitential discipline on the young girl, believing that the servants exceeded their instructions.64 In contrast, a later biographer, the Jesuit Camilo María Abad, uneasily defends the uncle’s purpose in imposing the discipline, which he justifies for its providential redemptive value: As to the marquis, if his wisdom may be doubted at this point, his excellent spirit cannot be. He himself practiced such penitence that, on the eve of his frequent communions, he would impose a discipline of blood. He may not have been aware of the excesses committed at times in carrying out his orders. Of course, he could not have known them through Luisa, given her typical reserve. Also, one must believe that Divine Providence had elected Luisa, from among other souls, as a victim of the sins of her time, and allowed those errors in order to prepare her for the extremely harsh mission for which she was destined.65

64. “[E]s muy disputable en el Marqués el acierto … y por ventura excedieron con rigor las que lo ejecutaban” (Muñoz, Carvajal, 85). 65. “En cuanto al Marqués, si se debe dudar de su discreción en este punto, no empero de su inmejorable espíritu. Él mismo era persona tan penitente, que, las vísperas de sus frecuentes comuniones, tomaba una disciplina de sangre. Tal vez él no llegó a percatarse de los excesos con que a veces, se ejecutaban sus órdenes. Desde luego, no lo sabía por lo que Luisa, dada su habitual reserva, le dijera. Y hay que pensar también que la divina Providencia había elegido a Luisa, entre otras almas de entonces, como víctima or los pecados de su época, y permitía aquellos errores para disponerla a la durísima misión a que la tenía destinada” (Abad, Una misionera, 39). Although he includes them in his edition of her autobiographical writings, he deletes descriptions of the discipline altogether in his biography, which was intended to reopen Carvajal’s beatification proceedings in the twentieth century: “May our Lord wish to bless these pages and awaken in those capable of carrying them out, the desires to procure the glorification of a soul so enamored of Jesus Christ, the most pure glory of the Spanish Golden Age, and of the Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Holy Mother Church” [Quiera el Señor bendecir estas páginas y despertar, en los que pueden realizarlos, deseos eficaces de procurer la glorificación de alma tan enamorada de Jesucristo, gloria purísima del siglo de oro español y de la Santa Madre Iglesia Católica, Apostólica, Romana] (Abad, Una misionera, 17).

Introduction 29 For her part, Elizabeth Rhodes asserts that while the discipline links Carvajal “heroically” with other women martyrs, it disparages the uncle’s standing. She conjectures, wrongly, I believe, that it may have served a voyeuristic purpose: “one cannot but wonder if he observed the spectacle himself.”66 Asking whether these practices might have constituted sexual abuse, another of Carvajal’s biographers, British historian Glyn Redworth, also suggests that her penance was performed “for her uncle’s secret observance.”67 Yet nothing in the autobiography intimates that the marquis observed the discipline or had any prurient intent in its execution. And while compelling his niece to undergo these spiritual exercises is gravely unsettling to modern readers, there is no indication that the uncle’s actions constituted sexual abuse, as it was understood either at the time or today. The marquis’s religious zeal, which no doubt led him to order Carvajal’s discipline, developed within the confessional challenges that Catholicism faced in Europe and was no doubt influenced by his experiences in Vienna; its overstatement thus held political as well as religious import.68 It is also important to note that although the erotic aspects of corporal discipline are not mutually exclusive from sadistically inflicted bodily pain and in fact may be stimulated by it, to restrict the association entirely to the physical is to ignore its spiritual significance. Still, as a lay person, the marquis had no authority to assume any kind of ecclesiastical function over his ward, especially the application of penitential discipline, and even confessors had already been forbidden to apply

66. Elizabeth Rhodes, “Luisa de Carvajal’s Counter-Reformation Journey to Selfhood (1566–1614),” Renaissance Quarterly 51 (Autumn 1998), 893. 67. “The evidence that Luisa’s penance was performed for her uncle’s secret observance is entirely circumstantial. But why else would Luisa be woken in the middle of the night or very early in the morning when the rest of the household was asleep, and be whipped or made to walk from room to room ‘naked and with a noose around the neck,’ if the marquis did not intend to listen or watch?” Glyn Redworth, The She-Apostle: The Extraordinary Life and Death of Luisa de Carvajal (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), 29. 68.Maximilian II’s strong leanings toward Lutheranism are well known; according to Paula Sutter Fichtner, “it was hard to be a serious Catholic and loyal to such a ruler at the same time.” Paula Sutter Fichtner, Emperor Maximilian II (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001), 195.

30 Introduction this kind of disciplinary practice across the gender divide.69 Certainly, at fourteen years of age, Carvajal was too young to voluntarily accept the physical and psychological consequences of the cruel corporal punishment ordered by her uncle. What her narrative proposes instead is the adult’s justification for a mistreatment that by all accounts exceeded acceptable standards of spiritually-intended corporal discipline, but that nonetheless held religious value in the early modern period. Carvajal’s narrative vividly conveys her feelings of humiliation and shame as she was made to undress, lie on the floor or be tied to a pillar, and flagellated and stomped on by the servants. However, because her narrative was written more than two decades after the events in question, it is difficult to agree with Redworth that it “unwittingly” reveals “a considerable degree of unease about what was done to her” (29).70 Rather, the wrenching disquiet felt by the readers of Carvajal’s narrative is purposely created by the adult autobiographer, who maintains interpretive control of her memories when asked to recover her childhood experiences.71 Carvajal’s sufferings are scrupulously recounted in her various writings, both in the more polished version edited by Abad as “autobiografía” and as the “redacciones fragmentarias” [fragmentary drafts] from her crossed-out manuscript where she signals “ojo” [note] to insert specific mention of ropes or whippings, and assiduously describes the manner in which the servant would count the whip lashes and then demand that Carvajal kiss her feet.72 To narrate these practices some twenty years later was to 69. Although the practice remained acceptable under the vigilance of confessors, by 1563, the Cortes had petitioned that priests should not themselves administer flagellation to nuns. See María Helena Sánchez Ortega, “Flagelantes licenciosos y beatas consentidoras,” Historia 16.14 (1981): 37–54. 70. While there is no absolute proof that Carvajal wrote her autobiography while in England, there are signs that point to her having been asked by her confessor Michael Walpole after her grave illness in 1611. 71. Carvajal’s memoirs are so detailed that her biographers had little need to improve on her life. For an analysis of how male biographers reconstructed the lives of religious women, see Darcy Donahue, “Writing Lives: Nuns and Confessors as Auto/Biographers in Early Modern Spain,” Journal of Hispanic Philology 13 (1989): 230–39. 72. The expression of kissing one’s hands or feet as a sign of respect and homage when signing letters, here becomes graphically real as a gesture of abasement, demonstrating how

Introduction 31 purposefully relive the disciplinary practices in their most explicit and painful details, sharing with her confessor Walpole her unremitting sense of humiliation. The efforts to write her story—the very fragmentation and repetition of the brutally graphic episodes—exemplify the manner in which, according to recent studies, one may deal with traumatic experience.73 Yet, although Carvajal’s reiteration of the abuse by her uncle helps to recapture her past, it also distorts it by assuming all blame and allying herself in the process with conventional models of female martyrdom. Carvajal’s spiritualization and, in particular, the Christological comparison she makes of her sufferings both in her prose and in her poetry give meaning to her traumatic experience. It is safe to say, I believe, that to her mind and in her culture, the penitential events as she repeats them in her autobiographical narratives granted her the possibility of atonement. What encouraged Carvajal to continue to mortify her flesh was not only the desire to meditate on Christ’s Passion, as she had done even as a child, but to reproduce the physicality of his suffering. Corporal discipline for this purpose was not new to Catholic Europe; according to Edward Muir, medieval confraternities, greatly expanded after the Black Death, were organized around the practice of flagellation as a means of expiating sin.74 But because Christ’s Passion was not solely an act of redemption, but of volition, the imitation of the embodied linguistic expressions remained in the early modern period. 73. According to Cathy Caruth, “[the trauma survivor] is characterized by the fact that she can tell a ‘slightly different story’ to different people: the capacity to remember is also the capacity to elide or distort … and may mean the capacity simply to forget. Yet beyond the loss of precision there is another, more profound, disappearance: the loss, precisely, of the event’s essential incomprehensibility, of its affront to understanding” (her emphasis). Cathy Caruth, ed. “Recapturing the Past: Introduction,” Trauma: Explorations in Memory (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995), 151–57, author’s emphasis. See also Cathy Caruth, Unclaimed Experience: Trauma, Narrative, and History (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996). 74. Edward Muir, Ritual in Early Modern Europe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 304. Charles V’s whips, still stained with blood, were discovered by Philip II when he was preparing his own death. Carlos Eire, From Madrid to Purgatory: The Art and Craft of Dying in Sixteenth Century Spain (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), 277. These practices continue to this day: the cult of the penitentes of New Mexico is well known; members of Opus Dei wear cilices and practice mortification; see Father Mike Barrett, “Opus Dei and Corporal Mortification” Opus Dei (http://www.opusdei.us/art.php?p=16367)

32 Introduction mystery involved not only one’s suffering, but equally as important, one’s choosing to suffer.75 By doing so, women consciously exercised control over their own bodies, albeit through self-mortification. Carvajal thus explains that shortly before she turned fifteen, she decided to flagellate herself, carrying out the penance so harshly that the sores became infected and that the towel she placed on her back to absorb the blood could only be removed with scissors, pulling pieces of flesh with it and causing her great pain.76 Women especially were believed to be drawn toward physical penitential practices, and there developed a large following from the Middle Ages on that identified with the figuration of Christ’s body, inflicting upon themselves his pain and suffering.77 According to Caroline Walker Bynum, through their abject practices in imitating the Passion, women subverted the patriarchy by inscribing the Incarnation—God’s humanity—on their own flesh, disciplining their bodies not from sexual guilt but from their ability to encompass their full range of sensuality and affect (Holy Feast, 294–95). Bynum’s thesis, that identification with Christ’s body through the mortification of one’s own resulted in the practitioners’ empowerment, has been cogently challenged by David Aers, who asks whether this seeming subversion of patriarchy should not be explored instead as one of the effects of the patriarchy; that is to say, whether the abjection Bynum considers subversive is not in itself a product of “modes of piety de-

[accessed August 10, 2010]; and one may purchase silver cilices advertised as having been made by Italian nuns on the internet: see the website Cilice: http://www.cilice.co.uk/. 75. Lisa Silverman states that in France, women were excluded from confraternities because it was perceived that they lacked this freedom of choice, since they were already condemned to suffer as women. Lisa Silverman, Tortured Subjects: Pain, Truth, and the Body in Early Modern France (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2001), 128. 76. Abad, “Autobiografía,” Escritos autobiográficos, 173–74. 77. The most well-known studies are by Caroline Walker Bynum, Holy Feast and Holy Fast (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987); and her Fragmentation and Redemption: Essays on Gender and the Human Body in Medieval Religion (New York: Zone Books, 1991); see also Rudolph Bell, Holy Anorexia (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985); and Sarah Beckwith, Christ’s Body: Identity, Culture and Society in Late Medieval Writings (London; New York: Routledge, 1993).

Introduction 33 signed to make their practitioners objects of control, albeit, perhaps, sometimes, or often, ecstatic ones.”78 Aers’ argument is echoed by Stephen Haliczer when he notes the flourishing of Spanish women mystics in the first decades of the sixteenth century during the Illuminist movement, and again after Trent during the menace of Protestantism and residual crypto-Judaism and Islam.79 The Counter-Reformation church, however, diligently made sure to block any potential movements beyond the orthodoxy safeguarded by the Inquisition, strengthening its spiritual foundation by emphasizing Christocentric devotions such as the Passion and the Incarnation. Haliczer points out that by the end of the seventeenth century, female religious who in the past had posed a risk to the male hierarchy proudly asserted their integration into and acceptability by the male-dominated church (67). The combined supremacy of church and state is evinced in its control of approved mystics and “feigned saints,” or holy women whose visions, prophecies, and other manifestations such as stigmata were judged to be false, mainly because of accusations by their enemies and their perceived threat to their religious and lay superiors.80 Nevertheless, although Haliczer’s caveat must be taken seriously, we cannot overlook the efforts of those women who attempted to challenge the ecclesiastical and social restrictions placed on them. For all classes of women, self-assertion required constant struggle and the application of whatever means were available to them. Moreover, the categories by which they were segregated created internal tensions 78. Aers provides an alternative solution to imitatio Christi through the Lollard rebellion that, he states, was “a model calling women and men to active and combined resistance to the actually existing power of the church, now fused with the crown and secular power in the institutionally produced body of Christ” (10). David Aers, “Figuring Forth the Body of Christ: Devotion and Politics,” Proceedings of the Illinois Medieval Association; Essays in Medieval Studies 11 (1994): 1–14. http://www.illinoismedieval.org/ems/VOL11/aers1.html [accessed August 7 2011]. 79. Stephen Haliczer, Between Exaltation and Infamy: Female Mystics in the Golden Age of Spain (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), 28; 51. Haliczer studies thirty autobiographies and biographies of accepted women mystics and the Inquisition trials of fifteen “false” mystics. 80. This was the case of Lucrecia de León and Sor María de la Visitación (Haliczer, Between Exaltation, 292).

34 Introduction that often countered their resistance to the dominant ideology. Both by virtue of her birth and the ideology she maintained throughout her life, Carvajal represented the class attitudes of the Spanish aristocracy. Her belonging to this social group, however, does not mean that diverse categories did not pull her into other, frequently conflicting and contested subject positions. Subjectivity necessarily invokes a separate consciousness and differentiation from the dominant group, whether owing to one’s gender, class, religious or ethnic background, among other categories. In Carvajal’s case, the categories function both in collusion and in conflict with one another, since, as a noble, she shared in the privileged class system of early modern Spain; however, because of her gender, she was controlled by its hierarchical male order. It is true, as Haliczer argues, that a convergence of positive external factors was required for any degree of success within the restrictive environment countenanced by religious women such as Saint Teresa or Luisa de Carvajal. In Carvajal’s case, the fact that she was a Mendoza aided her in achieving certain goals. Yet neither she nor Saint Teresa could have negotiated their arduous positions without first having developed certain personal characteristics that distinguished and abetted them, such as intelligence, persistence, resoluteness, and utmost courage, no matter the final outcome.81 Carvajal’s response to the discipline imposed on her was thus to accept it so fully that, in her complete submission, she molded herself to the demands of the extreme religiosity of the period. Through the corporal discipline first ordered by her uncle and deliberately continued by her as an adult, she learned to convert her bodily pain and ascetic life, not only into a method of negating the flesh, but as a means to define and fulfill her own desires against the very controls imposed by familial and religious authority. Paradoxically, the abjection that caused her to disassociate from society during her adolescence, abandoning the company of almost everyone but her uncle, granted her 81. All these qualities defined many women religious, including Saint Teresa and Carvajal. Haliczer mentions that, to receive the church’s “indulgence,” women had to “have the correct pedigree, belong to a powerful religious order, and enjoy the support of prominent religious advisors and wealthy laypeople” (Between Exaltation, 293). Yet the church’s approval was often not what these women pursued. Haliczer’s despondent study entirely overlooks women’s own agency and subjectivity.

Introduction 35 the interiority needed to reconfigure herself as a mature subject. From the penitential practices thrust on her throughout her adolescence, when she nevertheless carefully guarded her innermost thoughts from others, to her adulthood in Madrid and Valladolid, where she refused to marry and spurned the life expected of a noble woman, Carvajal reached an exceptional level of spiritual and social self-assertion. Her uncle’s return to Madrid in 1586 left the young adult in Pamplona to her own devices; no longer at the mercy of her guardian, she continued to practice corporal discipline: “I would fast, wear cilices, mortify my body with harsh disciplines, and wake very early in the morning, when I would often go to the gallery, for, as I have said, the Most Holy Sacrament was exposed in that church, and solitude to me was a great and most pious thing.”82 Some four years later in Madrid, she again took matters into her own hands. Rejecting her uncle’s choice of a suitable marriage, she isolated herself from her relatives, living separately from the family on a different floor of their residence. After her uncle’s death in 1592 and her aunt’s soon afterward, she moved with only a few servants to a small house on the street of Toledo sold to her by the Jesuits. It was during this period, when she continued to battle what she calls her “fondness for honor” after a grave illness, that she began to compose her poetry: “And at this time, I wrote that ballad in which I said that I was being led ‘through a rough voyage,’ which encompasses everything I have said about me  … and also those verses in which I ask: ‘How long will so many trials last,’ because my heart is attacked on a thousand fronts, troubled by his absence and consumed by his love.”83 82. “Ayunaba, usaba cilicios, maceraba el cuerpo con bien ásperas disciplinas y levantábame con cuidado temprano a las mañanas, y acudía a la tribuna por la mayor parte; porque, como he dicho, estaba en aquella iglesia el Santísimo Sacramento, y la soledad era grande y devotísima cosa para mí” (Abad, “Otros escritos autobiográficos,” Escritos autobiográficos, 193). 83. “Y en este tiempo se hizo aquel romance en que dije que iba caminando ‘por un áspero viaje’; en que está cifrado cuanto de mí tengo dicho … Y también aquellos versos en que pregunto: ‘Hasta cuándo ha de durar’ tanto mal; porque el corazón estaba combatido de mil partes y afligido de su ausencia y abrasado de su amor” (Abad, “Camino espiritual,” Escritos autobiográficos, 212).

36 Introduction

Spiritual Poetry Carvajal’s transition from her tranquil life in the distant town of Pamplona, where she often meditated in the woods, to Spain’s bustling capital, Madrid, a city she calls Babylon, was eased by her ability to convert her emotional interiority into poetry. Functioning as the creative transformation of her physical penitential devotion into words, the poems poured forth the sentiments that accumulated as she focused her actions entirely on her maturing spirituality. Carvajal’s later spiritual memoirs, which Abad edits in his Escritos autobiográficos as her “camino espiritual” [spiritual journey] (205–221), conform to her poetry so perfectly that they do not appear to have been written years after she penned her small collection of lyrics. Their words reflect the previous episodes of her mortification, in which, as in her poetry, she introduces God as the source of all pain and pleasure, and where she will abandon all the power of her own will to meld with that of the divinity: “And when I think that God’s undoing and annihilation of my entire being serve to glorify him in fulfilling his will, and that his wish has finally been done, this pleases me so greatly that it seems there is no other pleasure with which to exchange for this one.”84 These feelings are expressed in the poems’ titles and epigraphs, which according to Muñoz, were written by her. However, although none of the poems is dated, they were most probably written during her stay in Madrid and Valladolid, a period of approximately fifteen years, from 1590 to 1605, the year she left for London. As with secular poetry, Carvajal’s poems were never published, yet unlike secular poems, there is no evidence that hers circulated widely in manuscript, although she left a manuscript copy with the Countess of Miranda.85 In 1612, she wrote to her cousin, the Marquise 84. “Y pensar yo que cuando me hubiese Dios deshecho y aniquilado todo mi ser, quedaría El glorificado en el cumplimiento desta su voluntad, y que se había en fin hecho lo que había querido, me da tanto gusto, que me parece no hay otro ninguno con quien trocarle” (Abad, “Camino espiritual,” Escritos autobiográficos, 219). 85. In a letter of 1607 to the Countess’s lady, Leonor de Quirós, we learn that she had left her a “small book” of her spiritual poetry, and asks Quirós to send it for a few days to Father Espinosa since he had asked for a few poems that she could not write [“El librillo de las poesías espirituales que di a mi señora la condesa, me haga merced vuestra merced de dar por algunos días al padre Espinosa, que me pide unas canciones que están allí, y no puedo

Introduction 37 of Caracena, asking whether she had received a small book of spiritual poetry in Spanish, which she had sent her by means of her friend, Doña Ana María de Vergara, since Vergara had died the year before.86 These two books may have been copies of the original that she gifted to two of her closest friends and patrons. Given her reticence in making her feelings known to others, it is unlikely that she would have wanted the poems read freely by other friends or relatives in Madrid. She apparently cherished them sufficiently to take them with her to England where, at her death, they were placed with her other writings, designated by her for her confessor’s eyes only. When Luis Muñoz searched for her papers, he found that Walpole had given them to another Jesuit, Enrique Polardo [Henry Pollard] of the English College in Seville.87 From his findings, including Michael Walpole’s biographies, Muñoz composed his biography of Carvajal, adding her poems as coda. Although he gave all of Carvajal’s papers to Mariana de San José, the prioress of the convent of the Encarnación where her manuscripts are archived, Carvajal’s original book of poems has since disappeared.88 Although we do not know whether the poems’ order in Muñoz, which González and Abad have followed, is the same order that Carvajal gave her poems, it is possible that his collection follows

ahora escribirlas” (letter 87, Epistolario y poesías, 229)]. While this could mean that she did not have time to write the poems to send to Espinosa, Henstock takes this as proof that she intended her poems to have an audience, but that she did not take her poetry with her to England (57–59). 86. “Deseo saber si recibió un libro de poesías en español, que le envió [sic] por medio de doña Ana María de Vergara … y ahora ha muerto” (letter 151, Epistolario y poesías, 370). For the letter translated in full, see page 319 in this volume. 87. Muñoz, Carvajal, 7–8. 88. Although several selections of her poems have been published, the only complete editions are Muñoz (1632; rptd. 1897); González and Abad, who add two poems they found to their collection (Epistolario y poesías); and García-Nieto Onrubia, ed., Poesías completas (Badajoz: Clásicos extremeños, Diputación Provincial, 1990), who bases her edition on González and Abad. Because Muñoz edited the original poems, my translations in this volume are based on the 1897 reprint of his 1632 edition, but include in parenthesis the numbering given the poems by González and Abad in their edition.

38 Introduction her composition.89 As published by González and Abad in volume 179 of the series Biblioteca de Autores Españoles in 1965, the poems number fifty:90 thirty-six poems are written in popular meters: 20 romances (octosyllabic ballads); 1 romancillo (verses fewer than heptasyllables); 5 quintillas (five-line octosyllabic stanzas); 5 coplas (octosyllabic quatrains); 4 redondillas (four-line octosyllabic stanzas); and 1 letra (four-line octosyllabic stanzas with refrain). These are characterized by their assonant rhyme, except the redondillas and coplas, which have a consonant rhyme scheme (ABBA). Fourteen poems are written in cultured style: 9 sonnets (Petrarchan style); 4 liras (odes); and 1 octava (eight-line stanzas). These poems have consonant rhyme and hendecasyllabic verse form, save for the liras, which typically alternate between heptasyllabic and hendecasyllabic lines. Although the popular forms are in the majority, they are no less sophisticated as poetic art. The first redondilla “No encubras, Silva, tu gloria” [Veil Not Your Glory, Silva] is indeed a tour-de-force: the first and lengthiest poem of her collection, it is constituted by 51 quatrains that do not repeat their consonant rhyme schemes even once throughout the poem. Numerous poems dwell on the physical discipline imposed by her uncle, which Carvajal justified by attributing the suffering to her love of God and her desire for spiritual perfection. Although I do not suggest a direct correlation between the poems and the discipline she undergoes at the hands of the servants chosen by the marquis, the poems’ insistence on shackles and bonds, as well as their focus on Christ’s feet, cannot help but recall the graphic descriptions of her own corporal discipline. The following verses underscore the imagery of Christ’s Passion, in particular, his being bound:

89. Muñoz closes his collection with an octava poem dedicated “to a retreat for a happy moment experienced there,” which he claims is not by Carvajal, but by her poetic persona Silva. Written in a male voice, both the tone and the topic, recalling Luis de León’s Vida retirada [The Life Removed], have little to recommend it as Carvajal’s (Muñoz, Carvajal, 586–88). 90. To Muñoz’s forty-eight poems, González and Abad add a lira on the profession of a nun that appeared in a 1614 document on her exequies in Seville and a romance registered in her beatification proceedings (Epistolario y poesías, 432).

Introduction 39 Oh, if with the brutal bonds that imprisoned you, my glory, for my freedom, I could see my neck and hands bound! (vv. 1–4)91 Another poem, subtitled “To Christ our Lord, on his divine left foot, visible in an image of Christ tied to the column,” expresses the obsession with Christ’s foot, and her giving it an agency all its own: The foot that wounded me with love from having glanced at it one day, what effect did it have on my soul when to my lips it drew near? (vv. 1–4)92 Carvajal’s poems articulate her abiding devotion to the adult figure of Christ incarnate, especially to the Christ of the Passion and the Eucharist. Even the coplas and redondillas on the Nativity center on the Christ child and the miracle of the Incarnation, and pay scant attention to the Virgin Mary, perhaps manifesting Carvajal’s own lack of a mother figure.93 In fact, the first quatrain of the copla “Mostrado ha tanto cariño” [He has shown so much caring] which is titled “On the Nativity” retains the topos of pastoral love and emphasizes the adult reducing himself to the figure of a child for the shepherdess’s love, rather than celebrating his birth:

91. “¡Ay, si entre los lazos fieros / que a mi Gloria aprisionaron / por mi libertad, yo viera / enlazar mi cuello y manos!” (Romance espiritual de Silva 3; Muñoz, Carvajal, 539). 92. “El pie que de amor me hirió / de sólo mirarle un día / ¿qué efecto en el alma haría / cuando a mis labios llegó?” (Redondillas espirituales de Silva 24; Muñoz, Carvajal, 560–61). 93. In studying the High Middle Ages, Caroline Walker Bynum has noted that male religious were more apt to have visions of the Virgin Mary, while women were more attracted to male images, in particular, to the reception and adoration of the Eucharist. She arrives at the socially compelling argument that “deprivation of the opportunity to fill certain roles and express certain deeply held religious values lies behind the greater incidence of mysticism and of intense eucharistic devotion in thirteenthcentury women.” Caroline Walker Bynum, Jesus as Mother: Studies in the Spirituality of the Middle Ages (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982), 162; 256–58.

40 Introduction Such affection the young shepherd to his beloved has shown, that to lessen their difference, he himself has a babe become. (vv. 1–4)94 The poetic themes thus focus overwhelmingly on Christocentric love, expressed through various images, concepts, and conventions. Several adhere to the traditional Petrarchist imagery of the absent lover and the heart pierced by arrows, yet are sacralized in that they address Christ as the beloved. In most of her poems, Carvajal utilizes the convention of a poetic persona different from herself, with whom she frequently establishes a discourse; imitating the pastoral tradition, she assumes the voice of a shepherdess named Silva, an anagram of her own name, Luisa.95 Sixteenth-century Spain had developed a rich literary tradition of pastoral prose and lyric poetry; from the dramatic eclogues by Juan del Encina and those of Garcilaso de la Vega, inspired by the classical and Italian pastoral tradition, and the pastoral novel convention initiated in Spain by Jorge de Montemayor’s Los siete libros de la Diana [The Seven Books of Diana], to their successors, especially Sebastián de Córdoba’s Garcilaso a lo divino [divinized Garcilaso], published in 1575. Equally influential on Carvajal was the mystical poetry of Teresa of Ávila and of San Juan de la Cruz, who composed his poem, Cántico espiritual [Spiritual Canticle] based on the biblical Song of Songs in 1584, which Carvajal surely read in manuscript.96 Both poets notably incorporated the secular poet, Garcilaso de la Vega’s imagery into their religious poetry. It is not surprising, therefore, that Carva94. “Mostrado ha tanto cariño / con su amada este zagal, / que porque no le era igual / ha venido á hacerse niño” (De la Navidad 38; Muñoz, Carvajal, 574–75). 95. Anne J. Cruz, “Chains of Desire: Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza’s Poetics of Penance.” In Studies on Hispanic Women Writers in Honor of Georgina Sabat-Rivers. Ed. Lou CharnonDeutsch (Madrid: Castalia, 1992), 97–112. 96. For a superb, albeit gender-neutral analysis of Carvajal’s poems tracing their Ignatian influence, see Michael Bradburn-Ruster, “The Beautiful Dove, the Body Divine: Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza’s Mystical Poetics,” in The Mystical Gesture: Essays on Medieval and Early Modern Spiritual Culture in Honor of Mary E. Giles, ed. Robert Boenig, (Aldershot, UK; Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2000), 159–68. See also Henstock’s fine analysis of Carvajal’s imitation of the Song of Songs (63–64).

Introduction 41 jal availed herself of both sacred and profane poetics to compose her poems: although she states that she did not read secular literature, it is probable that she was as familiar with the Spanish literary tradition as she was with mystical traditional writings, which she had at her disposal in her uncle’s imposing library and could have known from oral sources.

The Sacred and the Profane in Carvajal’s Spiritual Poetry Combining the conventions of secular and spiritual poetry in exquisite stanzas, Carvajal’s introductory redondilla “No encubras, Silva, tu gloria” [Veil Not Your Glory, Silva] reveals its meaning in its epigraph: “For the good use of his love and benefits that she received from it.” It begins by troping San Juan’s Cántico as the lyrical voice of the soul interrogates Silva, the shepherdess; Veil not your glory, Silva, but tell me, why have you left your sheep so dispersed with no memory of them? The same sheep you shepherded with so much pleasure, not fearing the dangers, you led them to pasture; you know not if they are gone to the fold or the field; why have you forgotten them? Have you even forgotten yourself? (vv. 1–12)97 The redondilla continues to describe the shepherdess’s love for Christ, transgendering the usual Petrarchan lyrics in her description of the beloved whose male beauty, like Petrarch’s Laura and other absent female lovers after her, is fragmented throughout the poem as she 97. “No encubras, Silva, tu gloria, / mas dime, ¿por qué así dejas / esparcidas las ovejas / sin tener de ellas memoria? / Las ovejas que solías / con tanto gusto guardar, / que por las apacentar / los peligros no temías / Ni sabes si á la majada / van, ni si van al ejido: / ¿por qué las diste al olvido? / ¿Aun de ti estás olvidada?” (Spiritual Ballad by Silva 1; Muñoz, Carvajal, 533–38).

42 Introduction depicts his luminous features and lovingly compares them to jewels and pristine natural elements. With his clear, lovely eyes he made me his prisoner, for they encompassed his true divinity. The pale color that shone from those divine lights subdued a diamond’s brilliant resplendence. (vv.49–56)98 However, like the departed beloved in San Juan’s Cántico whose grace awakens nature as he passes through the soul’s garden, Silva’s beloved spills his abundant grace when he enters her garden, a telling reference to the classical topoi of the locus amoenus and the virginal hortus conclusus. The poem commingles the Petrarchan metaphorical imagery of nature with the allegorical representation of the soul and of Christian grace: From that beauteous figure, flowed grace one thousand fold, for all of God’s grace did flow unto him. How favored I was when taking my hand He entered my garden. Oh, unknowable fortune! (vv. 129–136)99 The earlier mention of the cross and of the wound in Christ’s side ultimately transforms the pastoral amatory event into a commemoration of the Passion and its redemptive power: 98. “Con sus claros ojos bellos / me hizo su prisionera, / porque divinidad era / lo que se encerraba en ellos. / Que, entre su garzo color, / aquellas luces divinas / a las piedras diamantinas / quitaban el resplandor.” 99. “Cien mil gracias derramaba / aquella figura bella / porque se derramó en ella / toda cuanta en Dios estaba. / Y fui tan favorecida / que de la mano me asió / y en mi jardín se metió; ¡Oh ventura no entendida!”

Introduction 43 He said that though I loved him, he had first loved me, and on the cross he’d given me what life I had lacked. and so much had he loved me, that to keep me within him, he ripped his side, opening the portal that I beheld. (vv. 113–120)100 Christ’s physical suffering on the cross and the penetration of the soldier’s spear in his side allow Silva access to grace, the same grace abundantly spilled by Christ in San Juan’s Cántico. In its movement of repetitive sounds and recoverable semantics, the rhetorical power of paronomasia, Carvajal’s choice of “puerta” or opening to describe the entry into Christ’s side stands also for the “puerto” or port, the final destination where the beloved will take shelter. But if Carvajal echoes the dangerously quietist tendencies of San Juan’s mysticism, she ends the poem by returning to the contemplative Ignatian mode, urging those who wish to receive Christ’s love to joyfully pursue him through the contemplation of the beloved: If you wish to know more, to seek him is the fullest joy for you’ll find a glorious port when you behold him at last. (vv. 201–204).101 The poem plays with the constant reversal of openings as entrances to denote both the amatory and redemptive force of the Eucharist: Christ’s entry into the shepherdess’s garden mirrors her entrance into God’s grace. The metaphor of a port in Christ’s side as shelter may have been reinforced by Carvajal’s having seen the strikingly real image of the reclining Christ [Cristo yacente] attributed to the sculptor Gaspar Becerra 100. “Díjome que si le amaba, / que él me había amado primero, / y dádome en el madero / la vida que me faltaba. / Y que á tanto había llegado, / que abrió para entrarme en sí / una puerta que yo vi / rasgada en su diestro lado” (Muñoz, Carvajal, 536). 101. “Si más quisieres saber, / buscalle es lo más dichoso; / que hallarás Puerto glorioso / cuando le llegues a ver.”

44 Introduction when she resided at the convent of the Descalzas Reales as a child. The imposing life-size figure, whose wound in the side—an opening covered with a hinged glass door—served as monstrance to the host, was carried in the Good Friday processions sponsored by the convent.102

Figure 2. Recumbent Christ, detail. Attributed to Gaspar Becerra (1520–1570). Convent of the Descalzas Reales, Madrid, Spain. Album/Art Resource, NY.

In her poems, Carvajal’s lyric persona laments Christ’s absence and impatiently awaits her death so she can join him. Emphasizing less the mystical paradox of sexual union than that of physical pain brought about by spiritual love, these poems reverse her earlier imposed suffering by expressing her desire to experience the Passion. Traditionally, the physical descriptions of Christ’s suffering have formed an integral part of the poetry of meditation, moving beyond the affective piety of medieval mysticism. As Louis Martz has shown, the mental or concrete visualization of a specific image (in Ignatian 102. Currently, the image is housed in the claustro alto of the Convent of the Descalzas Reales. Ana García Sanz and María Leticia Sánchez Hernández, ed. Guía de Visita, Las Descalzas y la Encarnación (dos clausuras de Madrid) (Madrid: Patrimonio Nacional, 1999), 32. The image is still taken in procession throughout the convent during Holy Week.

Introduction 45 terms the “composición de lugar”), its analysis by the poet, and the poetic dialogue that ensues correspond to the formal structure of devotional poetry.103 The romance “Mirando está a su Señor” [As She Contemplates her Lord] not only suggests that the poem was composed as a contemplation of Christ’s crucifixion, but that Luisa identified with his suffering and with her own physical loss of beauty: As she contemplates her Lord, his side pierced through by a lance, Silva, and her soul as well, feels severely pierced inside. Her eyes streaming forth liquid, as tears distilled from her heart, she speaks to him, “My sweet glory, my brilliant, sparkling sunrise, who, my Beauty, has defiled and destroyed your loveliness?” (vv. 1–10)104 This and other ballads recall Teresa of Ávila’s imagery of an arrow piercing her side, especially the following stanza from the saint’s “Mi Amado para mí” [My Lover for Me Only]: He wounded me with an arrow its tip dipped in his love and so my soul was left at one with its Creator; I desire no other love, for I gave myself to God. My Beloved is for me, And I am for my Beloved. (vv. 13–20; my translation)105 103. Louis L. Martz, The Poetry of Meditation: A Study in English Religious Literature of the Seventeenth Century (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1954), 38–39. 104. “Mirando está a su Señor / pasado de una lanzada,/ Silvia, y su alma con ella / duramente traspasada. / Sus ojos agua vertiendo, / del corazón destilada, / le dice: “Bien de mi Gloria, / mi rutilante alborada, / ¿Quién ha puesto, mi Belleza, / vuestra hermosura afeada?” (Romance de Silva, 8; Muñoz, Carvajal, 548–49). For the full translation, see p. 169. 105. “Hirióme con una flecha / enherbolada de amor / y mi alma quedó hecha / una con su Criador; / Ya yo no quiero otro amor, / pues a mi Dios me he entregado, / y mi Amado

46 Introduction Carvajal moves beyond Teresa’s focus on the arrow’s piercing, however, to reincorporate images from the Passion and her pastoral self. The shepherdess, overtaken by her love for her divine shepherd, forcefully desires to assume the very figure of Christ crucified: Such feet, such hands, such wounds! Such a head so heavily crowned with a crown that was created by my overweening pride! Who would not have it, my King, on their temples tightly bound? And that with it, my bliss might rebound from being nailed to a cross such as yours and consumed by your love. (vv. 27–36).106 At times, Carvajal even speaks as Christ, creating a dialogue wherein Christ addresses Silva directly, as in her romance “En una graciosa isleta” [On a Pleasant Isle]:107 “I will force you to love me, leaving you so wounded by my love, that you will not rest at all without me, my soul;

para mí / y yo soy para mi Amado.” See also The complete poetry of St. Teresa of Avila: a bilingual edition, Eric W. Vogt, ed. (New Orleans: University Press of the South, 1996). 106. “¡Qué pies!, ¡Qué manos! ¡Qué heridas! / ¡Qué cabeza coronada / con la corona que fue / por mi soberbia inventada! / ¡Quién la tuviera, Rey mío, / en sus sienes apretada! / Y que con esto mi dicha / llegara a serme enclavada / en una cruz cual la vuestra, / y en vuestro amor abrasada.” See the complete translation on page 169. 107. The poem’s epigraph states “This is a meditation that was often carried out, as recounted here: It signifies Christ’s gentle heart, full of love for nature, and for the one with whom he speaks, and with each soul in particular. And similar songs, full of expressions of divine love, when they are recited or heard attentively, inflame the love they find in our heart, for if songs of a vain and vile love are so harmful due to the fire they light in a worldly soul, how much more powerful are these, that are of such an immense and true love?”(Romance 7; Carvajal, 546).

Introduction 47 and if as my enemy you are sweet, how much sweeter, as my lover?” (vv. 57–62).108 Such transgendering of the poetic voice allows for the female mystic to identify with the Godhead not only by speaking his words, but in a subversively linguistic turn, by becoming the Verb.109 For Carvajal, this occurs at the moment of communion, when, as Michael BradburnRoster suggests, the communicant consumes the flesh of God and becomes a member of his body (160). For this to happen, however, the communicant must be interpellated by Christ. Arguably the most vivid of all Carvajal’s transgendered sonnets, “De inmenso amor aqueste brazo estrecho” [Receive, Silva, from your Sweet Beloved], again like San Juan’s Cántico, provides a combined reverie of spiritual and sexual love, as Christ invites the lover again to enter his side, this time, however, with the visual image of the lover transformed into a dove.110 The arresting metaphor of Christ’s wound as a nuptial bed that is both “sacred and flowering” suggests the reading of the poem as an epithalamium, yet it also emphasizes Carvajal’s constant hunger for the Eucharist. According to Abad, it was perhaps during her stay in Valladolid, when her confessor Antonio de Padilla forbade her to take communion for fifteen or twenty days, that she may have written the sonnet “¡Ay soledad amarga y enojosa!” [Oh, Bitter and Troublesome

108. “Yo te obligaré a que me ames, / dejándote tan herida / de mi amor, que no descanses / ni un punto sin mi, alma mía; / y si enemiga me fuiste / dulce, ¿Cuánto más amiga?” (Romance 7; Muñoz, Carvajal, 548). See the complete translation on page 164. 109. Transgendering functioned among male as well as female religious; see Anne J. Cruz, “Transgendering the Mystical Voice: Angela de Foligno, San Juan, Santa Teresa, Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza,” in Echoes and Inscriptions: Comparative Approaches to Early Modern Literatures, ed. Barbara Simerka and Christopher Weimer (Lewisburg, PA: Bucknell University Press, 2000), 127–41. See also Jonathan Walker, “The Transtextuality of Transvestite Sainthood: Or, How to Make the Gendered Form Fit the Generic Function,” Exemplaria 15 (2003): 73–110. 110. See Anne J. Cruz, “Words Made Flesh: Luisa de Carvajal’s Eucharistic Poetry,” in Studies of Women’s Poetry of the Golden Age, ed. Julián Olivares (London: Tamesis, 2009), 255–69. See also Gwyn Fox, “Luisa de Carvajal, More Martha Than Mary,” in Gwyn Fox, Subtle Subversions: Reading Golden Age Sonnets by Iberian Women (Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 2008), 246–83. For the sonnet’s translation, see page 177.

48 Introduction Solitude!] in which she laments the absence of the sacrament (Abad, Una misionera, 94).111 In 1597, Archbishop Albert of Austria, who would soon marry Philip II’s daughter, Isabel Clara Eugenia and depart with her to Brussels to govern the Netherlands, approved the saying of Mass in Carvajal’s oratory, permitting her to receive communion on a daily basis (Abad, Una misionera, 98). In that there are numerous poems that express her feelings of abandonment when she is denied the Eucharist, it is difficult to assign any one poem to the consequences of her daily practices; rather, throughout her poetry, she is keenly aware of the Eucharist’s presence and absence. Yet, as much as Carvajal’s spiritual sonnet 18 “De inmenso amor” [Receive Silva from your Beloved] envisions the mystical union, it nonetheless ends in the future tense, with only the promise of desire fulfilled. Similarly to Carvajal’s introductory redondilla, her yearning for Christ’s love, her willing pursuit of its grace, and the arrival at the “glorious” port inscribe her main concerns in verse, even as they chart a spiritual course for her physical journey to England.

Correspondence At the same time that Luisa de Carvajal composed her poems, she began a lengthy correspondence with various friends and relations that would last throughout her life. The time she spent in Madrid and Valladolid, although in great part in isolation from family and friends, involved maintaining contact with those who could help her in her legal case to claim her inheritance. The documentation we have of her during this period demonstrates that Carvajal’s attention was divided into her spiritual life and her public acts. The first involved the composition of her spiritual poetry and prose, the long hours attending mass and receiving communion, and the moments of prayer in her oratory. It was during this time, in 1593, that she wrote her vows of poverty; in 1595, she wrote a vow of obedience and a vow of “more” perfection. Besides these, in 1597 she wrote another vow of “perfection.” In 1598, she also made an “extraordinary” vow of “martyrdom”: 111. For the sonnet’s translation, see page 175.

Introduction 49 I, Luisa de Carvajal, as firmly as I possibly can, vow rigorously and promise to God our Lord that I will try, as much as it is possible for me, to seek all those occasions of martyrdom that are not abhorrent to the law of God; and that, whenever I find the opportunity, I will face all kinds of death, torment, and rigor, without turning my back on them in any manner, or rejecting them in any way; and that each and every time I find myself in such a fortunate occasion, I will offer myself up, without being sought out.”112 In 1600, however, she asked to be excused from her “minor” vows, most likely so she could continue her case for her inheritance (Abad, Una misionera, 121). By contrast, Carvajal’s public acts included the many humiliations she willingly underwent, such as sweeping the streets in ragged clothing, waiting in line with the poor for food, and caring for the prostitutes that lived near her small house. For these acts, she would be rejected by the majority of her relatives, who were embarrassed by her self-denigration. Yet during this time, she diligently kept pursuing her legal case, which lasted over ten years, and although she had begun it against her father’s executors, at the end, she fought her older brother Alonso de Carvajal for her share in the Madrid court and in Valladolid, to where the capital moved in 1601. The knowledge we have of the case and of the people with whom she was in contact at the time comes from her letters, many over several folios long, in which she relates in detail her doings and concerns. Although Abad tells us that she wrote to her uncle while she was in Almazán, no letters to him are extant. The letters we do have cover the five years before her departure to England in early 1605 and the fourteen years of her stay in London until her death in early 112. “Yo, Luisa de Carvajal, lo más firmemente que puedo, con estrecho voto, prometo a Dios nuestro Señor que procuraré, cuanto me sea posible, buscar todas aquellas ocasiones de martirio que no sean repugnantes a la ley de Dios; y que, siempre que yo hallare oportunidad semejante, haré rostro a todo género de muerte, tormentos y riguridad, sin volver las espaldas en ningún modo, ni rehusarlo por ninguna vía; y que cada y cuando me viere en ocasión tan venturosa, me ofreceré, sin ser buscada” (Abad, “Otros escritos autobiográficos,” Escritos autobiográficos, 245).

50 Introduction 1614. The correspondence, which forms part of the documents kept by the Agustinas Recoletas in the convent of the Encarnación, was transcribed by Jesús González Marañón for the dissertation he began on Luisa de Carvajal at the University of Valladolid; however, he died in 1950 without having completed it. The Jesuit Camilo María Abad gathered González’s papers and published Carvajal’s letters along with her poetry and his biography in Doña Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza, Epistolario y poesías of the series Biblioteca de Autores Españoles in 1965. The letters that appear in this volume total 177; one other letter was published in 1933 by Antonio Rodríguez Moñino and María Brey Mariño, addressed to her cousin Doña Isabel Velasco y Mendoza, Marquise of Caracena, from Highgate, and dated 5 July 1909. Since the publication of these letters, others have been found in various sites, including the convent of the Encarnación.113 González and Abad have edited 47 letters by Carvajal to Beatriz Zamudio, a woman who went by the religious name of Magdalena de San Jerónimo. Although given the titles of Sor and Madre in several letters and documents, no evidence has been found that she belonged to any religious order. Certainly, her many activities throughout Spain and Europe do not correspond to those of a cloistered nun following her order’s rules. Whatever her religious affiliation, she was highly respected for her social activities. She opened a Magdalen house for prostitutes [Casa Pía de Santa María Magdalena de la Aprobación] in Valladolid with funds donated by the noblewoman Magdalena de Ulloa, and Philip II sent her to open a similar house in Flanders, where, with her niece Ana Maria de Zamudio, she remained at the court of the Archduchess Isabel Clara Eugenia.114 In 1604, at the request of the archduchess, Magdalena brought from 113. A translation of 180 letters has been recently published by Glyn Redworth and Christopher J. Henstock, The Letters of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza, 2 vols. (London: Pickering & Chatto, 2012). I have not had an opportunity to see this collection. 114. Magdalena de San Jerónimo is best known for the treatise on the construction of a jail for female prisoners: Razón y forma de la galera y casa real que el rey nuestro Señor manda hacer en estos reinos para castigo de las mujeres vagantes, ladronas, alcahuetas, y semejantes (Valladolid, 1608).According to María Isabel Barbieto, her family was from Bilbao (54); “Introducción,” Cárceles de mujeres en el s. XVII (Madrid: Castalia, 1991), 37–57. My thanks to Professor Nieves Baranda for the copy. Ana María de Zamudio would marry the Flemish ambassador to London (see translation of letter 84, 243).

Introduction 51 Flanders to Valladolid the relics of San Mauricio [Saint Maurice] and San Pascual [Saint Paschal], which were deposited later that year in the Cathedral.115 It was probably at that time that Carvajal made her acquaintance; there, Carvajal also met Mariana de San José, the founder of the convent of Agustinas Recoletas in Medina del Campo.116 Mariana de San José would become one of her correspondents and her most diligent posthumous patron through her requests for Carvajal’s beatification. Other long-term correspondents were Inés de la Asunción, Carvajal’s intimate companion since her days in Madrid, who was not allowed to travel with her to England;117 her cousin, Isabel de Velasco, daughter of the Marquis of Almazán and wife of Luis Carrillo, Marquis of Caracena, who as viceroy of Valencia would expel the moriscos in 1609; her brother, Alonso de Carvajal; and her good friend, Leonor de Quirós, lady to the Countess of Miranda, one of Carvajal’s benefactors. Carvajal made certain not to write to the countess, but attempted to reach her through her comments to Quirós. In the same way, she never wrote directly to the Archduchess Isabel Clara Eugenia, although she had been her playmate in the Descalzas Reales, but instead indirectly sent her messages through her letters to Magdalena de San Jerónimo. This is probably due to her respect for hierarchy; yet 115. For her translatio of the saints’ relics, Magdalena received 200 gold ducats. Matías Sangrador y Vítores, Historia de Valladolid, vol. II (Valladolid, 1854), 116–17. 116. Mariana de San José became the prioress of the convent of the Encarnación, founded in 1611 by Philip III’s wife, Margarita of Austria. Her correspondence, which includes numerous letters to Carvajal, is being edited by Leticia Sánchez Hernández in “Epistolario de la Madre Mariana de San José,” I am grateful to Professor Sánchez Hérnandez for granting me access to this manuscript. For Mariana de San José’s biography, see also her article “Vida cotidiana y coordenadas socio-religiosas en el epistolario de Mariana de San José (1603–1638), in Memoria e comunitá femminili, Spagna e Italia secc XV–XVII/ Memoria y comunidades femeninas, España e Italia siglos XV–XVII, ed. Gabriella Zarri and Nieves Baranda Leturio, (Madrid; Florence: Universidad de Educación a Distancia and Firenze University Press, 2011), 87–109. 117. Carvajal’s letters to Inés counsel her to accept the decision, which was based on the Jesuits’ fear that the servant cared more for Carvajal than for her desire to proselytize in England. Although for the Jesuits this may have been a case of the “special friendships” that Saint Teresa warned about, from my reading of her letters, I am disinclined to believe Carvajal considered their relationship in any way other than hierarchical (Teresa of Ávila, “Constitutions” 227).

52 Introduction ironically, Carvajal had no fear in writing often to several important male personages, including Rodrigo Calderón, one of the most powerful men at court, married to a cousin of Carvajal’s, and to the Jesuit leader Joseph Creswell. Toward the end of her life, she even directed a missive to the Duke of Lerma.118 Demonstrating the split between her personal and public life, Carvajal’s letters are full of news about the court and those close to her, revealing the attention she gave to major political events. They are, moreover, a vital source of information about her fluctuating mental and physical condition. Far more than the autobiographical narratives, which were carefully crafted two decades later at the behest of her confessor—and perhaps even more for her own benefit— the letters exude a freshness and immediacy that make them essential reading, not only for a more profound knowledge of Carvajal’s life, but for a fuller understanding of the historical period. Through her correspondence, we are able to discern more clearly Carvajal’s inner struggles as a noblewoman and a missionary committed to her faith and loyal to her country. María J. Pando Canteli has rightly described the dichotomy as “a conflict between her personal, lifelong will to experience self-sacrifice, and her political commitment to the Catholic cause” (134).119 Indeed, Carvajal’s correspondence, which she adapts rhetorically to each addressee, offers us an unobstructed view of her sharp intelligence, her quick wit and, at the same time, her obsessive political concerns, such as her wish for a Catholic on the English throne and for a pregnancy for Archduchess Isabel Clara Eugenia. As both these possibilities dwindled, she wrote copiously from London to her supporters in Spain narrating the persecution suffered by Catholics, her visits to them in the English jails, her own incarcera118. Henstock offers a helpful statistical analysis of the letters by addressees: male vs. female and lay vs. religious (139–40). It is significant that during the last two years of her life, she wrote mainly to powerful male figures. For an analysis of her letters to the Duke of Lerma’s powerful minister Rodrigo Calderón, see Elena Levy-Navarro, “The Religious Warrior: Luisa de Carvajal’s Correspondence with Rodrigo Calderón,” in Women’s letters across Europe, 1400–1700: Form and Persuasion, ed. Jane Couchman and Ann Crabb (Aldershot, UK; Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2005), 263–73. 119. María J. Pando Canteli, “ ‘Tentando vados’: The Martyrdom Politics of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza.” Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies 20.1 (Spring/Summer 2010): 117–41.

Introduction 53 tions, the preparation of body parts as relics to be sent to Spain, and her reasons for staying in England. Her earliest extant letter, dated September 15, 1598, some eight years after her move from Almazán to Madrid is a response to her cousin, Isabel de Velasco, Marquise of Caracena, who resided in Valencia. From the letter, we may gauge Carvajal’s frame of mind, as she complains resentfully of Velasco’s negligence in writing her, as well as that of other relatives: she has not been told anything about her two brothers (Alonso and Enrique), and has heard only by chance at church that Velasco’s sister had given birth: For these ladies do not for a moment waste their time in visiting me; and since my profession, dress, and company are not meant for visits or for running about through corridors with pages and other lay persons, I remain at home, wishing them well and commending them to Our Lord, as I do not feel I have any other obligation but to please him. And for this, I shall willingly do anything, but if not for this purpose, I shall do nothing.”120 Nonetheless, the news she mentions in the letter revolves around the material issues that affected her, most importantly, her lawsuit against her brother, which, she states, was just about finished, although she had no idea how it would turn out. She was proved half-right, since her case lasted several more years, corroborating her anxieties that it would not be easily won. The negative tone of the letter continues in her attitude toward the new regime: on mentioning Philip II’s death, which she says took place the day before,121 she hopes that God will 120. “[Q]ue estas señoras no gastan tan mal su tiempo como en verme ni por un solo momento; y, como mi profesión y traje y compañía no es para visitas ni andar atravesando por pajes y corredores y gente seglar, estoyme en casa, con deseos de servillas y encomendándolas a nuestro Señor; que ya yo no me siento asida de otra obligación que de contentalle a El; y en razón de esto, haré cualquier cosa liberalmente; y sin esto, ninguna” (letter 1, Epistolario y poesías, 98). For the letter translated in full, see page 203. 121. Since Philip II died September 13, Carvajal either learned a day late of the king’s death or, what is more likely, she wrote the letter over two days and dated it on the second day.

54 Introduction give the new king Philip III strength, yet remembering her uncle’s recall from Vienna, she adds acrimoniously that the marquis, Velasco’s father, would have served this new monarch well, but that neither he nor his father, Philip II, deserved him.122

Desire for Martyrdom in England Although cloaked in irony, the bitter memories of her uncle’s royal rejection spill over to Carvajal’s perceived desertion by the Jesuits who, she avers, pay no attention to her. She has not met the new rector, and no one from the College visits her. Although she claims to take pleasure from their neglect (“and I cannot mention this without it filling my soul with great joy and relief ”),123 the comment indicates that her contact with the order’s hierarchy was tenuous at best, despite her regular attendance at their church. Most importantly, it highlights yet another vexed issue in Carvajal’s life history: that of her desire to suffer martyrdom at the side of the English Catholics, whose news of their torments and deaths circulated widely in Spain.124 By the time she wrote her autobiography at the behest of her Jesuit confessor, she did not doubt that, of all the “occasions of martyrdom” not abhorrent to the law of God that she had sworn to seek out in her 1598 vows, the conversion of the English Protestants had always been her primary goal. Throughout her autobiographical narratives, however, the dates that Carvajal gives for her beginning awareness of what she terms her “desires for martyrdom” vary considerably. In one narrative, she tells us that these feelings stirred while in Pamplona, when 122. “Su padre de vuestra señoría fuera harto bueno para esas ocasiones, si le supiera estimar el Rey más que su padre; pero ninguno lo debió de merecer” (letter 1, Epistolario y poesías, 98). 123. “La Compañía no me allega más que suele, ni yo conozco a este Rector, que es el padre Porres; ni ellos ni otro me visitan, ni nadie se acuerda de nosotras, santos ni no santos: que es cosa que yo no la puedo decir sin notable alegría y consuelo de mi alma” (letter 1, Epistolario y poesías, 99). 124. Carvajal surely had heard or read about the deaths of numerous martyrs, such as Joseph Creswell’s martyrdom of Henry Walpole, Historia de la vida y martyrio que padeció en Inglaterra (1596); and through the most well-known treatise by Diego de Yepes, Historia particular de la persecución de Inglaterra, y de los martirios más insignes que en ella ha auido, desde el año del Señor, (Madrid, 1599).

Introduction 55 she was seventeen years of age and perhaps even younger,125 which then inspired her three or four years later to consult with Luis de Granada and the Lisbon nun María de la Visitación, writing about a possible trip to England only to the nun, who never answered her.126 In another folio, she comments that at eighteen years of age, her desire had increased from the time that she was fourteen or younger.127 She asserts, however, that it was when she was at court, at approximately 25 or 26 years of age, that her desire for union with God impelled her toward England.128 In yet another narrative, she states that when she was in her “little house” in Madrid dealing with her lawsuit, she could not wait for it to be finished so she could help the cause of Catholic England, yet without mentioning any travel to that country: And every hour that passed seemed to me a year; and I was filled with a great wish not to lose what was in my hands to achieve that which I believed was rightly in my power, so I could in turn give it all to our Lord and accomplished what I wished, and do what I could to help the English Mission.129 125. “Siendo de diecisiete años, y no sé si aún menos, en mi retirada oración empecé a tener grandes deseos de martirio: esto era, morir por el dulcísimo Señor que murió por mí” (Abad, “Autobiografía,” Otros escritos autobiográficos, 189). 126. (Abad, “Otros escritos autobiográficos,” Escritos autobiográficos, 190). María de la Visitación would be condemned in 1588 by the Inquisition for false stigmata; most probably, the nun’s condemnation precluded her from responding to Carvajal’s letter. 127. “Este llamamiento se asentó con fuerza en mi alma, que fue a los 18 años de mi edad, en que se hallaba ya muy crecido el deseo que, de los 14 o pocos antes, nuestro Señor me había ido dando de seguir cuidadosamente su gusto divino … Y ofrecíaseme la vida de Inglaterra” (Abad, “Vocación a la misión de Inglaterra,” Escritos autobiográficos, 222–23). 128. “Y de la corte de España, donde forzosamente me hallaba … [de] los espirituales sentimientos que dije espiraban con mayor fuerza a una inseparable unión de Dios por medio de la estrecha lazada de la cruz … el primero que se me ofrecía era el camino de Inglaterra, tan abierto en el afecto cuanto montuoso y cerrado en el efecto, por no alcanzar a divisar medios” (Abad, “Vocación a la misión a Inglaterra,” Escritos autobiográficos, 223–24). 129. “Y cada hora de dilación me parecía a mí un año; y hallábame con gran deseo de no perder nada que estuviese en mi mano de lo que con justicia creía me tocaba, por entregarlo todo a nuestro Señor y poder cumplir con las cosas que deseaba, y ayudar lo posible a la Misión de Inglaterra” (Abad, “Pleitos y oración,” Escritos autobiográficos, 237).

56 Introduction The various dates she proposes for her “desire” argue against Carvajal’s having written her autobiographical narratives while still in Spain, when her thoughts as to what she wished to accomplish would have been fresh in her mind. To be sure, the testimony by her supporters for her canonization gives the date of her “great desire” as 1581, when she was fifteen years old. As we know, however, canonization proceedings are scripted in such a way as to elicit specific responses to the questions posed. The Interrogatorio [Questionnaire] documenting Carvajal’s bid for beatification in 1626130 by Dr. Juan de Doyega de Mendieta specifies the kind of answers solicited by its questions: If you know of the great desire that she had to die a martyr for the love of God since she was fifteen years of age, moved by our Lord, and taking as an instrument a letter written in the year 1581 by the Ambassador to England Don Juan de Mendoça, which referred to the glorious martyrdom of Father Edmundo Campiano [Edmund Campion] of the Company of Jesus, who was martyred in London. And on reading it, she felt so moved and touched by God with holy emulation of the Catholics who were in that Kingdom, with such a great and cherished occasion of dying for God, and moved by the faith of Jesus Christ, wishing to keep them company in their jail cells and labors. This desire blossomed in her thanks to a little book about the life and fortunate martyrdom of the Father Enrique Oalpolo [Henry Walpole] who died in 1595, which she read often and carried with her, putting it under her bed at night, growing ever more fervent in her desire to suffer, until she actually realized her desire, moving to the Kingdom of England the 27th of January, year of 1605, awaiting such a great award and mercy, having had notice of many other martyrs who at that time suffered 130. The “Interrogatorio” formed part of the Ordinary process for beatification; it was initiated by Antonio Zapata, Cardinal of Toledo, and commissioned by Philip IV, Isabel of Borbón, and Mariana de San José.

Introduction 57 in that Kingdom for their confessional faith. And it seemed to her that if she were to go there, this would be one of the greatest comforts she could have; and she dared not mention it, even to her confessor, believing they would think it madness, thus dissembling her desire until she resolved to write about it to Father Luis de Granada, and she did not receive a response because they did not give him the letter. And she continued in this way until the year of 1598, and at 32 years of age, she resolved to take one of the most heroic vows ever taken by a woman.131 Like the rest of the queries posed, the Interrogatorio’s questions prepare the witnesses to respond affirmatively to its statement, making it difficult if not impossible for the reader to know where the truth lies. It also seems, according to her autobiographical writings, that Carvajal truly believed she planned always to dedicate her in-

131. “Si saben el deseo grande que tuuo de morir mártir por amor de Dios, desde quinze años de edad, y la mouio Nuestro Señor, tomando por instrumento vna carta escrita por don Iuan de Mendoça Embaxador de Inglaterra, el año de 1581 [sic; the ambassador’s correct name was Bernardino de Mendoza]. En la qual refería el glorioso martirio del padre Edmu[n]do Campiano de la Co[m]pañia de Iesus, q[ue] fue martirizado en Londres, y en leyéndola se sintió tan mouida y tocada de Dios, con vna emulación santa de los Catolicos, q[ue] estaua[n] en aquel Reyno, con tan grande y preciosa ocasió[n] de poder padecer por Dios, y mouida por la Fe de Iesu Christo, deseando tenerles compañía en sus cárceles y trabajos. Creciò en ella este deseo con vn librito de la vida y dichoso martirio del padre Enrique Oalpolo, que padeció el año de 1595. Este leia muy a menudo, y le traia consigo, hasta ponerle en la cabecera de su cama de noche, feruorizandose cada dia mas en el deseo de ir a padecer, y se continuò, hasta que lo puso por obra, pasando al Reyno de Inglaterra el año de 1605 a 27 de Enero, esperando tan gra[n]de premio y merced, auiendo tenido noticia de otros muchos artires, que en aquel tiempo padecían en aquel Reyno por la co[n]fesion de la Fè, pareciéndola la tendrían por locura, dissimulando su deseo, hasta que se resoluio de escriuirlo al padre fray Luis de Granada, y no tuuo respuesta, porque no le dieron la carta; y prosiguió desta manera hasta el año de 1598. Y el de 32 de su edad, que se resolviò a hazer vn voto de los mas heroicos que se leen de mujer” (No. 10, “Deseo de ser mártir, y voto que hizo.” Interrogatorio de Pregvntas para la información, que por autoridad ordinaria se pretende hazer, de la vida, virtudes santidad, y milagros de la sierua de Dios, y venerable señora D. Lvisa de Carbaial y Mendoca, f. 3r.

58 Introduction heritance, her life, and her death to the English mission.132 Yet, when reading her letters, we see that this goal is just as much in doubt as the date of her “desires for martyrdom,” which she later conflates with her wish to travel to England. In her first extant letter to her constant correspondent, Magdalena de San Jerónimo, dated March 16, 1600, she offers to accompany her in Flanders once her legal case is resolved: “[The case] must inevitably finish soon, at which time I will no longer be busy and then your grace can invite me to accompany you, as you did when you left [Spain]. And I promise that I am not so distant from this possibility that I will never be seen there some day; since things are now at such a point that it would take very little persuading.”133 If Carvajal’s offer to accompany Magdalena de San Jerónimo seems like wishful thinking, the paragraph immediately following in the letter corroborates her earnestness in offering her inheritance to the building of a convent in Flanders: Your grace, please ask Her Highness [The Archduchess Isabel Clara Eugenia] if she would like me to go and found a convent of Spanish nuns with my own funds, as I have heard that she was very pleased with a convent of English ladies founded at that court, among whom is the daughter of the most glorious martyr Thomas Percy, Count of Northumberland.134 On September 1, 1600, she again writes to Magdalena de San Jerónimo: “The news I can tell your grace about me is that my hardships are 132. Glyn Redworth believes that the date may be fixed at 1598, when she took her vow of martyrdom (79). 133. “Pero ya forzosamente habrá de ser con brevedad, con lo cual quedaré bien desocupada y entonces podrá vuestra merced convidarme a que le vaya a hacer compañía, como lo hacía a la partida cuando se fue. Y yo le prometo que no estoy tan lejos de eso, que no podrá ser que me vea allá algún día; que en punto se están las cosas, que poca persuasión bastaría” (letter 2, Epistolario y poesías, 100). 134. “Dígale vuestra merced a su Alteza, que si gustará de que le vaya a hacer un monasterio de españolas a mi costa; que me dicen holgó mucho con uno de señoras inglesas que se ha fundado de poco acá en esa corte, hija de una dellas del gloriosísimo Tomás Percy, mártir, conde de Northumberland” (letter 2, Epistolario y poesías, 100). For the letter translated in full, see page 209.

Introduction 59 ending, and I wish that our Lord’s will be done in me; and if He wishes, it will not be difficult for Him to take me to Flanders.”135 Nonetheless, a voyage to England was not entirely implausible, as this ironic note dated January, 1601 from Carvajal to Magdalena de San Jerónimo makes clear: And … I remember that your grace wrote me in one of your latest letters that if it were not so reckless, you would go to England. If you are so inspired and are not forsaking anything else, I do not consider it at all reckless, and I offer myself fully as your companion in that enterprise, and will even find you very good lodgings in London or wherever you would most like.136 However, as we see in her letter dated May 29, 1601, she is still considering traveling to Flanders as soon as her case is resolved: “my case is coming to an end very soon, and either here or there, I will serve your grace faithfully.”137 Carvajal’s letters to Magdalena de San Jerónimo contain lengthy discussions of the political situation between Spain and England, where she voices her strong feelings against Queen Elizabeth, her hope that the Archduchess Isabel Clara Eugenia may assume the throne in England, and her desire that the archduchess soon become pregnant. Her proximity to the English College in Valladolid, where she moved so she could settle her legal case at court, allowed her increasing contact with the English Jesuits, in whose chapel she prayed daily. Nevertheless, she continued to comment to Magdalena 135. “De mí hago saber a vuestra merced que voy acabando con los embarazos que tengo, deseosa de que Nuestro Señor haga en mí su voluntad; que, si El quiere, no le será dificultoso llevarme a Flandes” (letter 3, Epistolario y poesías, 103). 136. “Y … me acuerdo que me escribió vuestra merced en una de las últimas suyas que, si no fuera temeridad, se metiera en Inglaterra. Si vuestra merced siente tan buen ánimo, que no le deja por otra cosa, a mí no me parece que sería la temeridad mucha; y en esa empresa, yo me ofrezco por su compañera de vuestra merced de buena gana; y aun a darle muy buena posada en Londres, o donde más quisiera” (letter 6, Epistolario y poesías, 111). 137. “Y volviendo a mí, digo que ando acabando mi pleito para acabar otras cosas que me importan y parece será muy en breve; y aquí o allá serviré a vuestra merced fielmente” (letter 7, Epistolario y poesías, 113).

60 Introduction how much she would like to accompany her in Flanders, given the problems experienced there by the archdukes. At this time, however, what apparently took up most of her energies was the relationship that she developed with Mariana de Paz Cortés, a wealthy widow who wished to establish a convent for English Catholics in Spain and who had founded the convent of Portacoeli.138 Cortés counted with an inheritance of 80,000 ducats, but the English Jesuits received her coldly, since they suspected that they would not be involved in the negotiations. Carvajal immediately sent word to the archduchess in Flanders, as well as to Robert Persons, the Jesuit Superior in Rome, to contact Philip III and the pontiff for their support. Despite her intercession, the convent was never founded, since Cortés insisted that it should be under the guidance of the Augustinian order. What is significant about this episode is the power that Carvajal was acknowledged to wield, not only as a woman known for her piety, but as a member of the aristocracy and one who played her cards extremely carefully. As a niece of the Cardinal of Toledo, Bernardo de Sandoval y Rojas, she was related to his nephew, Francisco Sandoval y Rojas, the young king’s formidable favorite, known as the Duke of Lerma. Carvajal’s court case, finally won in 1604, was personally overseen by his daughter’s father-in-law, the Count of Miranda, president of the Council of Castile.139 Still, the desire to support the broader cause of Catholicism outside Spain remained a priority. In her letter of November 16, 1603, she writes Magdalena de San Jerónimo that no one knows of her wish to leave Spain, since for her spiritual and worldly good, she wishes to 138. Ironically, this is the same convent where Carvajal’s cadaver would be sequestered by its later patron, Rodrigo Calderón. Cortés was the widow of Juan Bautista Gallo, Valladolid city councilor. According to Carvajal, she was a descendant of the conquistador Hernando Cortés, Marquis of the Valle de Oaxaca (letter 11, Epistolario y poesías, 123). See also Anne J. Cruz, “Las relaciones entre las mujeres religiosas y sus patrocinadoras: confluencias e influencias,” in Escritoras entre rejas. Cultura conventual femenina en la España Moderna. Ed. Nieves Baranda Leturio and Ma. Carmen Marín Pina (Madrid: Iberoamericana Vervuert), forthcoming. 139. Juan de Zúñiga Avellaneda y Bazán, Count of Miranda and Duke of Peñaranda, was President of the Council from 1600 to 1606; he was married to María de Zúñiga, Countess of Miranda and Duchess de Peñaranda, Carvajal’s friend and patron. Their son Diego de Zúñiga married the Duke of Lerma’s daughter Francisca de Sandoval y Rojas.

Introduction 61 go to Flanders secretly, as her servant or relative, with or without a companion.140 Carvajal’s legal case against her brother was resolved in her favor in the summer of 1603, when she writes to her previous companion in Madrid Inés de la Asunción, now a nun in Medina de Campo, of having received the amount of 19,000 ducats, 5,000 of which she agreed to forfeit to her brother.141 The resolution spurred her to write her will on November 22, 1604, in which she leaves all her possessions to the Virgin Mary, and “in her name and place, to Father Roberto Personio [Robert Persons] of the Company of Jesus.”142 In it, she claims that many years before, in her uncle’s house, she had made a vow and firm promise to set aside her possessions to the sole glory and service of our Lord, which he indicated clearly to her would be met by coming to the aid of the English Jesuits (Abad, “Testamento,” Escritos autobiográficos, 247–248). Once England is returned to the Roman Catholic Church, she states, the monies she donates are to be used to found a novitiate, unless Persons selects a location elsewhere. The will shows that the Jesuits had not been all that generous to Carvajal, since they had charged her 1,000 ducats for the small house where she lived on Toledo, for which she had already paid 300 ducats. Nonetheless, the generous arrangement she makes with the money from her inheritance allows the order the rent of 14,000 ducats, or 1,000 ducats in yearly rent against the capital.143 It is not until Carvajal writes on December 23, 1604 to Leonor Quirós, a lady in the service of the Countess of Miranda, that any mention is made of her trip to England; by that time, her close 140. “Acá no se entiende esto, ni mis compañeras lo saben; porque, como he dicho, me importa en toda manera, por lo espiritual y temporal, el salir y llegar allá en secreto con sola una compañera, como criada de vuestra merced o como deuda; y sin compañera también, si así conviniese, me iría, sin duda” (letter 20, Epistolario y poesías, 138). 141. “He tratado de concierto con mi hermano, temiendo no me impida el alma con su pleito, y le doy más de lo que le debiera dar; y, con todo eso, me dicen está algo rebelde, aunque a mí me dijo no pleitearía contra mí jamás; pero temo que lo hará por lo que hasta ahora veo” (letter 21, Epistolario y poesías, 139). 142. Abad, “Testamento,” Escritos autobiográficos, 246–52. Carvajal wrote an addendum or codicil to the will in London, after a grave illness in 1611. 143. “Ordeno y mando, que toda la hacienda que e hallare ser mía, o que me pueda por cualquier vía pertenecer, se cobre y eche en renta, a razón de a 14,000, sobre alcabalas u otros empleos muy seguros” (Abad, “Testamento,” Escritos autobiográficos, 248).

62 Introduction companion, Inés de la Asunción, had already been told she could not accompany Carvajal.144 More important in documenting her changing frame of mind, however, is the letter dated January 14, 1605, addressed to the Jesuit Esteban de Hojeda, rector of the Imperial College, in which she explains that, since it is God’s will that she leave Spain, it must be his also, and underscores that, as he knows, she has left her inheritance to the Jesuits.145 The letter demonstrates her excellent rhetorical skills in arguing against what seem to be Hojeda’s doubtful thoughts on her departure.146 With equal determination, Carvajal spent the last part of January writing her goodbyes to her brother and to Inés de la Asunción, still complaining about her health. Luis Muñoz states that once her trip was known, several friends offered her help, in particular the Count of Miranda: “Seeing her poverty and helplessness on her departure, the Count of Miranda, President of [the Council of] Castile offered her monies and whatever she needed for the journey with as much love and esteem as he had ever felt; she did not want them or anything else but the passport and the paperwork she got from him.”147 The latter disclosure is of special interest, since no biographer has yet mentioned exactly how Luisa de Carvajal arranged her leave from Spain. The passport given Carvajal had to be signed by the king, 144. Inés de la Asunción and Isabel de la Cruz were Carvajal’s inseparable companions during her years in Madrid and Valladolid; both became nuns on Carvajal’s departure to London, endowed by her. Inés in particular was devastated at the fact that she was not allowed to accompany Carvajal, given that her motivation for the trip was judged by the Jesuits to be based solely on her strong attachment to Carvajal. 145. “[M]e he resuelto de salir de aquí con un solo fin y deseo, que es el cumplimiento de la voluntad de Dios; y en ella, estoy cierta, cumplo la de vuestra merced … Ya sabe vuestra merced que la hacienda ha de ser de la Compañía de Jesús, como lo es su dueño y lo será mientras viviera, que a esto se les ofrece, tan pobre en la ofrenda y posibilidad cuanto rica de voluntad y afición verdadera” (letter 27, Epistolario y poesías, 143–44). 146. Hojeda had dispensed Carvajal of her previous vows in 1600; she mentions that at that time, she tore up the papers where she had written them (Abad, “Voto de pobreza,” Escritos autobiográficos, 239). 147. “Ofrecióle el Conde de Miranda, president de Castilla, viendo el desamparo y pobreza con que partía, dineros y cuanto hubiese menester para el camino con el mayor amor y estima que se le conoció jamás; no los quiso, ni otra cosa que sólo el pasaporte que le sacó y todos los despachos necesarios” (Muñoz, Carvajal, 276).

Introduction 63 yet it was apparently presented to him under the pseudonym of “Antonia Enríquez.”148 Before signing, the king asked the Duke of Lerma who this woman was. Lerma in turn asked Rodrigo Calderón to inquire as to the identity of the alias from the king’s secretary, Juan Ruiz de Velasco, prompting Calderón to write: The duke my lord informs me that His Majesty wishes to know who is a certain Doña Antonia Enríquez, who is leaving for Flanders and whose passport you sent to be signed; His Excellency [the Duke of Lerma] has asked me to ask you. May God keep you well as is my desire. From the Royal Palace, January 4, 1605. (s) Don Rodrigo Calderón. The response from Ruiz de Velasco on the same folio clarifies the reason for the pseudonym: This passport was given by order of his excellency, the Count of Miranda and the Secretary Juan de Amesqueta has now affirmed that this lady, Doña Antonia Enríquez is called by another name, that of Doña Luisa de Carvajal, and is known as very spiritual and as your relative. She states that she is going on a secret pilgrimage and so that no one may find out who she is, she wanted her name to appear thus on the passport. She has not wanted to say where she is going and does not want anyone to know about her journey. May God grant you my good wishes. January 29, 1605. I believe that your grace must know this lady, who resides next to the English College as Carvajal, and my lady, Doña Inés as well.149 She has come to an agreement with her brother, who I believe has given her a 148. Carvajal’s first names were Antonia Luisa; see “Autobiography” in this volume. In a letter to Inés de la Asunción, her servant and friend, she will later state that she did not make use of the alias (letter 37, Epistolario y poesía, 155). For the letter translated in full, see page 219. 149. A reference to Inés de Vargas, Calderón’s wife and Carvajal’s cousin.

64 Introduction quantity of money. It is likely that her contact with the English Jesuits and her own goodness have given her the idea to go and be a martyr like them. (s) Juan Ruiz de Velasco.150 The information is summed up on the margin of the letter: That Doña Antonia Enríquez, whose passport was presented for signature, is a very religious and devoted lady named Luisa de Carvajal, and because she is leaving on a secret pilgrimage, she did not want her name on the passport nor anyone to know where she was going and that the passport was given by order of the Count of Miranda.151

150. “El duque mi senor dice que su majestad quiere saber quien es una doña Antonia Enrriquez que va a Flandes y cuyo era un pasaporte que el otro dia inbio vm. a firmar y me a mandado su excelencia lo sepa de vm. A quien guarde Dios como yo deseo en Palacio, 4 de enero 1605.” (s) Don Rodrigo Calderon. Esta cedula de passo se hizo por orden que para ello tuve de su Esxa. Del Conde de Miranda y aora se ha entendido del Secretario Juan de Amesqueta que esta Sra. doña Antonia Enriquez se llama por otro nombre dona Luisa de Carvajal conocida en esta corte por muy espiritual y deuda, la qual dice que va a una romeria secreta y porque no se entienda que es ella quiso que en el passaporte se nombrasse assi y que no ha querido dezir adonde va y dessea que no se sepa su jornada. Dios de a vm. Muchos como deseo a 29 de Enero de 1605. Pienso que vm. Debe conocer a esta sra. que posa junto al colegio de los Ingleses por caravajal y mi sra. Doña ines tambien, hase concertado con su hermano y creo le da alguna cantidad de dinero, puede se pensar que dela vecindad de los Ingleses y de su bondad aya dado en yr a procurar ser Martir como ellos. (s) Juan Ruiz de Velasco” (Papeles de don Rodrigo Calderón, Biblioteca Nacional, ms. 18221, 161). I am grateful to Pablo Jauralde Pou for informing me of this letter. 151. “Que doña Antonia Enriquez cuyo pasaporte vino a firmar es una señora que se llama doña Luisa de Carvajal muy espiritual y devota y que porque va a una romeria secreta no quiso que fuese su nombre en el pasaporte ni que se entendiese adonde yba y que por orden del señor Conde de Miranda se hizo el pasaporte” (Calderón, Papeles, 161).

Introduction 65

Figure 3. Letter to King Philip III from Rodrigo Calderón, Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid.

66 Introduction With this permission granted, it shows that Carvajal was not only prepared to leave Spain, but that her aristocratic connections had assured her of what most people—and especially a woman—could not have easily obtained. With her sole companions a priest, almost assuredly Michael Walpole; a foreign married couple; and two servants from the English College, she left Valladolid on January 27, 1605, on muleback, apparently to save what a coach would have cost.152 The small mule train made it across the mountains of Viscaya, where Carvajal visited Ignatius of Loyola’s family house. The journey was planned so that the group could reach an inn at nightfall; she carried locks for doors to ensure her safety and stopped at Burgos only long enough to visit the Cathedral. Once in France, considered a heretical country, she wore a large rosary over her clothing to announce her religion. On reaching Paris, they stayed seven days at the recently founded convent of the Discalced Carmelites, under the direction of Saint Teresa’s beloved Ana de San Bartolomé, the first nun to enter the reformed order.153 The journey continued to Rouen and San Omer, already in Flanders, where she stayed an even longer period of a month, thanks to Michael Walpole’s attempts to delay her travel to England and seek authorization first from Rome (Abad, Una misionera, 177). In her last letter from the continent, dated February 16, 1605, from Bordeaux to the Jesuit Christopher Walpole, Michael Walpole’s brother, Carvajal began to plot her life as a missionary, without the protection of her name or her religion, and revealing her need to conceal in her letter her companion Michael Walpole’s identity, and their true destination, as she codifies London as Rome.

Missionary Life in London Carvajal’s letters to various correspondents in Spain and Flanders remain among the most vivid descriptions of the major events that occurred after James I’s accession to the throne, such as the continued 152. In a letter to Mariana de San José a year later, she remembers that the trip from Spain to Flanders cost approximately 350 reales for seven people and five beasts of burden. (letter 72, Epistolario y poesías, 201). 153. Darcy Donahue, ed., Ana de San Bartolomé: Autobiography and Other Writings (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008).

Introduction 67 harassment of the Catholics, the repercussions from the Gunpowder Plot, her treatment by the Protestants, and her incarcerations. These letters are a significant source of her history, made all the more vigorous because they were written at the exact time of the events.154 The donation of her inheritance to the English Jesuits had facilitated her desired voyage to England, since they were in need of funding after their French patron, Henri Duke of Guise, was assassinated in 1588. Indeed, at the time, only Spain contributed to the maintenance of the English colleges.155 After the Armada’s defeat that same year, however, the Spanish economy was depleted, and although Carvajal’s inheritance was not overly large, it was a welcome sum, which Persons later invested in a seminary in Louvain. Yet Walpole’s wish to detain Carvajal in St. Omer would seem to indicate that her departure from Spain was not unanimously approved; it is likely that the Spanish Jesuits, such as Hojeda, were less than enthusiastic about her plans, even though they were convinced that her presence in England would be of benefit to the Catholic cause. Glyn Redworth suggests that Carvajal’s voyage helped the Jesuits, since, if publicly persecuted, she would expose James’ peace with Spain as a sham, and if she were allowed to practice Catholicism freely, the Jesuits would assume a more important position in the peace treaty than Philip III (Redworth 101). To be sure, the order’s support for her voyage would not have been forthcoming had it not been for political as much as for financial reasons. The English Jesuits appeared equally as ambivalent as the Spanish: while Walpole worried about her entry into England, Henry Garnet, Superior of the Jesuits in London, fearing the risks she might face if she crossed the English Channel by herself, sent someone to accompany her on the ship and bring her to his house.156 154. See the translations of her letters in this volume. Another important source of documentation for her second jailing in 1613 is the correspondence by the Spanish ambassador Diego Sarmiento de Acuña, Count of Gondomar, which can be accessed at the Biblioteca de Palacio, Madrid. See also Antonio Cortijo, “Entre Luisa de Carvajal y el conde de Gondomar,” Revista de Literatura Española 79 (2001): 34–49. 155. Thomas M. McCoog, S.J. The Society of Jesus in Ireland, Scotland, and England: “Our Way of Proceeding?” (Leiden: Brill, 1996), 264. 156. According to Abad, Garnet probably lived at White Webbs, 10 miles north of London (Abad, Una misionera, 177–78).

68 Introduction Garnet’s role in the Gunpowder Plot of November 5, 1605, six months after Carvajal’s arrival in England, would result in his torture and death, after he confessed his knowledge of the Catholic stirrings against the government and his having informed Rome about them.157 Carvajal, whose voyage had been arranged shortly after the peace treaty signed by Philip III and James in July of 1604, was surely unaware of the plot and, indeed, would have shared in the lofty expectations of England’s return to Catholicism soon after James’ accession. Despite her insistent recommendations to Magdalena de San Jerónimo to encourage the archduchess in pressing her claim to the English throne, Carvajal left Spain at a time when there was high hope among English Catholics that James VI would relax the laws against them. According to Stefania Tutino, the English Protestants no longer needed to fear Spain because the “peaceable” James had managed to turn its former foe into a friend.158 The change in atmosphere had taken several years: in the late 1590s, among the attacks against James VI’s accession to the throne, there circulated a pernicious pseudonymous tract published in Antwerp, known later to have been written by Robert Persons, complaining of James’ foreign birth to the traitorous Mary Stuart, and proclaiming instead the legitimate ascendancy of Infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia through John of Gaunt.159 James’ response came in the way of written propaganda and hurried communications to both Protestants and Catholics arguing against a Spanish monarch. After Queen Elizabeth’s death, the archduchess herself decided against such a move and urged her brother to seek peace with James.160 157. When discussing Garnet’s involvement in the plot, Michael Caliaferro states that the Jesuit was “a man who knew too much, wished he did not know it, and was grieved by the sad turn of events.” Michael Caliaferro, Robert Parsons and English Catholicism, 1580–1610 (Susquehanna University Press, 1998), 105. 158. Stefania Tutino, Law and Conscience: Catholicism in Early Modern England, 1575–1625 (Aldershot; Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2007), 119–20. 159. The Archduchess was also the great-niece of Mary Tudor. See Susan Doran, “James VI and the English Succession,” in. James VI and I: Ideas, Authority, and Government, ed. Ralph Anthony Houlbrooke, (Aldershot; Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2006), 25–42. 160. Spain’s reduced resources, the Archdukes’ tepidness, and their lack of an heir convinced Philip III to desist in the enterprise (Doran 41). See also Paul C. Allen, Philip III and the Pax Hispanica 1598–1621: The Failure of Grand Strategy (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2000).

Introduction 69 By the time Carvajal reached England, the situation for Catholics, never completely assured under James, had again changed, as he appeared to renege on the promises the Catholics believed he had made them and allowed new anti-recusant legislation.161 The recusants’ patience grew thin at James’ lack of support, leading a small group of dissidents to attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament when the king and his family would be present.162 The Gunpowder Plot’s failure, followed by the torture and death of several of the participants along with Garnet, created a far more oppressive atmosphere against Catholics. Carvajal’s biographers have debated how her role was perceived by the Jesuits, both Spanish and English, yet they have not placed in doubt that she would be welcome in England. But the question remains: what exactly was her mission? The Pauline dictum against women’s speaking in church (or worse, their speaking on theology in public) was very much in force in Spain; with a Catholic renewal, it would also be enforced in England. Moreover, at the time of her arrival, the numbers of Jesuits had increased threefold in England, so she was in no way expected to serve as a substitute for them and could not have officiated as a priest, in any case.163 Left without her penitential devices and her books, which had been confiscated at the border, with little money, continuously ill, and unable to speak the language, she had to rely on the aid given her by English Catholics. From the significant time lapse between her letter to Christopher Walpole, dated February 16, 1605 when she was on the road to Bordeaux, to her first letter from London to Magdalena de San Jerónimo dated December 28, 1605, she most probably was in no condition to write.164 161. Michael C. Questier, Catholicism and community in early modern England: politics, aristocratic patronage and religion, c. 1550–1640 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), 272. 162. The literature on the Gunpowder Plot is extensive; see Caraman; Francis Edwards, The Enigma of the Gunpowder Plot, 1605: The Third Solution (Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2008); and Glyn Redworth, “Treason and Plot,” in The She-Apostle, 110–124; among others. 163. Ronald Po-chia, The World of Catholic Renewal (Cambridge: University of Cambridge, 2005), 85. Priests would continue to arrive: Carvajal writes to Joseph Creswell, “Many priests are coming, and they tell me that the Catholics have begun to complain that so many are sent that the kingdom is full” (letter 90, December 16, 1607; Epistolario y poesias, 233). 164. The lapse is between the letters transcribed by González and Abad; however, others have clearly been lost or are in diverse archives.

70 Introduction After a raid on the house where she had initially stayed with Garnet and others, the Catholic community resisted offering her shelter. She spent the first year moving to different homes until at Michael Walpole’s request, she settled in with the Spanish ambassador, Pedro de Zúñiga.165 By the end of her first year, her letters to Persons and others still question if she should remain in England, as Carvajal was unsure whether her vow of martyrdom was sufficient to allow her to stay. In a letter dated January 19, 1606, she admits to Mariana de San José that several people, including the ambassador’s confessor, believe she should return to Spain and that she herself is not certain of God’s wishes.166 By February, however, she defends to Magdalena de San Jerónimo her decision to assume what she calls her “labors,” against her friend’s reservations about Carvajal’s motives. To ease her mind, she informs Magdalena that the word being spread with no ill intent by ministers and nobles is that she came to England to see if the Catholics were being mistreated, and to suffer along with them.167 This was evident, she explains, because she could not as yet speak English, so her task was to remain silent, like a child. It is clear, however, that she believed learning the language was a necessary step, however much she identifies her missionary zeal with that of Saint Francis Xavier, whose own missionary work in Japan made him praise those unable to speak the language as “innocent children.” She ends by averring to Magdalena that, if only to see her again, she would be extremely happy to leave England for Flanders if the Lord so wished it, but that

165. Pedro de Zúñiga y de la Cueva was the first Spanish ambassador to England after the peace treaty of 1604. In 1609, he asked to be relieved of the charge and returned to Madrid. However, he served as ambassador extraordinaire in 1612, and received the title of Marquis of Flores de Ávila (or Dávila). He died in 1631. 166. “El padre maestro fray Juan, todo es que me vaya esta primavera a España; porque le parece que no hay camino aquí para tratar de otra cosa que de dejarlo.” (letter 36, Epistolario y poesías, 152). For the letter translated in full, see page 216. 167. “[N]o me maravillo que se tenga por ‘opinión’ mía los trabajos con que desée abrazarme, y que vuestra merced los califique con ese nombre … [S]olamente se ha dicho entre los principales ministros y caballeros, que yo vine por ver si los católicos estaban tan apretados como había oído, y con deseo de padecer trabajos juntamente con ellos” (letter 38, Epistolario y poesías, 155).

Introduction 71 she would experience a rare joy and consolation to see Magdalena in England, if only she might learn the language.168

A Roman Priest in Women’s Clothing After Carvajal’s first troubled year, her attitude improved considerably when she realized that she could be useful by visiting imprisoned priests. In a letter dated March 2, 1606 to Magdalena de San Jerónimo, she exults in that she can now not only visit the Holy Sacrament in the ambassador’s chapel, but she has two English companions who are very religious and devout. Most importantly, along with her companions, she was able to visit six priests in jail and spend over an hour with them and other Catholic prisoners. The visit, during which she covered her face with a mask, fulfilled her need to serve a purpose, so much so, that she asked Magdalena de San Jerónimo to send her a small clock or pocket watch, since it was imperative that she regulate her life by keeping time.169 Yet Magdalena continued to have misgivings about Carvajal’s stay in England, and in her letter dated March 22, 1606, Carvajal expressed her annoyance at Magdalena’s apparent doubts as to her decision: I do not know when your grace will stop needling, or more accurately, pricking me in your letters, as I certainly feel them, and I do not know where your grace gets such ideas, that when you were in Spain I had resolved differently; and you do not see that my heart 168. “Por sólo verla, me alegraría en extremo el ir a ese país, si Nuestro Señor lo quiere. … Si supiera vuestra merced la lengua, extraño gusto y consuelo me fuera vella aquí” (letter 38, Epistolario y poesías, 156–57). 169. “Yo fui la semana pasada a una [cárcel] do hay seis [sacerdotes]; … y otros católicos que yo conocía; y estuve una hora o más, y me volví con harto consuelo, con mis dos inglesas que fueron conmigo, y yo con mascarilla … Y antes de acabar ésta quiero suplicar a vuestra merced me haga merced de hacerme buscar un relojillo que pueda yo llevar conmigo donde quiera” (letter 40, Epistolario y poesías, 160). The “relojillo” may refer to a watch, although they were notoriously inaccurate. Most examples we have today are heavily jeweled and were worn as pendants by noblewomen. What is important is that Carvajal would be willing to purchase this relatively new invention, though she later rescinded the purchase for lack of money.

72 Introduction harbored my resolution to come here from the time I was 18 years old … and I dared not admit this to your grace for reasons that made me keep this from some of my good friends. I would have been very pleased to come with you, but I could not wait so long, and the mules were costing me too much, since I ended up having to pay for three or four. And as to my return, your letters and your good company are very tempting, but I dare not leave without entrusting it more to Our Lord, for I fear defying his will, and do not yet find or base any good reason in his will for my return as I did for my departure. May your grace assist me in asking Our Lord for true light on this matter.170 Magdalena was not the only one who had misgivings about Carvajal’s stay in London; as early as 1606, Mariana de San José was pressured to convince her that she return to Spain, but Carvajal wrote back, angry that she might be expected to return, “You say, your grace, that you and others expect my return; do not wait for me, because Don Pedro [de Zúñiga] says that I have grown strong roots in England … Magdalena de San Jerónimo has made serious efforts and is persevering to remove me from this land by means of her and the Infanta’s hard letters, although I have never seen her Highness’s signature.”171 Mariana de San José responded by expressing her own desire to share Carvajal’s 170. “[N]o sé cuándo vuestra merced ha de dejar de dar estas puntadas en sus cartas, o picadas, por mejor decir; que, cierto, las siento, y no sé dónde nace el decir vuestra merced estas cosas; y que, cuando vuestra merced estaba en España, yo mudé de resolución; y no ve, cierto, que ésta de venir aquí estaba en mi pecho desde los 18 años de mi edad © y no lo osaba decir a vuestra merced por algunas causas que me hacían callar con mis muy amigos. La venida en su compañía de vuestra merced me fuera de particular gusto y merced; pero no pude detenerme tanto; y las mulas también me hacían gran gasto, que estaban a la postre a mi cuenta las tres o cuatro. Y en cuanto a mi vuelta, harta tentación me es sus cartas de vuestra merced y su buena compañia; pero todavía no me atrevo a partir sin encomendarlo mucho más a Nuestro Señor, porque temo contravenir a su voluntad, y no acabo de hallar o poder fundar en ella tan eficaces razones para la vuelta como para la venida. Vuestra merced me ayude a pedir en esto luz verdadera a Nuestro Señor” (letter 46, Epistolario y poesías, 165). 171. Letter 49, Epistolario y poesías, 171).

Introduction 73 ordeals in England: “As they know how dearly I love your grace, they think I will tell you [their reasons], but in truth, they only hurt my ear and go no further, although … they have put me in charge—and almost obliged me under pretext of scrupulousness—as if your grace would be moved by the words of this weak little woman.”172 Almost a year later, however, on March 10, 1607, hearing that the nun Ana de Jesús, in Brussels, had also expressed interest in Carvajal’s return to Spain, Mariana de San José writes half in jest, What your grace tells me, that Mother Ana de Jesús asks that you come to the foundation of [the convent] in Plasencia, has made me laugh; and I say that if your return is due to this reason, do not stay just for this, since I have been offered two [convents], one soon in Palencia. See, your grace, if you wish to favor us in one of these houses, as you know how dearly we will serve your grace.173 Carvajal’s status in England, already ambiguous as a Spanish woman protected by the Spanish embassy yet not forming part of the official diplomatic corps, became downright dangerous due to her alliance with the English Jesuits, who, as Frances Dolan explains, were themselves hunted for jeopardizing the patriarchal family both through their perceived transgressions with women and by their feminized transgressive behavior.174 Her threatening presence in England, ambivalently gendered in that she was starting to be seen as a disorderly woman who preached publicly like a man, caused a continuous 172. “Que, como saben el entrañable amor que tengo a vuestra merced, creen que se las diré, mas cierto que sólo hieren el oído, sin pasar más adelante; aunque … me han hecho cargo—y casi me lo ponían en color de escrúpulo—como si vuestra merced se hubiera de mover con palabras de esta flaca mujercilla” (letter 2, Sánchez Hernández, “Epistolario,” 6). 173. “Lo que vuestra merced me dice de que la madre Ana de Jesús la pide que se venga a la fundación de Plasencia, me ha hecho reír; y digo que si la venida se facilita con occasión semejante, no quede por eso; que a mí se me ofrecen dos, y con mucha brevedad una en Palencia. Vea V.M. si quiere favorecernos en alguna de estas casas, que ya sabe cuán de corazón la serviremos” (letter 7, Sánchez Hernández, “Epistolario,” 15). 174. Frances E. Dolan, Whores of Babylon: Catholicism, Gender, and Seventeenth-Century Print Culture (University of Notre Dame Press, 2005), 88–89.

74 Introduction level of anxiety there and in Spain that would in fact result in her recall to her home country by Philip III. While in London, as a single woman without recourse to coverture, she could be prosecuted under a wide array of English penal laws. Carvajal often asked her friends in Spain to send her religious artifacts and books, including Juan Basilio Santoro’s Lives of the Saints and Juan de Ávila’s Audi filia. She also received book from Brussels, all of which were smuggled into England through diplomatic couriers or other visitors.175 Under James, the penalty paid for the importation of Catholic books was 40 shillings.176 Far more consequential were her visits to the various jails and her continuing agitation in the streets. These public appearances breached the statute “By Speech or Writing to Affirm, Maintain, Promote, or Defend any Foreign Jurisdiction, Spiritual or Ecclesiastical,” whose first offense was punished by forfeiture of goods and chattel, and the second, by a Premunire (forfeiture of lands and goods, and imprisonment). The third offense, regarded as high treason, meant torture and death.177 Because she was a Spanish subject, and protected by the Spanish ambassadors, however, she would never know whether the statute might have applied to her if caught, yet she never relinquished the hope that she would be “martyred.” Carvajal’s temerity in carrying out illegal activities in the midst of extreme danger derived not only from her religious zeal, but from her forceful personality and strength of will, both shaped and sustained by her class status. Although Carvajal’s disruptive behavior in London was facilitated by the freedom she obtained from gender and class constraints, her public transgressions resulted in her masculizination by the English who heard her preach: for her discussions and defense of Catholic dogma, she was declared a “Roman priest in 175. She also requested a Latin-Spanish dictionary by Antonio de Nebrija (letter 88, Epistolario y poesías, 231). 176.“To bring from beyond the Seas, or Print, Sell or buy any Popish Primmers, Ladies Psalters, Manuals, Rosaries, Popish Catechisms, Missals, Breviaries, Portals, Legends, and Lives of Saints, containing Superstitious matter, Printed or written in any Language whatsoever, or any other Superstitious Books Printed or Written in the English Tongue, forfeits 40 s. For every such Book” (Stat. 3. Jacobi. 1. Cap. 25; cited in An Abstract of the Penal Laws, in Tracts 1660–1758, 7; Case J 5454.882, Newberry Library, Chicago). 177. Stat. 1. Eliz. Cap. 1. Sect. 27; cited in Abstract of the Penal Laws, A2.

Introduction 75 women’s clothing.”178 Ironically, priests were criticized as much for challenging secular male authority as for assuming a feminized stance by their alliance with women; Dolan points out that not only were they compared to the “privileged women with whom they lodged,” but they were also accused of seducing them (89). If Carvajal gained any independence by leaving Spain, this must then be weighed against the pressures she suffered in England. Her openness in declaring her opposition to Anglicanism led to her first imprisonment in 1608. Carvajal documented this first jailing in four letters, all written on the same day, June 29, 1608, to the Jesuit Joseph Creswell; to Father Lorenzo da Ponte, the Ambassador’s confessor in Madrid; to Mother Mariana de San José; to Inés de la Asunción; and, in a letter without address or date, perhaps to Magdalena de San Jerónimo or to Mother Ana de Jesús. Each letter includes the same basic information, but varies as to length and details given. In what seems to be her first letter, to Joseph Creswell, she explains how, on hearing a young boy at a Cheapside store respond “God forbid” when asked if he were Catholic, she riposted “God forbid you not to be one, for this is what should matter to you,” causing a commotion among the store owners and neighbors179 (245). After several hours of questioning her about Catholic practices, especially if the Catholic Church was the one true church, and if the Pope was head of the Church, she was finally allowed to go home. Fifteen days later, however, Carvajal was stopped on the street and surrounded by a group of people who brought a sheriff with them. Together with two women with whom she lived, she was taken to the Justice of the Peace and questioned again, from six in the evening until evening (247). The interrogation again dwelled on whether the Pope was head of the Church, whether she believed that her religion was the one true church, and whether she had said that one could not be saved as an Anglican. Carvajal responded that she had not said so in as many words, but that she had said as much, since she had asserted that only in the true Roman Catholic faith could one be saved, and that all the other religions in the world were in error, including that of 178. “[A]lgún sacerdote romano en hábito de mujer” (letter 94, Epistolario y poesías, 246). 179. “No permita Dios que no lo seáis, que es lo que os importa” (letter 94, Epistolario y poesías, 245). For the letter translated in full, see page 244.

76 Introduction England. After a sleepless night of interrogation, locked in a narrow room with no food or drink, Carvajal paid approximately 40 reales to be placed near the jailer’s wife. The women were released after four days, during which time Carvajal lectured the jailers, their relatives and friends on religious matters: In jail I spoke about religion much more than I had outside, with all the jailers and officials, their relatives and friends that, with my permission, came to talk to me. They took it very lightly and I didn’t wish to stop, remembering that the Holy Apostle had said that God’s word is never bound.180 To Father Lorenzo da Ponte, she writes that the Spanish ambassador Pedro de Zúñiga helped her considerably, but immediately adds: [O]n the other hand, [he] is impatient that I do not wish to leave England soon. He presses me terribly that it is a great risk for me to remain here, and that it is all Father Michael’s fault, because I came and remain here thanks to his sole vote, against the rest of the opinions of the learned and religious men who know me in Rome, Spain, and in England.181 On August 28, Carvajal writes an unusually long letter to the Marquis of Caracena, in which she relates all her experiences, in the three years and four months, as she says, since she arrived at Dover from Calais. She ends the letter with the narrative of her imprisonment, 180. “En la cárcel hablé de religión mucho más que fuera della lo había hecho, con todos los carceleros y oficiales y eudos y amigos suyos que, con mi licencia, trujeron para hablarme; y tomáronlo muy suavemente; y no quise excusarlo, acordándome del Santo Apóstol, que dice que la palabra de Dios no está atada” (letter 95, Epistolario y poesías, 248). 181. “[P]ero por otro cabo, no puede llevar en paciencia que yo no quiera irme de Inglaterra luego; y apriétame terriblemente con que es temeridad estar aquí, y que toda la culpa tiene el padre Miguel [Walpole], porque por su solo voto vine y permanezco, contra el resto de todas as opiniones de hombres doctos, sabios y espirituales que me conocen en Roma y en España y en Inglaterra” (letter 96, Epistolario y poesías, 261).

Introduction 77 adding that her activities in England were of great consolation to the Catholics. It seems that several men, doubting whether Carvajal should remain in England, had consulted with Juan de Ribera, the powerful Archbishop of Valencia and, by special request of Philip III, viceroy of the city from 1602 to 1606. He was a close associate of the marquis, who would follow him as viceroy. On September 17, 1608, the archbishop wrote to the Jesuit Joseph Creswell with his thoughts: The news of the event that occurred to the lady Doña Luisa de Mendoza has greatly comforted me, and I have given many thanks to Our Lord for the mercy he has shown her and been moved by the power of his holy hand. Those gentlemen conferred with me some days ago about a letter from the ambassador stating that the lady Doña Luisa was in grave danger and nothing was being gained due to the people’s obstinacy. At first I leaned toward thinking that it would be good if she withdrew, following Saint Athanasius’s doctrine. But now I dare not give any other counsel except that of the apostle Saint John: “And as for you, let the unction, which you have received from him, abide in you. And you have no need that any man teach you; but as his unction teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie. And as it hath taught you, abide in him.”182 Carvajal’s intentions were indeed to remain in England; in her own letter to Joseph Creswell, she had asked him to send her the box prepared for her from “her nun,” Sister Inés de la Asunción with special 182. “Muchísimo me ha consolado haber sabido el suceso de la S[eño]ra. Doña Luisa de Mendoza y dado cuantas gracias he sabido a N[uest]ro Señor de la misericordia que usa con aquella s[eño]ra; enterneciéndome de ver cuán poderosa es su bendita mano. Estos señores me consultaron los días pasados una carta del embajador;decía en ella que el peligro de la S[eño]ra doña Luisa era mucho y que no se hacía provecho por la obstinación de la gente. Yo me incline a que sería bien retirarse siguiendo la doctrina de san Atanasio, pero aora no osaría dar otro consejo más que el del apóstol S. Juan: et vos unctionem quam accepistis ab eo manet in vobis et non necesse habetis ut aliquis doceat vos sed sicut unctio eius docet vos de omnibus et verum est et non est mendacium et sicut docuit vos manete in eo” (ARMEN, Legajo 5).

78 Introduction scissors so she and her companions might fabricate gold embroidery thread (249).183 She surely felt the need to sustain herself and her small entourage by selling this item; goldwork required gold-plated silver thread that was then attached to the fabric with another silk thread and cut off at the ends. The thread was an uncommon commodity in England, highly valued in the making of elaborate religious vestments and clothing.184 The thread was also used in “Reliquientkult,” religious pieces formed by saints’ relics often sent from catacombs in Rome to German monasteries, where they were decorated with embroidered thread. This work, called Klosterarbeiten, was carried out by nuns and therefore an appropriately humble activity for Carvajal. Nonetheless, it was one that did not repay her diligence; she writes Creswell again, this time on November 5, 1608, to say that no one buys the thread, even at a low price. Complaining of the high cost of living in England, she asks Creswell to send her the monies she had left with him, since if the ambassador is removed, she worries she will be left in complete poverty and abandonment: “The water has so reached our throats that I am obliged to beseech your grace to take the monies from where they are and send them to us by way of Father Baldwin in Flanders, together with their interest, which must be small in such short a time.”185

The Traffic in Relics In a letter to Mother Mariana de San José the following year, Luisa de Carvajal mentions that she is sending her a piece of cloth from the shirt worn by the Jesuit Thomas Garnet, nephew of Henry Garnet, who was martyred July 3, 1608.186 She also sends smaller pieces for her 183. María Nieves Pinillo Iglesias has titled her biography of Carvajal “hilando oro” [spinning gold] in recognition of the symbolism of this task. See Hilando oro: Vida de Luisa de Carvajal (Madrid: Laberinto, 2001). 184. See Jane Lemon, Metal Thread Embroidery (London: B.T. Batsford, 2002). 185. Y lléganos ya tanto el agua a la garganta, que me obliga a suplicar a vuestra merced saque los dineros do están y nos los envía a Flandes, al padre Balduino, con lo que hubieren crecido, que debe ser poco en tan corto tiempo” (letter 100, Epistolario y poesías, 276). For Baldwin, see p. 233, note 73. 186. “Ese pedazo de lienzo es de la camisa con que padeció el padre Tomás Garnet, a 3 de julio de 1608.” Garnet’s feast day, however, is celebrated June 23; Carvajal may have mistaken

Introduction 79 two nun friends, Inés and Isabel.187 Throughout her stay in England, Carvajal collected martyrs’ relics for her friends and acquaintances in Spain, both because of her belief in their sacredness and as a means of repaying her supporters for their donations. The relics dispatched by Carvajal to the prioress and her two Spanish servants, who had professed in the Augustinian convent, permit the prioress a vicarious experience of the sufferings of English recusants and also serve as a means of communication between the servants and Carvajal. The traffic in these relics became an obsession with her, as we shall see. Yet the practice was one that, as with many others, she had initially learned about at her uncle’s palace in Almazán. It should not surprise us that Carvajal followed closely the marquis’s beliefs in the effectiveness of holy relics and would make use of them to repay her patrons’ favors. The marquis received over 400 relics while in Germany, some of dubious origin, such as a branch of the burning bush, the mantle and clothes of the Virgin, and the crib from Bethlehem, among others. He continued to collect relics when he returned to Spain, and brought with him the head of Saint Stephen, encrusted with a stone from his death by stoning.188 In Catholic Europe, corporeal relics threatened to take precedence over the spiritual significance of the deceased. During the early middle ages, relics were venerated for their efficacy and drew huge pilgrimages to diverse shrines. One reason for this, Caroline Walker Bynum explains, is that saints’ relics were considered by some to actually be the saints themselves, their fragmentation belying their union with God in incorrupt and glorified bodies.189 The importance of relics encouraged their acquisition either through theft or purchase; the visual display of relics in processions quelled riots and ended sieges, and relics were called on to cure illnesses. Patrick Geary observes how the relics not only functioned as a focus for religious devotion, but the date of his execution. (letter 101, Epistolario y poesías, 277). For the letter translated in full, see page 255. 187. The two cousins, Inés and Isabel, were Carvajal’s closest servants; after she left for England, both professed in the Augustinian order. 188. Juan Luis González García, “La colección, librería y relicario de D. Francisco Hurtado de Mendoza, primer marqués de Almazán (1532–1591),” Celtiberia, 92 (1992): 193–228. 189. Bynum, Fragmentation, 183.

80 Introduction also provided religious institutions with their “sense of identity, means of protection, and economic vitality.”190 As early modern Europe experienced the dissolution of religious unity, the consolidating role of relics across national borders came increasingly under attack. Scorned by Martin Luther as a lucrative invention of the Catholic Church, their cult elicited a strong defense from the Council of Trent. Session 25, held in December 1563, decreed that “the holy bodies of holy martyrs, and of others now living with Christ … are to be venerated by the faithful; through which (bodies) many benefits are bestowed by God on men. With an eye toward the criticism aimed at their exploitation and the perversion of pilgrimages—but also recording the changes that ensued between the late medieval and early modern periods—the session decreed that “in the veneration of relics, and the sacred use of images, every superstition shall be removed, all filthy lucre be abolished … and the visitation of relics [not] be by any perverted into revellings and drunkenness.”191 After Trent, the Spanish theologian Francisco Suárez continued to argue for a rational justification of relics by stressing that it was not in physical continuity or in actual contact that the relation between saints and their holy remains was to be found, but in the moral dignity invested in saints’ bodies.192 Nevertheless, the materialist view of relics and the concomitant belief in their metonymic function persisted well beyond the Middle Ages, in part owing to the widely-held assumption that the body offered a means of access to the divine: “Not only is incorruption of body evidence for sanctity; the saint is fully present in his or her every part” (Bynum, Fragmentation, 285). If, as Bynum tells us, there was, in the later thirteenth century, new enthusiasm for bodily partition “for scientific, political and cultic reasons,” and for the “reassemblage of parts to the whole,” this enthusiasm left traces that

190. Patrick J. Geary, Furta Sacra: Thefts of Relics in the Central Middle Ages (Princeton: Princeton UP, 1978), 21. 191. Canons and Decrees of the Sacred and Oecumenical Council of Trent, celebrated under the Sovereign Pontiffs, Paul III, Julius III, and Pius IV. J. Waterworth, trans. (New York; London, 1848), 233–36. 192. Francisco Suárez, Summa theologica 18.654; cited in “Relics,” New Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. XII (New York: McGraw Hill, 1967), 238.

Introduction 81 extended after the Council of Trent, which strove to disassociate the material from the spiritual.193 The spiritual capital of church and royal reliquaries thus proceeded to appreciate with their banking of desiccated arms, fingers, and other body parts. The saint’s body itself represented a major treasure worth fighting for: Teresa of Ávila’s corpse, for example, became a cause of contention between the Discalced Carmelite Order and the powerful Duke of Alba. Her gradual “parceling out,” in Carlos Eire’s apt term, demonstrates how zealously her uncorrupted remains and pieces of cloth soaked in her blood were sought after even before her canonization (404). Yet the proliferation of relics posed a serious danger to the Church; although Teresa’s sainthood certainly helped to heal the wounds inflicted by Protestantism, and although contemporaries such as the Jesuit Juan de Herrera hailed her for “crush[ing] Luther’s head with the rock of Christ,” the Catholic Church could not afford a repeat of the earlier charges of superstitious practices (Eire 506).194 However, even the king was swept up with relic-collecting fervor: Philip II’s famed collection at the Escorial contained almost 7,500 relics that according to Guy Lazure contributed to the formation of a Catholic identity.195 In effect, Catholicism’s enduring defense of the cult of relics responded at least in part to their significance as a transnational phenomenon that united Catholic practitioners for political and economic, as well as spiritual purposes. The fixation on human body parts was not limited after Trent to Catholics, since all early modern Europe reveled in the spectacle of spilled blood, burnt flesh, hacked bodies, wrenched organs, and 193. Bynum’s emphasis is to understand the thirteenth century’s belief in resurrection; her argument, however, to underscore how difficult it is for popular thought to disconnect bodily materiality from a sense of “self ” (Bynum, Fragmentation, 295–96). 194. In an effort to stem the continued abuse of cults, in 1669, Pope Clement IX created the Congregation of Indulgences and Sacred Relics (“Relics,” New Catholic Encyclopedia, 239). That Protestants understood and dreaded the enormous attraction of these cults is wittily confirmed in Titus Oates’ incredulous exposé of the Catholic faith in relics, The Pope’s Ware-house, or the Merchandise of the Whore of Rome. Published for the Common Good (London, 1679). The tract at once contests the Tridentine endorsement of relics and epitomizes Protestant antipathy toward their cult, yet also acknowledges their allure. 195. Guy Lazure, “Possessing the Sacred: Monarchy and Identity in Philip II’s Relic Collection at the Escorial,” Renaissance Quarterly 60 (2007): 58–93.

82 Introduction torn limbs. Following Foucault, Katharine Park has wondered if the frequent “dissections, the images and the grisly executions” might not be indicative of a “culture of coercion and exemplary violence” characterizing both the theory and practice of absolutist rule.196 Certainly, whether dissected for science, dismembered by politics, or mutilated in martyrdom, the human body rendered a palpable means of imposing ideological control on the social body, a control constantly resisted by its “corrupted” members. A testimonial witness in the Carvajal’s Ordinary process describes the method of putting to death those convicted of high treason, which the witness, as a Catholic, nevertheless differentiates as “martyrs”: [The martyrs] were taken in a cart with a rope around their neck to a square gallows, where the hangman tied them standing in the cart with rope and noose stretched from where they hung and then he would push the cart. They would hang without expiring for a long time, while someone cut open their chest with a knife and removed their heart and entrails, and show them to the populace claiming “Here you see the heart of a traitor. Long live the King of England, head of the church and defender of the faith!” And then he’d toss them in a bonfire lit for this purpose. Not until they were dead from the torment would he come at them or even pull their legs. And no one dared help them die because of the penalties this incurred. Despite its cruelty and rigor, this is the kind of martyrdom that most attracted Lady Luisa and what she most desired.197 196. Katharine Park, “The Criminal and the Saintly Body: Autopsy and Dissection in Renaissance Italy,” Renaissance Quarterly 47 (Spring 1994): 1–33. 197. “Desde un carro donde los ponían los llevaban en sogas a la garganta y llegado a una horca cuadrada llegaba el verdugo a atarlos en ella de suerte que estuviesen ellos en pie en el carro y la soga y lazo de cada uno tirante a do se colgaba y luego apartaba el carro y los dejaba colgados sin que ellos muriesen en mucho tiempo porque uno les abría con un cuchillo el lado del corazón y se le sacaba y las entrañas mostraba al pueblo diciendo “Veis aquí el corazón de un traidor Viva el Rey de Inglaterra, cabeza de la iglesia y defensor de la fe! Y luego le echaba en un fuego que estaba aparejado para este efecto. Y hasta que ellos con esta pena y martirio expiraban ni él se cargaba sobre ellos ni menos les tiraba de

Introduction 83 Because the distinction between saint and criminal results precisely from the inscription of ideology on an otherwise unscripted body, such bodies are discursive only when the conditions that determine their meaning are set in place. In England and Spain, religious discourse crossed over into, even as it countered, legal discourse: dismembered bodies and disembodied heads were either recovered as relics and exhibited as holy reminders of saintly exploits, or exposed on pikes as reprehensible remainders of condemned conspirators. Since the traitor had as his goal the dissolution of the political body, we may then understand why his own body was punished by quartering, and regard the head cut off to symbolize the abrogation of its rule. The traitor’s heart and entrails, embodying affect and ethics, were consumed by fire to purify their corrupt action.198 Treason, a political sin against the king of England, head of the Anglican Church, meant religious fealty to the pope, head of the Catholic Church. Moreover, as the traitor’s death resonated with the kinds of torments suffered by early Church martyrs, criminals and saints are linked through the exemplarity of bodily inscription (Park 23). The discursive body of England’s most despicable criminal, the traitor, was translated—in both senses of the word—in Catholic Europe to that of the highest saint, the martyr. The sacralization of bodily remains, therefore, encouraged their production and commercialization, two effects that activated reform measures by the Catholic Church. Despite these measures, los pies … no atreviéndose ninguno a ayudarlos a morir antes por las penas que tienen y executarían en los que lo hiciesen. Todo lo cual con ser tan cruel y riguroso este género de martirio la aficionaba más a la Sra. doña Luisa y se le hacía desear” (Información summaria de las excelencias heroicas virtudes exemplos y sancta vida, milagros y votos de humildad, castidad, subjecion, obediencia, pobreza, mayor perfeccion, y de procurar el martirio por todos los medios posibles que no fuesen repugnantes a la ley de Dios de la venerable virgen sierva de nuestro señor Doña Luysa de Carbajal y Mendoca. Madrid, 1627), 57v–58v. 198. According to Michael Schoenfeldt, “the stomach was imagined to complete physiologically a process that begins in the ethical judgment: the discrimination of dross from nutrition, of good from bad.” Although he resists a political reading of the organ, his wonderful perception of the human body as “just a giant stomach,” allows us to extend the metaphor to the social body. Michael Schoenfeldt, “Fables of the Belly in Early Modern England,” in David Hillman and Carla Mazzio, eds. The Body in Parts: Fantasies of Corporeality in Early Modern Europe (New York: Routledge, 1997), 243–61.

84 Introduction however, the metonymic interpretation of relics, as a means of procuring a saint’s power through the possession of body parts or of items that came into contact with the saint, prevailed over their metaphorical value in recalling and inspiring sanctity by the imitation of saintly comportment. It was not unusual to offer extravagant gifts of relics as an investment in obtaining fresh relics from potential saints: Empress María of Austria, on a trip to Portugal, sent Jane Dormer, Countess of Feria, whom the empress considered a holy woman, a bejeweled relic of the lignum crucis on a costly rosary, asking her for a memento in return. The countess, humbled by the proposal, reciprocated instead with a sermon by her teacher, Juan de Ávila.199 By contrast, Luisa de Carvajal’s profuse collection of body parts from martyred English Catholics positioned her among those who viewed the benefits accrued from relics as exchange value, proffering as much material as spiritual worth to the owner. Carvajal’s engagement in this constant traffic allowed her to repay her Spanish benefactors for funding her stay in England and supplying her with books and other religious objects. At one point, she writes to Rodrigo Calderón to ask if the Duke of Lerma might be interested in financing the commerce in relics, since, although the collection of the body parts entailed no expense, she worries that their preservation can amount to “500 to 600 reales, in all.”200

199. “La serenissima Emperatriz doña Maria estando en Lisboa embio a la Condesa [de Feria] vna reliquia del Lignum Crucis, engastada preciosamente, pendiente de vn rosario de valor, por mano del padre Fray Luys de Granada; pidiole en retorno le embiasse alguna cosa suya; la humildad hazia sentimientos, que se le pidiesse prenda, como de persona santa, teniendose con gran sinceridad, por pecadora, el ingenio de la humildad hallo vn excelente medio, embiole el sermon, que el padre mastro Ávila avia predicado treynta años antes, el dia de su profesion, con que resguardo su humildad y estimo las cosas de su maestro.” Luis Muñoz, Vida y virtudes del venerable varon el p. Maestro Ivan de Avila, predicador apostolico (Madrid, 1635), 56r. 200. “Cuando hubiere más mártires, holgaría tener con qué cogerlos de las manos de los herejes y preservar los cuerpos. Por ventura, querrá tener alguna parte en esto su excelencia el duque [Lerma]. Cuando topo amigos, lo primero no cuesta sino darles de las mismas reliquias. Lo segundo costó quinientos reales o seiscientos en todo” (letter 142, to Rodrigo Calderón, n/d, July 1612, Epistolario y poesías, 353). For letter translated in full, see page 309.

Introduction 85 The dispatching of relics to Spain allowed Carvajal to maintain physical as well as spiritual contact with her friends. Moreover, the recovery of body parts became for her an exhilarating and justified activity in its own right, as it placed her in greater danger and thus one step closer to martyrdom. In a letter to her cousin the Marquise of Caracena, she describes how she was first asked by a priest to receive the body of two martyrs, a harrowing event that she narrates in full: When these savages feel like placing the quartered limbs on the towers, we cannot reach them. They always place the heads there, and when they bury them, it is near the gallows, in a very deep and wide hole, and much dirt has to be removed, and the thieves hanged with the saints are placed on top of them. They do not quarter these, so we can tell which are the saints. Three days later, we received orders to steal them, or better said, to take our treasure from them. We did this at great risk, since it was still light at 10:00 pm, and day breaks at 2:00 am and it takes a long time to disinter them. The men wore iron vests and carried pistols, in case the guards came, since they are always stationed there. They brought a horse on which to carry the saints, and sacks made from our bed linens. I waited for a sure signal from them at 4:00 am, and when it did not come, I was sorely worried until 6:00 am, when our servant, a very virtuous and trustworthy French lad, came running for a coach. Everyone had left, leaving the hole filled and smoothed over, and the bodies deposited a mile’s distance, out of the way, under some brambles, with an English merchant, very rich and pious, and very loyal to me, keeping watch by pretending to pace in front, guarding the bodies.201 201. “Cuando se les antoja a estos salvajes de poner los cuartos sobre las torres, no hay llegar a ellos. Las cabezas de todos las ponen así siempre, y cuando los entierran es junto a la horca, en un hoyo hondísimo y muy ancho, que hay mucha cantidad de tierra que quitar, y ponen sobre los Santos los ladrones que ahorcan con ellos. A éstos no los hacen cuartos; y así, bien se ve cuáles son los Santos. Tres días después tuvimos orden cómo robarlos, o mejor decir,

86 Introduction The bodies, she tells her relative, were later brought to her house in a rented coach, placed before the chapel altar, covered with crimson taffeta and sprinkled with sweet-smelling flowers. That night, Carvajal and her companions washed the mud and waste from the body parts with saliva and a clean cloth. To keep them from decomposing, the parts were anointed with aromatic spices and sealed in lead containers for a year. The task’s spiritual significance is measured by its inclusion in Carvajal’s canonization process, which documents another eyewitness report of these macabre nightly activities. Lucas Ximénez, servant to Pedro de Zúñiga’s successor, the ambassador Alonso de Velasco, Conde de la Revilla, testified to another occasion in which martyrs were disinterred, this time emphasizing Carvajal’s leading role in the gruesome events: We worked hard to uncover and disinter [the bodies], and as this required much diligence and care on the part of the saint [Carvajal], she demonstrated her holiness and zeal by taking on such dangerous work. The martyrs are thrown quartered into a very deep pit, and are covered with the intact bodies of criminals, sometimes twenty or thirty. And all are covered over with dirt, and the saint [Carvajal] would have the holy corpses of the martyred disinterred and removed from all these bodies. And since [this witness] was one of those who assisted her in this work, he once lifted an intact body of a heretic with such force and resolve that, taking it by the arms, it fell on top of him, vomiting a great mouthful of filth in his face, and in spite of tomar nuestro tesoro más que suyo. Con gran riesgo, por no ser oscuro entonces a las diez, y ser claro el día a las dos y tardar tanto en desenterrarlos. Fueron [a] hacerlo con cotas y pistolas, por si viniesen los guardas, que siempre ponen allí en tal ocasión; y un caballo en que poner los santos, y talegas de lienzo hechas de nuestras sábanas. Yo estuve esperando que, a las cuatro, me diesen aviso infalible, y como no lo fue, dolióme el cuidado terriblemente, hasta las seis, que vino corriendo nuestro criado, que es un mozo francés fidelísimo virtuoso, por un coche. Quedaba la gente ida, el hoyo llenado y llano, los cuerpos una milla lejos, fuera de camino, debajo de unas zarzas; y un mercader inglés, bien rico y devoto, muy mío, paseándose al descuidado, por guardarlas” (letter 151, Epistolario y poesías, 369).

Introduction 87 this, and although the corpse had been buried one or two days, it caused no revulsion or horror, but rather he did this with goodwill, as it was an order from the saint, lady Luisa, and she accepted the work with extraordinary joy and happiness, giving many thanks to all who came to help her in this task. She would arrange and embalm [the body parts], storing them in lead boxes and writing in her own hand the names to whom they belonged, “this is the arm, thigh, leg, hand or head of martyr such-and-such, placed here by his unworthy servant, Luisa de Carvajal.” And when she found out when they would be martyred, she would dine with them the previous night, washing and kissing their feet with much humility and devotion, and speaking to them that night of many spiritual topics.202 Carvajal’s travails in England became more acute when Pedro de Zúñiga left his post as ambassador and was replaced by Alonso de Velasco, who from the start showed little interest in succoring her. To be sure, the danger for Catholics in England was on the rise. On April 16, 1611, Carvajal wrote five letters: a lengthy missive to Zúñiga, 202. “Y que en descubrirlos y sacarlos se trabajaba mucho y era bien necesaria la diligencia y cuidado de la santa y conocer su santidad y celo para aceptar trabajo y peligro semejante … a los mártires los echan hechos quartos en un foso muy hondo, y luego encima de ellos cuerpos enteros de los malhechores … algunas veces veinte y treinta; y a todos los cubren muy bien de tierra y de entre todos estos cuerpos hacía la santa desenterrar y sacar los benditos cuerpos de los martirizados. Y siendo [el testigo] uno de los que asistieron a este trabajo, leventó un cuerpo entero de un hereje de tan buena gana y con tanta fuerza que habiéndole asido de los brazos se le vino a caer encima y echó en el rostro una gran bocanada de inmundicias que aunque lo era y de un cuerpo de uno o dos días enterrado no le dio asco ni horror antes le parece con el buen afecto que lo hacía por habérselo mandado la santa doña Luisa y ella recibió con gozo y alegría extraordinaria dando muchas gracias a todos los que habíamos acudido a hacerle este servicio. Ella los componía y aderezaba y guardaba y ponía en cajas de plomo con los títulos de quién era cada uno sobre escribiendo de su mano ‘este es el brazo, muslo, pierna, mano, o cabeza del mártir fulano, púsola aquí su indigna sierva Luisa de Carvajal.’ Y cuando sabía que los habían de sacar [de la prisión] a martirizar la noche antes se iba a cenar con ellos y a lavarles los pies besándoselos con mucha humildad y devoción y tratando con ellos aquella noche muchas cosas de espíritu” (Interrogatorio 57–58).

88 Introduction reporting the increase in persecution of Catholics; another to Father Hernando de Espinosa, stating that “persecution is the strongest that I’ve seen these six years. The impudence against our holy faith and those who profess it grows every day  … Even women and ladies are persecuted, regardless of their social position … They have tried so hard to catch me that they attempted to do so at my own house, although it’s next to don Alonso’s [the ambassador].”203 In a third letter, to Joseph Creswell, she reports she is sending him a piece of the “holy flesh” of Father John Roberts, a Benedictine monk: “It was a rare thing, to see his quartered parts here on the ground; they were stiff like armor, and they were no doubt weapons with which these blessed saints fought; they were taken, along with those of Father Summer, from the pit in which they were buried underneath sixteen thieves.”204 The fourth and fifth letters are addressed to the Marquise and Marquis of Caracena, respectively. To the former, she describes in great detail just how badly the Catholics are being treated, how they are searched at all hours in their home, their desks and trunks broken into, their papers read, and all valuables taken. Carvajal also relates that the new Archbishop of Canterbury, George Abbot, had attempted to entrap her, sending officers to her door. Her letter to the marquis, while shorter, divulges in greater and more gruesome detail Father John Roberts’ and Father Summers’ deaths: Their heads were exhibited on the bridge, along with those of other martyrs; but their bodies were buried beneath sixteen thieves. The two priests died together, with eight thieves on one side and eight on the other. They were taken out from [the pit]; and one night a 203. “La persecución está más fuerte que la he visto jamás en estos seis años. Las insolencias contra nuestra santa fe son cada día mayores y contra los que la profesan; especialmente de ocho o nueve meses a esta parte, con que mi poca salud ha dado mayor caída … Ahora persiguen a las mujeres y señoras, por más principales que sean; … A mí me ha deseado much haber a las manos’ y tanto, que se resolvió de enviar por mí a mi misma casa, estando pregada a la de don Alonso” (letter 122, Epistolario y poesías, 316). 204. “Un pedazo de su santa carne envío aquí a vuestra merced. Extraña cosa era ver sus cuartos aquí en el suelo: teníanse derechos como coseletes; y armas fueron, sin duda, con que pelearon los dichosos santos. Cogiéronlos una noche, y los del padre Somer, del hoyo en que los enterraron, debajo 16 ladrones” (letter 123, Epistolario y poesías, 319).

Introduction 89 Benedictine father asked my permission to bring them to my house. I rented an English carriage for them, and Father Roberts, minus a leg, was brought in, along with half the body of the other saint, which they dropped when the guards chased them. … To prepare them, they placed on the floor an arm with its half breast and back, and the other body half. What a strange spectacle and what reason for prayer, to see such fragile weapons with which they fought with no vulnerability, but with great animation!205 In 1611, after enduring a “furious colic” for five weeks, Carvajal moved outside London to a small house in Spitalfields, where the air was cleaner and where she could attend Mass at the Venetian Embassy nearby. The area had also been the neighborhood, since 1611, of Mary Ward’s first settlement in England, chosen because of its proximity to the Flemish and Venetian embassies.206 Whether the two women ever met is a matter of conjecture; we know that they were aware of each other, as Ward speaks of a “Spanish lady of noble birth” pursued by the Anglicans, and Carvajal hispanicizes Ward’s name to “María de la Guardia.” Complaining that the ambassador, Alonso de Velasco, did not wish to see her, which left her without any sort of protection, Carvajal comments to her cousin, the Marquise of Caracena, that she was saved from the “pursuivants” or sheriffs, by the grace of God.207 205. “Sus cabezas fueron puestas en la puente, con las de otros mártires; pero sus cuerpos, sepultados debajo de diez y seis ladrones. Murieron los dos padres juntos; y al un lado, ocho ladrones, y al otro, otros ocho. Fueron sacados de allí, y una noche vino a pedirme licencia un padre Benito para traerlos a mi casa. Proveí de un coche inglés, y así trujeron al padre Roberts menos una pierna que se les cayó, yendo los guardas tras los que los sacaron, y medio cuerpo del otro santo. … Para aderezarlos, pusieron en el suelo el un brazo con su medio pecho y espalda, y el otro con el otro medio. Extraño espectáculo y motive de oración, ver aquellas armas tan frágiles con que pelearon tan sin fragilidad, animosamente” (letter 125, Epistolario y poesías, 324). 206. Mary Catharine Elizabeth Chambers, The Life of Mary Ward (1585–1645), vol. 1 (London: Burnes and Oates, 1882), 332. I am most grateful to David Wallace for his conversation on Mary Ward and for his book, Strong Women. 207. “[Y] no ha tocado nadie a la puerta, ni aquellos bellacos de los pursivantes,. Pasan hartas veces por allí, y el obispo me llama insolente. Es tan fresco el aire y limpio, respecto

90 Introduction The new ambassador, Diego Sarmiento de Acuña, the future Count of Gondomar, was disturbed to find that she had again placed herself at risk after having been jailed for publicly sermonizing against the Anglican Church. He protested to the Duke of Alba on October 5, 1613 that George Abbot, the archbishop of Canterbury, had ordered Carvajal’s capture the moment she stepped out of his house, even if she sought sanctuary in the Venetian Embassy.208 Archbishop Abbot, Gondomar informed the king, considered her behavior “scandalous,” as she was in the process of founding, in her own dwelling, a convent—with bells, even—that would house professed nuns in habits and veils.209 There was some truth to this; gathering several women about her, she had drawn up instructions that resembled the rules of conventual life. Recruitment, however, was difficult, and there were never more than four or five women who lived with her. In a letter to Father Lorenzo da Ponte, she complains that whenever she finds a devout companion, she wants always to profess in the Netherlands, and she has only three now with her.210 On October 28, 1613, the archbishop gave orders to the recorder and the sheriff of London, together with over sixty men on foot and on horseback, to break into the house at dawn. The violation of her private dwelling followed the many searches of Catholic houses for clandestine worship that Carvajal often complained about. Although the sheriff found no hidden religious objects or signs of celebrating del demás de Londres, que me he mejorado de salud. No sé si ha sabido vuestra excelencia el mal que padecí, de una cólica furiosísima de cinco semanas, con poco dormir y comer” (letter 151, Epistolario y poesía, 368). For the letter translated in full, see page 319. 208. “Habrá veinte días  …  que este Arzobispo de Cantuaria dio orden de prender a mi señora Da. Luisa de Carvajal, donde quiera que la hallasen, fuera de mi casa, aunque fuese en la del Embajador de Venecia donde solía acudir [a oír misa].” (Colección de Documentos Inéditos “Duque de Alba, III, 127, Correspondencia Marqués de Siete Iglesias y Gondomar, inédita;” cited in Abad, Una misionera, 323). 209. “[E]l grande escándalo que daba Da. Luisa de Carvajal … y tenía una casa particular en que iba fundando monesterio con monjas profesas, con sus hábitos y velos de religiosas y campanas”(Gondomar to Philip III, November 26, 1613, Colección de Documents Inéditos “Duque de Alba,” III, 145; cited by Abad, Una misionera, 327). 210. “He estado muy desconfiada de hallar compañera a propósito, porque, en tiniendo alguna devoción, la emplea toda en querer ir a ser monja a los Países Bajos. Ahora quedo ya con tres doncellas como un oro, y no falso” (letter 96, Epistolario y poesias, 256).

Introduction 91 mass, she was incarcerated with accused heretics and common criminals in the public jail. Of the five women who lived with her, one, the cook, fled; another died the next day, surely owing, Carvajal wrote, to the shock of the capture. Gondomar angrily wrote James demanding Carvajal’s release, and she was freed after four days. Upset that the ambassador had obstructed her “martyrdom,” Carvajal wrote the Duke of Lerma to declare that she was still willingly awaiting her martyr’s crown at the hands of the Protestants: Don Diego’s [The ambassador’s] verve and courage have taken from me a glorious crown that I thought was so close to being mine, and this leaves me very confident that [the heretics] will find a way and time unbeknownst to [the ambassador], unless Our Lord wishes to defer my crown until after his stay here.211

Circulating Her Life Story Earlier that year, Philip III had increased Carvajal’s monthly subsidy to five hundred reales for her “exemplary life and great benefit to the Catholics of that realm.”212 Her final letter to his favorite intended to explain, from her perspective, the reasons given for her incarceration: that she had founded a convent and that she had persuaded many Protestants to convert to Catholicism. The letter implied that these actions did not constitute sufficient grounds to recall her from England as, she affirmed, there were many moral and peaceful people 211. “Los bríos y valor de D. Diego [Gondomar] me han desbaratado una gloriosa corona que me parece llegué a ver desde muy cerca; y me deja en gran confianza de que ellos [los herejes] se buscarán modo y tiempo que D. Diego ignore, si no es que nuestro Señor quiere diferirlo más que el que él hubiere de estar aquí” (letter 178 to Lerma, November 20, 1613, Epistolario y poesía, 416). For the letter translated in full, see page 347. 212. “A Doña Luisa de Carabajal [sic], que como habéis entendido, reside en Inglaterra, haciendo muy ejemplar vida y gran beneficio a los católicos de aquel reino, han socorrido, por mi orden, el marqués de Flores y don Alonso de Velasco, vuestros antecesores, por cuenta de gastos de aquella Embajada, com trescientos reales al mes para su sustento y el de sus criados. Y agora he resulto que, no sólo se le continúe esto, sino que se le den ducientos [sic] reales más desde el día de la fecha de ésta” (letter from Philip III to Gondomar, May 21, 1613, Epistolario y poesías, 417).

92 Introduction who cried when they saw her in prison and many Protestants as well as Catholics who opposed her jail sentence. This last letter poignantly beseeches the duke not to listen to those demanding that she leave England: “And thus, I beg Your Excellency never to agree with those who, by their means, are attempting my removal from this kingdom, to leave them on their own to do whatever violence or cheating Our Lord allows them.”213 Carvajal’s pleading tone minimizes the real force of her will in communicating directly with the most powerful man in Spain. That she would even contemplate writing to Lerma to express her point of view and claim his protection over the opinions of male religious and statesmen, not only bespeaks her abiding conviction in her self-assigned religious mission, it attests just as strongly to her unremitting sense of aristocratic privilege. In late 1613, following the assassination of Henri IV in 1610 and the beginnings of the pax hispanica, and under pressure from both England and Spain for a rapprochement between the two countries, Philip III signed a resolution recalling Luisa de Carvajal to Spain.214 Yet the resolution, which Carvajal had been anticipating and fighting against for some time, never reached her. Her imprisonment in the dank jail exacerbated her ill health and probably contributed to a bronchial infection that caused her great pain and kept her bedridden for two months. This illness would later be designated in her canonization proceedings as the main justification for her sainthood, since she contracted the disease while in jail, causing her to die a martyr in the service of the faith. However, although her death represented a final opportunity to attain martyrdom, the category she so desperately longed for remained officially beyond her reach, even after her death. In similarly ironic circumstances, despite her liberation from the social subordination demanded of most women, she found herself surrounded at the time of her death by representatives of the Catholic 213. “Y así, suplico a vuestra excelencia que jamás concurra con los que, por su medio, procuraren mi salida deste reino, dejándolos a ellos que, a sus solas, hagan por violencia u maña, lo que Nuestro Señor les permitiere” (letter 178, November 20, 1613, Epistolario y poesías, 416). For the letter translated in full, see page 347. 214. The peace would last only until the Thirty Years War. See John Elliott, “Foreign Policy and Domestic Crisis: Spain, 1598–1659,” in John Elliott, Spain and Its World: Selected Essays (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989), 114–36.

Introduction 93 male hierarchy: the ambassador’s confessor, his chaplain, and her confessor Michael Walpole, her biographer and executor of her will, and the only priest whom she regarded as her superior. We should note, however, that Carvajal never set out intentionally to subvert or transgress gender rules. Neither did she ever recognize herself, as Teresa of Ávila certainly did, under the constant vigilance of a male-dominated church and a class-based social order.215 While Teresa complained that noblewomen constantly demanded her attention, Carvajal received her noble relatives only when she was in the mood to see them. There is no indication in her writings that she considered her behavior in England as inconsistent with gender expectations, despite what others thought. Indeed, she clearly believed that her sex enabled her to approach and “ease the difficulties of those many souls who otherwise might not make it to the spiritual port.”216 Instead, her actions and thoughts were guided by the institutions that continued to support her, even though, on such occasions when she was requested to return to Spain, she never hesitated to oppose those same institutions. Since Carvajal’s aristocratic ideology continued to determine her vision of herself, her spiritual fight was always directed against what she called her “will,” that is, her internalized acceptance of the class privileges that granted her special entitlement. By releasing her from the prerogatives of her lineage, therefore, her voyage to England granted her wish to assume a degraded position as an unruly unknown alongside the English recusants, a position, nonetheless, that she ultimately manipulated for her own purposes. The tensions between authority and abjection that intersect her contradictory subject positions are evinced by Walpole’s appearance at her bedside after his long exile. The Jesuit’s arrival confirms her final submission to her religious superior, since his presence was, to Luisa, an answer to her prayers. However, his presence also illustrates the allegiance that she expected from the 215. Teresa’s conflicted relations with noblewomen are described by Bilinkoff, The Avila of Santa Teresa; and Alison P. Weber, “Saint Teresa’s Problematic Patrons.” 216. “El sexo no impide aquí para grandes bienes, antes ése los facilita, y con más libertad se puedan tentar los vados y ablandar las dificultades de muchas almas, que, sin semejantes medios, no llegan jamás al espiritual puerto” (Escrito autobiográfico, cited in Abad, Una misionera, 231).

94 Introduction order to one of its donors and a potential saint, a category that Walpole endeavored to secure for her through his later hagiographies. Carvajal’s death on January 2, 1614, the same day of her birth fortyeight years earlier, brought the trajectory of her missionary life full circle: she sought out the Jesuit order for its authorization of her trip to England, assisted its English mission, contributed to its expansion, and died at the side of her confessor, the same Jesuit who had arranged her voyage nine years before. By publicizing her “life,” Walpole extended Carvajal’s fame beyond her death. He also informed the English Colleges of Valladolid and Seville of her death, and both held elaborate exequies. Such funeral rites were intended to memorialize the deceased across the Spanish empire.217 Before Carvajal’s body was shipped from England to Spain, her life story had already begun to circulate throughout Europe through the sermons preached in her honor. Seville’s English Seminary of Saint George held a funeral mass at which Father Juan de Pineda exhorted the congregation to celebrate Carvajal’s life rather than mourn her death. What most motivated the Jesuit were her experiences in England, which he narrated in short, telegraphic sentences: After brewing this desire in her heart for many years, God sends her to Flanders; from Flanders, to the last port in France; from there to the first [port] in England, and thence to London. She learns the English language, understands it, writes it, speaks it, visits jails, consoles the imprisoned, succors the worried and needy, inspires and exhorts the Catholics, confounds the heretics, attracts others to our holy faith, serves priests, edifies religious, confesses to Jesus Christ and his Church in the courts, awes and terrifies unjust judges. They arrest her, she leaves prison with more strength and zeal in the faith. They arrest her again, corner her, mistreat her, from her mistreatment and dreadful jailing she

217. For the importance of royal exequies, see Eire 287–96.

Introduction 95 becomes gravely ill, and dies with great happiness and laughter for having suffered for her Creator.218 The mention of Carvajal’s knowledge of English was significant: in an epoch of vast missionary expansion, linguistic competence functioned as both a literal and figurative means of cultural appropriation, exchange, and resistance. The sermon’s emphasis on her success in learning English would have pleased Luisa de Carvajal, and suggests the Jesuit’s conviction that her exceptional ministry formed part of the order’s broader missionary movement to the New World and the Orient. For him, the gender difference only made the task more onerous and her perseverance all the more admirable: But that a woman would be so desirous of God and of teaching and disseminating her faith, that she would conquer great difficulty combined with equal displeasure, and intentionally learn a language so uncommon to her ears, so strange to her pronunciation, and so disproportionate to her condition as is the English language, and that in one year she would understand it, speak it, write it, and transform it into her own nature, shows her wisdom to be more than human.219 218. “Despues de cozido este pensamiento en su coraçon por espacio de muchos años, embíala Dios a Flandes, de Flandes, a el ultimo puerto de Francia, de aqui a el primero de Inglaterra, y deste a Londres. Aprende la lengua Inglesa, entiendela, escrivela, hablala, visita carceles, consuela encarcelados, socorre a gente afligida y necessitada, anima y esfuerça a catholicos, confunde a hereges, reduze a otros a nuestra santa fee, sirve a Sacerdotes, edifica a Religiosos, confiessa a Christo IESVS y su Yglesia en tribunales, admira y pone espanto a juezes iniquos. Prendenla, sale de la carcel con mayores azeros, y con mayor zelo de la Fee. Buelvenla a prender, arriconanla, maltratanla, del mal tratamiento y penosa carceleria adolece de muerte, y muerese de puro contento y risa de aver padecido por su criador.” “En las honras de Doña Luysa de Carvaial, defunta en Londres por Enero de 1614. Sermon Funebre por el Padre Juan de Pineda de la Compañia de IESVS. En el seminario de los Alumnos Ingleses de S. Gregorio de Sevilla.” Exequias, R/20949, National Library, Madrid. N/d. 1–19. 219. “Pero que una muger tenga tanto gusto de Dios, y de enseñar y dilatar su fee; que vença una gran dificultad mezclada con un ygual disgusto, y se ponga de proposito a aprender una lengua tan peregrina a sus oydos, tan estraña a su pronunciacion, y tan desproporcionada a su natural, como la lengua Ynglesa y que en espacio de un año la entienda, la hable, la

96 Introduction If mastery of this foreign language was seen by her Jesuit eulogizer as a superhuman act, not commanding it meant, for Carvajal, that she remained in an infantilized state: “while I speak the language like a child, my works are also childlike, as my occasional visits to priests and secular religious at the jails.” The simile she uses to describe her early language difficulties, “an impeded tongue is like a heart in chains,” expresses her impatience with any fetters that kept her from her desires, an image that resonates strongly with her preferred poetic tropes of manacles and bonds (Cruz, “Poetics of Penance”).220 Psychologically, infantilization is another form of symbolic castration; as the organ and synecdoche of speech, the tongue was identified in the early modern period with both men and women, and as both a symptom of castration and of resistance to containment, its attribute of unruliness proves highly ambivalent (Mazzio 60, 68).221 The tongue was also the instrument of translation, a carnal extension across the instabilities of the spoken word. As Carla Mazzio persuasively argues, the tongue is less “the rhetorical traces and aftermath of an oral culture, but an aggressive orality, an anxious response to the unsettling dispersion of languages and identities in an increasingly textualized culture”(Mazzio 69, her emphasis). The ceremonies observed in the Jesuit colleges in Spain exalted Carvajal’s missionary work not only as a religious, but as a cultural and linguistic performance. A description of the mass celebrated March 3, 1614 at the English College in Valladolid highlights the chapel’s decorations. Representing the light of the soul and its triumph over death, over one hundred candles in silver candelabras illuminated the chapel. On a tomb covered with brocade were placed two purple velvet pillows, one holding a garland of white and red roses that symbolized Carvajal’s purity and her death, and the other a palm escriva, y la convierta en naturaleza y propriedad, rayo es este de sabiduria mas que humana” (Exequias 12r). 220. Carvajal’s simile also echoes Thomas Adams’ The Taming of the Tongue (1619), a sermon on the abuses of speech: “Oh necessary Tongue! How many hearts would burst, if thou had not given them vent!” Cited in Carla Mazzio, “Sins of the Tongue,” in The Body in Parts: Fantasies of Corporeality in Early Modern Europe, David Hillman and Carla Mazzio, ed. (New York: Routledge, 1997), 53–79. 221. “Lengua” or tongue, was also the name given by Spaniards to speakers of indigenous languages who acted as translators and were often viewed as traitors.

Introduction 97 frond, the symbol of martyrdom. The altar and walls were covered with “elegant sonnets” and Latin verses in her honor. Thus, while the oral recitation of Carvajal’s missionary work reproduced and substituted for her physical presence, the written poems inscribed her worth and affixed its cultural meaning.222 While Carvajal’s life narrative was being circulated by preachers in Spain, Gondomar made sure to retain possession of her body in England by encasing it in a lead casket fashioned for her remains, which he placed in a niche in the embassy chapel. Even though the ambassador planned to keep the corpse with him while he finished serving his post, he was instead obligated by an order from Philip III to relinquish Carvajal’s body and return it to Spain. The lead casket served as a reliquary for her remains, invested by Gondomar with his belief in her potential sanctity. His efforts to preserve Carvajal’s corpse replicated the same care she gave her martyrs’ relics, and for the same reason: in order to be sanctified, her body needed to be protected from corruption. Yet, unlike the English martyrs, whose death by dismemberment ensured their entry into sainthood, Carvajal’s female body, if claimed to be martyred, required that it remain intact. Archduchess Isabel Clara Eugenia’s chaplain, Simón de Ariza, who escorted the corpse to Spain, testified in her beatification proceedings that orders were given for it to be left in one piece, without being touched by anyone or uncovered to show any part, or even worse, “opened to remove the entrails, tongue, or brain, but left in the same state she died, conserving the holy body of virgin and martyr with due propriety.”223 The social and psychological fragmentation that Carvajal experienced first as a young girl in Spain and later in her missionary endeavor in England, a fragmentation encoded in the circulation of 222. “Honrras de Luisa de Carvajal en el Colegio Inglés de Valladolid” (ARMEN, Document 277). 223. “Ninguna persona le tocase a su cuerpo ni descubriese parte alguna de él ni menos que la abriesen para sacarle las tripas, ni lengua, ni los sesos, sino que como había expirado de aquella misma forma se quedase en el mismo ser, guardando en todo el recato debido a un cuerpo sancto de virgen y martir.” Información summaria de las excelencias, heroicas virtudes, exemplar y sancta vida, milagros y votos de humildad, castidad, subjecion, obediençia, pobreza, mayor perfeccion y de procurar el martirio por todos los medios posibles que no fuesen repugnantes a la ley de Dios de la venerable Virgen sierva de nuestro señor Doña Luysa de Carbajal [sic] y Mendoça y Fajardo, Madrid, 1627 (ARMEN, 417r).

98 Introduction body parts as relics, was at her death symbolically re-imaged into her bodily wholeness.

Luisa de Carvajal’s Afterlife The traffic in relics in which Carvajal so enthusiastically took part ironically prefigured her own translatio from England to Spain. It also rehearsed the previous struggles we have seen over Saint Teresa’s corpse: although Gondomar managed to keep Carvajal’s body in London until 1615, once her death became known, a veritable tug of war broke out among the different groups who wished to reap the benefits of her potential sanctity. The ambassador was not the only one who aspired to keep the body on English soil; the English Catholics believed that God had sent Carvajal to comfort them, either dead or alive. Gondomar also received letters of interest from the English Novitiate in Louvain founded with Carvajal’s donated inheritance. Two months after her death, however, Philip III wrote to Gondomar issuing an order that her body be sent to the convent of the Encarnación since, according to the king, “she had wanted in life to join the order.”224 It was not until a year later, on August 4, 1615, that Gondomar replied to the monarch, expressing his desire to keep “this relic” with him, but nevertheless agreeing to send Carvajal’s remains to Spain.225 The king mandated that the body be received at the port of San Sebastián by Rodrigo Calderón, one of Spain’s most controversial political figures. Politically ambitious and insatiably greedy, Calderón managed at a very young age to obtain the top post to the Duke of Lerma, who bestowed on him the titles of Count of La Oliva and Marquis of Siete Iglesias, and gave his father an important position at 224. “[Y] porque ella en vida deseaua ser monja en el monasterio de la Encarnaçión desta villa, he acordado que su cuerpo esté en él, y assí os encargo y mando que con mucho secreto, y a título de alguna ropa vuestra, la hagáis embarcar en vno de los nauíos que vinieren a Espana para que se penga [sic] en el dicho monasterio” (letter to Gondomar from Philip III, March 5, 1614; cited in Abad, Una misionera, 412). 225. “Arto quisiéramos d[oñ]a Costança [Gondomar’s wife] y yo no apartar de nosotros esta reliquia, donde tanto la auíamos menester, hasta que la fuéramos acompañando a España; pero el obedecer y cumplir lo que V.M. manda es sobre todo” (letter from Gondomar to Philip III, August 4, 1615; cited in Abad, Una misionera, 413).

Introduction 99 court.226 Carvajal’s first letters to him, in which she addresses him as her cousin because of his marriage to Inés de Vargas, were intended to request his patronage. As his problems at court escalated, however, Calderón wrote Carvajal numerous letters entreating her prayers; she thanked him obsequiously for his support, yet often gave him direct and astute counsel, at one point recommending that he return from a post outside Spain and not accept another, since these were intended as political exile, but instead obtain a position in Navarra or Valencia by appointing their cousin, the Marquis of Caracena, to another government position. The letter reveals that Carvajal was well informed of the king’s suspicions against him, which she blames on his many enemies.227 To compensate for his perceived sins, Calderón purchased the Convent of Portacoeli in Valladolid, whose nuns were instructed to pray for their patron’s soul.228 Anxious to improve his patronage of the religious order, he invited Carvajal to join the convent. In light of her constant efforts to convince both governments to let her remain in England, Carvajal’s response demonstrates her consummate rhetorical skills: she professes to accept Calderón’s invitation graciously at the same time that she begs off by acquiescing to God’s choice in the matter: Whenever Our Lord wishes me to leave England, it will be a great comfort and joy to go to Portaceli and serve its [nuns] with such desire and zeal so that it becomes the holiest and most solemn [convent] in the world. I hope that your lordship will strive toward this, with the 226. For a history of Calderón, see Santiago Martínez Hernández, Rodrigo Calderón: La sombra del valido. Privanza, favor y corrupción en la corte de Felipe III (Madrid: Centro de Estudios Europa Hispánica y Marcial Pons Historia, 2009). 227. “Bien es que vuestra señoría se dé prisa a volver a España: hállome muy poco inclinada a que sirva fuera della; y creo que no es mal discurso pensar que sus enemigos le suplantarán y buscarán su arruinamiento estando fuera … Si pudiera alcanzar vuestra señoría el gobierno de Navarra o de Valencia, sin agravio de mi primo, trayéndole a la corte o satisfaciéndole en otra cosa equivalente holgara yo dello” (letter 150 to Rodrigo Calderón, Epistolario y poesías, 365). For the letter translated in full, see page 313. 228. The convent belonged to Mariana de Cortés, the same woman who had offered Luisa de Carvajal a donation with which to found a convent See note 138 above.

100 Introduction virtue and understanding that Our Lord has given your lordship, and it will be most rewarding to know how well it turns out.229 Most importantly, the same letter appears to answer to a previous inquiry by Calderón on what she wishes done with her body after her death: If I die a martyr and the parts of my body are collected, your lordship may place it where it will be well received, giving some part to the English Novitiate of the Company of Jesus in Louvain. It was founded by the poor rent that I left them, and it is the first ever in that nation. If I do not die a martyr, then I do not deserve to be buried.230 Carvajal’s response to Calderón alludes to her close association with the Louvain foundation. While she is willing to relinquish a part of her body to her benefactor, she is adamant that some piece of herself also be sent to the English Novitiate. Carvajal paraphrases, so as not to offend Calderón, what she had already stipulated in her will, that she wished to be buried in a Jesuit chapel: I give possession of all [my inheritance] to the Holy Virgin, and in her name and stead, to Father Robert Persons of the Society of Jesus … with the express condition … that said inheritance … be used to build a seminary for the English Jesuits, in whatever kingdom or 229. “En cualquier tiempo en que Nuestro Señor se sirviere de que yo salga de Inglaterra, me sería de notable consuelo y gusto ir a Porta-Celi a servir a las religiosas dél, con mucho deseo y celo de que fuese el más grave y santo del mundo. Espero que vuestra señoría procurará esto, con la virtud y entendimiento que Nuestro Señor le ha dado, y recibiré grandísima merced en saber el estdo en que se va poniendo” (letter 142, Epistolario y poesías, 351). For the letter translated in full, see page 309. 230. “Si yo fuere mártir y se pudiere recoger mi cuerpo, vuestra señoría le ponga do fuere servido, dando alguna parte al Noviciado de la Compañía de Jesús inglés, que está en Lovaina. Fundóse de la pobre renta que les dejé, y es el primero que jamás ha habido de esa nación. No siendo mártir, no merezco entierro” (letter 142, Epistolario y poesías, 351).

Introduction 101 province Father Persons believes will be for the greater glory of our Lord. Yet, after her death, and against her expressed wishes, her testament was not complied with, as the Jesuits made no effort to claim the body. Carvajal’s death from illness after being released from prison precluded any conviction of treason that, she had believed, would effectively dismember her body and allow its distribution in parts. Ironically, on the matter of female martyrdom, Carvajal was ill-informed. Not only was she never prosecuted when jailed, since the Spanish government intervened immediately, but women who were accused of high treason in England—the charge she wished so intensely would befall her—were never drawn and quartered, but burned at the stake.231 In another irony, this punishment was the same that religious heretics received in Spain when relaxed by the Inquisition. In crossing over from Spain to England, Carvajal assumed that her desire for martyrdom, impossible to realize in Spain, would be fulfilled in England in the same manner of suffering as her heroes, the English Jesuits. Her error, which was reiterated in the canonization proceedings by one of her witnesses, indicates just how strongly the Spanish imaginary grasped a totalizing vision of English Catholic martyrdom. Even though her desire for martyrdom was never fulfilled, the contest of wills between Carvajal and the Spanish aristocratic male hierarchy continued to play out over her corpse. Calderón, however, was already locked in a battle with the king that would topple him and soon afterward, his patron, the Duke of Lerma, from power. Already anticipating his fall, after receiving the body at San Sebastián, Calderón abducted it to Portacoeli, where it was walled inside the chapel inside a barred black box. In May 1616, he was forced by an irate Philip III to release it to a bishop and to Carvajal’s correspondent Magdalena de San Jerónimo for its final deposit in the convent of the

231. Carvajal may have known of the female martyrs Margaret Clitheroe, Margaret Ward, and Anne Line. Under Elizabeth I, the first was pressed to death, and the latter two hanged; few women were actually put to death for heresy. See Patricia Crawford, Women and Religion in England: 1500–1720 (London; New York: Routledge, 1996), 62–65.

102 Introduction Encarnación.232 The restoration of Carvajal’s body to the Augustine convent, also in violation of her will and testimony, involved besides the figurative defilement of her corporeal integrity. In order to ascertain the contents of the black box removed from the chapel, it was opened in the presence of the bishop, her long-time friend, and the Jesuit. The box held a wooden coffin covered in scarlet silk with a gold cross, inside of which was a lead box. Because a storm had forced water into the coffin when crossing the English Channel, a hole in the box was chiseled open at head’s level to expose Carvajal’s body and face, which were then scrutinized by those present for incorruptibility. After the body was satisfactorily identified as that of Luisa de Carvajal, the box was again sealed and officially turned over to the bishop. Taking precedence over her patrons’ faith in her remains’ redemptive value, their material possession had long become a political issue, and Carvajal’s arrival in Spain signified the imposition of state will over that of her own. In the end, Luisa de Carvajal’s own bodily remains transformed into relics, as she was enclosed in a sarcophagus in the reliquary of the Convento de la Encarnación, where she remains to this day.

232. “El señor don Pedro Fernández Çorilla, Obispo de Mondoñedo y la Madre Magdalena de San Jerónimo entregaron a sus señoríos desa al Señor don Francisco Calderón Comendador General de Aragón, Gentilhombre de la boca de su Magestad y Alguacil mayor de esta Real Cancillería de Valladolid: una carta de su señoría el señor don Rodrigo Calderón, susodicho Marqués de Siete Iglesias Conde de la Oliva y capitán de la Guarda Alemana del rey nuestro Señor. Por la cual dice se entregue al dicho señor obispo y a la dicha Magdalena de san Jerónimo el cuerpo de la señora doña Luisa de Caravaxal [sic] que está en el susodicho convento de Portaceli de esta ciudad porque su magestad lo ordena así. Para que el dicho cuerpo se lleve y se coloque en el monesterio della encarnación de la villa de Madrid.” Escritura de la entrega formal de su cuerpo que en virtud de la Real Orden se hizo en Valladolid del cadaver de la Sra. Da. Luisa de Carvajal que se guardaba en el convento de Portaceli para conducirle cierre de la Incarnacion donde se tiene dentro de un baul en la capilla del Relicario. May 28, 1616 (ARMEN, 212; 206).

Introduction 103

Figure 4. Sarcophagus, Luisa de Carvajal. Reliquary, Monasterio de la Encarnación, Madrid. Patrimonio Nacional.

The efforts taken to restore spiritual and cultural wholeness to Carvajal’s fragmented life through the initiation of her beatification proceedings and the circulation of hagiographic narratives were soon to end as her supporters dwindled in number.233 On June 10, 1628, Carvajal’s loyal friend, the prioress Mariana de San José, wrote to Pope Urban VIII requesting her beatification: The prioress and nuns of the Royal Convent of the Encarnación at Spain’s Catholic court, very humble and true servants of Your Holiness, who adore and revere the eminence of your Holy See, beseech Your Holiness with special affection to honor with the crown of beatification the glorious merits and joyful labors of the venerable lady doña Luisa de Carvajal y 233. The classic study by Alban Butler proclaims that “The proceedings of a beatification or canonization are long, rigorous, and expensive.” The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, Vol. 1 (New York: P. J. Kenedy, 1902), 28–29. As an example, the Duke of Alba left 14,000 ducats for the canonization of Saint Teresa of Ávila. See Diego de Yepes, Vida, virtudes y milagros de la bienaventurada Virgen Teresa de Jesús, Madre y Fundadora de la nueva reformación de la Orden de los Descalzos y Descalzas de Nuestra Señora del Carmen (Zaragoza 1606), 3.

104 Introduction Mendoza, declaring her martyr. …  This royal convent safeguards the body of our venerable lady, intact, incorrupt, and with a particular fragrance, as was confirmed by the most illustrious Cardinal Barberini and Your Holiness’s other ministers when they visited our convent.234 That same year, alluding to Carvajal’s written “life,” she wrote to Philip IV suggesting that he write the pope to carry out the “Ordinary Information” in order to beatify Carvajal.235 Other letters speak to Carvajal’s miracles, which were expected to take place for her beatification. Four years later, Mariana de San José wrote several letters to Cardinal Barberini, Urban VIII’s nephew, who had visited her convent earlier, still requesting Carvajal’s beatification. On September 10, 1632, she writes “What we and their Majesties wish very much is lady Luisa’s beatification, whose ‘life’ I will soon send to Your Eminence, whom I do not dare tire any more, nor am I in any state to carry on, as I am recovering from an illness that has left me extremely weak.”236 The prioress follows with another letter in 1634, in which she again mentions a “life” of Carvajal, reminding him that the previous pope’s esteem should now assure her beatification and declare her a martyr as a means of obtaining solace for Spain, the king, and the Augustinian

234. “Las muy humildes y verdaderas siervas de Vuestra Santidad, que adoran y reverencian la grandezade su santa silla, priora y religiosas del convento real de la Encarnación de la corte católica de España, con particular afecto suplican aVuestra Santidad quiera honrar con la corona de la beatificación los gloriosos méritos y dichosos trabajos de la venerable señora doña Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza, declarándola por mártir. … Este real convento tiene el cuerpo de esta venerable señora, entero, incorrupto y con particular fragancia, como lo experimentaron estando en este convento el ilustrísimo cardinal Barberini y los demás ministros de Vuestra Santidad en esta corte” (letter 66; Sánchez Hernández, “Epistolario,” 118). 235. “Será de gran servicio de Dios y de su Iglesia que vuestra magestad pida a Su Santidad mande hacer las informaciones ordinarias para que se digne de beatificar a esta fiel sierva suya” (letter 67, Sánchez Hernández, “Epistolario,” 119). 236. “El que deseamos todas mucho y sus majestades, es la beatificación de doña Luisa, cuya vida enviaré presto a vuestra eminencia; a quien no me atrevo ahora a cansar más, ni yo estoy para alargarme, que salgo de una enfermedad que me ha dejado flaquísima” (letter 137; Sánchez Hernández, “Epistolario,”199).

Introduction 105 order.237 As concerned to document Carvajal’s life as Michael Walpole had been, before her death in 1638, the prioress sent Muñoz thirtyseven depositions from the beatification process along with Walpole’s biography, which no doubt served as the basis for his own biography. From Walpole, he learned that Carvajal’s original writings were being kept by Enrique Polardo [Henry Pollard] of the English College in Seville, which he then turned over to Mariana de San José. Extolling Carvajal’s virtues, he exhorts Philip IV, to whom he dedicates the biography, to “honor doña Luisa in death,” and entreat the pope to “declare her living with God, and aggrandize her memory in the nations of the world, so the Roman Church may enjoy the glory of having had such a daughter and Spain, of being the mother of such a heroic woman.”238 The time, however, was not right for Carvajal’s canonization. By 1634, when Urban VIII centralized the canonization procedures, she had still not been beatified,239 and the hostilities between the pontiff and the Spanish government could be measured by his delay

237. “que Su Santidad honre a la venerable doña Luisa de Carvajal beatificándola o declarándola por mártir, pues murió de los trabajos que padeció en la cárcel por la fe … Bien creo que se habrá vuestra eminencia holgado de leer su vida. En ella hallará vuestra eminencia dicho algo de lo mucho que la estimó el pontífice que entonces era, y en ayudar a estos [a] alcanzarlo dará vuestra eminencia un general consuelo a toda España y a su majestad, y a estas siervas de vuestra eminencia un gran favor” (letter 153, Sánchez Hernández, “Epistolario,” 199). 238. “[A]gora V.Magestad  …  honra a doña Luisa muerta, instando con el Po[n]tifice Romano declare vivir con Dios, y haga grande su memoria en las naciones del mundo, y goze la Iglesia Romana la gloria de aver tenido tal hija, y España de ser madre de tan heroica muger” (Muñoz, Carvajal, n.p.). 239. Urban VIII began his reforms in 1625, reserving the processes of beatification and canonization to the papacy, which required that evidence be gathered in the diocese where the candidate was buried; called Ordinary process, the procedure ascertained if there existed, de facto, “fame of sanctity or martyrdom.” It was followed by a process of non cultu, or proof that the person had not been publicly venerated before beatification. The inquiry should last no longer than two years, be sent to Rome signed and sealed, and left unopened for ten years so that the deceased’s immediate fame not unduly influence the case. “Canonization,” in New Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. II, (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1957), 56. See also Peter Burke, “How to Be a Counter-Reformation Saint,” in Peter Burke, The Historical Anthropology of Early Modern Italy: Essays on Perception and Communication (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987), 48–62.

106 Introduction in canonizing Spanish saints, including Pedro de Alcántara.240 Alcántara’s canonization ultimately succeeded, in great part because of the ongoing epistolary campaign in his favor: letters from the king, bishops, ambassadors, and the Council of State all flooded the Vatican. The Franciscan order itself stood firmly behind its brother: in 1649, the Commissary General wrote to Philip IV requesting his intervention. In 1654, the king ordered the Spanish ambassador to the Vatican to arrange for the immediate release of the 30,000 ducats collected for Alcántara’s canonization.241 By contrast, Mariana de San José’s last urgings the year she died for Carvajal’s canonization yielded no action. Royal interest in her religiosity had sparked before her trip to England: Philip III and his wife, Margarita of Austria, founder of the convent of the Encarnación, had met Carvajal and admired her. Yet although her case was authorized by Philip IV, and while letters from the queen and Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand were sent to the pope, there is no record of any letter of support from Philip IV. There are several reasons why the king might not have imitated his royal parents in demonstrating interest in the case. Even though Carvajal’s beatification process was promoted by the Augustinian convent of the Encarnación, she never professed as a nun, a category that considerably improved women’s chances of sainthood. Unlike Alcántara and Teresa of Ávila, she was never directly involved in conventual reform; furthermore, in contrast to them, she sustained few mystical experiences or visions. And while Carvajal committed herself to a life of stark poverty and prayer, her asceticism was shocking principally because it embarrassed her aristocratic relatives. Nor did her religious 240. “El papa Barberini, al subir al trono pontificio, no se colocó en su postura política al lado de España sino que se enfrentó … con el poderío español” [The Barberini pope, upon ascending the pontifical throne, did not side politically with Spain, but confronted … Spanish power].” Arcángel Barrado Manzano, Canonización de San Pedro de Alcántara (1669–28 de abril — 1969): Introducción de la causa, Proceso y Cartas recomendatorias, (Madrid: Separata Archivo Ibero-Americano, 1969), 7–8. See also José María Pou y Martí, “Conflicto diplomático entre Felipe IV y Urbano VIII,” 30 AIA (1928): 145–48. 241. Although the case was approved in 1660, the Spanish ambassador informed the king in 1664 that no action had yet been taken because the pope, offended by a Spanish minister who accused the Holy See of negotiating for a larger contribution, placed a ban of four years on the proceedings. The canonization was delayed until after the king’s death in 1665 (Barrado Manzano 142; 152–158).

Introduction 107 writings provoke any charges from the Inquisition, as had occurred with Alcántara’s treatises and Juan de la Cruz’s poetry, which ironically served as her poetic model. Until her voyage to England, there was little compelling evidence to support candidacy for sainthood. Her case would depend on the invention of her sanctity by means of the claim of martyrdom, both through her own orchestration and its promotion by her Spanish advocates. The sainthood desired by Carvajal thus hinged on her political acts of resistance and the interpretation of these acts by the Catholic Church as proof of heroic virtue. When upheld through canonization, martyrdom—which Carvajal would espouse as her “desire”—was considered the most direct route to sainthood, as it sufficiently purified the soul for its immediate progression to Heaven. Moreover, its definition, “the undergoing of death or sufferings which would naturally result in death, for the faith of Christ or some virtue taught by Christ,” placed the emphasis on the cause of death, not on the death itself.242 When, in 1651, Francisco Vierio, a Vatican official in Rome, happened on a copy of Carvajal’s canonization process, he wrote to Catalina de la Encarnación, the prioress of the convent of the Encarnación, to ask what the order wished done with the case.243 Since Mariana de San José’s last efforts in 1638 there had been no further action regarding the case. Several decades earlier, on December 20, 1625, Mariana had signed the poder or authorization given her to initiate the inquiries required for Carvajal’s beatification and canonization. She in turn authorized Francisco de Ribero, the convent’s majordomo, to request in her name and in the presence of Dr. Juan de Doyega de Mendieta, vicar general and royal chaplain, the interrogation and deposition of witnesses who had known and communicated with Carva-

242. Thomas Macken, “On the Cause of Martyrs,” in The Canonization of Saints (Dublin: M. H. Gill, 1910), 216–33. 243. Vierio, an agent of the College of Corpus Christi, was approached by a “poor old woman” who sold him the proceedings for 25 reales; happy with his “precious treasure,” Vierio searched the Index of canonization processes of the Vatican’s Congregation of Rites and Ceremonies and found that the case had not been filed (ARMEN, Vierio letters).

108 Introduction jal.244 The authorization was written after the fact, since on December 16, 1625, Antonio Zapata, Cardinal of Toledo, had already approved the beatification proceedings. His approval forms part of Mariana de San José’s authorization. On January 2, 1626, the published Interrogatorio, with its 47 questions and signed by Mendieta, was made available to the witnesses.245 In 1627, the Informacion summaria, which included the testimonies of 38 witnesses who responded to the inquiry, was published, to be delivered sealed to the Sacred Congregation of Rites in Rome. Because the unfiled proceedings Vierio purchased were opened and unsealed, he advised the prioress to initiate another process. Suggesting that there might be recent miracles to report, he recommended that the Ordinary process add any new occurrences with the case after 1627. To instruct the prioress in the procedures set in place by Urban VIII, the official included a copy of the instructions for the beatification of Archbishop Juan de Ribera, a case that had been stalled and that he was handling.246 The archives of the convent of the Encarnación hold no letters of response from the prioress, and no other correspondence from Vierio. It is evident that there was no one in Spain willing to invest any more energy, time, or money in pursuing this goal. Although the aristocratic class to which Carvajal belonged had freed her from social and gender restrictions, her most powerful male devotees, Philip III and Rodrigo Calderón, died five years after they each claimed her bodily remains; the latter, condemned to death for his political abuses. Without the patronage of the current king, the support of the Jesuits, or the sponsorship of a religious order, her beatification and canonization proceedings remained stalled. Luisa de Carvajal’s desire to attain martyrdom in death, which crystallized after she conceived the notion to abandon Spain for England, was ultimately stymied by the same religious and social ideology that she maintained during her 244. Poder que da la S[eño]ra Priora de la Encarnación a Francisco de Ribero, mayordomo del convento a 24 de diciembre de 1625 (ARMEN). 245. Interrogatorio de Pregvntas para la informacion que por autoridad ordinaria se pretende hazer de la vida, virtudes, santidad y milagros de la sierua de Dios, y venerable señora D. Lvisa de Carbajal y Mendoca (ARMEN). 246. Ironically, Ribera was the same archbishop of Valencia who had supported Carvajal’s stay in England.

Introduction 109 life, for despite her renunciation of worldly goods, she was not averse to exploiting her noble lineage whenever she needed material help to achieve her spiritual goals. Even though she never attained sainthood, she nonetheless achieved an afterlife through the dissemination of her “life.” The exhaustive efforts Carvajal expended in recounting her life in her autobiography as a young woman in sixteenth-century Spain, in composing a collection of spiritual poems, and in the many detailed letters that she tirelessly penned while in England, break through both her aristocratic ideology and the misogyny of the early modern male hierarchy. In perusing her writings, we are able to reconstruct not only the religious and political tensions between the two nation-states, but Carvajal’s complex subjectivity, fragmented by the categories of gender and class as much as by her private and public experiences. If the fame of martyrdom that she so desired eluded her in death, it is no less true that her written lives hauntingly continue to demand—and deserve—our scholarly attention.

Autobiography The following is a translation of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza’s autobiographical writings, first archived in the Archivo del Monasterio de la Encarnación (ARMEN) [Archive of the Monastery of the Encarnación], Madrid, and currently archived in the Archivo de Palacio Real [Archive of the Royal Palace].1 The writings were edited by Camilo María Abad, S. J., in Escritos autobiográficos, vol. 20, Espirituales Españoles (Barcelona: Juan Flors, 1966). Abad’s edition has modernized and collated Carvajal’s writings in several sections. The section “Autobiografía” (131–175) relates her birth, childhood, and adolescence. He also includes other fragments, drafts of the more polished autobiography, and separate brief writings on spiritual meditation, among other topics. Abad completes Carvajal’s experiences in England with several of her letters and ends his volume with a series of undated spiritual meditations by Carvajal and a draft of her spiritual instructions to the women with whom she lived in London. I have followed Abad’s sections, subdivision of the chapters, and his paragraph divisions. In comparing his transcription with Carvajal’s original manuscripts, I have corrected his misreadings, and inserted my translation of fragments of her writings in italics.

I. First Years in Jaraicejo (Cáceres) and in León God’s most loving purity took care to cast me into this world after my mother’s many supplications and prayers, as she insistently implored him for a daughter. My father wished for the same, after having been

1. Diferentes pliegos escritos de su propia mano por la V[enerable] . D[oñ]a. Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza, tocantes a sus cosas y succesos de su vida. Son los mismos que reconoció y se hallan citados por el Liccdo. Luis Muñoz en el Prologo de la que escrivio de esta Venerable, la qual se dio a la estampa en la imprenta R[ea]l año de 1632, Archivo de Palacio Real, Caja 1, 2nda. Parte. microfilm 4135.

111

112 Autobiography given five sons, although only one lived. And thus I was born amid my family’s great and general joy. I spent fourteen wretched unbaptized days, most likely due to the cold weather at the time.2 I was named Antonia after my father’s special devotion and Luisa, as the name pleased my mother.3 With the good health God gave me, they found me so delightful that their love for me grew daily. I showed signs of a good disposition and was physically well proportioned, with a beautiful face the envy of any child. When I was four years old, a girl stepped on my skirt, making me fall on a sharp rock that gashed my forehead. My face bathed in blood, I ran to my mother with no little courage. She almost fainted from anguish, as I was near death from such a dangerous injury. She immediately sent for a famous surgeon who lived fourteen leagues distant; thanks to him, God saved me from danger, leaving me with only a pale, unnoticeable scar on my forehead. When I was five years old, my father’s move to another province for business reasons4 did not suit me and I fell ill with a high fever for four days. I spent them dressed in warm clothes mainly in a cot in my mother’s bedroom. (It will be necessary to speak of childish things until my twelfth birthday, since your grace insists that I do not leave out anything that I might remember.)5 I very early followed my mother’s example in my great desire to give alms, either to imitate her or to make her happy (they say this was something that I always tried to do, acting as if I were much older). I would take what I could, and the house servants would complain to my mother, who laughed because she liked me to behave in this 2. It was customary to wait two weeks after birth to baptize a child. 3. Her father may have been devoted to Saint Anthony of Padua, also known as Saint Anthony of Lisbon. Carvajal was probably named after her maternal grandmother, Luisa Fajardo Chacón, Countess of Monteagudo, sister of María Fajardo Chacón, her great aunt who raised her at Philip II’s court. She was the mother of Bernardo Sandoval y Rojas, future Inquisitor General and Cardinal of Toledo, and one of Cervantes’s patrons. 4. Luisa’s father was appointed chief magistrate of León in northwestern Spain. 5. Although she does not mention him by name, Carvajal is writing at the behest of her confessor, the Jesuit Michael Walpole. The mandate explains Carvajal’s extreme care to record her childhood experiences.

Autobiography 113 manner. When tucked in a warm and comfortable bed at night, I often felt sorry for the sufferings of the poor, saying that they had no bed or home and trembled with cold. I showed so much respect for the Discalced Franciscan6 friars [f. 1v] whom my mother greatly esteemed and loved, that when they visited, I would kneel on the floor and kiss their feet. And an Augustinian friar, a relative of ours, once asked why I did not kiss his also; I responded that the Discalced’s feet were of gold, while his were not. And at times I liked to take my own shoes off, without anyone seeing me, and walk by myself in some room, and in very cold weather, the sight of my naked feet on the floor would please me. If someone passed by, I would bend down so that my dress covered my feet, and once the person left, I continued to walk around. Even at age three or four, they tell me, I pretended to have pebbles in my shoes so I could take them off. Afterward, I did not want them to put my shoes on, but to let me remain barefoot for a while. I do not know or remember, however, what moved me to act this way.7 I imitated my mother closely in detesting frivolities and in keeping away from doors and windows.8 Even at a young age, I could not stand what I would hear her disapprove of and consider evil, and if I saw any of it, I would let her know. And once when a private maid of hers9 told her not to believe me because I was so young and lied easily, my mother responded: “Oh, no! The child never lies!” And so, 6. The Discalced Franciscans wore no shoes of any kind as a sign of humility, whereas the Augustinians wore sandals. 7. Carvajal will later write about the harsh discipline she received, which included being forced to walk barefoot on the cold floor. Her poetry contains frequent foot imagery. See Anne J. Cruz, “Chains of Desire: Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza’s Poetics of Penance,” in Studies on Hispanic Women Writers in Honor of Georgina Sabat-Rivers, ed. Lou CharnonDeutsch (Madrid: Castalia, 1992), 97–112. 8. The moral danger that doors and windows posed for women was well known and frequently addressed in conduct manuals and in literature. In Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz’s play, Los empeños de una casa, the protagonist falls in love with someone whom she sees pass by her window. Bartolomé Murillo’s painting “Two Women at a Window” famously portrays a young girl leaning out a window with her procuress in the background. 9. Abad believes her to be Isabel de Ayllón, Carvajal’s governess. Pinillos Iglesias states that the governess’s correct name was Isabel de Milla (26), although she was called Ayllón for her place of birth.

114 Autobiography I am told, I seldom lied or rather, I could not make myself do it; and I would often accept the blame for what I had not done, which the household took advantage of whenever they lost or broke something of my mother’s. If she did not think it possible, she would ask me whether it was true and I would reply very simply: “My mother, I cannot remember having done it.” Although my mother was an uncommon example of modesty and demureness, I would often say to the servants, “My mother is too lenient, for she allows so many visits! When I grow up, I will not let so many visit me.” I judged it more as permissiveness than immodesty, but I still did not approve of it. I would carry on like this, they tell me, on other issues, pleasing all who heard me. I was always bothered by dressing up, which I disliked; and I would have to be tricked with something in order to let them fix me up to please my mother. She made me many nice outfits, although she usually dressed me in a Franciscan habit with dark silk cording from top to bottom. Her devotion to the habit stemmed from her fear that I might die, and she meant to protect me by my wearing it. She would say that if I lived to the age of ten, she would dress me entirely as a little nun and encourage me to become a discalced nun, which in her opinion was the best that could happen to me, and that she would no doubt have chosen this path [f. 2r] had she not married at such a young age. My mother would retire to her room with her favorite maid to take care of the household business and other matters. Since no doors were ever closed to me and no one could keep me away from my mother at any hour of the day, even though she begged me to go play with the other children, I would enter and join in their conversation, as if I were much older. And my mother would often say “Here comes little Luisa to give us her opinion and stick her little nose in.” I also cared for this servant, as my parents loved her greatly for her virtue and intelligence. I showed her as much love as possible, yet she was very harsh with me, and the only one who would scold me, although there was no enjoyment that I would not have wanted her to have. And with this, and as soon as I noticed that they were pleased with me and on seeing that I pleased them, I repaid my parents all the love that they gave me, for which, they say, I showed extraordinary capacity as a child. My mother often said that she wished others took

Autobiography 115 notice of my qualities, especially those who stated that the servant did not love me, when she adored me, so they could see just how much I deserved all the love she gave me. I do not know whether I was aware of my reasons for hating immodest behavior and telling my mother when I observed any of these acts. I thought them wrong because she said so, and I was so innocent at that age that my mother would send me in the arms of one of her servants to the prelate’s cell of the Franciscan convent where she heard mass, as it was next to our house.10 She had me confess all my sins to him, writing down some things that I said or did wrong as a joke or a game. I obeyed her dutifully, and he would dangle a small basket of doughnuts or other pastries on my arm, saying that it was my penance for my sins. Nor did it seem that I wished to do anyone any harm, because other than what I have just recounted, I kept very quiet about most things. One night, when I was in bed, a servant who slept with me because of my fever and the extremely cold weather wanted to heat her side of the bed. She burned my little leg severely with the bed warmer, which they treated with remedies to ease the pain. The woman worried that my mother would find out, as she would probably be dismissed. But I kept so quiet that my mother never knew [f. 2v]. Many days later, when I had my shoes taken off, she was surprised to see the burn mark. She did her best to investigate how it had happened, but I remained silent, so she never found out who did it. My mother had given me a chest with a silver lock that opened easily in which I saved all the money that she and my father gave me for the poor. Although not small, it filled up quickly with cuartos and reales.11 I was very careful to guard the key and distribute all the money to the poor, especially to those in jail. Because they liked to poke fun at my innocence and sweetness, the house servants would unlock the chest, take out most of the money, and lock it again. They

10. According to Abad, the family had already moved to León, as there was no Franciscan convent in Jaraicejo (Escritos autobiográficos, 134). 11. “Cuarto” was a copper coin worth 4 maravedís; a “real” was a silver coin worth 34 maravedís. The maravedí itself was uncirculating and the smallest unit of account; the gold “ducado” was worth 375 maravedís.

116 Autobiography said it was endearing to see me when, on opening the chest, I could not figure out why I had so little money left. What made me happiest was to have many ragged poor children my own age fetched to me from the street. I would sit in their midst, handing out sweets and other snacks that I kept for this purpose. When left alone with them, I would open a large letter box lined in green velvet and full of beautiful gold charms and dolls from Ciudad Rodrigo. I would hand them out to the children, who would run off without having anyone from the house notice, or else the toys would be taken from them. My favorite pastime was to sit atop a high table, and have the household pages and all others I brought inside come and call me their queen, making great curtsies and humbly bowing while I showered them with apples, pears, nuts, chestnuts, and other treats from a basket or large cloth. The last winter of my mother’s life, I remember that every day after dinner she would go out on the house corridors in her black velvet capelet, dressed modestly with her usual restraint, with two of her servants, carrying a large basket of bread cut in pieces, and a pot of meat and cabbage. There, many poor people were seated in orderly rows [f. 3r] and she personally served each one ample portions. Handing me some of the little bowls and plates, she made me do the same. Her strength was equal to her piety and devotion, for she remedied all who needed her. When even the lowest worker in her house or any poor from the neighborhood fell ill, she would go discreetly to visit them at dusk, accompanied by a manservant and one or two maids, bringing them biscuits, almond pastries or other gifts or items that she knew they needed. Later, when I was quite ill from my fever, she spent many nights by my bed fully dressed, crying as if I were dead. But instead she died the first day of January of that first year from a fierce typhoid fever12 that, I heard, she caught from a poor person whose burial she went to arrange, as she so often did, and from taking in the sick in her own room and having them lie on her velvet pillows by her chimney.13 She died at 27 or 28 years of age. 12. “Tabardillo” or typhus fever was characterized by a high fever and rash; it was spread by lice or fleas and a common ailment among the poor. 13. Spanish women followed the Arab custom of sitting on cushions rather than chairs.

Autobiography 117 She was extremely beautiful, and they say that her hair was like very fine gold filaments, and this is true, since I saw them many years later. From the time she was a child, she had great virtue and the rarest modesty, and even at that young age she could not suffer anything that offended it, and they could not make her wear a bodice or a gown with a low top as women wore then. She showed extraordinary respect and courtesy to priests at all times. Whenever she met them on the street or elsewhere, she would bow low, even when they did not notice or show her any courtesy. She frequently spent time in her oratory, which was well kept. And one of her sisters said to me that when she received good news, she would go and give thanks to the Most Holy Sacrament at the church near her house. Her older brother, the uncle who raised me in his home, loved her above all his other sisters. Being who he was [f.3v] and so highly esteemed for his judgment, he said that many times he called me “the daughter of the best woman in the world.” When, as a young girl, I showed great modesty and reserve in even the smallest acts, they would say that I was the living portrait of my good mother. She would confess and receive communion, yet in the end, she often became confused, although she would recover quickly. Since my father came to see her and sat near her bed, he also caught typhus fever. After twelve days, he fell ill, and decided to become a priest and live virtuously from then on. He was very learned and knew Latin and Greek well. Realizing in time that he was dangerously ill, he sent for the Prefect of the Jesuit College, made a general confession of his sins to him, and received the Holy Sacrament with great devotion and tears, assisted by the same priest. He put his testament and his affairs in order. According to everyone, he died a good death while very young, thanks be given to God. No doubt the great gifts he received from God helped him, although he did not apply them with the same devotion or virtue as my mother. He had a very modest appearance and a notably aristocratic bearing. He left me a large sum of money in his will.

118 Autobiography II. Orphaned at Six Years Old, at the Royal Palace in Madrid I was taken to Madrid, where the tutor appointed by my father lived, along with my four brothers, the eldest around ten or eleven years old.14 My father had ordered that when I reached about that age, I should be placed in a convent until I was old enough to choose my state; until then, I should stay with a relative, the Marquise of Ladrada.15 But a sister of my grandmother, the countess doña Luisa, was governess to the king’s children16 and took me with her, not consenting that I go anywhere else.17 The king’s children resided then at the palace of Princess Juana of Portugal, their aunt, which was next door to the [f. 4r] Convent of the Royal Discalced Franciscans,18 founded by her. As the door of the Infantas’ rooms opened to the monastery, we would play in the cloisters, making a terrible noise for the nuns, some who were my aunts and relatives. After a few months, I again fell ill with the same high fever, and saying that I was in danger, I told Isabel de Ayllón (the servant whom my parents loved dearly and in whose charge I had been placed by my father) that I was sorry to die so young, as my testament would not be valid to leave her what I wished, but that she should not forget to pray for me after death, for I had been a great sinner. This awakened the most tender feelings in her. After I recovered from my illness, I began 14. The tutors were Fernán López del Campo and Juan de la Torre. Luisa would later sue her oldest brother Alonso for her inheritance. 15. Petronila Pacheco y Chacón, married to Antonio de la Cueva, I Marquis of Ladrada. 16. In 1572, Philip II’s living children were the Infantas Isabel Clara Eugenia (1566–1633) and Catalina Micaela (1567–1597) daughters of his late wife Isabel de Valois, and the Infante Fernando, son of Anna of Austria (1571–1578), Philip’s fourth wife, who would later bear four more children. 17. María Fajardo Chacón; see note 3, 112. 18. Founded by Juana of Austria in 1559 after her regency, the convent’s full name is the Monasterio de Nuestra Señora de la Visitación; it houses the order of Franciscan Clares, and is known as the Discalced Royals for the many aristocratic and royal women who professed there as nuns. As a young widow, Juana of Austria oversaw the upbringing of Philip II’s children. See Anne J. Cruz, “Juana of Austria, Patron of the Arts and Regent of Spain, 1554 –1559,” in The Rule of Women in Early Modern Europe, ed. Anne J. Cruz and Mihoko Suzuki (Urbana-Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2009), 103–22.

Autobiography 119 to feel lonely and missed my parents. Sometimes I hid where no one could hear me, and alone by myself, I would grieve and cry over their early death. I have been told that while still a child, for long periods and with no signs of tiring, I would pay very close attention to important persons who spoke in my presence of grave matters or on intellectual topics. It happened that I remembered many of these matters and later put them to good use.19 I was considered to be an intelligent child, and I was grateful to Our Lord for having given me such a benevolent heart that I could not bear to see anyone’s hardships, not even the servants’ punishments. And when I saw prisoners who were being flogged outside the palace, I would tearfully raise my eyes and hands to the sky, asking how I could help them. When I learned that an old black slave was being whipped in my aunt’s house for attempting to escape, I did my best to have him pardoned, and when I did not succeed, I lamented Pedro’s hard labor and misery as if I had to suffer them myself. The servants had no little fun at my expense, saying that I cried out sorrowfully, “Oh, poor Perico! What will become of you? Who will help you with so much work?” Just watching the bulls run and the men come so close to their horns would leave me deathly numb, and I could never tolerate bull fights [f. 4v]. I did not usually spend the same amount of time with the poor as my mother had, but I still had a soft heart and wished to help them. When the Brothers of the Antón Martín hospital20 asked for alms at the palace, I would occasionally take their little basket to beg joyfully for them, climbing on the platform of the ladies-in-waiting and damsels at court. I loved Ayllón, my governess, very much, despite the rough treatment she gave me when ruling over me; I could not bear to be 19. Carvajal’s extraordinary memory served her well in England, when she preached on the theological issues that she had read about in her uncle’s library. See Fernando Bouza, “Docto y devoto: la biblioteca del Marqués de Almazán y Conde de Monteagudo (Madrid, 1591),” in Hispania—Austria II. Die Epoche Philipps II., 1556–1598, ed. Friedrich Edelmayer (Verlag für Geschichte und Politik, Vienna, 1999), 247–310. 20. Hospital de Nuestra Señora del Amor de Dios; Madrid hospital founded in 1522 by a follower of Saint John of God, Antón Martín (1495–1550). It was located between the streets of Atocha and Santa Isabel.

120 Autobiography without her for one day. It seemed that she knew how important it was for me to try everything possible to guide me toward virtue and to destroy anything in its way. Rumors of her harshness saddened me and I always defended her. And when she punished me the hardest, the most I would do is to agonize a bit and [sentence crossed out] say that I thought Ayllón wished to eat me alive. I dearly abhorred her whipping me, due to the dishonor I felt, but I willingly withstood the pain so that no one would find out.21 My great-aunt would take me with her to the royal monastery of Santo Domingo,22 for she had a papal brief permitting her entrance and a daughter, Doña Magdalena de Rojas, who was a nun there. She told me when I was already grown that she had often said to her mother, “See this young girl, Madame? Well, she will turn out to be someone who will bring her relatives much happiness.” I was very cold and reserved with the opposite sex, an attitude with which I seemed to have been born.23 Even at this age, I remember that I already recited with much feeling and devotion the prayers that Ayllón taught me, and frequently in such a way as if I visibly had before me that great Lord to whom I prayed. May he be forever blessed! I was most devoted to confessing often, and whenever confessors came to their Highnesses’ oratory,24 as it was closest to me, I would hurry to put on my cloak. When Ayllón refused to give it to me, saying that there was no need for me to confess, I answered her by not saying anything and pulling my skirt over my head, confessing in this manner. A priest from the Jesuit order often went there then. 21. Even at this early stage, Carvajal mentions her preoccupation for her honor and her pride. 22. The Monasterio de Santo Domingo el Real, located on the hill of Santo Domingo in Madrid, was once one of the most important convents for women. It was demolished in 1869. 23. The evidence, however, is to the contrary, as Carvajal was to maintain cordial relations with several men. Carvajal follows the hagiographical tradition here, but it may also be an attempt to explain why she refused to marry, since she did not have a religious vocation to enter a convent. 24. Carvajal here refers to the Infantas’ oratory. The title of “Highness” [Alteza] was given to the princes and princesses, while “Majesty”[Majestad] was reserved for kings, queens, and the divinity.

Autobiography 121 When the Marquis [f. 5r], who was away from Spain with his wife and older sons,25 was informed of his sister’s and brother-in-law’s death, he wrote several letters insisting that I accompany his two daughters who had stayed behind. But on hearing this, I was saddened and sulked, for I was afraid to be taken away from my great-aunt, Doña María. She loved me very much and would say to me: “Do not fear, my daughter, no one will take you from me, for I will not allow it.” I was learning to read and do handiwork, but not much, because I spent most of the day playing dolls or dress-up with the Infantas. And when my governess detained me, they would come for me, showing none of the hierarchy and authority which their upbringing conferred on them. The little prince, their brother, loved me so much that he would cry when I was not present, and the princesses also wanted to have me near them, so there was usually a fight. To keep the little boy from crying,26 my aunt often went looking for me in person, since she had to expend great effort to pull me away from the princesses, and sometimes they hid me so my aunt could not find me. The sins of those years were not many in number, as I remember, but they were gravely serious, to my soul’s abiding sorrow. One Sunday I arrived at the last Mass almost at the end of the first gospel, as I had been absorbed playing with a palace damsel my age, and because of this, my governess scolded and punished me harshly. One Friday, clearing the meat dishes of their Highnesses from the table, I took a portion;27 and once I removed some illustrations from a Book of Hours. When Ayllón saw them, [sentence crossed out] she held them all in her hand, saying, “See here what you have stolen. I am going to return them right away to their owner,” making sure that the culprit

25. Francisco Hurtado de Mendoza, IV Count of Monteagudo, Carvajal’s maternal uncle. At the time, he served as ambassador to the Viennese court of Maximilian II. On his return to Spain in 1575, he was granted the titles of I Marquis of Almazán and Grandee of Spain. 26. Fernando, Prince of Asturias, born in 1571, was Anna of Austria’s first child. He died in 1578. 27. Ayllón made sure that Carvajal kept the fast on Fridays, although the princesses were allowed to eat meat on fast days, most likely for health reasons and because of the preference for and availability of meat over fish. Carvajal’s clearing their plates indicates her intimacy with the royal family.

122 Autobiography would be exposed.28 And on three or four occasions I believe, when I had lost mine, I secretly stole their Highnesses’ handkerchiefs when they fell on the floor, following one of the other children’s suggestion, in order to keep my governess happy, since she scolded me unmercifully even for small things. These and other similar flaws added up to about twelve, and I do not know if there were more, or with what amount of wickedness I sinned. It seems to me, when I think more about this, that I did not yet know what a mortal sin [f. 5v] was, and that God was no more offended by these acts than my governess or my aunt, who were usually not much angered. When they did get angry at me, I thought they were exaggerating, and I did not imagine that God would do the same. III. At Monteagudo and Almazán I wanted to remain permanently at the palace, probably because Ayllón also wanted to. But most mercifully for me, Our Lord decided differently. This occurred because of my aunt, doña María’s death. Most likely because she was a great servant of the Lord, our Divine Majesty carried her off to Heaven. The queen had gone to the Escorial29 with the infantas, and the king ordered that the prince make a public entrance in Toledo, I believe for the first time. My great-aunt carried him on her lap, seated in a small chair, on a very hot day. She came down with a high fever that caused her death. Seeing that this was the right time to grant the marquis, my uncle’s wish, my tutor did not wait for those absent to return. Given license only by don Bernardo de Rojas, the current Cardinal of Toledo and my deceased great-aunt’s son who was in charge of his mother’s affairs, I was taken to Almazán and handed over to don Pedro González de Mendoza, my grandfather’s brother, who was taking care of the marquis’s daughters and his

28. The original is illegible at this point; the phrase “luego a dar a su dueño [con lo] qual el ladron quedava” [then gave it to the owner so the thief remained … ] is crossed out and repeated in the following sentence. 29. One of Philip II’s favorite recreational areas; he built El Escorial as a palace-monastery, based on descriptions of Solomon’s temple, northwest of Madrid on the Guadarrama mountains. It is the burial site of the Spanish Habsburgs and Bourbons.

Autobiography 123 estate. He personally took me to the fortress of Monteagudo,30 where my cousins Doña Isabel and Doña María lived, the latter being my age. Having already turned ten, I started to speak maturely with older women about admonitions and many other issues, but still being a child, I also loved children’s games and entertainment. In the three months more or less that we were there, I passed the time reading and improving my writing, and playing with my little cousin. I would confess very carefully when they brought a priest from Almazán, for the town only had secular clergy, and this was of no small benefit to me, because [illegible] they did more than hear confession and give absolution. I was (very often) in a state of great devotion, thanks to a very moving ancient book on the Passion31 that I read frequently. I was brought to Almazán and before I say anything else, I will state how much Our Lord favored me in giving me Isabel de Ayllón as a governess, in whose charge my father faithfully placed me at the hour of his death. She would say that she did not want to have to account to God for anything regarding my guidance. This virtuous maiden taught me to behave very chastely, with extreme demureness and modesty, even in the smallest actions. She was so exacting in this that even when undressing me and putting me to bed she was never careless. She would not let me sleep on my left side, so no harmful fluid would flow straight to the heart.32 And she would make me [f. 6r] cross my arms over my chest in the form of a cross, and then, pulling my nightgown to my feet, she folded it between my knees. In summer, she would stitch the bed sheets together on both sides, for my health and my modesty, which she guarded carefully. She exhorted me to flee from laziness, repeating often, “Laziness never did anything good, and truly such a weak foundation cannot bear to support anything 30. A town in Navarra. Spain. The first count of Monteagudo was also named Pedro González de Mendoza (c.1440), Carvajal’s great grand-uncle. 31. Tractado de devotísimas y muy íntimas contemplaciones de la Pasión del Hijo de Dios, y compasión de la Virgen su Madre, por esta razón llamado Passio duorum [Treatise of very devout and profound contemplations on the Passion of the Son of God, and compassion for the Virgin his mother, and for this reason called Passio Duorum], was published in Valladolid in 1526. 32. Carvajal follows the Renaissance humoral theory proposing that the body contained four humors or fluids: blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile.

124 Autobiography that is good.” She would not allow me to tell her any news or gossip, no matter how insignificant. She would urge me to accustom myself to remain silent and discreet, so that, before hearing any news and what I had heard, she heard it first from the household. She did not permit me to swear any kind of oath or to take any book in hand that was not religious, like all her books, or to remain where romances of chivalry, love stories, and vain fictions were read.33 If she suspected that I had one in my possession (which was hardly ever the case, as I was not inclined to this kind of reading), she would stop her work and go find me, and bringing me with her, she either made me read a while from a religious book so she could hear me, or she had me do housework. She scolded me if I liked to remain in one place, saying that “what more would you do if you were eighty years old?” She made sure my face, hands, and clothes were clean, and dressed me so discreetly and elegantly that I was the center of attention. She taught me courteous manners and a sound and calm demeanor, and to tolerate other children even if they angered me. If she heard me speak with a loud voice or more than the low one that she believed necessary, she would embarrass me by scolding me in public. [Sentence crossed out]. She wanted me to detest the frivolous customs and talks and disorderly behavior of some young girls we knew. She made sure to ask me in private what I thought of them, to get to know my state of mind and inclination.34 When I responded that I thought them wicked, which was what she wanted to hear, she would repeat the lesson of abomination. She made me act respectfully and quietly at mass and in [holy] places, not forgetting [illegible] whenever I had the chance. I do not believe there were any good thoughts that she did not attempt to inscribe in my young heart, which took up most of her time, since it seems it was her only worry. My arms would pay every time she found me behaving against her rules, as she would leave them full of bruises and great marks (she no longer whipped me after I was a toddler). She would therefore say to me “I no longer have to govern you by means of whippings, for those are children’s ways; you should assume women’s thoughts and be very sensible and mature from now on.” I did not 33. Books were typically read aloud to both the literate and illiterate members of the household. 34. Written in the manuscript margin.

Autobiography 125 want anyone in the household or the other little girls who resided there to know the rigor with which she treated me. The marquise (my uncle’s wife) thought it wrong and the youths called it a prison, asking me why [f. 6v] I endured my servant’s strictness and penalties, and why I obeyed her, since I was her mistress. I thought about what they said, and finally, I resolved to love her and appreciate her deeds more each day, finding it easy to forgive her excesses, as it was obvious that they led me to virtue and kept me from vice. At this time, seven or eight years after I had come to Almazán, the marquis arrived …35 [f. 7r]. My uncle and aunt (the latter was also my relative and had married with dispensation),36 returned to Spain eight or nine months after our arrival at Almazán. I was so happy to have them there that I cried for joy. From the first day on, my uncle showed me great love and saw in me many good things that pleased him greatly, and being so pleased, he would tell others. He stayed there [at Almazán] for only a short while, then left for the court. I remained with his wife and daughters in Almazán for two years. The oldest daughter37 and I learned how to write well and read any kind of handwriting, and to do arithmetic. We would also do some handiwork, stealing as much time as we could from these tasks so we had more to play and stroll through the fields and along the riverbanks of the river Duero, which are delightful, with lovely hills. We would chase Aguilera in play and to entertain ourselves.38 There was so much game that the deer and birds would cross our paths before

35. The first thirteen folios of Carvajal’s narrative are interrupted here, and are followed by ten folios of drafts of her later narrative. I follow Abad’s pagination, continuing the narrative from the original’s folio 11 at midpage. The folios are drafts with many erasures, which I do not indicate, and marginal notes, which I indicate in italics. 36. Her uncle’s wife was Ana María de Cárdenas y Velasco, daughter of Bernardino de Cárdenas y Pacheco, I Marquis of Elche and II Duke of Maqueda, whose mother was related to Carvajal’s uncle. 37. The Marquis had four children: Francisco Hurtado de Mendoza, II Marquis of Almazán; Isabel de Velasco y Mendoza (1564–1626) who married Luis Carrillo, Marquis of Caracena (and maintained contact with Carvajal; see correspondence); María Hurtado de Mendoza; and Francisca de Mendoza. 38. Added in the margin; Aguilera may have been a young household servant.

126 Autobiography our eyes, the rabbits run back and forth, and the hares jump when we least expected,39 a very common [f. 7v] occurrence in those parts. Doña María enjoyed playing with dolls, but I did not have the temperament for it or any talent whatsoever to build dollhouses; she would be angry at me for not wanting to stay with her. I preferred to play grown-up ladies and nuns, which was our usual game. We would look for items that could serve as the choir and convent grilles, and we would sing psalms. One day, on leaving my room, Doña María came at me suddenly and began to hit me with her fists, showing great anger toward me. She noticed that I stared at her, and I said “Are you happy now that you have lost your temper? What a nice thing you have done!” She was embarrassed to hear me, and learned that it was not easy to make me lose my temper and get mad. That had been her purpose, she told me later when we were grown, because she was very jealous that everyone thought I was such a beautiful child and praised my looks, while they paid no attention to her. I was not at all jealous, but I was saddened to experience this vile vice three or four times against another girl, who was given something or other more beautiful than what I received, but I soon forgot it. I cannot remember how carefully I prayed, but I know that Ayllón taught me devotional prayers that could not be said without long meditation, the Passion especially, to which I was very devoted. I prayed to those holy and sorrowful stations,40 not least in great silence and concentration, and with deep caring. I must have wanted to lead Doña María in the same direction, for many years later, she made fun of me by repeating some two or three words with which she said I began the prayer of the Garden of Gethsemane, saying “Consider the small noises in the night and the great quiet and silence of that place, and Our Lord amid so much anguish, praying.” Although I had forgotten this, she had not. I loved to read books that awakened in me a horror and fear of hell and love and sorrow for Christ’s pain, and those that taught how one should confess, which always comforted me and gave me great satisfaction when I went to confession, at the times and 39. Carvajal playfully refers to the popular adage, “the hare jumps whence least expected” [Donde menos se piensa salta la liebre]. 40. The fourteen stations of the Cross.

Autobiography 127 days that Ayllón ordered. It seemed I knew little of God, although what I read illuminated me. I must have followed a virtuous path and attended to my devotions more because of my natural inclination and Ayllón’s teachings than because of a true love for Our Lord. When I was eleven years old, I received my first Holy Communion. I believe it was the feast day of our Lady in September, at Saint Michael’s parish, which was next to the marquis’s residence. It seems I prepared myself reverently and devoutly, the best I knew how. And I do not know whether this was what made me climb the steps41 with a noticeable tremor that ran through my body, which I remember very well. I also remember spending some time with Doña María, gravely reflecting on the eternity of suffering and glory. With great awe, we would say “The end is not bound to come for more than one thousand years, or even ten and twenty times one thousand years; and yet this number amounts to nothing, not even if we increase it a million times over. How frightening!”42 The marquise took care to bring us two girls with her to her usual devotional practices, which were many. She was a devoutly Christian woman full of Christian charity. She always attended the public solemnities of the holy days during the year and because of her many devotions, she celebrated numerous others, not only by attending masses, processions, and sermons, but also vespers, and when she could, complines and salves.43 Many times we would tire of going to church with her so often. When the Most Holy Sacrament was taken to the sick, we would accompany her from the church to the very quarters of those for whom it was meant. We returned with his Holy Majesty until we left him again in the sacristy, as more liberty was given in Almazán [blank space] than in other places. She would also take us with her some feast day afternoons to the hospital [f 8r], going from bed to bed. These and other similar activities were her usual pastimes.

41. Abad notes that the church had very high steps before the altar. 42. As children, Teresa of Ávila and her brother would also entertain themselves with these thoughts. 43. Complines were the final night prayers of the canonical hours. The Salve Regina, a hymn to the Virgin, was sung during specific times of the year.

128 Autobiography In temperament, the marquise was very similar to her father, the marquis. She had a dry and harsh personality, which she tempered considerably with her virtue. She caused no little suffering to those who did not interest her, but was sweet with those who did. I saw her few times with a peaceful countenance and voice. She had begun to tire of Ayllón because one of her daughters, to whom she demonstrated a lukewarm attachment, loved her very much. It caused me much suffering, so I began to act very patiently. I maintained always an abiding respect and reverence toward her, and I never said a word to her unless I saw that she wished me to, and then I addressed her very softly and submissively. And if she wanted or asked for something, I would hurry and bring it to her before anyone else in their house, and for this reason, she would praise me highly when I was not present. The sins of those years seemed to fall into the same category, which was to take notice of how the young girls spent their time on frivolities and vain attachments; and when an important person or someone I cared about committed a sin, I remained resolutely quiet and did what I could to keep it from the other girls. But when the fault was committed by lower-class girls, which everyone knew about, I spread the rumors and would laugh at their craziness, and prying, I would ask the girls what they and others knew who talked about the same thing. And although I hated this kind of behavior, I went so far as to take two pieces of paper to give to a young knight, by order of a person very high up in government whom I respected. Sometimes we took sweets from the marquis’s cupboards, as if we did not have enough. Except for these times, I do not remember being alone, but always following my cousins. I would go with them to the room of the marquis’s brother, a clergyman and good servant of Our Lord. I stole some small illuminated holy cards, but he soon noticed and I returned them. We commonly took whatever he had that pleased us, seriously or in jest, and he would cheerfully put up with us. The marquise wanted us to learn Latin, but Doña María and I went only as far as the nominative case. The marquis was sent to Navarra as viceroy of that kingdom; once there, he summoned his daughter, doña Isabel, and his son-in-law (they are the Marquis and Marquise of Caracena, still living), and gave orders to bring Doña Francisca, her sister, and me.

Autobiography 129 I was thirteen years old and very advanced in Ayllón’s good teachings. Even though at the time I would listen only rarely to other girls reading poems and lewd poetry, I seem to remember that I read one or two, yet I am certain that I was no more wicked then than during my childhood and that my behavior was the same. Neither on that occasion nor on any others, when I heard similar expressions, was my great sincerity perturbed or challenged. At times I wanted to discuss the matter, but could not, and pondering this difficulty, I marveled at what little power the devil had in making me learn what I did not know and in putting images into my head. I was happy to remain innocent, acting with special care from then on to flee from conversations that were harmful. One day, when I was in a room busy doing who knows what, in another area some people were speaking so impudently that I thought from the start that they were beginning to compromise my candor. Without [f. 8v] waiting one moment, I stopped what I was doing and quietly and hurriedly left the room, hoping that they had not noticed I had heard them, for my own honor and shame, since they had none. With this, I blocked any harm and trouble from my heart and my thoughts. Before I left for Navarra, I received a letter from my brother Gutierre that Ayllón’s mother had died.44 I waited several days to tell her, looking for a good time, since it hurt me to worry her. Having found out at last, she thought it best to go to her mother’s town to receive her part of the inheritance. She told me that she did not want to leave me, but I said that if her leaving was important, she should not desist solely because of the pain our separation would cause us both. On hearing this, she decided I should go to Navarra while she was gone. I was very sorry to leave her, but felt comforted by doing what was right, despite our understandable wish that she not leave.

44. Carvajal never mentions this brother again. Her later experiences and correspondence will be with another brother, Alonso de Carvajal.

130 Autobiography IV. At Pamplona with the Marquis of Almazán In Pamplona, I began early on to consider it an offense to play any kind of game that was not convenient for grown women. When I arrived at Pamplona45 my uncle began to treat me as the daughter of his soul, as he called me, and I to have him as my soul’s father, which lightened the pain I felt from Ayllón’s absence, and I began to transfer my love for her to him. Here I give a description of my uncle.46 My uncle was a man of great presence and intelligence, the most important and experienced of all the king’s ministers and [f. 8r bis] from what we know of the saintly King David,47 his image in many ways. He was not too tall or too short, extremely fair-skinned, with hair like gold, slightly curled. His eyes were regal and revealed his temperament. His was the kindest and most tender heart ever to be found, and most inclined to forgive his enemies (which were many) and treat them well. His zeal was extraordinary and notable in all that involved the holy Roman Catholic Church, for which he performed the most important services while in Germany. He was a relentless exterminator of public and scandalous sins and devoted himself willingly and gracefully to reconciling enmities and disbanding factions and dissension. Whenever necessary, he would take to the road and assume other duties, which he carried out effectively. He spoke elegantly and with great ease on spiritual matters, particularly about the person of Christ our Lord and the evils of mortal sin. Whenever he could, he endeavored to keep his house free from this plague with the marquise’s help, who as I have said was as much a servant of Our Lord as he. He was very wise and knowledgeable about the Holy Scriptures, the doctors of the church, and mystical matters. He wrote exceptionally fine and solemn spiritual poems, which were collected in a precious book found after his death. He had a pure and harmoni45. The capital of the kingdom of Navarra. The marquis was named viceroy in 1579, after serving two years at court. 46. Abad’s narrative (150) reorders the original, incorporating the following fragment describing the marquis. I have moved the subtitle to the earlier paragraph to incorporate all the comments on Carvajal’s arrival at Pamplona. 47. Carvajal compares her uncle’s interest in poetry to that of King David; the marquis had an impressive library that was available to Carvajal. See Bouza Álvarez.

Autobiography 131 ous voice, which he usually dedicated to singing psalms of David with great love and devotion, either by himself or in front of his children and servants. It pleased him to practice ordinary and extraordinary penitence, although he always ate meat at meals due to his delicate stomach, for he would vomit easily, especially in the evenings. His father, don Juan,48 a most holy man, had raised him with extraordinary virtue, which he always followed. He was given to lengthy prayer, like his father, and honored religious and good men in the extreme. While all found in him both a father and a mother, he especially loved and singled out the Jesuit order. There was nothing, no matter how difficult, that he would not do for the Society. As to his decency, from the time he was a child, no one ever said anything inappropriate about him. He often commented that, for him, a beautiful woman was no better to look at than a good quality diamond. I know I can truly say this, with no exaggeration. [f. 8v] My uncle’s oratory that summer was next to a cool room where he would take his evening meal. Almost every night after supper, he remained there in the company of his son-in-law, brother, and daughters. I would take one of the candles from the table and the master key that he kept in his purse and go to the oratory to pray, which pleased the good man so much that he ordered me to go when he noticed I had not gone on some nights. One of my devotions was to meditate on the seven blood-sheddings of Christ our Lord, which are the circumcision, the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, the scourging at the pillar, the coronation with thorns, the way of the cross, the crucifixion, and the piercing of his heart. I felt strong devotion to these, as the fire of his most holy love began to burn in my breast, with the highest admiration for my sovereign Lord, and I would leave with a buoyant heart, well disposed toward all things of the spirit. I dearly loved the Jesuits, following in my uncle’s footsteps, who adored them. To entertain herself, a housewife, an old and very gracious servant of the house, would enrage me by saying many evil things about them. I would go outside and fight with her about this, and for the same reason, she would say a hundred things against my uncle.

48. Juan Hurtado de Mendoza, Lord of Almazán and III Count of Monteagudo.

132 Autobiography a) My offenses at the time My aunt the marquise returned from the court to Pamplona with her daughter Doña María, bringing Ayllón among her servants, which made me extremely happy. The same night she arrived, she heard me exclaim “By my life,” and immediately the good woman scolded me, saying “What is this? Have you learned to swear in my absence?” This was not the case, nor do I remember swearing at other times, and I do not know how I came to do so then. Or if at times I did swear, at least it was on rare occasions and to good purpose, as I will now relate. My uncle had given me a whip made from white silk, very unusual and delicate, recommending that I [f. 9r] flagellate myself. Since I found it too soft, I added a silver thistle that I took from one of my older cousins and put in my purse. My cousin became suspicious and rushed at me all at once to retrieve it. Worried that she would take it, and knowing it had made me bleed (and because I did not want her to find out about my devotions, as she would enjoy making fun of them), I stood up with great force and was so maddened with fear that I forgot that I was only in my bodice and petticoat. With no other clothes and with my hair loose like Mary Magdalene’s, I ran out of the room into another where my uncle happened to be. As soon as I saw him, I immediately turned around, with my cousin still after me. I felt so badly that she had managed to upset me in such a disorderly manner that I tossed the whip on top of the bed canopy. She suspected as much and began to look for it. To distract her, I swore “by my life” that it was not there, but not before I reflected that to swear a lie was a mortal sin. As I thought it and swore all at once, it seemed that I did it on purpose. Afterward, I did not know how badly I felt! I must have felt no little remorse, since I never swore a lie or a doubt again, nor do I remember having sworn in any way. And that event became so fixed in my memory that I have been unable to forget it, and it accounted for one of my most evil sins, since although I have committed many others, none so deliberate as this, and warning me so much that it was a mortal sin. After my having sworn, I will give as my most serious and evil offense the time when I went to general confession with my sins written down. Because no Jesuits were available, I went to a very old Domini-

Autobiography 133 can priest. Saying that my sins were smaller than the paper they were written on, he told me not to read them. He did not believe what I had written, as I had probably done nothing more than copy Father Luis de Granada.49 I was so ashamed that, saying three or four things that came to my head, I asked for absolution. He asked if I remembered anything else. I replied no, very upset, and I believe I responded with all the impatience I had stored. I tore up [illegible words] I do not remember if I thought this was a mortal sin. Soon afterwards, I and the other girls stole some preserves from one of the older cousins, something not considered all that important or of any consequence, but the servant who kept the keys missed them and accused one of the girls in front of her aunt. She lied and swore that she had not taken them for she was the leader. Although I did not want anyone to know what we had done, I felt so afraid and sorry seeing her swear like that, that I soon told the truth in order to stop her, yet she continued to swear. My cousin and I told her that, in truth, we had committed this with her. But she did not want to give in, so we added “Oh, what a shattered conscience you have! You should fear God, or fear the devil, who might carry you away!” On this occasion, hearing our mischief, my uncle said to me “Oh, daughter, where is your judgment? Why have you done this?” I was so taken aback that I could never forget it, and kept from doing this again, not wanting even to take part with the older cousins. Only if they brought something to me, did I take it, when I felt like it, since I was not very fond of preserves, and in this, as in other things, I was like my uncle.50 When I was recently arrived at Pamplona, before all this occurred, I believe, I committed another offense whose evil fits in well here. It happened that I was moved by the sadness and great bitterness caused by the jealousy I felt over the love of one of my friends for another—which I believe is called envy, and this was the last time in my life that I remember feeling like this, for from the age of reason, Our Lord had provided me with a great hatred of that vice, along with freedom of spirit and sovereignty against it (may he be glorified forever). 49. Fray Luis de Granada (1504–1588); a renowned theologian whose spiritual treatises were among the most read in early modern Spain. 50. Carvajal identifies herself very strongly with her uncle, which may respond to her need to justify her excessively austere behavior and her imitation of his own behavior.

134 Autobiography My offense was that one cold night, preparing for bed, I remained for a long time in a corridor almost naked [f. 9v], feeling indisposed. Although my scruples told me that this could be a very grave sin, still I remained. In a kind of desperate humor, I did not care that this could harm me. I do not remember if I believed it a mortal sin or if I had any doubt, not even in past confessions, only that I knew it was serious. Since that time, my offenses have continued to lessen from more serious ones. If I committed any on various occasions or after all these years, I do not believe that they amount to more than six, nor are they as wicked as the ones I have recounted. The love in my heart for Our Lord was crystallizing and I would hear his holy truths from the mouth of my uncle without tiring, but with notable pleasure, attention, and respect. b) Vow to do whatever was asked for the love of God Having heard that Saint Francis had vowed to do whatever he was asked for the love of God (which he did only as regards giving alms), I burned so with devotion that on my knees in the oratory, with much emotion, I resolved to fulfill this first vow. And I tried to keep my vow as often as possible. It was difficult for me to do so secretly so others would not know, for they would give me much trouble and hard times. And thus, no living person found out, not even my uncle or my confessors, outside of confession. This made me apprehensive at times when I was overcome by difficulties, although very much against my will and never about any serious matters. From what I can remember, all my scruples surfaced when my aunt took me to church with her on holydays. There were so many beggars at the church doors that I worried whether I should give them my gloves and handkerchief, and other similar items, and I sometimes did, I believe. I remember giving one an excellent pair of amber gloves.51 But my confessor, who was a Jesuit, stopped me some months later, saying that I was not obligated, and ordered me not to do this or carry too much money in my purse, leaving the money at home before going out. One cannot even think of the favor Our Lord did me so I could fulfill this vow. I marveled to 51. Used to perfume gloves, ambergris was a highly prized and fragrant waxy substance produced by sperm whales.

Autobiography 135 see with what pleasure he accomplished so many and diverse things by year’s end, thanks to the custom in Spain52 of regularly begging for anything, no matter how small, for the love of God.53 c) Relations with the marquis I was constantly in my uncle’s company; I spent most of the day seated next to him, he in his chair, writing by himself or with his secretaries or scribes, and I on the floor, rarely accepting a cushion to sit on and only a mat in winter. I would always hold a spiritual treatise in my hand or under my arm as my perpetual companion. The more mystical and substantial books pleased me the most, and I read them a hundred times without tiring in order to store them in my memory, which served me as a book on many occasions.54 This was how I thought of books [f. 10r] and their contents. The others, although good, were trivial, and gave me little pleasure. Since my uncle was a very serious and virtuous man, there was no occasion to disturb his virtue, and my own grew stronger and stronger. I looked up to him with great reverence and respect, as if to a saint, and at the others, with a pure gaze typically reserved for the dead. Even the handsomest men seemed to me coarse, cold, and ugly, unlike my uncle. I wanted to be solely in his company and in that of our confessors and persons who were very religious. The rest, whether cousins, relatives, or friends, tired me; I felt a natural aversion to them and difficulty in communicating and dealing with them, no matter how modest they were. Although I tried to hide it, I treated them always coldly and deliberately. When I did not see them, I easily forgot them, not recognizing them when I saw them again, and the 52. According to Abad, the mention of Spain indicates that Carvajal wrote this in England (“Autobiografía,” Escritos autobiográficos, 156). 53. The paragraph speaks to Carvajal’s scruples on whether she should fulfill her intense wish to give constantly to the poor, which was curtailed by her confessors. She justifies her acts of charity by stating that she followed the typical expression of the poor “for the love of God” [por amor de Dios] when begging for alms. In this, it seems she was consciously imitating her mother’s behavior. 54. In effect, while in London, Carvajal relied on her memory of her readings from her uncle’s library since she left her books in Spain (Cruz, “Reading over Men’s Shoulders”).

136 Autobiography same thing happened to me with the women who were closest to me. And not for lack of sight, as Our Lord gave me excellent vision; nor least for remembering all the rest, but for this, I was completely lacking in memory. I had much difficulty remembering what they wore, without knowing why this was. d) Spiritual guidance When my uncle stopped and his scribes polished his drafts, he would speak to me about Our Lord. As his daughter said, his breast was a wellspring of spiritual doctrine that never ran dry. They would call me his “listener” because I was the one who most spent time and most enjoyed listening to him, kneeling with my arms on the desk in front of him. He would often say that I was his Esther, because just as her uncle Mordechai had raised her in the fear of Our Lord, so he raised me. The readings he loved most were Holy Scriptures and Doctors of the Church. From the time I was fifteen, from hearing him read, without knowing how, since all he did was translate from Latin into Spanish with great ease, [I came to understand Latin] without lessons or any kind of classes [illegible] in all my life.55 He made sure I spent an hour each day in mental prayer, which I dedicated mainly to one of the events of the Passion. Other times, I meditated on death, sins, the last judgment, and hell. I held no long deliberations or incisive thoughts, but dwelled on the aspect that most moved me toward the love or fear I would then experience, and there I would stop. Whenever I sought the light and devoutness, I sailed with good wind, but without these, my soul’s poor skiff was left stranded in terrible sands. My spirit would be left to fight the diverse vague thoughts that I often [f. 10v] endured. I no sooner fought off sleep than they would again overpower me, and I was never fully clear-headed. My uncle would demand to know whether I had said my prayers without fail or if I had fallen asleep. I told him the truth promptly and sincerely, knowing that he would then scold me for it. I remember that from the beginning, when thinking about this and similar matters, I realized that if I did not resolve to treat them with 55.This conflicts with Carvajal’s previous statement that she had begun to study Latin at her aunt’s behest.

Autobiography 137 complete honesty to please Our Lord only, steering my heart away from the crooked path whose contentment and satisfaction lead us smoothly and deceptively at times and other times to greatly offend God, I would soon be plagued with the filthy leprosy of hypocrisy, as innumerable and frequent occasions presented themselves with my uncle. For he showed greater love and even more preference toward those in his household whom he believed to be the most devoted and religious. But so much did Our Lord want me to be aware of this and hate all that smelled of hypocrisy, that I do not remember ever sullying my soul with this vice, finding myself with a free and superior heart. My uncle faulted me for how carefully he believed I concealed my sentiments, penitential discipline, and spiritual exercises. It is true that I did so whenever possible, as it seemed to me that the more one did, the less one should say, and since I did so little, there was nothing to tell. Unless it seems that Our Lord wishes otherwise, our interior worth should far exceed what we exhibit externally. I would never say anything to my uncle unless he asked me, and then I responded forthrightly. I was on a simple spiritual path, and as to penitential discipline, I did no more than what he ordered me. I would obey him, but not say anything until he asked, complying with a “yes.” He was so fervent that he wished I would behave with the same fervor and tell him what a sinner I was and everything that I wanted to do for the Lord. He wanted me to ask him that he demand of me all sorts of mortification and penitence and similar acts, but I could never change how I was, if it depended only on me. So when he would say, “Tell me this or that,” I did so because I owed him obedience; and although I had never made such a vow, I held it in the highest regard. And besides what I have already mentioned, I began to sense that there was a great discrepancy between his behavior, although it was so saintly, and his being a lay person, as I was, and that we were in the world and continually in contact. I therefore thought it a good idea to remain very quiet and readily obey him in all that was not a sin.56 I told him that with the spirit given him by Our Lord, he should see 56. Carvajal seems to be aware of the dangers of spending too much time alone with her uncle, and of the need to choose a state.

138 Autobiography what my soul could [f. 11r] best offer His Majesty, since I was there to render fully what was expected of me. I was especially pleased to be under his rule, and did nothing without his permission, not even leave the house with my aunt or my married cousins, or go to the orchard, which was far from everyone, or wear special clothes or head cover for feast days. Since it was usually up to my aunt to give permission, my uncle preferred that I ask him first, for if he said no (as he often did), it would not be appropriate for her to grant it and I fail to follow her wish, as it would have upset her terribly. As I said, as regards earthly guidance, I was subject to her rule because I was a woman; yet the marquis was my spiritual advisor, whose advice also touched on things of a temporal nature. Therefore, it took no little care and skill to balance the two when she was at home, for she often stayed away a long time in other lands. My guidance, in those cases, involved my following the marquis’s orders first, as he was the head of household, and his authority more spiritual and of greater benefit to my soul, for it was permanent and enduring. For those things that I could not ask him without being noticed, I would remain quiet and let myself be blamed for what seemed my fault in not following their wishes, and even then, they at times guessed my reasons. In what I could freely choose without my uncle expressly wishing to grant permission, I obeyed the marquise, happy that I could please her in something. Whenever I was at liberty or in small things that she had ordered me to do, in both their presence, I always followed her orders rather than his, and my uncle was made to appreciate the discretion and tact this entailed. I felt relieved in my mind when we spoke, since he understood everything so well and dispassionately, making true sense of things. Our Lord had mercy on me, giving me intelligent conversation and thoughts on what I saw and heard, so I did not fail to know the evil and bitterness of the world, and God’s great goodness and sweetness, whose expansiveness and perfect virtue I was discovering beyond what my uncle had determined to tell me. He praised me immensely both in my presence and absence, constantly demonstrating with some exaggeration his love for me and how much he valued my behavior. And to forestall my vain complacency, Our Lord willed it from early on that I foresaw how wretched it was to place my trust

Autobiography 139 in someone other than himself. It amounted to throwing it into the dung pile of men’s instability and the easy exchange by them of anything worthwhile. I devoutly recalled the words: Maledictus homo qui confidit in homine;57 and these: Nolite confidere in [f. 11v] principibus in filiis hominum in quibus non est salus.58 I did not want my uncle to think that in those early years, I was impressed by the favors he gave me. The affection and dedication with which I came to appreciate the benefits that he offered my soul were perceived as special, but in reality, in my heart I found the love of Our Lord to be very different and superior. A strong fear thus began to take root in my heart that this could be a mortal sin, since my uncle would often speak of how detestable sin was, describing its misery extremely well. He would often say with great emotion, “There is not enough water in the sea, my daughter, to cry over a mortal sin, nor is there time enough to lament it, no matter how long your life.” It therefore seemed to me that even leaving aside the offense to God, and for our own love of self and serenity, it was easier and one thousand times better not to commit a mortal sin, than to have to remedy such a serious and difficult obligation, so full of sorrow and sadness. I was so frightened of sinning in this manner, that I believed nothing had more force than the holy fear I felt within my soul. Thus, I was afraid that were I to commit a real sin, a horrible serpent would swallow me alive, body and soul. I came to dismiss what was only the loss of my earthly life in this case. The fear that happily overtook my heart has freed me from thousands of sins that I no doubt would have deliberately committed, given the desolation and frailty that I have always known were mine. Glory be to God! e) Obedience: Extraordinary trials With no less care did my uncle lead me toward a perfect obedience and negation of my own will, which he called a contagious spiritual plague, the cause of a million evils. For him, if I did not early on successfully break and vanquish it, it would take the most crooked paths 57. “Cursed be the man that trusts in man” (Jeremias 17.5). 58. “Put not your trust in princes; nor in the children of men, in whom there is no salvation” (Psalms 145.2–3).

140 Autobiography in both significant and insignificant matters and strengthened by its long success, it would ignore any kind of wise reasoning by not listening to it at all. Thus, the willful not only commit sins, but discredit their natural intelligence on moral matters and cautious self-control. I would test and break my will in a thousand ways. When I was fourteen years old, the marquis assumed more care over me each day and decided to train me in an extraordinary manner to fight against my natural inclination. There was in the household a good servant of God with a sufficiently reserved and wise spirit whom he ordered under great secrecy to [f. 12r] take on as her duty my humiliation with mortifications and disciplines. And he instructed me to obey her in all these matters, accepting their beneficial cleansing for the progress and strength of my soul’s health, and in imitation of the sufferings of Christ our Lord.59 A private oratory was conveniently nearby, and several other places just as private, where she often ordered me to wait for her. And entering and locking the doors, with a severe and somber look, she would command me to uncover my shoulders and disrobe to the waist. Decently covering my breast with a cloth that I held under my chin, and on my knees, I would offer Our Lord this sacrifice, which in my opinion was the hardest and most rigorous that could be asked of me. And if, before beginning to disrobe, I had not made the offer from the bottom of my heart and with the most ardent undertaking and love of God, I do not think I could ever have had the strength to withstand such violence, or remove the first piece of clothing. She would come with whips made of stiff guitar strings60 and flagellate me as long as she wished with such well-aimed blows that at times I could hardly stand them, and so as not to show my pain, I had to press my hands together or tighten them into fists. It was my habit never to externalize the least emotion to others, and I tried to refrain from doing so at these moments, displaying only modesty in all my actions, since I was so ashamed and deeply mortified by my nudity that my face surely turned as pale and wan as if I were dead. The alteration in my chest and the difficulty I felt in disrobing could not help but to cause this effect, as I said, in my face and complexion. And Our Lord would 59. Carvajal insists on the secret nature of her uncle’s mandate. 60. Guitar strings were made from treated animal intestines.

Autobiography 141 offer this profound humiliation in the most liberal manner, so that my soul would find itself undone and my heart broken in shards from loving devotion. Copious tears streamed softly, coming from Our Lord’s hand, but I could not distinguish whether they sprang from the great effort I made to disrobe or the confusion I felt when I had done so. No matter what caused them, I know the tears were a blend of God’s most tender love and so excellent a practice of humility, that both enriched me and increased my disillusion of the world. f) Acts of piety and charity I dedicated as much time as possible to all kinds of pious acts, giving advice to the women of the household and interceding carefully with my uncle in favor of others in the cases that I thought best served Our Lord. The misery and deprivation of the poor [f. 12v] caused me much suffering. I wished I could remedy them, and I would do what little I could by giving them money, which I would make up for by deducting it from my food. I began to give food daily to a poor person whom I believed was most in need, and this pleased my uncle very much. In time, as I found others who enhanced my devotion, I increased their number, with no little lack of comfort for me. In order to give them enough food, I would often be left with very little for me and to conceal this, I pretended that I wanted soup instead, which was never served at tables such as ours without first ordering it. My uncle enjoyed having it, and they would say that we were alike even in this, without knowing why, which was fine with me. And in this same way I would proceed with many other forms of virtue that necessarily had to be carried out in public. It was clear to me that most times, I was adept at convincing everyone of what I wanted, keeping my intentions virtuous and increasing the candor and radiance of my good works. And the more I would experience these moments of virtue and devotion, without being seen or heard, although I did not find I was obliged to give an example, the more and most tender pleasure and happiness they gave me. It is not an easy thing to relay the mercies that I received then from Our Lord, and even less so to relate those that His Majesty gave

142 Autobiography me for suffering my neighbors, which he always offered on many occasions. After I turned fifteen, everything intensified, including my uncle’s love and his shows of affection, not by indulging me, but by preparing me and having me next to his chair as much as possible. After spending some leisure time with his children after supper, he would go to his quarters, almost always taking me with him. If he was not busy with guests or business matters, he would read from the Holy Scriptures or from the saintly doctors, or speak gravely about spiritual matters with great devoutness. If it was a holy day, he would speak about that day and its holy mystery, at times singing psalms, which he did very graciously, and many times, with great emotion, the verse: Venite filii, audite me; timorem domini docebo vos.61 At times, his children would follow him, but little by little they would go and leave him by himself. And when he would see me stay there, he would begin to sing: Vos estis qui permansistis mecum in tentationibus meis.62 He was most affable and of a consistently even temper. Whenever he had important visitors or [f. 12v] he could not abide for them to see me, he would conceal me in a window seat covered with curtains. If the visits took place close to the oratories or the library, he would hide me within, calling me in a loud voice when they would leave. When he would write, he sat me with my book next to him, and I would read, as I mentioned. Whenever he left the house and had to leave me in the marquise’s rooms, he often persuaded me to stay in his oratory while he took the key, or to go to my own room and not go outside with my cousins and servants. The marquise was of an exemplary virtue, particularly as regards modesty and decency, yet her fervent wish that my dealings and conversations with humans be changed to those with the angels and heavenly saints, went unsatisfied. She not only tried to keep me from grave sins, but also from ordinary and venial ones that I could incur by being in such company. The marquise did not devote her time to encourage these or any other things, other than to have us become chaste and sensible women, even though she lived a very penitent and devout life, with61. “Come my children, and hear me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord” (Psalm 33.12). 62. “You are the ones abiding with me in my tests” (Luke 22:28).

Autobiography 143 drawn from her husband, daughters, and the household. She spent the time writing and taking care of business, for in addition to the matters of her estate, her vassals, and the household, which the marquis left entirely in her charge, she was a great caretaker of the poor, making sure that during droughts, they had cheap bread. She had more than enough to occupy her with all the pious or virtuous works that she believed she could begin in whatever place or province she happened to be. She would write to all those concerned, magistrates, councilmen, merchants, patrons of hospitals and brotherhoods, bishops, and other ecclesiastical dignitaries. This was her only entertainment, respite, and moments of celebration, at which I rarely remember having seen her, even when importuned by her husband. We would methodically go with her all during the year to the divine offices held at the churches devoted to the saints of the feast days or at monasteries. I never missed going with her to hospitals, which took up most of the feast days’ afternoons, and bringing some refreshments to the poor, such as baskets of pippin apples, pomegranates, and sweet oranges, which she had us distribute from bed to bed.63 I would save some sweets to give them; one Lent I carefully kept the slices of candied fruit that they gave me among the other gifts, one slice per night, this seeming very special to me. I would put them in my handkerchief without anyone seeing me and by Easter, I had enough to hand out, which I did with the same secrecy with which I had been keeping them. One day, one of my cousins gave me a cloth full of salsify root and tablets of cherry paste, a delicacy from Valencia, that she had taken from her mother for the both of us. As I have said, I did not care much for sweets, and had little use for them save to give to the sick poor, so I took them to the hospital. Although I walked behind the marquise, handing them out furtively, I do not know how one of her pages, perhaps coming to a bed, saw what the indigent was eating. Soon everyone at home knew, and my cousin scolded me a little, while the others laughed. The marquise never asked or said anything to me about it.

63. Carvajal is at pains to explain her aunt’s cold reception toward her. In this description, she seems to exaggerate her aunt’s domestic responsibilities, but Spanish women of the early modern period had control of vast properties and responsibilities.

144 Autobiography g) Occasions of suffering They said that the marquise cared for me, and in my absence, as I have said, she would praise me always in an exaggerated fashion. In my presence [f. 13r], the majority of times she maintained a dry appearance and a cold demeanor and response toward me. It was thought that she did this to please a daughter whom she loved very much, and who behaved in this manner toward her. She tired of my fasting to give food to the poor, and of any other penitence that she suspected I practiced, for she thought that my health would fail. She was in favor of our indulging ourselves, although she was very harsh with herself. Sometimes she would send a message or ask me herself whether I wished to fast the next day for a particular saint to whom she was devoted. I would say yes, and she would then order something for both our fasts. Other times, she would not speak to me, and then I thought it best to remain silent and content myself with the first dishes and the desserts of the table, tasting some of the other dishes whenever I was being watched. But I would spit them into my napkin, pretending I was wiping my mouth. She never stopped scolding me for my excesses, as she called them, using many sharp and even insulting words at the same table, in front of everyone. I could not resolve this, for in order to please her, I needed to abandon this and many other devotions that I cared about and that my uncle approved of and wanted me to continue. And he would tire of hearing her, although he almost always remained quiet, surrounding himself with silence. When he could no longer stand it, the most he would say, coldly, was “My lady, let us eat in peace.” I would remain silent with a very serene look, although my nerves flared. Yet sometimes, the continued talk would affect my spirit, making me feel burdened. I did not show it there, but only when I retired with my closest friends, I would say, referring to her words and her anger, “It takes great patience to put up with my aunt.” h) More acts of charity She also had her own poor, whom she would feed from the table, and to conceal her continued abstinence, she took charge of distributing the food, preparing plates for everyone, which the headwaiter would

Autobiography 145 pass to her. When I saw her more entertained and busy, I would slyly dispatch to her those who came to me and keep taking my soup as if nothing had happened. My cousins continued this habit, and I believe both sons-in-law did also, especially the Marquis of Caracena, who is still living, and who had a very soft heart for all good deeds.64 Almost all the family came to have their poor, which helped me not to be noticed so much. At times we would dedicate ourselves to making clothes for the children about five or six years old whom we saw very needy and ragged. Had they been older, we would not have risked bringing them upstairs to the servants’ quarters. We did it without my uncle seeing us but in front of the serious old duennas to win their approval. We took our winter petticoats made of silk or fine cloth and removed the silk adornments to make [f. 13 v.] little long wimples and loose jackets, almost always blue, and red smocks. With their shirts on and all their provisions, we would send them on their way. Once, the Count of Monteagudo, my uncle’s oldest son,65 on seeing one of them from his window, laughed and exclaimed, “That is my sisters’ livery!” We could not stand his making so much fun of us. i) In charge of the oratory These were my tasks at the time, as well as others that I attended to when not with my uncle. I made flowers to adorn one of his oratories, since I was in charge of decorating it. He liked to keep it neat, as he prayed there regularly. The chapel was separate, with its sacristan and chaplains, and I never would enter there. Before the major feast days, I would sometimes spend four to five days arranging the main altar and the smaller ones with many arches and garlands of flowers, striped ribbons, and other arrangements, varying them so as not to repeat the decorations from one feast day to the next. My uncle would celebrate any decoration of mine he discovered there, bringing his relatives and friends to see it. This occupation kept me busy the year round, since for the major and minor feast days, it was necessary to place altar 64. Luis Carrillo de Toledo, I Marquis of Caracena, married Isabel Velasco de Mendoza; see Carvajal’s letters 1 and 151, pages 203 and 319, respectively. 65. Francisco Hurtado de Mendoza; he would also inherit the title of II Marquis of Almazán.

146 Autobiography hangings, small canopies, and taffetas matching the liturgical colors. My cousins sometimes relaxed outside after meals in the orchards and gardens, and ask my uncle, with me at his side, to let me go with them (they knew that I would never in the world leave him alone in the house unless he ordered me.) He would tell them that the altar hangings needed to be changed in the oratory; despite their arguments, there was nothing they could do. I remained calm and very quiet, while they would leave commenting frequently that my childhood and youth were spent in strange and arduous ways. All my female cousins, my uncle, his son, and his sons-in-law regularly went for walks in the meadow, groves, and riverbanks; I loved to withdraw to quiet, shady spots under the trees to pray and meditate on the Incarnate Word, for the sweet memory of Christ praying in similar places warmed my heart. Whenever I noticed that someone had seen me, I would begin to walk to hide that I was meditating. My uncle gave me permission to go down to the orchard; there, under a tree, covering my face with a cloth to shut out the sunlight, I would pray and meditate. One season I decided not to eat meat on the days I took communion, having learned about this from a saint. It was very hard to accomplish, for on feast days, especially major ones, there were banquets with more expensive [f. 14 r] foods and picnics in the meadow, so I had a difficult time keeping this devotion secret. Although urged to eat, I would take some fruit, salad, or cheese, saying that this was better for me. My cousins would say “Our cousin delights in eating foods that are not at all good for her!” When my uncle learned of my devotion, he was careful to order food acceptable for fasting that he made me eat. Whether because he willed it or for other reasons I do not know, I eventually gave up this custom. j) Test of fear Occasionally in spring and early summer, my uncle would visit a town at two leagues’ distance from Pamplona with beautiful meadows and orchards. Because the grounds had no good location for an oratory, one was built at the end of a very long corridor that overlooked the

Autobiography 147 orchards of the house. After everyone was asleep, I would go there to carry out my corporal discipline. One night, my uncle and his sons were outside in the corridor. He was pacing and praying his Hours or the rosary, inattentive to everything, and I was examining my conscience, leaning over the railing, with a tall almond tree in front. Suddenly, I thought I saw in front of my eyes an enormous shadow, as tall as or taller than the almond tree, glistening slightly and white as snow. It disturbed and altered my blood terribly,66 and I left straight for bed. I first went to ask my uncle’s blessing and kiss his hand (as daughters of such persons do in Spain, every morning and night, and also close relations such as myself, who was his niece, raised in his household and treated as one of their daughters, to whom the parents give their blessing and their hand).67 I do not know what he saw in my expression, for he asked me what was wrong. I did not want to tell him, but commanding me, he learned that the vision had distressed me. As he was partial to overcoming fears and mortified the fearful, he said to me, “I want you to go back there again, in the same way you were before.” I responded that I thought it had been a figment of my imagination, but that it had left me so perturbed that I could not shake my distress. I was afraid that the same shadow would again appear to me, seriously damaging my heart. He repeated that I had to return, taking me by the arm to lead me there, although I resisted with some force. This was so new a response from me, used as he was to my usual obedience, that he would say afterwards how it showed what great evil I had felt. And it is true that just by thinking of going there, I felt great dismay and faintness. I went, however, seeing that it was his resolute wish. When I arrived, I immediately saw the same apparition. I lost all color, and my arms weakened, dropping to my sides. I could barely stand; my uncle spoke loudly and fast, saying, “Do not fear, my daughter, because I saw the same as you.” We left the place, and I went to pray. After two or three hours, I recovered my strength and spirit to some extent. My uncle had gone to bed, thinking about the occurrence. He decided to order me to go to the oratory at the end of the corridor and discipline myself. [f. 14 v] 66. Carvajal’s description of her altered state is again expressed in terms of humoral theory. 67. The explanation is necessary for Carvajal’s confessor, who followed different English customs.

148 Autobiography As I have said, the corridor was extremely long, with the oratory door at the far end. I had to walk its entire length. He called me and ordered that I do so, and without replying at all, with the household asleep in bed, I took a candle in hand and gathering all my strength, left to go fulfill this obligation, God only knows how. When I arrived at the same spot of the apparition, my hair stood on end and I trembled fiercely. Offering my suffering to Our Lord, without looking left or right, I walked fast and set my hourglass for the quarter hour. I flagellated myself for what seemed a half hour, as this was usually the typical length of time. Greatly consoled and with my heart comforted, I returned without fear and in silence, as I remember. Before the occurrence in the corridor, my cousin locked me up and Father Ortiz learned of it. From my pain and from how sorry I felt that my uncle would be angered, I would leave there, since I could not stand it. I could not stand anything of my uncle that might be a fault in deeds or something similar, as I loved the reputation of those I loved. He tested me several times on matters of fear, sending me alone to dark places. He would lock me in the oratory in the marquise’s room, taking the key with him when he left the house. And many times he did not return until dark, at times forgetting that I was there, until it was very late. Seeing that it was late, I would knock on the door and if by chance a servant walked by, she would go tell him. If not, I waited until someone heard. When the marquise was at home and learned of this, she would say, “Is it possible that she is alone there? Hurry and open,” giving her key, which was the entire house’s master key, like that of my uncle’s. She was timid in the extreme even of being alone in a room in daylight. I would go many times on my own, without telling my uncle, to dark and unlit places, and pray there, to rid myself of the fears that to me were an embarrassment in one who dealt with spiritual matters. On the fever that I caught on Saint Lawrence’s day, meditating at the window on his flames, and my uncle’s suffering.68

68. Saint Lawrence (feast day August 10) was one of the most celebrated martyrs of the Church; he was supposedly martyred in 258 by being roasted on a grill. The battle of Saint Quentin (1557) was won on the saint’s day, leading Philip II to honor the saint by naming the monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial after him.

Autobiography 149 k) Proposals of marriage Between my fifteenth and sixteenth year, I had already begun to know Our Lord very well, with sufficient light to distinguish the perfect from the imperfect. And since I was practicing so much mortification, I was glad that I did not have to give any thoughts to marriage. When on a rare occasion someone would propose to me, it seemed that the only kind of life I could choose was that of the saints I had read about who made a vow of celibacy, man and woman, and lived as brothers, withdrawn in separate quarters, with great and exemplary virtue. But this thought, as if concocted from air, disappeared as soon as it appeared. My uncle always said that he wanted me to marry, because that state was in need of persons who could give a great example of sanctity, and he believed that I would satisfy this need. It amazed me that my uncle, with his great understanding and spirit, did not see that the doctrine of perfection and mortification that he taught me could not be followed or bear fruit [illegible] that this would be to ask pears of elm trees, but despite this, I remained quiet without responding to him. I would hear him with my usual composure, smiling a bit sometimes, without saying anything. For it seemed to me that saying was not the same as doing, and that it was not necessary to voice my rejection ahead of time. It was wiser to hear these conversations in silence, as jests that I paid no attention to. With some acts, I internally strengthened my love and regard for the state of virginity. My uncle tested me once, I believe before I turned fifteen, saying truthfully that a knight had asked for my hand, a relative who was a Knight of Santiago, and whom I knew. He was [illegible] and had a good income.69 However, if I were to take that road [f. 5 r], I would not be satisfied with anything less, and would want even more, and my uncle stated the same. But as he wanted to know my frame of mind, I smiled, which was not enough for him, since he wanted to hear my reply. I told him that I was surprised to see that he would propose such a thing. And 69. Abad suggests that the knight may have been García de Carvajal, older son of Francisco de Carvajal, Count of Torrejón (Autobiografía,” Escritos autobiográficos, 172 n.22). It is more likely that the knight was the count himself, who later married Carvajal’s youngest cousin, Francisca Mendoza. The count was not a Knight of Santiago, but of the order of Calatrava.

150 Autobiography later, he would say that he had been pleased to see my resolution and strength of character, and that I appeared to be more mature than my age, as I wanted to await a more advantageous marriage. I was vigilant in the extreme with all my words and actions in matters of chastity. I never wore a low-cut bodice or short sleeves, and in bed and any isolated space, I acted very decently. None of my cousins or servants, whether serious or in jest, could move me one inch from my composure. When I went to bed, I would pray, and in summer, I would do so in only my French petticoat so I could not leave the room easily. My young cousins, who slept with me in my room, teased me greatly. When they tired of playing the clavichord, they would make up marriage pacts between me and whomever they thought up, to make me angry and entertain themselves. They would write a nuptial agreement with all the matters of modesty and decency which I followed to the letter. Among them they would make up that six months of the year I should go and serve my uncle, as I did then; and the other six months, I should live in that knight’s house, with the firm condition that he should remain in his quarters and I in mine, with no communication or contact. I would tell them to be quiet and pretend I was angry. If this did not stop them, it was necessary to be patient [illegible]. Nobody had the nerve to challenge me: they said my calm held them back so much that they could not utter one little word, although I appeared to them to have a very attractive build [illegible]. It was my custom to wear a hair shirt of bristles whenever my uncle ordered me to, as he did not fail to take care of these things, and other times, I would do so on my own. During Lent, I wore it three days a week: Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, and the other days I would discipline myself. I loved to wake very early in the morning to pray, and go to where I could see the sunrise, glorifying God, which I did frequently by myself. l) More penitence It distressed me to have a good bed, but there was no way that Ayllón would allow me to change it, until she became ill and could not go

Autobiography 151 upstairs to check mine. I was given a perfect occasion to make it more uncomfortable: (when loading his books when he was preparing to travel somewhere), my uncle told me that he had no filler to secure them in the boxes so they would not be mishandled. I offered him some very good wool and secretly going to my bed, I opened the mattress and took out a large portion. And when he asked for more, as he thought it served him well, I provided him as much as he wanted. He never suspected where I took it from. Very soon, the mattress lost its quilting and with so little wool, it collapsed at an angle when lifting it, because its other corners could not fill up. Even before my fifteenth birthday, I began to practice harsh discipline, always on my shoulders, at my uncle’s request. They were so scourged that I rarely stopped feeling pain. Once I flagellated myself with a lash made of white bristles full of small thistles, quite extraordinary, which I thought would be very soft. Because the discipline left me with open wounds, I placed a thin folded towel on my back so the blood would not stain my blouse and dress and have the servants notice it. The next day, it had stuck so much that I left it alone. My back became so abscessed and the pain so great that I could not make sense of the sermon on Saint Thomas Aquinas’s feast day [March 7]. At night, when a servant pulled quickly on the sleeve of my dress to put me to bed, I felt such sharp pain that I involuntarily gave out a moan. But in the end, no one found out why I cried out. Since I could not turn over in bed or lift my arms from the pain, I had to seek help from the person, my friend, who my uncle had put in charge of my mortifications. [f. 15v] She tried to remove the towel, but could not without taking large pieces of flesh with it. It caused a pain so fierce that it felt like my intestines were being torn out, yet I said nothing (it helped me to grit my teeth and tighten my fists). She cut the towel into pieces with scissors, and secretly asking a physician in a roundabout way what should be done in such a case, he gave her some pads with ointment that relieved me greatly and drew out the pus. After some days, I was cured. She had feared that the cure could not have been done without the aid of a surgeon, as the infection was deep. She was astonished that the pads had been enough to cure me and that I did not fall ill with a fever. The remedy worked so well that it helped me many more times, although I never again fell so ill. It comforted me

152 Autobiography to see myself like this, as it seemed that with this suffering, in the end, I made up for my ungratefulness, offering and sacrificing myself in some way to our most sweet and divine Lord, crucified. I will place the detail about the fever on Saint Lawrence’s feast day after that of the wool. An entire week of beatings and mistreatment and cold, and the confusion this would cause me from around sixteen years of age. My uncle would sing the service from a saint’s mass to me in front of his daughter, for saintly entertainment. And I was very serene and with all, smiling a little bit at times, as if this did not have anything to do with me. [End of the narrative.]

Selected Spiritual Poems

The following is a selection of poems taken from Luisa de Carvajal’s poetry collection. I have given the number from the González and Abad edition, Epistolario y poesías, in parenthesis and indicated the page numbers from the Muñoz 1897 edition in a footnote. When there are discrepancies in the punctuation or the strophic divisions, I have opted for the Muñoz edition, at times modifying the punctuation.

153

154 Selected Spiritual Poems Romance espiritual (2)

De interiores sentimientos: habla el alma que los padecía con su corazón.

Asaltos tan rigurosos sufres sin desalentarte; dime, flaco corazón, ¿haste vuelto de diamante? Entre esas llamas fogosas que te cercan y combaten, parece te tiene amor tan hecho á sus propiedades, que, cuando fuerte te quiere, fuerte eres é inexpugnable, y cuando de blanda cera, te derrites y deshaces. Entre mortals heridas, y dolores desiguales de amor vives, y esa vida te alivia y te satisface. Quéjaste en los accidents, y sientes un su rigor grave, no habiendo Gloria en la tierra con quien gustes de trocarle. Que sólo el vivir muriendo, porque no mueres te aplace, la libertad te atormenta, y sirve de estrecha cárcel. Y por obscuras mazmorras suspiras, y ausentes trances: ¡Oh en cuán extraña cadena quiso amor aprisionarte!

Selected Spiritual Poems 155 Spiritual Ballad (2)1

The soul speaks to the heart about the interior emotions she suffers.

You endure ruthless assaults yet they never discourage you; tell me, faint heart, have you now become hard as diamond stone? Amid the conflagrations that encircle and combat you, love seems to have made you at one with his qualities: whenever he wants you strong, you are strong and invincible, when as soft wax he wants you you dissolve and disintegrate. Amid love’s mortal wounds and unpredictable sorrows you live, and it is this life that sustains and satisfies you. You complain of your misfortunes yet suffer their severity for there is no earthly glory for which you would trade them. To live your life dying2 for not dying, alone pleases you; Freedom torments and confines you in a narrow prison. And you yearn for tribulations and sigh for dismal prisons past, Oh, with what singular chains has Love wished to imprison you! 1. Muñoz, Carvajal, 538. Spanish ballads are composed of octosyllabic, assonant lines and are not divided by stanzas. 2. Verses 22 and 22 recall Saint Teresa’s poem “Vivo sin vivir en mí / y tan alta vida espero / que muero porque no muero” [I live though I no longer live / and expect so great a life / that I die for not dying]. [My translation].

156 Selected Spiritual Poems Romance espiritual de Silva (3)

De afectos interiores de amor de Dios.

¡Ay, si entre los lazos fieros que a mi gloria aprisionaron por mi libertad, yo viera enlazar mi cuello y manos! Pero si es atrevimiento, porque ésos son sacrosantos, é indigna toda criatura de adornos tan soberanos, concededme, amor, siquiera (pues en dar no eres escaso) algunas dulces prisiones que les parezcan en algo. Dulces las llamo, porque, en ley de amor, sus amargos son tan dulces, que la vida se suele dar por comprarlos. ¡Oh cuán mil veces dichosa aquélla do ejecutados mil sangrientos sacrificios y abrasados holocaustos, se te ofrece, Cristo mío, en lo posible mostrando cuán imposible es que quede en ningún modo ni caso su fuerte amor satisfecho, ni el tuyo inmenso pagado!

Selected Spiritual Poems 157 Spiritual Ballad (3)3

On the interior affects of God’s love.

Oh, if with the brutal bonds that imprisoned you, my glory, for my freedom, I could see my neck and hands bound!4 If my plea is too daring, for those bonds are sacrosanct and all creatures unworthy of such supreme adornment; then give me, Love, at the least (for you exceed in giving) some form of confinement resembling them in sweetness. Sweet, I have called them, for under love’s law, the bitter is so sweet, that one’s life is often given in purchase. Oh, joyful a thousand times the life that offers you, my Christ, a thousand martyrdoms and fiery immolations, proving by possible means that it remains impossible through any event or way to satisfy its great love and your immense love repay!

3. Muñoz, Carvajal, 539. 4. Carvajal seems to be meditating on the image of Christ bound to the pillar, which she writes about in her Redondilla 24, “To Christ Our Lord, on his divine left foot, which could be seen in the image sculpted of him tied to the column.”

158 Selected Spiritual Poems Romance espiritual de Silva (4)

En que de paso va tocando lo sucedido en su espiritual camino.

Por un áspero viaje, mirando con vista humana, caminaba una pastora, el alma de amor llagada. con lágrimas en los ojos con sí misma razonaba, diciendo: “Silva, si huiste y dejaste la cabaña, bien sabes que lo causó aquella belleza extraña que un día consideraste en el que te robó el alma, y te tiró aquella flecha en su amor enarbolada, que en tal extremo te puso que luego determinada te viste á dejarlo todo cuanto fuera dél se halla, y el solícito cuidado que en tu pecho se encerraba, á modo de ardiente fuego las entrañas te abrasaba, y en busca de tu pastor saliste por la montaña, porque tuviste por cierto que en lo agrio de ella habitaba. Sola, con sólo el amor que á solas te acompañaba, pisaste la agreste tierra

Selected Spiritual Poems 159 Spiritual Ballad (4)5

In which, while walking, she comments on what she experienced along her spiritual path.

On a rugged, lonely road, if observed with mortal eyes, a shepherdess wandered, her soul wounded by love. Tears flowed from her eyes as she reasoned with herself, saying, “Silva, when you fled and abandoned your abode, you knew well you took flight on seeing the singular beauty of the one you encountered. He stole your soul that day, and shot you with an arrow its tip steeped in his love, leaving you in such a plight you determined to leave aside all that did not contain him. The anxieties that remained uneasily in your breast like a flaming, burning fire consumed you internally. In search of your shepherd you set off for the mountain for you had never doubted that he dwelled in its darkness. Alone, with only your love, that alone accompanied you, you trampled the ground 5. Muñoz, Carvajal, 539-541. Muñoz adds in a note that this poem refers to the last chapters of her first book and the beginning of her second book; that is, shortly before and after her departure to England. However, it is very unlikely that she wrote any of her poems while in England.

160 Selected Spiritual Poems de espesas zarzas poblada, y metida tan adentro desta soledad tamaña á oir los fuertes bramidos de fieras acostumbrada quedaste, y acometerlas con libertad denodada. La flor de la mocedad marchita y desfigurada, perdido el lozano talle en la amorosa demanda, y lo vistoso y lucido que al mirar vano agradaba. Y entre ti y tu dulce bien, hecha ya ley asentada con mil solemnes promesas, y dádole la palabra de quien siempre serás suya, y te tendrás por esclava, y que será tu blasón verte por él aherrojada, a romper dificultades de continuo aparejada. Y ahora sólo un pensamiento te trae tan desanimada, y de tristeza cubierto el corazón y la cara.” Estas cosas dice Silva y grandes suspiros daba apremiada del dolor que la consume y acaba, el cual causó parecerle que su pastor la olvidaba. Y en cuanto ha referido no debe estimarse en nada,

Selected Spiritual Poems 161 overgrown with brambles. Entering an enclosure of immense solitude, you soon disregarded the beasts’ barbarous roars becoming accustomed to assail them courageously. The flower of youth disfigured and wilted, the lovely form lost in the amorous fight, gone the beauty and splendor that so pleased the vain gaze.6 There is between you and your Love, a pact already promoted with a thousand solemn promises, and given him your word that you will always be his and his slave you will remain, on your blazon it will show you bound to him in chains constant and willing always to conquer all trials. And now, one thought alone claims to discourage you, leaving your face and heart shadowed in sadness!” These words Silva proclaims, releasing deep sighs, aggrieved by the pain that consumes and finishes her, for it made her believe her shepherd had forgotten her; and that what she recounted was not worth remembering, 6. Carvajal reiterates the conventional notion that women who pursued spirituality lost their beauty. She will bring up Christ’s loss of beauty in Ballad 8; see my translation on page 169.

162 Selected Spiritual Poems que nada puede llegar á lo que se halla obligada. Y procurando alentarse, este remedio tomaba de no acordarse de sí, y emboscarse en la montaña más áspera y fragosa en busca de aquel que ama. Embebida toda en él, y a él toda sacrificada, esperando Silva en quien puso toda su esperanza.

Selected Spiritual Poems 163 for nothing can match what she must endure. And to give herself courage she attempted the cure of fully forgetting herself, and of ascending a mountain, the most rough and entangled, to seek him whom she loves. Absorbed entirely in him and sacrificed entirely to him, Silva awaits him in whom she has placed all her hope.

164 Selected Spiritual Poems Romance (7) Es una consideración que muchas veces debió de pasar, como se refiere aquí: signifícase en la ternura del pecho de Cristo lleno de amor para con la naturaleza, con quien habla, y con cada una de las almas en particular, y cantares semejantes, llenos de afectos de amor divino, si se dicen ú oyen con consideración, encienden mucho el que hallan en nuestro pecho, que si los de amor vano y vil son tan perjudiciales por el fuego que suelen emprender en un alma mundana, ¿quánto será la fuerza de éstos, que son de amor tan inmenso y verdadero? En una graciosa isla que un claro río ceñía, no lejos de Nazareth, de engrandecida dicha, estaba el Verbo encarnado á solas, sin compañía, sentado en un verde asiento que la misma tierra hacía de fresca hierba adornado. Junto á un olmo, do se arrima, pensativo y cuidadoso, al tiempo que se ponía el sol, quedando sin él apacible á maravilla aquel venturoso puesto que ocupaba el de justicia, desde do se señorea la clara agua cristalina, que contenta y placentera en las orillas batía muy claramente mostrando que á su Hacedor conocía. Y el bello mozo divino, que á la belleza excedía, los garzos ojos serenos en sus criaturas ponía,

Selected Spiritual Poems 165 Ballad (7)7 This is a meditation that was often carried out, as recounted here: It signifies Christ’s gentle heart, full of love for nature, and for the one with whom he speaks, and with each soul in particular. And similar songs, full of expressions of divine love, when they are recited or heard attentively, inflame the love they find in our heart, for if songs of a vain and vile love are so harmful due to the fire they light in a worldly soul, how much more powerful are these, that are of such an immense and true love? On a pleasant isle encircled by a clear river not far from Nazareth renowned for its fate, the incarnate Word remains alone, unaccompanied, resting on a verdant seat formed by the earth itself and adorned with fresh plants. Against a nearby elm, he leans thoughtfully and carefully while the sun begins to set, leaving wonderfully at peace the fortunate seat of Justice wherein he reposes, from which the crystalline water grandly laps the banks contented and pleasurable, clearly demonstrating that it recognizes its Creator. And the handsome divine youth, who exceeded all beauty, observed his creatures with serene, blue eyes, his gaze arraying them 7. Muñoz, Carvajal, 546-548.

166 Selected Spiritual Poems con cuya vista de gloria y lindeza las vestía, y aquellos campos amenos de varias flores matiza. Las avecillas cantando, con acordada armonía, solemnizan su ventura, que la conocen y estiman: el cielo quedó dorado al tiempo que á él se volvían los cristalinos espejos en que los cielos se miran. Y habiendo estado suspenso, que el amor le embebecía, mil amorosas querellas de sus labios despedía, y como á orientales perlas, gruesas lágrimas vertía, diciendo: “¿Cómo desechas (¡ay! dulce enemiga mía) tal amante y tal esposo, que por ti pena y suspira? Dulce enemiga te llamo, que eres dulce, aunque enemiga, tengo por propios daños los con que á ti te lastimas. Buscas tu mal y el bien huyes; mas aunque yo dé la vida, con ella he de rescatarte, que te me tienen cautiva. Yo te obligaré a que me ames, dejándote tan herida de mi amor, que no descanses ni un punto sin mí, alma mía; y si enemiga me fuiste dulce, ¿cuánto más amiga?”

Selected Spiritual Poems 167 with glory and loveliness, and painting the pleasant fields with varieties of blooms. Singing in harmony, the small birds all celebrate the joyful good fortune they cherish and esteem; the sky turned to gold when the crystalline mirrors that reflect the heavens turned to seek his reflection. And having been suspended and lost in love’s wonder, his lips mouthed a thousand loving lamentations, and crying large tears like pearls from the orient, he said: “Why do you discard (Oh! My sweet enemy), such a lover and bridegroom who sighs and weeps for you? I call you sweet enemy for your sweetness and enmity, and the injuries you inflict on yourself I suffer as well. You seek harm and flee from goodness; Yet, though I give up my life I will rescue you with it for you are kept captive from me. I will force you to love me, leaving you so wounded by my love, that you will not rest at all without me, my soul; and if as my enemy you are sweet, how much sweeter, as my lover?”8 8. These lines recall Garcilaso de la Vega’s lines from his sonnet “Cuando me paro a contemplar mi estado” [When I pause to consider my condition], “que pues mi voluntad puede

168 Selected Spiritual Poems Romance de Silva (8) Mirando está á su Señor pasado de una lanzada, Silva, y su alma con ella duramente traspasada. Sus ojos agua vertiendo, del corazón destilada, le dice “Bien de mi gloria, mi rutilante alborada, ¿quién ha puesto, mi belleza, Vuestra hermosura afeada? Siendo del sol de justicia, ¿pudo quedar eclipsada? ¿Cuál fiera os topó, Cordero, tan brava y emponzoñada, que esa sacra vestidura dejó tan ensangrentada que del amor fué tejida en la Rosa inmaculada? ¿Qué nunca vista inclemencia de cierzo, pues marchitada puso aquella eterna flor por nuestro bien encarnada? Buscar á vuestros hermanos con bondad no imaginada, pudo alterar su malicia y envidia desenfrenada. ¡Qué pies! ¡Qué manos! ¡Qué heridas! ¡Qué cabeza coronada con la corona que fué por mi soberbia inventada! ¡Quién la tuviera, Rey mío, En sus sienes apretada! matarme, / la suya, que no es tanto de mi parte, / pudiendo, ¿qué hará sino hacello?” [and since my will may easily kill me / hers, which rarely if ever takes my side / if willing, what if not this will she do?” (my translation).

Selected Spiritual Poems 169 Ballad by Silva (8)9 As she contemplates her Lord His side pierced through by a lance, Silva, and her soul as well, feels severely pierced inside. Her eyes streaming forth liquid as tears distilled from her heart, she tells him: “My sweet glory, my brilliant, sparkling sunrise, who, my Beauty, has defiled and destroyed your loveliness?” Since you are of justice Sun, who your beauty could eclipse? What beast came upon you, Lamb, so poisonous and vicious that your holy garment, woven in the Immaculate Rose10 by love, was left so blood-stained? No such inclement north wind has ever been seen, for it wilted that timeless blossom made incarnate for our good! Your having sought your brothers with unimagined kindness transmuted its malevolence and unrestrained resentment. Such feet! Such hands! Such wounds! Such a head so heavily crowned with a crown that was created by my overweening pride! Who would not have it, my king, on their temples tightly bound! 9. Muñoz, Carvajal, 546-548. 10. A reference to the Immaculate Conception, whose devotion was supported by most religious orders, save for the Dominicans.

170 Selected Spiritual Poems Y que con esto mi dicha Llegara á verme enclavada En una cruz cual la vuestra, Y en vuestro amor abrasada. Mas, ¡ay de mí! Pues os veo (vida de mi alma) acabada delante de mí, y no quedo con vos muerta y sepultada.

Selected Spiritual Poems 171 And that with it, my bliss might rebound from being nailed to such a cross as yours, and by your love consumed. But, woe is me! For I see you (life of my soul) lifeless before me, yet I am not left by your side dead and entombed.”

172 Selected Spiritual Poems Soneto espiritual de Silva (15)

De sentimientos de amor y ausencia profundísimos

¿Cómo vives, sin quien vivir no puedes? Ausente, Silva, el alma, ¿tienes vida? Y el corazón, aquesa misma herida grandemente atraviesa, ¿y no te mueres? Dime si eres mortal ó inmortal eres; ¿hate cortado amor á su medida, ó forjado en sus llamas derretida, que tanto el natural límite excedes? Vuelto á tu corazón, cifra divina, de extremos mil, amor en que su mano mostrar quiso destreza peregrina. Y la fragilidad del pecho humano en firmísima piedra diamantina, con que quedó hecho alcázar soberano.

Selected Spiritual Poems 173 Spiritual Sonnet (15)11 On the most profound feelings of love and absence. How can you live without whom you cannot live? With your soul absent, Silva, are you alive? and your heart displays the same profound wound that pierced his heart, yet still you do not die? Tell me, are you mortal or immortal; has Love cut you according to his measure?12 Or forged you melting in his holy fires that you violate nature’s limitations? To show his hand’s remarkable deftness, love has twisted your heart into a divine cipher of a thousand extremes, as he wished, And turned the human breast’s fragility into a hard unyielding diamond stone, taking the form of a sovereign fortress.

11. Muñoz, Carvajal, 554-55. 12. The expression recalls Garcilaso de la Vega’s sonnet “Amor, amor, un hábito vestí / el cual de vuestro paño fue cortado” [My love, my love, I dressed in a habit / that from your cloth had been measured and cut]. See also the notes in García-Rubio’s edition of Carvajal’s poetry.

174 Selected Spiritual Poems Soneto espiritual de Silva (16)

A la ausencia de su dulcísimo Señor en la Sagrada Comunión

¡Ay, soledad amarga y enojosa, causada de mi ausente y dulce amado! ¡Dardo eres en el alma atravesado, dolencia penosísima y furiosa! Prueba de amor terrible y rigurosa, y cifra del pesar más apurado, cuidado que no sufre otro cuidado, tormento intolerable y sed ansiosa. Fragua, que en vivo fuego me convierte, de los soplos de amor tan avivada, que aviva mi dolor hasta la muerte. Bravo mar, en el cual mi alma engolfada con tormenta camina dura y fuerte hasta el puerto y ribera deseada.

Selected Spiritual Poems 175 Spiritual Sonnet (16)13 On the absence of her most sweet Lord at Holy Communion. Oh! Bitter and troublesome solitude caused by my absent and sweet Beloved! Yours is an arrow that has pierced my soul, a furious and most arduous affliction! Trial of love, severe and terrifying, cipher of the most heartbreaking grief, anguish that suffers no other anguish, unbearable torment and desperate thirst. Forge that transforms me into living fire revitalized by love’s exhalations that rekindle my sorrow until death. Violent sea, through which my soul, engulfed in its storm, advances forcefully and surely toward port and its desired shore.

13. Muñoz, Carvajal, 555.

176 Selected Spiritual Poems Soneto espiritual de Silva (18) Al Santísimo Sacramento, en que habla el Divino Verbo inmenso con el alma que le está recibiendo de las manos del sacerdote de Silva. De inmenso amor aqueste abrazo estrecho recibe, Silva, de tu dulce Amado, y por la puerta deste diestro lado éntrate, palomilla, acá en mi pecho. Reposa en el florido y sacro lecho; y abrásate en amor tan abrasado, que hasta que el fuerte nudo haya apretado, No sea posible quede satisfecho. Mira cómo te entrego, amiga mía, todo mi sér y alteza sublimada; estima aqueste dón que amor te ofrece; tendrás en mí gloriosa compañía, y entre mis mismos brazos regalada gozarás lo que nadie no merece.

Selected Spiritual Poems 177 Spiritual Sonnet (18)14 To the Most Holy Sacrament; the divine Word speaks to the soul who receives the host from the priest.

Receive, Silva, from your sweet Beloved this close embrace, with immense love brimming, and through my right side’s opening enter, little dove, within my breast. Repose on the sacred flowering bed and inflame yourself with love so passionate that not until the strong knot has fully tied will it ever be wholly satisfied. See how I relinquish to you, my love, all my being and eminence sublime, cherish this gift by my love proffered, You will find in me such glorious company, and in my very own arms held tenderly you will enjoy what no one has deserved.

14. Muñoz, Carvajal, 556.

178 Selected Spiritual Poems Soneto espiritual de Silva (19) En el siniestro brazo recostada de su amado pastor, Silva dormía, y con la diestra mano la tenía con un estrecho abrazo á si allegada. Y de aquel dulce sueño recordada, le dijo: “El corazón del alma mía vela, y yo duermo, ¡ay, suma alegría, cuál me tiene tu amor tan traspasada! Ninfas del Paraíso soberanas, sabed que estoy enferma, y muy herida de unos abrasadisimos amores. Cercadme de odoríferas manzanas, pues me veis como fénix encendido, y cercadme también de amenas flores.”

Selected Spiritual Poems 179 Spiritual Sonnet (19)15 Resting in the crook of her beloved shepherd’s left arm, Silva lay sleeping. And gently holding her with his right hand he drew her closely in a tight embrace. And waking from that sweet and precious dream, she told him: “The heart of my very soul keeps watch while I sleep. Oh, infinite joy, in this manner has your love pierced me so! Sovereign nymphs who reside in Paradise,16 know that I am ailing and much wounded from a love all inflamed and all-consuming. Surround me with apples, sweetly perfumed, while you gaze at me, a phoenix ablaze, and surround me besides with beautiful blooms.”

15. Muñoz, Carvajal, 556-57. 16. Carvajal’s allusions—the metaphor of the wounded lover, the classical simile of the phoenix myth, and the hint of the Tantalus myth—reinforce the mixture of classical and mystical imagery that Carvajal borrows from San Juan’s “Noche oscura del alma” [Dark Night of the Soul] and “Cántico spiritual” [Spiritual Canticle]. See also the notes to Carvajal’s poems in Julián Olivares and Elizabeth S. Boyce, Tras el espejo la musa escribe. Lírica femenina de los Siglos de Oro (Madrid: 1993), 483-530.

180 Selected Spiritual Poems Liras espirituales de Silva (21)

A Cristo Nuestro Señor.

Cristo dulce y amado, sin quien vivir un punto no podría; suave y regalado gozo del alma mía, mi bien, mi eterna gloria y alegría. Mi puerto venturoso, de Silva de mil males amparada queda, y del mar furioso la braveza burlada, cuando mas pretendió verme anegada. Las olas hasta el cielo, de tan divina roca rebatidas quedaron por el suelo sus trazas destruidas, y tus promesas fieles bien cumplidas. Que nunca me has faltado en los encuentros fieros y espantosos del tigre denodado, y leones furiosos, sedientos de mi sangre y codiciosos. Porque para leones eres fuerte león de mi defensa, y á armados escuadrones del infierno en miofensa, en polvo los volvió tu fuerza inmensa. Y el dragonazo horrendo, que de la infame boca emponzoñada

Selected Spiritual Poems 181 Spiritual Lira (21)17 To Christ Our Lord. My sweet and beloved Christ without whom I could not live for a moment; my soul’s gratification So delicate and gentle, my lord, my eternal glory, and my joy. My providential port where, protected from a thousand evils Silva stays, the sea’s fury and its frustration flouted, its efforts thwarted at seeing me destroyed. The waves scaling the heavens, resisted by a strong and divine rock, receded to the shoreline, their trace by sand erased, and your promises to me kept faithfully. For you have never failed me in the most fearsome and awful encounters with the audacious tiger and terrifying lions, ferocious and hungrily craving my blood. For when facing those lions, you are the strongest lion in my defense; the squadrons armed against me, directed by hell’s legions could not withstand your force, crushing and immense. The horrifying dragon that poured forth from his mouth, loathsome and poisoned, 17. Muñoz, Carvajal, 557-58.

182 Selected Spiritual Poems su ancho río vertiendo de su furor cercada, como en lazo pensó verme enredada. Y solo con mirarme (cuando a ti me volví) con esos ojos soberanos, librarme pude de mis enojos, quedando victoriosa y con despojos.

Selected Spiritual Poems 183 a wide river of hatred attempting to surround me, thought to see me entrapped by its liquid bonds. And by merely gazing at me with your sovereign eyes (when I turned toward you) I finally freed myself from my many troubles and I was left victorious with the spoils.

184 Selected Spiritual Poems Romance espiritual de Silva (29)

Sobre aquellas primeras y divinas palabras de los Cantares: “Osculetur me osculo oris sui”, entendidas en persona de un alma que íntimamente deseaba á Dios.

Los orientales luceros, y bellos ojos, acaso, poniendo la fiel Esposa en un sangriento retrato de su bien y su Tesoro herido y aprisionado, quiso hablar: mas imposible fué, que amor había anudado la lengua con fuerte nudo, y el corazón traspasado de mil mortals heridas, que la llegaban al cabo. Y cuando (aunque no bien) pudo decir su dolor extraño, con la voz enflaquecida y el pensamiento elevado en aquel a quien adora, dijo: “Si no son sus labios remedio de este acccidente tan grave y desahuciado, la natural vida pierde su fuerza, y se va acabando; aplíquenseme al aliento el respirar soberano que á los muertos resulta, nueva vida al alma dando.”

Selected Spiritual Poems 185 Spiritual Ballad (29)18 On those divine first words of the Song of Songs: Osculetur me osculo oris sui, spoken by a soul intimately desiring God.19 Her eyes like oriental stars, the faithful Spouse gazed lovingly on her love and treasure’s bloodied image, now captive and wounded. She struggled to speak, but could not: for love had tied her tongue in knots and pierced her heart a thousand times with mortal wounds that rent her soul. And when (although not well) she spoke, she told of her uncommon pain, her voice weakened by great sorrow and focusing her thoughts on whom she adored, she said: “If his lips are not the remedy for this accident so deadly and severe, natural life loses its force and begins to ebb toward death: breathe unto me the sovereign breath that returns the dead to life giving a new life to the soul.

18. Muñoz, Carvajal, 565-66. 19. “Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth” (Solomon, Canticle of Canticles 1.1).

186 Selected Spiritual Poems Romance Espiritual de Silva (31)

En que refiere el tiempo y modo con que fue Nuestro Señor ganando el alma y robando la voluntad para sí, con lo demás que á esto se sigue.

Madre, siendo niña, me prendió el amor; con cadenas de oro presa me dejó. Pensé se burlaba, y él se me rió, y me dijo: “Silva, yo soy tu Señor. No sentí su fuego, aunque abrasador. Ahora bien le siento después de mayor, que la burla y juego veras me salió. Ya no soy de nadie sino del amor; que con fuertes lazos así me enlazó. Y son sus lazadas de tanto primor, que atando, desatan, y bien lo sé yo. Con su S y clavo señalada estoy, señales de gloria con que me adornó.

Selected Spiritual Poems 187 Spiritual Ballad (31)20 Referring to the time and way in which our Lord won over the soul and stole her will, and everything else that happened. When I was a child, Mother,21 Love chased after me. With chains made of gold he seized and bound me. I thought he was jesting but he laughed at me, saying to me, “Silva, I am now your Lord.” I felt not his fire although it burned so. Now that I am older his fire I well know, for the joke and game the truth both became! I belong now to no one, but solely to Love, whose powerful bonds, bound me just so. Yet the ties binding me bind me so gently that in binding, unbind me, and this I well know. With an S and a nail22 I am branded his slave, with signs spelling glory he adorns me with fame. 20. Muñoz, Carvajal, 567-68. 21. Carvajal rewrites “a lo divino” [in spiritual style] the medieval popular lyrics addressed to the mother indicating a young girl’s loss of innocence. See Margit Frenk, Corpus de la antigua lírica popular hispánica (Madrid: Castalia, 1987). 22. The two symbols, /s/ and /clavo/ [nail], spell “slave” [esclavo] in Spanish.

188 Selected Spiritual Poems Volvió á mí sus ojos, y de ellos salió fuego vivo, ardiente, que á Silva abrasó abrasóle á Silva alma y corazón. Y arcos imagino que sus ojos son, porque una saeta de ellos despidió. Asestóla al alma, y en el blanco dió. Quedé tan herida que muero de amor. Y el dolor que siento es grave dolor; templalle, mi madre, nadie podrá, no. Que único remedio de él es mi Señor; sólo sanar puede la mano que hirió.

Selected Spiritual Poems 189 He cast his eyes on me, and there leapt from them ardent flames of love, love that inflamed Silva,23 and that so inflamed Silva’s heart and soul. I imagine his eyes as two bows taking aim, for one has already released an arrow. He aimed at my soul, and it hit the mark. I was left so wounded that I die of love And the pain I feel is so great a pain, that no one, my Mother, will make it better, no. only my Lord can be the sole remedy; only the hand that wounds may cure the injury.

23. An example, frequent in Carvajal’s poetry, of the poet’s voice diverging into two separate selves: the “I” of the narrator, and her alter ego, the shepherdess Silva.

190 Selected Spiritual Poems Soneto espiritual (43)

De afectos de amor encendidísimo y deseos de martirio.

Esposas dulces, lazo deseado, ausentes trances, hora victoriosa, infamia felicísima y gloriosa, holocausto en mil llamas abrasado. Di, amor, ¿por qué tan lejos apartado se ha de mi aquesta suerte venturosa, y la cadena amable y deleitosa en dura libertad se me ha trocado? ¿Ha sido, por ventura, haber querido que la herida que al alma penetrada tiene con dolor fuerte desmedido no quede socorrida ni curada, y al efecto aumentado y encendido, la vida á puro amor sea desatada?

Selected Spiritual Poems 191 Spiritual Sonnet (43)24 On inflamed sentiments of love and desire for martyrdom. Sweetest manacles, bond most desired, vanished tribulations, victorious hour most glorious and jubilant infamy, holocaust inflamed by a thousand fires.25 Tell me, Love, why does providential fate keep its distance, so far apart from me, and the pleasurable and delightful chain become a harsh freedom I must endure? Could it be, by chance, that I desired the wound that gravely penetrates my soul and causes a fierce and unrelenting pain, to remain unhealed and unalleviated, and life, with intensified and inflamed emotions, unbound by a love so pure?

24. Muñoz, Carvajal, 579. 25. In this quatrain, Carvajal describes what she imagines are the joyful sufferings of martyrdom.

192 Selected Spiritual Poems Liras de Silva (45)

A los divinos ojos de Nuestro Señor.

Al alma que te adora vuelve los ojos claros, Cristo amado, que mas que en sí, en ti mora, y todo su cuidado en sólo tu mirar está cifrado. Ojos restauradores de vida que la dan de amor matando, absolutos señores de cuanto están mirando, inmensa majestad representando. Puro y vivo traslado de todo el bien que encierra el alto cielo, que tras el delicado disfraz de humano velo, hacen rico y dichoso á todo el suelo. Sacros soles dorados, cuya amable presencia poderosa los males desterrados deja, y su victoriosa luz deshace la niebla tenebrosa. Rara y suma lindeza, y el nihil ultra de la excelsa mano, adonde con destreza juntó un mirar humano con un mirar divino y soberano.

Selected Spiritual Poems 193 Liras by Silva (45)26 To Our Lord’s divine eyes. Gaze at the soul that adores you with your glistening eyes, Christ beloved. More than in herself, in you she dwells, and all her cares are centered wherever you turn your gaze. Your restorative eyes give life, for they give it killing with love; they are the absolute lords of all they look upon that embodies your immense majesty. Pure and exact replica of all the good the high heavens encompass that behind the delicate cover of a mortal veil enriches and brings bliss to all the earth. Sacred golden suns, whose loving and powerful presence expels and banishes evil, and its victorious light diffuses and disperses the tenebrous mist. Rare and subtle beauty and the nihil ultra of his sublime hand27 with which he dexterously united a human gaze with his own divine and sovereign gaze.

26. Muñoz, Carvajal, 580-581. 27. Literally, “nothing beyond;” God’s creation of all that exists.

194 Selected Spiritual Poems Depósitos divinos do está toda mi gloria atesorada, espejos cristalinos, vista dulce, agraciada, dorado día, Aurora arrebolada. Jardines celestiales, ameno Paraíso deleitoso, luceros orientales, refugio venturoso, puerto en la tempestad maravilloso. En esos ojos bellos todo su bien librado el alma mía tiene, y colgada de ellos vive, que no podría de otro modo vivir ni un solo día. ¿ En cuánto me ha importado que para mí no son, ó no hayan sido, ó qué en ellos buscado de bien he, ó pretendido, que vano ó engañoso haya salido? Decid luces serenas, quien de ese dulce revolver mirando lazos hizo y cadenas, con que el alma enlazando, sutilmente la van aprisionando. Las hazañas famosas de amor, y sus victorias no imitadas siempre, más venturosas fueron, y señaladas desde ese Alcázar Real ejecutadas.

Selected Spiritual Poems 195 Divine treasure house where all my glory has accumulated, crystalline reflections, honeyed and graceful vision, golden daylight, radiant and gleaming dawn. Gardens so heavenly, delectable and pleasant paradise, stars of the eastern morn, blissful sanctuary, in a tempest, marvelous and safe harbor. In those beautiful eyes my soul has deposited its possessions, so reliant on them it lives, that not for a day could it go on living any other way. What has it mattered to me that they are not or have ever been for me? Or that I have looked for or attempted to find treasure that turned out empty or deceitful? Tell me, serene lights, who on gazing at that sweet rebellion turned it into bonds and chains that in so binding the soul prolong its imprisonment by subtle means? The labors made famous by Love, and his victories never equaled became more successful and ever more meaningful when undertaken from this royal fortress.

196 Selected Spiritual Poems De tanta hermosura la fuerza intenta, aun no experimentada con dichosa ventura, en mirarla ocupada viene á quedar suspensa y transportada. Y habiendo amor robado mi corazón, que en nada resistía, le vi que remontado por el aire subía, y en tus ojos con él se me escondía, Por alcaide celoso, en medio el pecho, en su lugar dejando un afecto fogoso, que en llamas abrasando le está, y el homenaje á amor guardando.

Selected Spiritual Poems 197 The penetrating power of such loveliness, even when not taken as a share of providence is such that it, when gazed at, transports and suspends the soul in ecstasy. And Love having stolen my heart, which refused to resist his appeal, I saw him rising high, through the air he soared, concealing my heart from me in your eyes, like a jealous chatelain, leaving in its place a fiery emotion at the center of my breast to enflame and consume it, he took love’s watch in the citadel’s defense.

198 Selected Spiritual Poems Soneto á un hombre que cayó en la culpa (48)

Y se reduce a penitencia.

Infeliz hora, desdichado punto, tiempo sin tiempo, vida no, mas muerte, cruel prisión, y la cadena fuerte, hierros que me enlazaron en un punto. Parezco vivo, mas estoy difunto; á un tiempo todo se acabó; mi suerte desdichada fué, y plegue á Dios acierte á recobrar lo que he perdido junto. Lágrimas, suspirar, amargo llanto, gemir del corazón, cruel azote, dolor profundo con intensa pena, Desde agora será mi dulce canto, con que pagando el miserable escote pueda seguir mi dulce Filomena.

Selected Spiritual Poems 199 Sonnet to a Man who Sinned (48)28 And devotes himself to penance. Unhappy hour, ill-fated point in time, time without time, not life, but death only, cruel prison, and a formidable chain, irons that on this occasion fettered me. I seem alive, but am instead lifeless;29 all ended all at once; my good fortune became misfortune, yet may God grant that I regain all I have lost in concert. Abundant tears, deep sighs, bitter weeping, my heart’s lament, heartless calamity, dolorous pain with intense suffering will, from this moment, become my sweet song so that, on repaying the wretched debt, I may again mime my sweet Philomene.30

28. Muñoz, Carvajal, 585. 29. In Spanish, the adverbial phrases are masculine: “Parezco vivo, mas estoy difunto,” signaling that Carvajal has assumed a masculine voice. Although the poem’s title indicates that it is written for a sinner, the poetic voice expresses the sinner’s perspective. 30. The reference to a nightingale is surely inspired by San Juan’s stanza in the Cántico: “el aspirar del aire, / el canto de la dulce filomena, /el soto y su donaire, /en la noche serena /con llama que consume y no da pena” [the air’s deep inhalation / the song of the sweetly singing Philomene / the grove and its gracefulness / during the calm silent night / with a flame that consumes yet does not wound” (vv. 186-90). Once the sinner clears his soul of his sins, he will be reintegrated to God’s love and God’s church. See also García-Nieto Onrubia, 184).

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza The 33 letters selected for translation were published and edited by González Marañón and Abad (Biblioteca de Autores Españoles, vol. 179, 1965). My selection is based on those that reflect Luisa de Carvajal’s different rhetorical styles to her various correspondents and that document her most significant experiences, from her last years in Spain (1598– 1605) to her stay and death in England (1605–1614). I have endeavored to identify most of the persons mentioned by her. All letters are listed in chronological order; I have followed González and Abad’s numbering of paragraphs for comparison with the originals, and indicate the BAE number assigned them and the page numbers. My comments to each letter appear immediately below these and before the letter. Luisa de Carvajal’s abundant collection of letters addresses the many events—from the quotidian to the most important—that she wishes to communicate to numerous friends and family members in Spain and to Magdalena de San Jerónimo at the court of the Archdukes of the Netherlands in Brussels. Full of news, each letter displays the remarkable rhetorical level of narrative control in her writing as she relates her personal experiences in England, writing to each of her correspondents according to his or her social hierarchy and situation. Carvajal writes the majority of her letters to female friends and relatives. To Magdalena de San Jerónimo, her most frequent correspondent, she comments expertly on political events and their possible consequences, expressing her opinion and indignation about Catholics’ treatment by the English. To her servant and close companion Inés, who professed as Inés de la Asunción after Carvajal’s departure to England, she often speaks in warm maternal tones, encouraging her spiritual growth as she adapts to her conventual life. To Mother Mariana de San José, the prioress of the convent of the Encarnación in Madrid, she conveys her deeply personal spiritual feelings with a sense of great respect and admiration for the religious. From all, she beseeches their prayers and support, all the while exuding an air of confidence in her endeavors. In the letters she writes to her male correspondents—mainly to the 201

202 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza Jesuit Joseph Creswell, but also to her brother Alonso de Carvajal, to Pedro de Zúñiga, ambassador to England, and, toward the end of her life, to Rodrigo Calderón, her politically powerful protector and relative in Spain—she defers to their gender and religious hierarchy, yet she never refrains from expressing her thoughts and emotions on political and religious issues. Although most of the letters written to Carvajal from her correspondents are not extant, the length and precision with which she responds to them often allow us to surmise the discussions from both sides. The letters to Inés de la Asunción, for example, detail Carvajal’s daily life—her clothing, her living arrangements, her health—to allay the nun’s worries and satisfy her curiosity about life in England. Letters to her noble friends express Carvajal’s desire to know about occurrences in Spain, revealing her nostalgia for her home country. By contrast, her correspondence with religious mentor Joseph Creswell focuses on spiritual issues and her resolution to remain in England at all costs. These letters stress political issues, such as attacks on the Catholics by government officials, her differing relations with the three Spanish ambassadors, and her thoughts on international politics, all of which offer us a unique view of the conflicts that occurred on the island between the two religions and how English Catholics perceived the clashes. During her first years in England, her most constant contact is with Magdalena de San Jerónimo, with whom she maintains an ongoing discussion of the political situation, not solely in England, but on the continent, until Magdalena’s departure in 1609. Their correspondence reveal the increasing tension that builds between them as Magdalena apparently places in doubt Carvajal’s usefulness as a missionary in England, causing Carvajal to chafe at her friend’s veiled criticism. It is clear by her letters that many others she wrote have been lost, and she repeatedly asks some of her correspondents, such as Joseph Creswell, to destroy those she believes are most sensitive. The 177 letters collected by González and Abad, therefore, do not offer all the recounting that we would wish to have of her experiences in England.1 1. Although González and Abad have numbered 178 letters, one, number 128, is not a letter but Carvajal’s testament. Other letters by Carvajal not transcribed in González and Abad are archived in the Archivo Monasterio Encarnación, ARMEN. For a bilingual edition of

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 203 Yet, thanks to Carvajal’s perseverance in maintaining her contacts abroad, those we do have shed much light, not only on her reactions and emotions as she acclimates herself to living in enemy territory, but on the complex political relations between England and Spain.

(BAE 1: 97) To doña Isabel de Velasco, Marquise of Caracena, Valencia Madrid, September 15, 1598 Luisa de Carvajal’s first letter in the collection is addressed to Isabel de Velasco y Mendoza, her first cousin and the daughter of her uncle, the Marquis of Almazán. The formal address “Vuestra Señoría,” which I have translated as your ladyship, denotes both the social and political position of the addressee: she had married Luis Carrillo de Toledo, Marquis of Caracena, who at the time was Viceroy of Valencia after serving as Viceroy of Navarra and Captain General and Governor of Galicia. This is the only letter extant from before 1600; its length is explained by the fact that Carvajal, who had not heard from her cousin until then, wished to respond to the Marquise’s comment that Carvajal had lamented the death of a friend. As the first letter in the collection, it is significant in that Carvajal nevertheless articulates her religious, emotional, and psychological character to a person with whom she had spent a great part of her childhood and who knew her well. Gently chiding her relative for having forgotten her, she begins by proposing a lesson in forbearance. At the same time, she seizes the opportunity to clarify her abnegation and retreat from worldly concerns, noting that by accepting life’s offerings, since misfortune and death occur as readily as joyful events, such as a child’s birth, one must accept God’s will. The letter thus serves to explain to her aristocratic cousin Carvajal’s decision to live in total disregard of her noble status. Although she will later write lovingly to Velasco, this letter is a fascinating rhetorical piece that intends to shield her from her cousin’s sphere of influence, stressing her desired isolation by expressing her feelings toward members of her family, among them her beloved uncle, whose portrait she proseven letters by Carvajal taken from González and Abad, see Elizabeth Rhodes, This Tight Embrace, Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza (1566–1614), (Milwaukee, WI: Marquette University Press, 2000), 221–97.

204 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza poses to sell (at a good price) to her cousin; and her brothers, neither of whom has won her respect. She also comments on her distant relations with the Jesuit order, perceptively critiquing the order’s famous motto, Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam, by pointing out that God’s glory can be neither increased nor diminished. She even comments skeptically on the new king, Philip III’s capacity for rule, and voices her complaint that her uncle was apparently unappreciated at court by his father, Philip II. The letter propounds her deep religious beliefs, which are nevertheless intimately tied to the political and the personal: we learn of Carvajal’s desire to abandon herself to God’s will, yet in describing her lawsuit claiming her inheritance, we are made aware of her concern over winning the case. In this first letter, therefore, we are given a sense of Carvajal’s spiritual strengths but also of her indomitable character, which appears again and again throughout the rest of her correspondence. 1. I had already lost hope that your ladyship would ever remember to write me, yet I was so little mortified that I gleefully hold your ladyship’s letter in my hand. I am truly beholden to you, although Our Lord has not wished for me to serve your Lordships in any way or distinguish myself in this world, which would be of more worldly benefit and pleasure to you. I accept this, since it is Our Lord’s will, whose design should be worshipped and loved with all one’s heart, as should your ladyship’s works, since before you begin them they have already been observed by God’s sweet and splendid eyes. May he be forever blessed for continuously improving our times, as I have always expected of him. 2. And in response to your ladyship’s comments about the sadness I reveal in my letter to Doña Juana,2 and that is why your ladyship writes to me, I say, my lady, that I cannot harbor those feelings, for two reasons. The first is that I am content with knowing that God is my God and that his eyes are watching me, despite my being his most unworthy slave, for this fact forcefully makes me forget all else. 2. May refer to Juana de Jacincourt, who was at court with Carvajal as a child, and who accompanied the Archduchess Isabel Clara Eugenia to the Netherlands. Dame Juana had been lady-in-waiting to Isabel de Valois, Isabel Clara Eugenia’s mother; Carvajal often mentions her in her letters to Magdalena de San Jerónimo.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 205 The second reason is that I so love your ladyship that your having forgotten me does not trouble my heart, since I know that whatever you may do for me, you have already done too much, for my merit is small, although my desire is great. I am content to know that in Heaven, we will have true and sweet correspondence; here on Earth, my role is to be forgotten by those whom I love and who are my lords. And this is not the worst fate, but such good luck that I do not deserve it, as it was Christ’s, whose fate I wholeheartedly desire. I dearly commend you and your children to him. May he in his goodness protect you from all evil and from all the dangers you may face. 3. Antonio de Contreras3 came to see me today; I was very pleased to hear the news he brought of your household and its activities. He is so grateful for the favor that Don Luis4 has bestowed on him that it seemed he wished to be not one but many men, so he could serve your Lordships with all their strength. He spoke to me about the portrait.5 I told him I would sell it to your ladyship for 350 reales, 10 ducats less than what it is worth. Your ladyship may give whatever you wish, and order him to come soon for the portrait. I know that your ladyship will be more pleased with it than with the others you have, since one look in the light proves its excellence. And you will be giving me alms, since my lawsuit has not begun and it is costing me much money; also, my illnesses, which leave me very depressed, add to the cost. Besides, I wish to have nothing of value in my house, not even my uncle’s portrait, for everything disturbs me. I am content with having him in my heart, trusting in what he taught me. I believe him to be as great an intermediary as before, since he intended my soul’s good with so many truths, leading me to it as best he could, that I have felt his presence assisting me in many important matters. 4. And as regards his house, since heavenly beings have different wants and wishes from when they were exiled on Earth, he had no interest in its accruing material goods or in its succession. It is best to 3. I have been unable to identify this person. 4. The Marquis of Caracena, Isabel de Velasco’s husband. 5. The portrait of the Marquis of Almazán, Isabel’s father and Luisa de Carvajal’s uncle, now lost.

206 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza accept whatever happens rather than to hope for what we wish, for as I have said, it is enough that it be God’s will for us to revere, esteem, and love it. And this weighs on me so heavily that I believe nothing will make me forget my feelings for what I owe the dead, or better said, those who are living and will live forever. The matters of those here on earth are so unequal that I may at the same time congratulate your ladyship for a new nephew, whom I was told was born to your sister. I may have heard this news today in church; for these ladies do not for a moment waste their time in visiting me; and since my vocation, clothing, and company are not meant for visits or for running about through corridors with pages and other lay persons, I remain at home, wishing them well and commending them to Our Lord, as I do not feel I have any other obligation but to please him. And for this, I shall willingly do anything, but if not for this purpose, I shall do nothing. 5. I never ask about Don Alonso;6 his marriage has been of no account to me and I never think about it. The other7 has come here and is without help. To me, he seems not to be the most hard-working in the world; he looks very healthy, although he never was before, and I understand that God has done him the favor of curing him of his old illnesses. As to his soul, may Our Lord help him any way he can, and whoever helps him in his aspirations will have done a great act of charity, since he will revive his principles. He does not appear to be a sinful or vice-ridden man, but was expelled from religious orders solely for his laziness and lack of spiritual vocation. 6. The king died yesterday.8 I’m sure there will be many new events with the new one. May God give him grace for the good of his church and so that he does not ruin everything, since times are treacherous and he is very young. Your ladyship’s father would be ideal for the

6. Luisa de Carvajal’s brother, Alonso de Carvajal, against whom she began a lawsuit for her inheritance. 7. Possibly her other brother Enrique. 8. Carvajal must have dated the letter one day later, since Philip II died September 13.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 207 times, if, unlike his father, this king knew how to appreciate him. But neither king deserved him.9 7. My lawsuit is ending, and I cannot tell your ladyship whether it will end well or not, because although justice abounds, my case has no support or assistance.10 The rest remains the same, as two important persons died and one became ill and left here. I have therefore withdrawn until I see how it will end. I have not wanted to change one word of what was written, nor will I, for, although it is not essential, I am not at all inclined to do anything differently from before and from what I always wished. And I have not wanted to press, even in this, so God may do his will in me, without any intrusion from my own. He will do what he wishes by those means that he considers best. I could not enjoy the outcome if God did not have a hand in it. I hope he has not forgotten me, although I am so contemptible. He will do with me what he wishes, and, by his goodness, he will do so to the end. I should place all my efforts in having no other desire, and that he do whatever his will wishes in all my things. That he is already granting me this favor and mercy is most evident in that, in the world’s eyes, he is leading me down deplorable roads and I am in so much earthly misery. If any soul other than mine were to suffer similarly for the greater glory of God, ours would garner benefits differently, for his glory alone cannot be increased or diminished. 8. In the two years since Father Siguenza left, Father Pedrosa11 has been my confessor. He is an angel, and one of the most perfect that I have seen, and an ideal one for me.

9. González and Abad comment that Carvajal did not believe that her uncle had been sufficiently appreciated in his court posts. 10. Carvajal’s lawsuit was initially against her tutors to recover her inheritance. She would later successfully sue her brother Alonso de Carvajal. 11. Juan Siguenza was rector of the Jesuit College in Madrid. Gaspar Pedrosa was Carvajal’s first confessor in Valladolid.

208 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 9. My companions are Inés and María,12 whom your ladyship met. Another is Isabel, María’s sister and close to the same age. These two attend to the house, as I am in no condition to do so. 10. As usual, the no one from the Company comes near me, nor have I met the Director, Father Porres.13 Neither they nor any other [religious order] visit me, and no one, saints or no, remembers us, and I cannot mention this without it filling my soul with great joy and relief. 11. With this I have responded to all your ladyship has asked in your letter, and even more. Please forgive my bad handwriting and blots, as I have written in haste, and besides, this is what most tires me when I am ill. 12. I kiss Don Luis’s hands a thousand times. Our Lord knows what satisfaction I feel in hearing the news of his Christian spirit and prudence, as it is not news to me that he has received these from Our Lord. May his Divine Majesty increase his love and grace in him each day so that all his works will be agreeable to the Lord. May God guide your Lordships’ children as I wish and keep them, with their parents, many long years. Amen. From Madrid, 15 September 1598. Signed: Luisa de Carvajal. [Written in another hand]: This letter was written to doña Isabel de Velasco y Mendoza, Lady of Pinto y Caracena.

12. Inés de la Asunción, Carvajal’s companion and servant. María was likely another servant in the house. Carvajal treats them as social equals, although her letters to Inés connote her social hierarchy. 13. She seems to resent the Jesuits’ lack of interest in her at this time; Francisco de Porres was rector of the Imperial College in Madrid for many years.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 209 (BAE 2: 99) To Magdalena de San Jerónimo Madrid 16 March 1600 Magdalena de San Jerónimo was the religious name taken by Beatriz Zamudio, the founder of a Magdalen house in Valladolid and author of the plans for “La galera,” a jail for women. Although often called “sor” and “madre,” there is no evidence that she belonged to any religious order. With strong connections to the aristocracy, she resided for a time with her niece, Ana María de Zamudio, at the court of Archduchess Isabel Clara Eugenia in Brussels. Carvajal’s letters to Magdalena are often intended to inform her of the situation of the Catholics in England. She writes to Magdalena to intercede with the archduchess, to whom, however, she never writes directly. 1. I do not know if your grace has received a letter that I wrote some days ago, which I sent with those of Father Pedrosa,14 as I believe he has received an answer from your grace. I have not wanted to wait, but write you again, persisting in overcoming the coldness that your grace has shown in not writing to your friends and servants since you left us for Flanders. I would like to know whether your grace has found a ring there, like the one mentioned by Josephus in his De Antiquitate, which Moses gave to his first wife Tarbis, Queen of Ethiopia, so she would forget him and never remember him again, since he needed to leave her and return to Egypt.15 If your grace wishes me to try this sometimes, do let me know, as well as how I may serve you, and I will do so willingly and lovingly. 2. The news from here is that all your grace’s friends are well, and my health is much better than when you last saw me, thanks be to God, and I am waiting any time now for my lawsuit to finish. Until now, the presidents have not wanted to end my troubles, but it will have to occur soon, by force, and I will then have so much time on my hands that you may ask me to go and keep you company, like you did when 14. Pedrosa was probably Magdalena’s confessor as well. 15. Antiquitates, book II, c. X, n.2. According to González and Abad, although Moses’s wedding is mentioned, there is no mention of the ring. The anecdote shows Carvajal’s stunning use of irony.

210 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza you left. And I promise you that I am not so far from this that you may not see me there someday, as things are reaching a point that I will need little persuasion. 3. Please ask Her Highness,16 your grace, if she would like me to go and found a convent of Spanish nuns with my own funds, as I have heard that she was very pleased with a convent of English ladies founded at that court, and among them is the daughter of the most glorious martyr, Thomas Percy, Count of Northumberland.17 And while I mention this, I should also remember to tell your grace what is being rumored here publicly: that the queen of England and our kings and princes (that is, theirs and ours) have made peace. Given the state things are currently in, my lady, this is certainly convenient, yet I fear the wickedness and treachery with which that monster of a woman will deviously wage war against God, his church, and her subjects’ souls.18 I trust that God will illuminate the Archduke and his brother-in-law19 and help them so they do not fall for her lies or accept conditions offensive to the greater glory of God. I cannot but think that the queen of England will not fail to request what can be expected, and one request I can already hear her asking for insistently is that our kings be removed from Flanders and her enemies be thrown out of Spain “those traitorous and cowardly seminarians that stir up her kingdom and desire and wish to kill her.” 16. Philip II’s daughter, Archduchess Isabel Clara Eugenia left with her husband, Archduke Albert to govern the Netherlands in 1599. 17. This comment corroborates that Carvajal did not at first plan on leaving Spain for England. Thomas Percy, VII Earl of Northumberland (1528–1572) was executed for treason. He was beatified by the Catholic Church in 1895. Mary Percy founded the English Benedictine nuns in Brussels in 1598. 18. Here and in other places, Carvajal speaks very harshly against Queen Elizabeth. This was no doubt the sentiment held by the Spanish Catholics. González and Abad (100 n.6) include a lengthy note citing Elizabeth’s “cruelties” to Catholics as excessive, despite England’s confessionalism. 19. The Archduke’s brother-in-law was Philip III, Isabel Clara Eugenia’s brother.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 211 In clear language, what she is asking is the exclusion and expulsion from her kingdoms of those angels incarnate, the most loyal sons of the Roman Catholic church, and the strongest warriors and defenders of its holy faith, because they keep England from being delivered completely to its pestilential sect.20 They safeguard the kingdom so it is not as lost from God and the faith as Algiers or Constantinople. “And because they wish to kill her” that is, because they refuse to accept her as their pope and head of the church of her kingdoms, which is unparalleled nonsense and insufferable madness! 4. Certainly, my Magdalena, I am sure that if she were to be heard on this and similar issues, (despite the many reasons of state in her favor), it would greatly provoke Our Lord and peace would not be achieved; instead, there would flow fountains of evil and tribulation. For Christ’s universal and true church has no pillars other than their Highnesses and the king their brother, nor any other greater refuge where its sons may find refuge, and if these sons do not abet those persecuted for their faith, I do not know where it will all end. Besides, we cannot place any trust in that evil woman, who after having made them carry out her intentions and wishes in good faith, will do what she pleases and desires for her unfortunate state. I would not want her and her cohorts to get a whiff of how badly our princes and lords want peace, for having as they do the devil in their hearts and souls, and being aggressive and shameless with no truth or faith, they will swell with impudence and attempt what perhaps they would not dare otherwise. 5. In no way am I convinced that (if she were to ask for these conditions), they would be granted her, because the courage and great faith and zeal of Our Lord reassure me of the opposite. I am certain that they will not concede one point on this nor accept any apparent or gilded reasons of state, but will undertake any difficulty, for they know that if they do many good acts for God, God will do as many for them. As King David (who should serve as a mirror to all the kings on earth) mentioned in one or two verses of Psalm 19, those who did not base their strength in God could rely only on their chariots and horses: Hi in curribus et hi in equis: nos autem in nomine domini Dei nostri 20. Carvajal is referring to the Jesuits.

212 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza invocabimus; ipsi obligati sunt, et ceciderunt: nos autem surreximus et erecti sumus.21 (I believe your grace will understand, since it is clear, and if not, some one will translate for you). This same difference exists between the power and strength of immoral and faithless tyrants and kings, and the power and strength of those who, having in God their foundation and defense, will not be confounded or vanquished by their enemies. I truly beseech your grace (as humbly as possible) to read this letter attentively and (since Our Lord sent you to where you are now, without your giving thought) to serve him with great fortitude. And as soon as your grace may do so, to warn and advise Her Highness not to grant to England such conditions as have been discussed about this and other matters, for Our Lord will repay her even here on earth. And your grace, think how cruel it would be to grant such a condition, which would drive out from her states so many children and virtuous young men, such Catholic princes, into the world, impoverished and alone, seeking whoever might first receive them in their lands. How elated would this foolhardy queen be, and how despairing and sorrowful her Catholic subjects, within and outside England, and how many would lose courage and renege. 6. That extremely perverse woman should be satisfied with all the martyrs’ blood she has drunk and (if she remains obstinate) will continue to drink each and every time that a priest or religious or another of her Catholic enemies is seized in her kingdom. She will need to do no more, for her trickery and gilded hypocrisy will tempt our most Christian and holy princes into what is so unnatural to them, yet is so much a part of her malevolence and malice. What is worse, if she persists, she will have many collaborators, and most likely there will be plenty who will endeavor to give advice both here and there to the king and his brothers. May his Heavenly Majesty not permit this, even for our sins, and above all, given who He is, may he illuminate them so they may first consider his glory and divine will before any seeming 21. “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will call upon the name of the Lord our God. They are bound, and have fallen; but we are risen, and are set upright” (Psalms 20.7). Carvajal apparently does not remember the exact Psalm.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 213 advantage, and may he give them the strength of lions with which to win over their enemies. I had not intended to write so long, but the topic has required it. Since it is of such concern to God, it will not tire your grace. I wish that this matter be taken up, without regard to my having written about it in my own words, for leaving this to one side, everything else is truly of extreme substance and of great importance. 7. We have been told, your grace, that the court will move for certain to Valladolid around May or soon afterwards; I will be obliged to go to conclude my lawsuit.22 There, I will surely remember your grace, and will see your house and your sister doña Juana. Your grace would do me a favor if you write her a letter so we might become friends, and in case I have need, to beseech her to accommodate me for a short period of time in a small room, at my expense or any way she prefers. I would be most thankful if you would grant me this favor, because I know that I will be well taken care of. I will take advantage of it only in case of great need and if I cannot find anywhere else to stay, as your grace knows that it will not be fitting for me to be with relatives or in the midst of worldly noise. I kiss doña Ana María’s23 hand many times; please tell her, your grace, that I envy her and your grace even more for how well I know she occupies her time. I also kiss the hands of doña Isabel, doña María del Valle, not forgetting María de San Francisco, I would like to know if she fainted at sea or if she lived through it, and how she is adapting to Flanders, as it must be most enjoyable to hear her tell these stories. Inés [de la Asunción] also kisses your grace’s hands a thousand times and those of whom I have just mentioned.

22. The court moved to Valladolid from 1601 to 1606. 23. Ana María de Zamudio, Magdalena de San Jerónimo’s niece, married the Flemish ambassador to England. In a letter to her brother, Carvajal states that the young girl may have been in her service in Madrid. The other women have not been identified.

214 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza May Our Lord keep your grace and give you the love I wish for you. At Madrid, 16 March 1600. I kiss the lady doña Juana de Jacincur’s [Jacincourt’s] hands a thousand times and I beseech her truly to advise and warn Her Highness, and to encourage her to demonstrate her singular faith and zeal in all the matters I have touched upon, if the occasion arises. It is quite likely that the queen of England will insist on what I have said when discussing the peace treaty. Luisa de Carvajal. And so as not to make this letter any longer than it already is, I will say only that Father Pedrosa is fine and went to Seville a few days ago, from there, I understand he will go to his province, as they do not want to leave him with us here, and he said he wished terribly to be gone from here. Doña Ana de Peñalosa24 is in good health and as saintly as ever.

(BAE 33: 150) To Magdalena de San Jerónimo December 14, 1605 Although Luisa de Carvajal arrived in England on May 1, 1605, the following is her first extant letter from London. It is likely that her travels and hiding in Catholic country houses throughout the countryside did not leave her time to write. At the time she wrote this letter, she had recently moved to the Spanish ambassador’s quarters and could now correspond with her friends in Spain through diplomatic pouch. It is the first letter that begins with the religious heading of Jhs [the Greek letters for Jesus, ΗΣΟΥΣ]. The initials are part of the emblem of the Jesuit order.

24. Ana de Mercado y Peñalosa was a devout laywoman to whom Juan de la Cruz dedicated his poem “Llama de amor viva” [Living Flame of Love]. She donated ornaments and funds to him for her altar at the Discalced Carmelite Convent of Nuestra Señora del Carmen in Segovia.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 215 Jhs. 1. Any rough metal induces sparks from the hardest flint, and the lowliness of my merits on the occasion of my leaving has revealed and shown the warm charity of some hearts, whose sparks, hidden between their letters’ lines, have fervently reached mine. Your grace’s [sparks] have done so with inexplicable force because they show such brightness knowing how little my service is worthy of you, and this has edified me no end. Infinite thanks be given to that immense mountain of goodness from which all good emanates. Since your grace is a spiritual person, I know you will accept my excuse for everything for which I may be blamed, as your grace is aware that we have a master whose will must be obeyed once he expresses it, for it is a language spoken by all his servants. 2. I was in bad health at the start owing to a purgative that I was forced to take and was almost the death of me. Although Our Lord always wishes me to suffer in this way, I am still on two legs, without bothering anyone, and I believe that I would have recovered my strength had it not been impeded by the constant labors and greatly increased reasons for suffering we are going through here.25 Please help these people with your prayers and however else you can, as I believe there is no more important work of mercy nor any souls more in need. I trust in God’s goodness that he will temper the fury that has again been unleashed in the hearts of his enemies. 3. As to me, my lady, my leaving Spain was expressly designed to thrust me into this dense jungle amid wild beasts, and until I fulfil this plan,26 I cannot find any means of returning. I will try to shorten my stay as much as I can given the turbulence of the times, and if Our Lord wishes me to leave here, I will go there directly. I gratefully accept the friendship and compassion your grace offers in your letter, and that I 25. Carvajal alludes to the increasing persecution of Catholics due to the recent Gunpowder Plot of November 5, 1605. 26. According to González and Abad, Carvajal had made a vow to confront any occasion that might lead to her martyrdom, although she did not wish to disclose the vow unnecessarily.

216 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza will find your doors open.27 May your grace find them in Our Lord’s degrees of love, as I wish, for he satisfies my great debt. And since I have his Divine Majesty to thank for your offer, I expect that he will make sure I have reason to be thankful. 4. I fully believe in Her Highness’s piety, as she was born with this virtue.28 And given my poverty and state of abandonment, I know I will not lack her royal support should I be in need of it. Certainly, I care for her greatly and it was a victorious struggle for me to keep from seeing her and doña Juana [Jacincourt], whose hands I kiss. I beseech Her Highness to help me with her prayers, as I know I will never lack for your grace’s, ever. Until now, I have had no one with whom to send my responses to your grace’s letters. When your grace responds to mine, send them by means of Don Pedro de Zúñiga.29 May Our Lord keep your grace in his holy love, as I wish. December 14, 1605. Luisa.

(BAE 36: 151) To Mother Mariana de San Jose, Prioress of the Augustinian Recollects London, January 19, 1606 Sor Mariana de San José (1568–1638) was a friend of Luisa de Carvajal who had distinguished herself for her spiritual and administrative talents in the Augustine order. She founded numerous convents throughout Castile. At the time of the letter, she was Prioress of the Augustine convent in Medina del Campo. In 1610, Queen Margarita of Austria called her to found the Monastery of the Encarnación in Madrid. Carvajal writes to her often, asking her counsel on religious matters, on the founding of convents, and on overseeing young women. She was instrumental in obtaining Carvajal’s body as a relic for the convent, where it remains still 27. Magdalena reveals her doubts as to Carvajal’s missionary plans. 28. Isabel Clara Eugenia, Archduchess of the Netherlands, and Luisa’s childhood companion. 29. Spanish ambassador to England, 1605–1612.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 217 today in its reliquary. For years after Carvajal’s death, she wrote Rome in support of her canonization. Jhs. 1. When I take up the pen to write others, I cannot keep from writing even two lines to your grace. I will not write more, since it is late and the mail must leave tomorrow. 2. In the previous mail, I wrote your grace and am keenly awaiting your response, as what I wrote about keeping my vow is of such importance to me.30 I sent the letter addressed to Friar Agustín Antolínez under great secrecy.31 I will lift the secrecy willingly for your grace only, so you may let me know your opinion, whose mystical powers I esteem. The best road, I believe, is to finally learn the language, unless Our Lord orders otherwise, as he did with my coming to this house, which I had not planned.32 But I feared that the revolutions of war would stop me and force me to leave without fulfilling my obligation, for it would be no little thing to turn back, without having given my life in the turbulence and confusion of these people, in the company of many others for whom everything is well disposed. Neither the good nor the evil are ever free from a strange fear, being tormented by hearing (as your companion Father Juan says)33 a thousand falsehoods and misunderstandings of wars, deaths, treasons, and misfortunes that they say are upon us and will befall everyone. We hear all sorts of horrible blasphemies against the pope and the Holy Church, and Catholics are insulted by, at the very least, being called dogs within earshot and to their face. Knowing the language seems to be the way to succeed; without it, it is difficult to do anything to keep to my commitment. It 30. Under great pressure to leave England, Carvajal wrote to several religious asking their opinion. 31. Antolínez was Mariana de San José’s superior; he was later appointed archbishop of Ciudad Rodrigo (1613–1624), and archbishop of Santiago de Compostela (1624–1626). 32. Carvajal understands her need to learn English. She was forced to reside at the embassy given the dangers to Catholics after the Gunpowder Plot, but because of her health, she moved later to Spitalfields, an open area of fields and nursery gardens (see letter 131, page 293. 33. The Augustinian friar Juan de San Agustín, the ambassador’s confessor.

218 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza is feared that, if we wait, there will be even more inconveniences such as I mentioned. The soul doubts God’s true wish, and so it is better to put ourselves in his sweet hands and to call on the light and intercession of his loyal servants. When I approach His Majesty by means of prayer, I receive extraordinary relief and great assurance of his protection and the fulfillment of his most holy will, which is my only desire, and other mercies no less important, and constant providence, even in the lowliest of matters. But I do not have complete faith in my feelings, and I wish to know his will through more concrete means. Father Juan [Siguenza] is all for my returning to Spain in spring, as he says there is nothing for me here but to go back. If Our Lord stops the wars and revolutions within and outside the realm, I see, my lady, that for God’s great glory, that he will have to block illness and death, and until now, even though the waves swell and everything looks like it will sink at the very least, Our Lord tones down and mitigates it all, and nothing has yet reached us here. And that which has, which is our persecution, has me without worry as far as I am concerned, as it ensures our importance. I truly beseech your grace for prayers for your humble servant, and to Our Lord, that he may keep you for his glory, which I desire. January 19, 1606. 3. Parliament begins this month, as it was delayed due to the Gunpowder Plot. In all probability, horrible things will occur to the Catholics so they may be destroyed. May your grace valiantly help them with Our Lord so that this piece of the Holy Church’s wall does not topple. [The Catholics] rise up against the period’s inclement times which pursues them, but their spirit is strong and only two, it is said, have turned back and few others have reneged our holy faith publicly. Among them, one of the most noble ladies at court and palace, the wife of a king’s counselor, and she herself admitted it to the queen34 herself, and it was such an optimal time that one month later, according to some, she has sworn to become a Protestant like her husband the king, who was extremely happy to hear her. Externally, the queen 34. Anne of Denmark, James I’s wife, was thought to have converted to Catholicism.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 219 has always followed the heresy, but it was thought that she understood ours to be the true faith. This letter is quite long; it seems there are many more than the two lines I mentioned. Luisa. Please give the enclosed letter to Inés [de la Asunción], if she has professed, and if not, please tear it up, but read it first if you wish. I would feel terribly if she has changed her mind. If she has, she would not have withstood life in this country, as one needs a giant spirit to endure such harsh labor and lack of comfort. Not only spirit is needed, but great patience, prudence, and joy, so as not to kill one’s self and others. To Mother Mariana de San Joseph, my lady, my God keep for many years, prioress of the Augustinian Recollects. Medina del Campo. Added by González and Abad: “Below: ‘Note. Deals with her vow and her return to Spain, or her stay there.’”

(BAE 37: 153) To Inés de la Asunción London, January 19, 1606 Inés de la Asunción was not allowed to accompany Luisa de Carvajal to London, since it was believed that her reason for going was not sufficiently spiritual but was due to her closeness to her mistress. Although she mentions having written before to Inés, this is the first letter extant. Carvajal’s tone changes radically when she writes to her former companion; at times she assumes almost a motherly attitude, recounting details of her travel and her dress. In other letters, her playful tone often reveals the close relationship between the women, despite Inés’s lower class background. Jhs. 1. After reading yours of April 4, which I received one month ago, I see a thousand complaints against me. Of these, you must have much

220 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza more reason now, if [the letters] I have written you have not arrived. You say that I write to others, one being Father Espinosa;35 I have never written a word to him or to anyone unless it was absolutely necessary, mainly to the Mother Prioress, and to Father Ricardo so he would forward the letters.36 Both in the past and the future, be sure, my good Inés, that I will never stop writing you because I no longer remember you, as the love I have for you brings you to my mind and makes me worry about you in ways that I cannot say, and offer this to Our Lord with great truthfulness. 2. You ask that I tell you what I have gone through. I believe I have done so in others, but this one is being sent by more secure means, as will be done while I remain in this house.37 I believe I will again leave in two months, returning to my first residences, which I was forced to leave due to the event that occurred here in November, a terrible and little understood plot that endangered everyone without fail.38 Although it seemed due to a good cause, it was risky and imprudent, and in no way assured, either for friends or enemies. God solved it at the cost of the lives of those involved, and the persecution has become fierce, as each day awaits intolerable things. Please pray to Our Lord for those people, and remember that I am also in need of the same, and I beseech Isabel for her prayers.39 You may share this secret with her, since despite my being careful, Our Lord has begun to break it, although as to me and my friends, I believe that His Majesty still wants to keep it. 3. You say that my cousin Doña Luisa40 wrote to you; I did not see her in Burgos, but she could have seen me, and thanks to God’s mercy, I am sure that no one will tell her the truth that will not be of great 35. Hernando de Espinosa, Carvajal’s confessor in Valladolid. 36. Mariana de San José and Richard Walpole, Michael Walpole’s brother. 37. Carvajal was currently residing at the Spanish embassy. 38. The reference is to the Gunpowder Plot of November 5, 1605. It is obvious that Carvajal did not consider the plot worthwhile. 39. Isabel de la Cruz, Carvajal’s close friend and servant in Madrid who joined the Augustinian order with Inés. 40. The first daughter of the Marquis of Almazán; married Juan Antonio Portocarrero.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 221 comfort to her. For ever since I took my leave until today, Divine Providence has held me in the palm of his benign hand, mixing human uncaring with the miracle of divine care, witnessed by so many who have seen this up close. And you will not believe the respect with which everyone has treated me on the road and once arrived, and the ease with which I have been able to protect my decency and my natural modesty. Not even an ant bothered us on our journey, nor was there any problem in any of the houses in which I have lived. In the last house, one night at nine, a search party of more than twenty men, with many justices among them, thought that I was English, so they did nothing more than search carefully through the house. When they reached my bedroom, they took off their caps to me, and refused to search any further. And only Our Lord knows if there was something they could have found in the house, although it was not where they most looked. My landlords marveled at such a courteous search, saying they had never seen one like it. And we celebrated a very devout Te Deum Laudamus for those who were saved.41 4. And so you will be fully comforted, as I am and wish you to be, know that I have two damsels very much the Lord’s servants who are from here and cannot speak one word of Spanish, so I always speak to them in their language, poorly or well, in order to learn it. If I could speak it, there are wonderful occasions to do good, and many more for me, being a woman. They are very different in their clothing and physical complexion from those you have seen, as there are many of both kinds. One is about forty years old, and the other is twenty, the daughter of a brother of señor Enrique; the other is the sister of Isabel [illegible].42 My dress is made from black flannel from Segovia, much used by the ladies there; it falls to the ground and is full of pleats; the sleeves have deep folds tied with black ribbons. When the weather is hot, I wear one of black thin wool, although not even the very poor women wear this, but rather silk; I have refused to wear those made 41. Literally, “Thee, Oh God, we praise” is a prayer often offered in gratitude for God’s help in an endeavor. 42. Reference to the English Jesuit Henry Garnet, executed because of his involvement in the Gunpowder Plot. See Philip Caraman, Henry Garnet: 1555–1605 and the Gunpowder Plot (London: Longmans, 1964).

222 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza for me. The bodice comes up to my neck, like a doublet, and the skirt with pleats is made from black thin wool. [I wear] a thin Walloon collar with no adornment or hemstitch, plain and very large; rarely do I wear a ruff. Although my outfit is that of an old woman’s, it is more loose-fitting and the collar or Walloon less expensive. On my head, a linen cap at this time, and in the summer, one of cambric, which is for poor people, and [I leave] two fingers’ length of hair, very simple and straight, uncovered. When I must look English to avert any danger, [I wear] a ring of cambric with some lace, a hair covering like that you saw in Valladolid. And in this house, I wear a veil that covers all my hair in front, and I close my dress with a hook and eye at my chest. I brought nothing with me that I have not had need for. By paying 130 reales, I was able to claim the bed linen and shirts and other things that were seized at customs, which was about what they are worth. All the books I brought as well as other things were also seized, and I hope that they will do me the favor of returning them. I doubt that I will get back my whips, which were also confiscated, and the wicked bishops have brought them to jeer and entertain themselves with them. I do not know what else you would like to know, as the mail is leaving soon. 5. Prayers matter greatly to me; I trust in your friendship to secure some for me. Of yours and Isabel’s, I am certain, and of Mother Prioress’s, as hers are worth a treasure to me. You both should serve her well, and if Our Lord orders me to return to that land, I will not desist in ending my life doing so. 6. Tell me how your love of God grows, for so long as you go about this, nothing else matters. Offer to His Majesty the efficacious love you have at times for me, in thanks for all he puts up from me and does with me, and I, as usual. May Our Lord keep you, my beloved sister, with the growth in spirit that I desire for you. Written January 19, 1606.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 223 7. I wrote a very long letter to the Mother Prioress with the last courier who left for Spain. Although there is little time, I humbly kiss your hands and beseech you to write me often, as your letters benefit me. And I ask you, Inés, to tear up this one soon. Our friends are fine and they remember you often. Luisa 8. In what you say about changing your name, do not change it, but take Antonia, which is mine, as you know, and that of Enríquez, which also corresponds to me.43 I asked for a passport with this name, but later I did not assume it and lived without it.44 These things are of such little importance, sister, to the uneven steps taken by my unworthy feet! Here, necessity makes it both saintly and prudent to change one’s name one hundred times over. Written on cover page: To Inés de la Asunción, Recollect Nun of Saint Augustine. Medina del Campo. Added by González and Abad: “Between the lines on the cover, these words: ‘[This letter] is from Luysa de Caravajal who went to England. From London.’”

(BAE 58: 180) To Magdalena de San Jerónimo London, 3 July 1606 Carvajal realizes the extent of the dangers Catholic find themselves in after the Gunpowder Plot. She informs the nun of the demands placed on them, criticizing James I’s and Anne’s extravagances at their expense,

43. The Mendozas were related to the Enríquez family, descendants of the Admiral of Castile. 44. Although she may not have made use of the name, Carvajal did request a passport with the name of Antonia Enríquez as an alias in order to travel to England (see “Introduction,” 63, note 148.)

224 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza yet nevertheless excusing the queen, who was known to harbor Catholic sympathies. Jhs. 1. I received your grace’s last letter, that accompanied those that came with it, and that informed me that your grace is not well, which troubles me very much. I will wait until Our Lord wishes to send us good news of your health, as I have written your grace three letters, I believe quite long, and in one, I sent you one of the holy images that Catholics sell in jail, and in another, I beseech your grace to send me some small barrels of pewter or tin with oil, as we have need of this again.45 I hope you will respond to me once your health improves. The care taken to send and receive letters is a work of great charity, for all the benefit and value that one gains from it. May God repay your grace with great increments of his love. I am much better, [my] lady, but my spirit and body are never completely well. May your grace not forget us Our Lord. 2. The proclamation that I sent about the priests must have already arrived there.46 I do not know whether those in the Tower will be in charge of this. Mistress Ana Vas [Vaux]47 is there, without permission to leave, yet no one speaks of this. Her niece’s husband, that is, her sister’s son, died here recently, and his wife is very young and their children very small. It is such a shame, since she is a very devout and modest woman. 3. The Catholics have suffered much destruction and ruin since I arrived here; houses important to Catholicism have tumbled. They seized 50,000 ducats all at once from Catholics some days ago, from what 45. The oil was needed for religious ceremonies and sacraments such as Extreme Unction. 46. The number of Catholic priests in England had grown considerably since Elizabeth’s death; in 1604, James I ordered all priests expelled from the realm. 47. Anne Vaux, a known recusant, hired houses for use as meeting places for missionary priests and often hid Henry Garnet. Accused of writing a letter that revealed the Gunpowder Plot, she was imprisoned in the Tower from March to August, 1606. Alan Haynes, The Gunpowder Plot (Stroud: History Press, 2005), 88–89.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 225 I heard, because the king was angry just because he was a Catholic. Most recently, they have seized 150,000 ducats from another, here in London, a fact known to all. He is very old and had spent his entire life saving them, he said for a school. The king found out and gave them to the queen. They say that she wanted them to pay for outfits, all in silk and gold, that she had ordered for her wardrobe. She owed this amount to one or more merchants, and they must not have wanted to sell her anything else unless she paid her debts. The good queen had no other means of paying for the labor. They say that three lordships have been created, each paying a sum that may amount in total to 50,000 ducats, so she may pay for the linens and buy new ones for the recent birth of a daughter. As soon as the new laws are made public, more debts will be paid at the Catholics’ expense, because they are extremely cruel; one cannot hear them without having one’s heart shrink in mortal pain. Even though all their malice will soon vomit its poison, I hope that Our Lord will blind them and temper the situation, otherwise soon there will be no Catholics left. They have their eyes set on money, it seems, and everything disappears and will disappear as if from ghosts. 4. I do not know if I have written your grace about the cost of sending your letters. When San Germán48 was here, he gave the king and queen two letters from those of us [Catholics]; and before he left, since they had still not answered them, he asked for their replies. The secretary in charge of the affair responded that he could not produce them if he did not receive in return 300 reales for each one. San Germán sent the 600 reales and received the letters, and I was assured of this by a serious person who is in the know. 5. Please keep me informed of the masters’49 health there, your grace; may God keep them as he can, amen. And I kiss the lady doña Juana’s [de Jacincourt] hand many times. 48. Juan de Mendoza, the Marquis of San Germán; later Marquis of Hinojosa. 49. The Archdukes Albert and Isabel Clara Eugenia.

226 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 6. Don Pedro asks how gloves can be treated.50 Please do not forget to tell me, your grace. May God keep your grace with his love, as I wish. July 3, 1606. Luisa. Added by González and Abad: (The letter is missing the second folio, where the address would be written).

(BAE 60: 182) To Magdalena de San Jerónimo London, 24 July 1606 In this letter, Carvajal makes it clear that although Magdalena de San Jerónimo wishes her to return to Spain, she has no interest in leaving England. She attempts to explain her reasons for her journey. This will become an issue between them. Jhs. 1. Your grace may have heard of the new sorts of treason that according to the people our masters have dreamed up and are carrying out. Val51 and a Captain Thomas who came from Flanders were imprisoned. Awful things are happening, with the government restive and encouraging unrest. Such is life; all we can do is show them some signs of courage, and we expect that Don Pedro’s [de Zúñiga] show of bravery on this occasion, and his great moderation and prudence, will be of benefit. Val is the person whom your mercy saw [in Flanders] recently, and I do not believe that he is capable of killing a cat, much less the king and Cecil. These poor people live in such fear! Treason is talked about here like any frivolous topic is brought up elsewhere; I say this only because of the frequency with which it is mentioned, since it breeds fear and loathing in everyone. 50. The ambassador, Pedro de Zúñiga, inquired about the popular treatment given gloves with civet to perfume them. 51. According to González and Abad, a priest accused of coming from Flanders to assassinate the king and Robert Cecil, I Earl of Salisbury and Lord High Treasurer.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 227 2. Your grace tells me in one or two of your letters that you do not wish to say anything about my return and the good it will do me, since I pay no attention to you; yet I do not believe I have ever failed to respond to you about this with the esteem and love that your words deserve. However, if by this your grace means that I am deaf to the possibility of leaving, that is something else altogether. Your grace should believe me when I say that it is not up to me to do so. I have so many suppositions regarding God’s will for me, that I cannot reject this one, without supposing weightier reasons for staying. Certainly, my coming to England was not due to any brilliant plan, or so people would think me important, or even so one person would remember me in this world. And thus I remain in this state, thanks to Our Lord, desiring only the total fulfillment of his will, even though I am dying every second, for I admit that I die every time I remember that I am on this island. If God wishes me to leave, there will be no better way for my self-esteem, and for my soul both on earth and in heaven, but to comply with his will by any means possible, no matter how bitter it may be. May your grace help me always in my dealings with His Majesty, for his most holy love, and so he may confirm and guide me on many occasions and difficulties. 3. The oil they brought me was not what I asked for; I am sending you three small flasks, each one with its letter on the stopper. I beseech your grace to fill them and send me the three different kinds of oils, as we are in great need of them, especially to consecrate chalices, which is most needed in don Pedro’s house.52 And please tell me whether your grace received my letter in which I sent you a holy picture of the Infant Jesus; I have answered your others. 4. I have received a great mercy by your sending me the recipe to treat gloves [see letter 58] and the holy cards. The sun here will never be warm enough to treat them, as the recipe says it must be strong, and it is even less so this year, since all it does is rain. It is feared that the 52. The oils are those consecrated by the bishop on Holy Thursday.

228 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza plague, which is always present, will increase in the city. Yet another of London’s wonderful qualities, with its many others! 5. If you cannot obtain the laws [against Catholics] there, I will buy some to send you. 6. May God give what I constantly beseech to their Highnesses, and may he keep your grace as I wish. 24 July 1606. 7. In what you request, either the hand or foot, I will be careful, although it is one of the most difficult things here. In fact, this little part was given to me by a priest, very well known to me, and everyone told me that this priest was the best person to give it, and he has done so.53 I do not send it preserved, as you know the penury in which I find myself. The most humble of Your grace’s servants, Luisa.

(BAE 64: 188) To Magdalena de San Jerónimo London, August 23, 1606 The letter shows Carvajal’s extensive knowledge of and strong reactions to current events, which she did not hesitate to communicate to her friend in Brussels. Jhs. 1. It has been a long while since I have received any reply from your grace; I hope you are enjoying good health, as is my wish. 2. As to the war,54 I always await the good news that Our Lord will have mercy on us and protect all our very good masters there and in Spain, as Christianity needs this. The king’s [Philip III] exemplary 53. Carvajal here refers to the body parts of Catholic priests that she collected from the jails to preserve as holy relics. 54. The war in Flanders, especially the 1606 campaign led by Ambrosio Spinola, commander of the Flanders army and principal minister of the Archdukes.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 229 loyalty to God and the Holy Church is heart-warming and encourages devotion, for his brothers will be sure to follow his intent.55 There was great need of this given how poorly Venice has behaved: Oh, those poor people! What have they gotten themselves into, bringing sadness to good persons and happiness to all the perverse persons of that land? They were surprised to see that their wish for the church’s total destruction has not been carried out!56 Your grace should see what their pride demands and what a crazy and irrational example they are of a total lack of judgment. They say the master [James I] has stated that, with a Protestant Italy (as if it were not one already), he and his kingdom would be sufficiently strong to bring down Philip’s and his beloved servant’s monarchy.57 This would make it more feasible for him to confidently remove the pope from his seat, before the wretch departs from this life. And although constantly dispelled, there is a rumor that his condition is such that he is alive only by a miracle, for he is mortally ill and his bodily strength weaker than a fifty-year-old man’s.58 May God, being God, look into the humble hearts that his servants offer him, and destroy the consummate pride of his enemies, for their souls’ greatest benefit. 3. I beseech your grace to let me know the price of a small clock with chimes, one that may be useful and also the price of one without them, but only an alarm. I have returned the small clock I had to its owner and no clocks sound in this new house. They are necessary to keep time, even if irregular, which is what the best of them do, as I think very poorly of them, although my opinion, despite being right, cannot be so negative, since I wish to purchase one.59 I can do so thanks to 55. In 1606, Pope Paul V excommunicated the entire Venice government and expelled the Jesuits from Venice for objecting to his policies; Philip III decided to intervene for the pope personally during the conflict. By the king’s “brothers,” Carvajal means the Archdukes Albert and Isabel Clara Eugenia. 56. Venice’s Protestant enclave had grown considerably; it received support from the English ambassador Sir Henry Wotton (1568–1639). 57. González and Abad believe Philip’s “beloved servant” to be the Archduke Albert. 58. Carvajal believed that Paul V had backed the Gunpowder Plot. 59. Mechanical clocks were at best inaccurate, jumping from five to fifteen minutes per day and having to be set daily at noon (Encyclopedia of Time: Science, Philosophy, Theology and

230 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza the charity shown me by Don Pedro [de Zúñiga], who has fed me and allowed me to experience Our Lord’s great providence. 4. Of the priests who were expelled, some may have already arrived [in Brussels]. If Master Wueb [Webb?]60 is one of them, I ask your grace to please help him as much as possible, as he is a great servant of Our Lord’s and here has always given good example and been a good friend of the priests. I have no need to mention Father Floido [Floyd],61 as I am certain you your grace will succor him with the love that his rare virtue deserves. And I confidently remit Mr. Alabastro,62 who is secular and of good standing, to your grace’s charity, as he has asked that I intercede with your grace and Her Highness. Please give Master Wueb this letter, which he wishes to take with him, and tell him that it is sent with much urgency, for the other gentleman friend63 does not write because he is in a remote part of London since [Wueb] set sail, and I do not believe he will return soon. If there is a way to ask him and others for letters recommending [Wueb], I will do so and will send them to your grace. 5. The situation against the Catholics is worsening; please try to help them with your and others’ most sincere prayers. And Our Lord keep and consume your grace in his sweet love in the manner in which I beg of him. August 23, 1606. Luisa.

Culture, ed. S. James Birx, vol. 3 (London: Sage, 2009), 198. 60. Likely a pseudonym taken by a priest. 61. Most probably the English Jesuit John Floyd (1572–1649), who taught overseas, especially at the English college of St. Omer. He wrote many treatises under various pseudonyms. 62. González and Abad identify this person as a converted Protestant who accompanied Essex on the raid against Cádiz. 63. González and Abad clarify that Carvajal refers to Michael Walpole, in hiding in England and therefore, Carvajal does not mention him by name.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 231 (BAE 71: 197) To Father Joseph Creswell, S. I. London, December 28, 1606 Carvajal met the English Jesuit Joseph Creswell (1557–1623) in Valladolid. He was rector of the English College, Rome (1589–1592), succeeding Robert Persons, and also succeeded him as vice-prefect of the English Jesuits in Spain. Creswell called for the alleviation of penal laws against Catholics.64 The letter points out the close relationship Carvajal had established with Creswell, as she entrusts her letters to her wealthy relations and friends to him. She will continue to write to him throughout the remainder of her life, detailing the political situation in England. Jhs. 1. I have already written to your grace answering one of your letters, although with very little time. I received great benefit, which I beseech you to continue offering me always. I now write with the mail, waiting until Rivas, Don Pedro’s courier, leaves, which will be in two or three weeks. I include a letter to the duchess,65 and if that man allows me, I will write to the Duchess of Medina de Ríoseco.66 Along with my last letter, I sent your grace one for the Countess of Castelar,67 which, if you received it, I ask you to give to her personally; I sent her a duplicate letter by other means. Your grace ask her ladyship for the news from here, for I cannot tell it to you in this letter.

64. Albert J. Loomie, S.J., ed. English Polemics at the Spanish Court: Joseph Creswell’s Letter to the Ambassador from England, the English and Spanish Texts of 1606, (New York: Fordham University Press, 1993), 2. 65. González and Abad have not identified this duchess. The letters written by Carvajal have not been found. 66. Vittoria Colonna, widow of Luis Enríquez de Cabrera y Mendoza, IV Duke of Medina de Ríoseco, Admiral of Castile, was the sister of Cardinal Ascanio Colonna. 67. Beatriz Ramírez de Mendoza, Countess of Castelar, had been lady-in-waiting to Anna of Austria, Philip II’s fourth wife. Castelar founded several convents, including, in 1607, the Convent of San Jerónimo in Madrid known as “carboneras” for the appearance of an image of the Virgin among coals. She was a distant relative of Carvajal’s through the Mendoza line.

232 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 2. I kiss Don Rodrigo’s and my cousin’s68 hand many times, and am extremely pleased about their and their daughter’s good news; I wish them good health. My love for them makes me wish that their happiness will not end in this life, but that their virtue will increase and that only eternal values be given first place in their souls, for all the rest is straw. 2. Don Pedro [de Zúñiga] grows in exemplarity each day, thanks to Our Lord, who has showered him and this land with favors. An ambassador with less reputation and exemplarity would be a great evil, and such dishonor and discredit could not be imagined in Spain. 3. All your grace’s brothers [English Jesuits] are in good health. 4. The [Catholics’] assets are being heavily encumbered, but for now and some days since, there has been less pressure on other things, as no intensive searches are being carried out, at least in London, and very few of the usual ones. Mr. Garner69 has again been jailed; I believe he was the first of the Jesuits, and he is very good and modest, and seems quite melancholic. He was six miles from London, in the countryside, when he was captured, but is now in León Blanco, one of the city jails.70 Many devout people have weakened and gone to the [Anglican] churches,71 although they protest against them with great anger, saying that they 68. Rodrigo Calderón, the Duke of Lerma’s favorite, was married to Inés de Vargas, Carvajal’s cousin on her father’s side. Carvajal served as Calderón’s spiritual advisor during his political troubles. 69. May refer to Thomas Garnet. 70. Carvajal translates the name of the White Lion Prison, located in Southwark. 71. Among the statutes against Catholics were “An Act for the better discovering and repressing of Popish Recusants” (3 Jac. I, iv); which fined them for not communicating in the Anglican Church; and “An Act to prevent and avoid dangers which may grow by Popish Recusants” (3. Jac. 1, v), which included a new Oath of Allegiance that prohibited recusants from within ten miles of London. For the complications that arose between James and the Catholics after the Plot, see Albert J. Loomie, S.J., English Polemics at the Spanish Court: Joseph Creswell’s Letter to the Ambassador from England (New York: Fordham University Press, 1993).

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 233 do so to protect their capital. At heart they remain with the Roman Catholic faith, more renewed and beloved than before, and act this way with great pain. They tell me that the king, since he is losing money and the 20 pounds per month from the old law, asks what kind of laws these new ones are, that take money from him yet offer him none of the people’s hearts, so that both are lost altogether. Please tell the Countess of Castelar about Father Garnet’s straw.72 I beg your grace for the love of God that if she donates money there [in Spain], that it be sent in all secrecy to Father Balduino [Baldwin].73 Or your grace can write to Father Blundo [Blount]74 or his father that I may be given the money here that was given there or the amount that I ask for. This should be done with great care, as they have said they will do it and that your grace should request it there. [I say this because] if Don Pedro [de Zúñiga] is not willing to feed me, there is no one in this entire kingdom to whom I may turn. You see, your grace, a solitary woman in bad health, in so dangerous a foreign kingdom as this one; what will happen if those abroad refuse to help her? In ten or twelve days, I will move from Don Pedro’s house to a small one that I have rented. My stay with the ambassador has already lasted too long, but I came here because I understood it was Our Lord’s will, on occasion of the Gunpowder plot. Things are more settled now, and with the good news from Flanders,75 they will improve daily. 5. Two young Englishwomen who are like little angels have come with me, and I will also hire a decent man, without whose services I cannot live in a house by myself. They are bringing me one who will be appropriate for me, married, without children, who has lost all his 72. The English Jesuit Henry Garnet was executed May 3, 1606 on account of the Gunpowder Plot; a blood stain on a leaf of corn appeared to miraculously show his likeness. Pedro de Zúñiga took it with him to Spain as a relic. 73. In all probability, William Baldwin, an English Jesuit implicated in the Gunpowder Plot. He was prefect of the English mission in the Netherlands from 1600 to 1610. 74. English Jesuit Richard Blount. 75. The Marquis of Spínola’s campaign of 1606.

234 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza fortune because of his religion. Both he and his wife were let out of prison, where they were locked up for that cause for many months. Although I have very little money, I cannot remain without adequate company among such terrible people as these heretics. The money will be well spent on my virtuous and holy family who have suffered for their faith. My grace, all that I have in this life is 200 reales, and not even this amount for the move, since I lack such necessities as a bed, clothing, and other things for the house. May my situation move your grace to look for someone who might wish to favor us. 6. If Brother Thomas76 were here, this would be very helpful, according to your brothers. If your grace does not need him there, we beg your grace to send him to us. I cannot continue to write. May Our Lord keep your grace as need be, for His Majesty knows what need there is of someone like you in this endeavor. December 28, 1606. Luisa. 7. Many important and noble persons remain strong and constant in their faith, thanks to Our Lord, Amen. The English ambassador seems to take care to find our who writes from here and what is said, and from molehill they create a mountain. Burn my letters, your grace, and do not attribute them to me. Please send your letters with friends. Written on letter: To señor Creswell, may God keep him many years, etc. [Take care] your grace to give this letter to the Countess of [illegible], niece of the Duke of the Infantazgo [Infantado], who frequently stays at your house. Madrid.

76. A coadjutor, assistant in the Jesuit order.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 235 (BAE 73: 203) To Magdalena de San Jerónimo London, January 18, 1607 Magdalena de San Jerónimo had gone to France to accompany the Discalced Carmelites who were coming to Brussels to found a convent. In her letter, Carvajal expresses her disagreement over peace with the Northern Provinces, which began the Twelve Years Truce, agreed to in 1609. She informs her friend of the danger she is in, explaining in an anecdote that Robert Cecil was aware of her presence in England and of her correspondence. Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, was Lord Treasurer and apparently led a small army of government spies; he was known for his anti-Catholic sentiments. Jhs. 1. I received your last letter as your grace was leaving for Paris, and I expect that Our Lord brought you there well, since one can expect all good things from your grace and the company. It is good for Flanders to have people such as those saintly ladies, and at the very least, among them Mother Ana de Jesús, whose human and spiritual values we all know.77 It seems to me, my lady, that those six soldiers are worth more than an entire Spanish legion, and even one hundred of them, for when Moses lifted his hands and with them his heart to the heavens, the army would win, and without his help, it collapsed and was vanquished. Give us news of their arrival, your grace, and how they are, and to Mother Ana de Jesús and Mother Beatriz de la Concepción especially, give them welcome and a thousand congratulations from me, for as they are so recently arrived, I do not wish to tire them with a letter. 2. It is being said here that the Dutch are trying to make peace, an intolerable term for any decent soul who is protective of God’s honor

77. González and Abad state that Magdalena met with six nuns at the Discalced Carmelites in Paris, returning with them to Brussels where they founded a convent. A favorite of Saint Teresa, Ana de Jesús (Ana de Lobera Torres) had previously founded convents in Spain. Beatriz de la Concepción was Spanish ambassador Pedro de Zúñiga’s niece.

236 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza and glory.78 And even if they were the winners with their so-called or odious peace, Spain’s honor and greatness are so much more, and the noble blood of our masters both here and there, one and the same, and I wish them to be even closer. And thus, all I ask from Our Lord is that he give us and their Highnesses a daughter for Spain’s prince, or a son as husband to a princess.79 This issue, I believe, is of great importance to all the holy Church, for in the state the world is now, Flanders will not be safeguarded, no matter the ruler, if it is separated from Spain, and the Catholic religion will run the same risk, no doubt. And, my lady, may neither peace nor their submission be allowed by Our Lord, if it does not include a Spanish government with presidios and the Catholic religion, which is what is solid and lasting. The rest is but a momentary blossom with no perfume, rather, at the first giving off a corrupt smell. In that case, to give them a few short years to decide on which religion or leave the land, is all right by me, for God’s sake. I believe this was done at Antwerp, and it is the most we can do and the last thing that should be done with them. If they swell with pride, we should again show them our teeth and not fear them, for it is God’s great cause. If we know how to appeal to him with true love, humbly submitting to him, he will not turn his beauteous face or deny us his powerful blessing. I believe his most benign Majesty is ready to render us special favor in this matter, if we are careful not to provoke his ire, and appease him for the past, and our leaders do the same for their subjects’ transgressions, correcting them as much as possible. Both our Christian Highnesses can greatly console us and show us just how such elevated princes with hearts so benign are ready to do what they can for the greater glory and service to God. May he protect them and give them his ever-lasting light and assistance to the extent that I ask of him.

78. Although Carvajal opposed peace with the United Provinces, Spain held a cease-fire until 1609, when the Twelve Years’ Truce was signed. Geoffrey Parker, The Thirty Years’ War (New York: Barnes and Noble, 1993), 2–3. 79. Carvajal reflects the Archdukes’ wish for an heir to inherit the Netherlands. Isabel Clara Eugenia desperately wanted a son to marry Philip III’s daughter Ana Mauricia, whom she always called “daughter-in-law.” However, the Archdukes had no offspring.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 237 3. Since the Dutch are so loved here (a perverse love, for it is not natural for the English and the Flemish to tolerate one another), there is much talk of peace and of allowing perpetual freedom of conscience. They [the English] do not want one or the other, but for the war to continue indefinitely, spilling Spain’s blood and money to no end. May our powerful Lord see these things and take pity on us, for who he is. If an accord is signed with those people [the Dutch] that is reduced to fewer than the three principal points I have mentioned, your grace may be assured that we will have to deal with it before long, and Spain will not save itself from wars. 4. If [Robert] Cecil80 confiscates this letter, I believe he will want to eat me alive. Burn it, your grace, and I beg you not to let anyone know that I write to your grace or to the lady nuns, or to any English Catholic, because people engage in careless talk with their relatives and friends. The secret that one person confides to another is promptly repeated by another, and yet another, and that one will tell one hundred. I warn you of this because Cecil has complained harshly against me to a business man (though I do not know whether Don Pedro [de Zúñiga] is aware of this). He blames me for writing to your grace that Sir Roper81 (he says) went to the Anglican churches, and for this, Our Lord made him go mad. I do not remember having mentioned the name Roper, but said that it had happened to a gentleman, nor do I believe that I said he had gone mad because of this, since there was no need to say this, as the consequences were clear. [Cecil] was told it was a lie, and he had to be satisfied with this. If your grace burns my letters, no one will be able to read them at your desk, or make out the tiny pieces if torn up, for we are told that the English ambassador there takes extraordinary care in finding out even the slightest piece of news that is written from here, which causes terrible scandal and noise. I will suffer them solely for my religion and for the glory or service to Our Lord, but for any other reasons, I will impede them whenever I can. 80. Cecil was considered involved in a court spy ring. 81. I have been unable to identify this person; the Ropers were well-known recusants.

238 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 5. As to the clock, my lady, I had already replied to your grace when I asked for it that you buy it for me. I had the money six or seven months ago, but now I have absolutely nothing, and [the Marquis of] San Germán did not give me anything. I am moving to my little house, for which I paid 430 reales’ rent for the year, which is the last amount of money I had, with nothing left for food. And if Don Pedro [de Zúñiga] does not give me something, I will have to go from door to door, for Spain is so far and I have so few solicitors here, as your grace can see. That sweet Lord, in whom I have placed all my hope, is pleased to keep me waiting with great joy. And my joy is indescribable, when I see myself newly liberated from under my country’s shadow and shelter, and so willing to be admitted into the holy and exposed little portal of Bethlehem. The little house is free-standing, although walled in and surrounded by Protestants. It is very pretty, with all its chambers, even though the rooms are the size of a dollhouse, and my natural condition is such that it is no little pain for me whenever I find myself in such spaces, to feel the tightening in my heart and chest even before I realize what bothers me. But for the poor, there is only the wide field or the cramped hole, with no roof or one so low it is at eye level. Yet wide and joyful are the straits chosen by God’s love and will! 6. I have gone on too long about my things, so I end by beseeching your grace to assist me in glorifying God for what I owe him and for what I make him suffer. And may Our Lord keep you for himself, as I wish, amen. January 8, 1607. 7. Please, your grace, do not forget those poor little ones in Louvain and the great need these souls are in, and I humbly beg the same of Her Highness. Luisa To Mother Magdalena de San Jerónimo, may God keep her, etc. (Lacquer seal intact).

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 239 (BAE 83: 223) To Father Joseph Creswell, S. J. London, August 12, 1607 The following letter to Father Creswell shows the difficulties that Carvajal had in sending the monies she had been awarded in her lawsuit to the Jesuit order, as well as their interest in receiving the inheritance. Jhs. 1. I have received a great favor with your grace’s letter of June 10, and your grace asks that I write whenever I can. I will do so by way of Flanders, although I fear that Father Baulduino [Baldwin] may forget to send my letters, as I rarely receive answers from those I send by that means.82 Your grace should ask him to be careful, for he is so full of worries that it frightens me. This letter goes by that same way, because Rivas has already left, they say to Spain, unbeknownst to anyone. Don Pedro [de Zúñiga] must not have wanted other letters to go with him, as he has done before, and I have no choice but to have patience. With this one, I send another in answer to what your grace asks me about the interest from the College in Madrid; I will send a duplicate in another mail. 2. Collecting the interest has been difficult: I left everything arranged and in as good order as possible, I thought, thanks to the one who is the absolute owner of all things. I came here with no worries, for I had left Father Ricardo Walpolo [Richard Walpole],83 in charge, and he took great pains to do so, since he is prudent in overseeing important things and in not confiding in anyone. So I cannot understand how he allowed himself to give in to others’ opinions and leave it in other’s hands. If I were there, or if I could stop him from here, I assure your grace that the executor would have remained in charge of collection, so I would not now have to guess what happened after he was removed. 82. Father Baldwin would have forwarded Carvajal’s letters to Creswell in Spain. 83. The English Jesuit Richard Walpole was Michael Walpole’s brother. He died in 1607 in Valladolid.

240 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza Father Baulduino has not written me anything about the money that your grace mentions, but your mentioning it is sufficient for me to certify payment to those who have, as I will do soon in the first letter that I have said I will write. I am writing this one in a great hurry and thus I will not be able to answer my friends’ letters until then. Under no circumstances, your grace, should you send the money that is meant for me with ordinary people, or, what is worse, with an Englishman, even though he may say he is Catholic, as it will only be lost. There no legal manner here in which to claim it, even if with a lawsuit in council costing a thousand ducats for every hundred ducats there. Your friend Father Blondo [Blount] told me that your grace wrote him saying that you knew an Englishman there who could be trusted with money and that he was a Catholic and confessed with your grace. This worried the father and he wanted to warn you not to trust him at all. I do not remember whether he told me that the man was a heretic here, and no doubt he will disclose all he hears and what he is told there. 3. The best way [to send the money] is by means of Father Baldwin, together with the monies that are intended for the Louvain novitiate, and until they are sent, your grace may keep mine, as they are safe in your hands.84 At some time or another I will ask for them in order to remedy my need, for if Don Pedro [de Zúñiga], who always helps me, leaves [England], I will, in any case, be left entirely helpless. And this is the truth, your grace, because there is division and disunion everywhere, and everyone looks out for himself as much as he can. I have seen, through my experience, that Our Lord has clearly wished to direct his providence by means of my birth, whether here or in Spain, and that he has closed the hearts of those here against me as much as possible. And thus, before I stayed at Don Pedro’s house, Father Michael [Walpole] (to whom I had been recommended by Father Personio),85 could not find a small room in a Catholic’s house for me 84. The dowry fought for by Carvajal, which she donated to the Jesuits to found a novitiate. 85. The English Jesuit Robert Persons founded the English Colleges at Valladolid, Seville, and Madrid.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 241 to stay in, even when it was well paid. And even then, they would let me know my presence bothered them and made their life difficult. Only the good Father Farmer86 treated me with respect, which I never deserved, as he was as courteous as a king’s son with everyone. The current superior87 is a good servant of God and resolute in all matters of the faith, and I love him for these and for many other reasons. To me, however, he is a far cry from Mister Farmer, as are all the rest, save for Miguel [Michael Walpole], for when Mr. Farmer had already left, and I was in London, a very large city, with no one to look after me and not even a corner in which to hide, he came to the city to pay his respects and as I said, even though it was difficult for him, he found me a place to stay in one house or another. 4. Now, since I speak enough [English] to stay in a house by myself, I do not need to force my presence on the Catholics. As long as I receive alms from Spain, I will stay in my poor shelter until I know what Our Lord desires from me. From this house, I will serve the fathers on my knees and the Catholics with all my love, as I do so, in truth, as much as possible, spending twice as much on them as I would on myself. And your grace is sufficiently charitable for them all, as I expect you to be always, for your capacity to grant me so great a favor comes from God. May he be blessed, amen, and may he keep your grace and give you life. 5. With this letter, I am sending your grace the little book called Of the Archpriest.88 If the person taking this mail to Flanders allows me, I will 86. One of Henry Garnet’s pseudonyms. 87. Most likely, Carvajal is referring to Richard Holtby (1552–1640), who succeeded Garnet as Jesuit superior. She never mentions him by name. 88. This book may refer to the controversy that arose when the secular priest George Blackwell was named archpriest by the Pope to oversee the appellants, secular priests who opposed the Jesuits. See Victor Houliston, Catholic Resistance in Elizabethan England: Robert Person’s Jesuit Polemic, 1580–1610 (Aldershot, UK; Burlington, Vt: Ashgate Publishing; Instituto Historicum Societas Iesus, 2007), 19. Carvajal’s later comments to Creswell express the degree of hostility that she felt toward Blackwell (see González and Abad, Epistolario y poesías, letter 93 to Creswell, 240–45).

242 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza write your grace in a separate letter what I would like from him and from Mister Germán, our father and new prisoner.89 6. As to your question about Don Pedro [de Zúñiga], he says that he is indisposed, and I think he would be aggrieved if I or others say instead that he is fine, so accept this as my answer to your grace. He has been hunting since last Monday, for the king invited him to his hunt. Last night, Friday, he returned quite content, and the king celebrated him with great fanfare. 7. The ambassadors from Flanders have left with the response that the king will send a person to Holland to discuss things there and to help during this peacetime, when he has dispatched them. This week, some Turks, which are called the Turk’s ambassadors to the king,90 have entered London, but they do not seem to be of high or low rank. I hear that they have come about some merchants’ business, and they held a grand party for them when they landed at Dover. They tell me that when the king heard they had arrived, he was somewhat bothered (as he abhors the Turks) and I have heard that he said, “What devil sent me such messengers, and for what purpose?”91 8. And to return to Don Pedro [de Zúñiga], if he leaves here, it is very important that the person who replaces him do as well as he, and that the king our lord [Philip III] assist and liberally give him funds, for the money spent here is in honor of His Majesty and of great service to Our Lord, to whom I beg that he keep you as I wish. London, 12 August, 1607.

89. This person was a Jesuit priest, not be confused with the Marquis of San Germán. 90. Ahmed I, sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1603 to 1617. He destroyed the musical clock organ sent by Elizabeth I to his father, Mehmed III. 91. In her letter, Carvajal writes in English, “What dibli sent mi sichi mensageres, or for what purpos?” (González and Abad 225).

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 243 (BAE 84: 225–226) To Magdalena de San Jerónimo London, August 20, 1607 Carvajal had written to Magdalena de San Jeronimo earlier, on July 17, stating that she thought she had already left for Spain, and mentioning that although she had written several letters, none had been answered. In this very brief letter, Carvajal reveals her resentment toward Magdalena, who had sided with those who wanted Carvajal to leave England. Jhs. 1. The lord Don Luis de Bracamonte92 has given me news of your grace, with which it has been possible to fill in what you have not wished us to know through your letters, although you must have received some of mine. 2. My congratulations on the wedding of lady Doña Ana María, and your grace being relieved of your hump, as you had said you intended to by means of the marriage.93 That is, if your grace has not taken on a larger one, given the new obligations that will flow from there. I cannot offer any help in earthly matters, as I am so poor and of little importance, nor in matters of the spirit, as I have only the poverty of my prayers. With these, I will serve your grace always as your servant, and may your grace never forget us in yours. 3. The Catholics are very beleaguered and everything has become difficult and with much affliction; may Our Lord gaze upon them with immense mercy and give me the means with which to serve and alleviate them in what I can.

92. Luis Rubí de Bracamonte Dávila, II Marquis of Fuente el Sol, was apparently in London at the time; he would have stopped in Brussels to deliver her letter to Sor Ana de Jesús. 93. Ana María de Zamudio; she married Ferdinand de Boisschot, a Flemish nobleman who would serve as Flemish ambassador to England. Carvajal refers to the probable burden (she uses the term “corcova” or “hump”) that the niece represented to the nun, and to the future liabilities that this might represent. Nonetheless, it was an extremely good match.

244 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza And because I do not know how early Don Luis will leave tomorrow, I am obliged to shorten the only two letters I have written, this one and one to Mother Ana de Jesús. May Our Lord keep your grace as I wish. August 20, 1607. Luisa.

(BAE 94: 245) To Father Joseph Creswell, S. J. London (Highgate), June 29, 1608 The following letter to Joseph Creswell narrates the events that led to her first imprisonment in London in 1608. It is obvious that she relishes the narration, as she spends much time on the details, citing her own comments and those of the people with whom she argued. The episode becomes highly dramatic, as at first it seems that she has won the theological debate with her challengers at Cheapside. On her return two weeks later to the store at Cheapside, however, a crowd quickly forms and she is brought before a justice of the peace, who will interrogate her. Her mention of the New Testament passage in Mark 14:54, when Jesus is brought before Caiphas, recalls the moment when evidence was sought against Christ. Ironically, the reiteration of the judge’s interrogation and her brief responses take on the quality of an inquisitional trial. The letter is a combination of factual report and a justification of her value in England as a self-described missionary. Carvajal sent variants of this same letter, all dated June 29, 1608, to the Jesuit Lorenzo da Ponte in Madrid; to Inés de la Asunción; to an unnamed correspondent, likely Magdalena de San Jerónimo; to her cousin’s husband, the Marquis of Caracena; and, in a brief version, to Mariana de San José. In her letter to da Ponte, she explains why she composes the letter as she does: “If I narrate it slowly to your grace, I will take more time than I thought I had; if I condense what must be said, I will diminish your grace’s pleasure and that which I receive in telling my story to one whom I believe enjoys hearing it” (González and Abad, Letter 96, 257).

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 245 Jhs. 1. I receive great sustenance and comfort from your grace’s letters, and hope that your grace received comfort from my last one, seeing the great loyalty of the holy martyrs Garves [Gervase] and Fludder [Flathers].94 And what I can tell your grace about me is that I have found myself between the cross and holy water,95 as they say there, because I have been in jail, and since it was a public jail, it does me no good to keep it quiet. 2. The cause [of the incarceration] was that when, as usual, I came up to the outside windowsill of a store in Cheapside, someone asked one of the young men if he was a Catholic,96 and he responded “God forbid!” I retorted, “God forbid you not to be one, for this is what should matter to you.” With this, the couple who owned the store and another young man and the merchants nearby all came over, and there was much discussion about the Catholic religion. They asked many questions about the mass, the priests, and confession, but the principal topic discussed (over two hours) was if the Roman religion is the sole truth faith, if the pope is head of the church, and if Saint Peter’s keys are to remain with [the popes] for ever. 3. Some listened with pleasure, others with great fury, so much so, that I sensed I was in danger at the very least of being jailed. But I thought nothing of it, for in exchange I enlightened them as best I could. And the simple things of faith harbor convenient truths for everyone with which to wage war against error. Although they do not accept them willingly at first, these truths remain in their memory, encouraging their contemplation and leaving the door open to holy inspiration, and thus God’s cause justifies their salvation or damnation. There are many who never find out where the priests are, nor do they wish to get to know lay Catholics, unless it benefits them. In the same way that 94. George Gervase was executed at Tyburn in April, 1608; the other priest she mentions is Matthew Flathers, executed at York in March, 1608. 95. The Spanish saying may be translated as “between a rock and a hard place.” 96. In her letter to Inés de la Asunción, she states that she had gone there to buy fabric for an altar cloth, and that she had asked the young man his religion (González and Abad, Letter 98, 263).

246 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza there is more population and money there, the Cheapside merchants are full of more malice, error, and hatred toward the pope and our holy faith than is the rest of London. This can be seen by the peaceful way in which others have taken my same exact words. 4. The store’s mistress endeavored to rile everyone’s temper, along with another hellish young man there, under-age and overly malicious. The mistress said that it was a shame they put up with me and that no doubt I was a Roman priest dressed as a woman so I could better convince others of my religion. It pleased Our Lord to have me speak better English than if I had lived longer in England. They thought I was a Scot because of how I spoke and my perceived fondness for the king. One of the oldest there asked me if [I did not think] the king wise enough not to continue to commit errors in his kingdom. I replied that he should leave the king alone, for he had been left a child without his saintly Catholic mother97 and in the Puritans’ hands, and that they had a truer and more legitimate king than Queen Elizabeth. 5. With this, I intended not to hide the truth but to make them forget the malicious question asked about the king, for I knew they would make a fuss. But they asked why I thought he was a truer king, so I answered that he was the great grandson of the oldest daughter of Henry VIII, while Elizabeth, his daughter, was born when Queen Catherine [of Aragon], mother of Mary [Tudor], was still alive. They inferred from this that I was calling [Elizabeth] a bastard, but since she had already died without children, it was not an important issue, so after a few words, we continued to discuss our holy religion. 6. Hearing behind my back that someone had called Mr. Jarves [Gervase] a traitor and my Anne [called him], a martyr, and that both were fighting, I stopped her, fearing an ill-timed comment from her. I asked him to tell me why Jarves [Gervase] had died: he said solely because he was Roman Catholic. “And for no other reason?” I replied. 97. Mary, Queen of Scots, executed by order of her cousin Elizabeth I.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 247 He said no. I told him, then, “Do not be appalled that he is called a martyr.” He seemed to take this quite well. 7. When I returned home after this, they remained raging like lions against me. After fifteen days, when I needed to go out, they again saw me. I hardly ever go out unless I have reason to buy what I need or to see Christ’s confessors, so blessed by fortune, at the jails, or for some other reason. I never visit anyone (my natural condition, as well as my ill health and lack of strength impede it). They surrounded me at last, staring at me like basilisks.98 With a sheriff that they brought, they said that it was necessary to go to see Thomas Benet, a justice of the peace not far from there. Although they had no warrant, I did not resist so they would not grab me by the arm or yell at me in the middle of the street. Nor was this an evil occasion for my soul, and all three of us went peaceably, that is, my companions Anne and Faith, and myself (the other two stayed at the house). Our servant, a virtuous old man, very decent and an old Catholic, went with us. 8. We found the judge seated under a small tiled roof in his patio, where he must dispatch his business. He kept us there while he examined witnesses and asked questions, from six or a bit later in the afternoon, until nine or later, when it began to get dark. The witnesses swore some truths among lies on their bible, but all more or less similar to what I have said, without inventing anything else. And they stumbled so much they reminded me of that saying Et testimonia convenientia non erant.99 There were two or three of them agitating the people of these streets against me, saying that I was a priest in women’s clothing, that I was promoting my faith, and as if this was a novelty, in half an hour there were more than two hundred people, some said, at the judge’s door, the street full of a great and confused noise. And the rumor spread that among them were three priests with long black robes, which are our clothes. The judge got up occasionally to quiet them down because they were attempting to enter with great force. He said to me that if he sent me 98. Mythical reptile that kills with a single glance (Pliny, Naturalis Historia, viii.3). 99. “Their testimony did not agree” (Mark 14:56).

248 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza to jail then, that the townspeople would give me a good hand. I responded that I thought he had more charity than they did. 9. He asked my country, name, address, and when I had arrived in England. By saying the truth, I cut him short, telling him my name was Luisa de Carvajal, I was a Spaniard, and I lived near the señor Don Pedro [de Zúñiga], where I attended mass. That I had come to follow the example of many saints of our holy Church that voluntarily left their country, family, and friends for the love of Our Lord, and lived in foreign lands, poor and abandoned. And although what I said was gibberish to the miserable old man, it was undoubtedly the best response. He laughed as if he were mad, asking me if I affirmed that the pope was the head of the Church and his religion the only true one. I said yes. He asked whether I wished to persist in these opinions. I responded that I did wish so, and I was ready to die for them. Then he blasphemed mightily against the pope, asking whether I had said that no one could be saved who believed in England’s religion. I said I had never spoken those words but had said the same with others, for I had affirmed that one can only be saved in the true faith of the holy Roman Church, and that the rest of the world’s religions were in error, and that England’s was certainly included in all these. He asked if I knew that in Spain, the English who did not want to join their religion were put to death, and if it was not just to do the same with the Spaniards here. After this, he went on to ask me why I said that Mr. Jarvis [Gervase] was a martyr, since he was not. I told him I had said this because since he had died solely for our holy religion, he no doubt was a martyr. He said to me “if he did,” this was fine, but he did not die for religion. I asked him, “Well, then, for what reason?” And he said because he was mad. And then he returned to the statement about the queen, and asked why I thought that she was less legitimate than the king. I told him what I had said about Queen Catherine. He responded that I did not know my history, because Catherine had not been Henry’s legitimate wife.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 249 10. He treated the two young women [Anne and Faith] with more courtesy than he did me, perhaps because they were English, although they proved to be more trouble than I had been, since they thought it better to dissemble. I said that they were undoubtedly sincere and without malice. His secretary called me a hypocrite, and I at least behaved as one. What an ill-fated face we show to the world, dear Lord, when we suffer! And how beautiful it is to God, when in it he sees its innocence! How fitting that on the sleeve where the light fell, I had darned one or two holes, and wore a torn black taffeta on my head. Thanks to this, and to my being both a Spaniard and a Catholic, as they could tell, it did not take them long to despise me as they had in so many words. Despite all this, the judge believed in my honesty, and said to me, after speaking to the young women, that I should answer for them, because he thought I would not wish to lie. He pressured me to tell him who had recommended them to me, and whether they heard mass and other similar acts. But I told him that as far as what might harm others, I would not say a word, and with this, he became silent. God was merciful in that no pursuivants100 intervened, as they are the bishop’s sheriffs, and the worst people in all England to search for agnus-deis,101 relics, and rosaries in one’s sleeves or purses. Our judge, on the other hand, was very calm, and all the others, from the first to the last minute, treated us decently, and our modesty and propriety were respected as I would wish. This is a very sensitive matter to me. May God’s sweet providence by glorified for having aided us in all, as he has not failed us in anything! Descenditque cum illo in foveam et in vinculis non dereliquit eum [sic].102 This warms my heart immeasurably and gives me strength. 11. The judge’s daughters and wife came in and out, probably to have a look at us. At last they took us to jail, after spending the evening in a low living room next to the same patio, at times walking back and forth, 100. Minor officers known for their rough handling of priests and their concealers. 101. Small wax figure in shape of a lamb in remembrance of Christ (Lamb of God). 102. “[Wisdom] descended into the pit with him and in bonds she left him not” (Wisdom 10:13–14).

250 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza and sometimes, kneeling in one of the corners to beseech Our Lord to help us. We could not leave before eleven thirty so no one would be outside, but even so, about twenty from the neighborhood followed us. Among them, the judge’s secretary, who is first cousin to our good Thomas,103 now in jail and missed by all his friends. He told the jailer to treat us well, but that night it was impossible as they put us in a narrow cell on the highest level with one lighted candle. The jailer locked the door and took the key, and we could not get even a drop of water or beer, or a bite of bread from him. Thanks to this and to my not feeling well and unable to lie down, I slept little, but with much comfort. It diminished, however, on seeing that nothing was coming from it. 12. I begged them that in exchange for money, they place me next to the jailer’s wife and daughters, although this room was worse than the first. In the morning at ten o’clock, they moved us to one of their rooms. Although it was dark and lacked for air, it was acceptable, and the women were all gracious and friendly. They entered there at all times, since they kept their chests and some of their belongings in the closets. Although it cost us 40 reales each week, just to be inside a room, even with only one bed, was enough to consider it a gift. I did not doubt that our sweet Lord would provide us with everything, as his Majesty did through Don Pedro [de Zúñiga], who has shown me great charity always. 13. We were there four days, from Saturday until Wednesday at ten o’clock at night, when the Council gave word to let me free, as the judge had sent them my documents, instead of to the bishops. He respected us in this, since they would have wanted Anne and Faith to take the oath.104 Don Pedro, who is extremely prudent in diplomatic matters, did not come to speak even one word on my behalf, as he told me, and perhaps this was the most appropriate course of action. 14. I spoke more about religion in jail than I had outside, with all the jailers and officers and their relatives and friends that, with my 103. A recusant imprisoned in the Tower, brother of a Carmelite nun in Louvain (González and Abad, Epistolario y poesía, letter 95, 255). 104. Enacted under the reign of James I, the Oath of Allegiance was strongly anti-Catholic.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 251 permission, came to talk with me. I did not allow them not to take me seriously, as I remembered the words of the holy apostle, who says that the word of God is not bound.105 15. This has been my first encounter with heretics, and since it is certain to be made public soon, I have wanted your grace to know in a timely fashion what has happened. And so others do not speak about it in uncertain and inappropriate terms, I beseech your grace to keep this to yourself and share only with Father Hernando de Espinosa. 16. With the letter that I am sending Father Tomás,106 I humbly commend myself to all the fathers and brothers of that College, as I do not know how many of those I know still remain there. 17. Here there is great fear of Ireland, as they say that the Catholics are very strong there. There is much talk of Don Pedro de Toledo’s107 march toward France. I wish he would unite happily with Spain, and the peace of Holland glorify it and the Church. With this and a new king of the Romans,108 we will keep ours, and I expect the heresy to go downhill to its center, despite its long roots. I call out for these things and for our holy Church day and night, and because of this, I sometimes forget myself and insist and cry for the divine greatness to bless Spain and its monarchy, its king and queen and their descendants born and yet to be born, with double and most joyful blessings. 18. All your grace’s friends are in good health. Only Mr. Strange is without it in the Tower, and Mr. Thomas Garnet109 and Mr. John Roberts110 105. “Verbum Dei non est alligatum” (2 Timothy 2:9). 106. Creswell’s assistant at the English College in Valladolid. 107. Pedro Álvarez de Toledo, V Marquis of Villafranca, was governor of Milan from 1616 to 1618. 108. Although Emperor Rudolph II did not die until 1612, his exhaustive war against the Ottoman Empire led to his losing Hungary, Austria, and Moravia to his brother Matthias in 1606. 109. Thomas Garnet was Henry Garnet’s nephew. He was executed at Tyburn in 1608. 110. At first a Jesuit, John Roberts professed as a Benedictine monk. He was executed at Tyburn in 1610. Prior to his death, Carvajal was supposed to have brought food to the

252 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza are in Gatehouse,111 one is a Jesuit and the other a Benedictine monk, both extremely loyal and united in love and religion, and waiting each day to be called to the sessions. 19. I kiss the hands of my cousin and lord Don Rodrigo,112 pleased in the extreme for the beautiful children that your grace tells me Our Lord has given them. I wish that neither their children nor their earthly prosperity will steal away their heart or absorb the love that should be placed only in God. I do not write to them, because in my pilgrimage I thought it necessary for my soul not to take more comfort or other spiritual rewards from relatives or friends than what their devotion to me obliged. For until now, I do not believe that I have written to those whom I love solely because of any relationship, friendship, or earthly respect. I ask them to commend the Catholics to God, as your grace wishes, and I for my own obligation (which I certainly have to Don Rodrigo for the favors he has always shown me), I commend both him and his wife to Our Lord, with the great desire that His Majesty aid them with special grace. 20. I beseech your grace to remember that I and my four companions have need of work, for which we require some scissors to spin gold thread for goldwork,113 and these cannot be found here. My nun, sor Inés, has written me that she has sent a box to your grace with a well-chosen pair, along with a spindle and other tools. If your grace has not yet received them, please write her to send them before Rivas returns to England, as he has promised to bring everything, for he is very merciful and charitable toward me. Don Pedro says that he will make sure they are sent. No other kind of work is possible, for since we are Catholic, we cannot manage a store nor is it practical. They say that gold thread is not made here, so it is the best that we could do. prison for a banquet. 111. A prison located in Westminster, built in the fourteenth century as the gatehouse of Westminster Abbey. 112. Carvajal’s cousins, Inés de Vargas and her husband, Rodrigo Calderón. 113. Goldwork is the embroidery with metal threads. Carvajal proposes to make and sell gold thread, called passing, for this type of handiwork. The thread itself was usually of silver gilt, not gold.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 253 Everything costs more these days; I believe bread is already at one real and black bread, full of bran, up to 20 maravedises. At this rate, we spend more each day. If Rivas can bring one of the books I asked for, your grace will be granting me a great favor. 21. Your grace states that a good person can be found there to be the new ambassador. I have no idea who that might be. I would like to know his name, since I have heard of many, but I do not believe that it will be easy to find another who is as competent as our lord Don Pedro [de Zúñiga]. The king and council have learned to respect and love him, and the Catholics care very much for him. He wants to leave, and this does not surprise me, since one leads a dog’s life in this country. In its current state, it seems fit only for a libertine and one who loves the occasion of sin. If when Rivas returns, they have not been able to bring Inés’s scissors, I beseech your grace to please find us a pair with the help of doña Juana de Bobadilla or the lady doña Ana María de Vergara,114 as there are ladies at court who make gold thread, and the stores that sell it will know where they live. 22. And I fervently wish that the minister who converted [to Catholicism] there not receive any news about me, nor that he send me by any means any letters for his wife, nor any money, as this creates problems for me, and it is very easy for him to send these things by means of the priests, as has been done recently with the 200 ducats, without my having been involved. She [the minister’s wife] is not here, but in the countryside, and it is not suitable that the minister with whom she should deal know who I am. 23. I believe that Father Juan, who is leaving for Spain, will take with him a young gentleman named Brigman [Brightman?] the oldest son

114. Noble friends of Carvajal’s. Vergara was the wife of a member of the Treasury Council [Consejo de Hacienda]; Carvajal mentions her several times, as she donated 100 ducats, and relates her death in letter 151.

254 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza of a Schismatic, very wealthy, I think.115 The young man has the reputation here in London of being an excellent student, with good mettle and very accommodating. From what I can judge, Our Lord has called him to leave everything and go to a seminar; he is sharp-witted and displays much devotion. He leaves with the hope that I may intercede so he can be received in Valladolid; I do so, begging your grace on my knees, and I will be so thankful as if you had done me the favor. 24. Please tell me, your grace, if you think we could reach our lord, the king’s most pious heart through the duke [of Lerma]; and the duke’s, through the lord Don Rodrigo [Calderón],116 so that his Majesty might become a patron of the Louvain Novitiate. Because it receives half or more of its funds from the House of Austria, it could not be assigned to the bishop without the archduke’s [Albert of Austria] approval, or so I have heard. This is great acclaim for that holy and faithful House without the king’s giving anything, and its acclaim would only grow to Our Lord’s great glory and consolation, and the duke’s tribute would bring him no little honor. His excellency should do me this favor, for the esteem in which I’ve held and hold him all these years. I will ask my good cousin [Inés de Vargas] to intercede with her husband so they will do great works in service to Our Lord, as this will be of lasting value, for all the rest ends with the same brevity as one’s life. 25. Please, your grace, do me the favor of dispatching these letters and have Rivas bring me the responses, if there are any. And if one day, one is dispatched that says that these people have sent me to heaven, it will be a happy ending to my pilgrimage, and my friends and family can rejoice. May God’s will be done in everything, amen, as it brought me here purely and will guide me in all my acts until I achieve its full obedience. 26. Do not forget, your grace, to keep me informed at all times of your health, which I wish you, for I see how so much depends on it 115. According to González and Abad, “schismatics” were Catholics “at heart” but who externally obeyed Protestant doctrines (Epistolario y poesía, 350, note 3). 116. Carvajal here demonstrates her understanding of Calderón’s influence on the Duke of Lerma, and Lerma’s influence on Philip III.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 255 for the great and necessary harvesting of innumerable souls. If Spain only knew about it, its devotion to this work would increase tenfold! May Our Lord give your grace life and strength and his holy love, for I beg him. From Highgate, June 29, 1608. Luisa. 27. I kiss the hands of the lord prosecutor, Melchor de Molina and the lady doña Juana. It has pleased me to see their spiritual growth; I trust that the holy fear of Our Lord will not diminish in their souls, and that the love they owe him will be repaid, and for the love I have for them, I beg them to keep watch always over this very important business.117

(BAE 101: 277) To Mother Mariana de San José London, March, 1609 Carvajal’s letter to Mariana de San José reveals how much she appreciates the nun’s response to her having been incarcerated. As is usual when writing to Mariana, Carvajal’s style is highly rhetorical and seems to best her humility, which, however, is no doubt sincere. She insists yet again on the possibility of Mariana founding a convent in Flanders, Yet, her own wish is to remain in England. Even as she celebrates her suffering while incarcerated, she must defend herself from the people who are apparently pressuring her to leave England, including her close friend, Magdalena de San Jerónimo. Jhs. 1. This piece of cloth is from the shirt Father Thomas Garnet wore when he was martyred on July 3, 1608. It was purchased from the executioner, and I had it in my hands and cut some pieces, among them, this one. He was my friend and lord: I have a wonderful letter, among several, from him in which he responded, three or four days before he died, to a note of mine where I say how envious I was of his happiness and the blessed end that he awaited. The small piece of cloth 117. According to González and Abad, this prosecutor had been of great help to Carvajal in her lawsuit; doña Juana was his wife.

256 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza is for Inés and Isabel. He was one of the exemplary martyrs who have died here, and the first from the Louvain Novitiate, where my small funds were allocated. 2. I received your grace’s letter dated July 31 in answer to mine telling of my imprisonment, which made me relive the happiness and contentment I had felt. Reading it now again, I cannot scan some of your comments with dry eyes. Mine, your grace of my soul, come from a lukewarm heart, a pit of evil, and in this, as in a thousand other things, I see how God has made yours, for your heart turns everything into precious jewels. There is for me no crystal mirror that so reflects my lowliness as your grace’s comments. Stunned, I ponder the terms of honor, esteem, and love with which you create the royal and precious habit in which you clothe me, so disproportionate is it to this creature. Please be warned, your grace, that what you so earnestly attempt to measure on me is being usurped from you for my devastation. My letters may go to you filled with what yours come to me, but for a different cause. Not that I wish to deny to my dearly loved lady the great happiness I felt the four days I was incarcerated in the most infamous prison there is here. For my faith, I drew so near to Christ’s cross, our sweetest good, that it seems I was only a step away from being killed for his sake in one of the streets by the obstinate fury of that blind mob. They spread my name through London and all England, taking me for a zealous papist, as they say, and for the most blasphemous tongue on earth, according to those who accused me to their merchant neighbors, warning them to keep away from me if they did not want to be converted to my religion. From then on, there has been a fight among my companions to accompany me whenever I go out, in order not to miss the opportunity that they believe they will easily find by my side. These are the four I must have written you about, and they are determined to suffer joyously any affliction that might present itself for the love of Our Lord, desirous as they are of a strong spirit and perfection with which to please and glorify him. If I could, by some holy spell, pull your grace out of your habit and dress you in my pleated one so you might guide these souls, I would be much more confident than what I am now, and the kingdom would be filled with a fiery spirit of perfection and divine love. And what would I lose, my

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 257 lady, if this sugarcube were dropped into the chalice of my pilgrimage? And so it would not sweeten too much, would it dissolve the worst of my complaints, which is that I am an inept and deficient instrument? If such a thing is impossible, given the state everything is in, may your grace reach me with your prayers, so they will take my place. 3. As to Flanders and whatever money is needed, I foresee no difficulties. I would like to see you there, as it is something that I believe will give extraordinary pleasure and glory to God. Little help is needed to begin with only a few. I would like to know if Magdalena de San Jerónimo has brought this up again to your grace, as she could help so Her Highness [Isabel Clara Eugenia] might agree to this foundation, if she speaks to her at the right moment. If I see that doctor Martínez decides to invest his wealth there (and he would be extremely important), I will write to Her Highness that I am afraid he does not wish to pay for the entire foundation. And I can expect this to be true, my lady, from a letter that he wrote me, which has not been torn, in which he says that he leaves this business in your grace’s hands and in my own poor ones. Please speak again to him, and tell him that the need that all these lands have of doctrine and example of perfection is very different from that in Spain. I do not know why everyone wishes to limit his charity to its boundaries. 4. When he arrived here, he offered to speak to Father Michael [Walpole], and knowing that I was writing a letter to Spain, he stated that he did not think that any letter should be longer than two folios. I do not know if he said this because he saw me suffering from a cold which I still have. Your letter offers me much to continue to write a lengthy response, but patience, since I will write when another person arrives. I have missed Don Pedro’s mail twice, without knowing it was leaving, and now it is about to leave. If I cannot write to Inés de la Asunción, please give her my warmest regards. I received her letter, which as usual always delights me. I commend myself to Isabel and from all those ladies [nuns] I ask their prayers. I have not figured out

258 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza about doña Francisca de Rojas,118 as there were two [letters]. Please give me a more exact address, I beseech you. I ask those ladies’ prayers. I do not know which Father Antonio wrote the letter that you say did not arrive, whether the English father here, or Padilla. You can see your grace, that the [letter’s] paper is so soaked it has drowned. May Our Lord keep your grace, as I beseech him. London and March 1609. Luisa. 5. I have not received any letter from Father Lorenzo [da Ponte], nor have I been able to find out about him since long before my imprisonment. Please tell me, your grace, if you know anything. Father Luis [de la Puente] and doña Marina [Cortés] terrify me with their thoughts of my return [to Spain], because other, highly spiritual persons approve of my perseverance and wish that I remain. When I least expected it, persons from Spain and Italy, of great importance, spirit, and letters also approve of my staying and exhort me to continue onward.119 These are not persons I deal with, or have seen or written to in my life. And others whom I know and write to, say the same. Magdalena [de San Jeronimo] has gone to great effort to remove me from here, and has tried to make Don Pedro [de Zúñiga] do the same. She has become angry at me, of all things, because I have not left. If I do leave, your grace will be sure to have me at your feet in Flanders or Spain. And if I look back at the road I’ve taken, it seems that my soul has taken root in an inhospitable and bitter land.

118. Francisca de Rojas was an Augustinian nun. 119. González and Abad suggest that she is referring to Father Robert Persons and Father Pérez de Nueros, who approved of her stay in England.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 259 (BAE 106: 287) To Don Rodrigo Calderón London, July 4, 1609 Rodrigo Calderón was the Duke of Lerma’s favorite and in charge of state papers; Carvajal portends the temptations to which he is exposed at court. Jhs. 1. Please take my word, your grace, if you do not think me most ungrateful, that I have not forgotten what your grace has done for me. For it is true, my lord, that to the extent that I barely tolerate my being so, that I am acknowledged in God’s presence, where I serve your grace and my cousin with my poor prayers. Given your grace’s great work and my letters’ small value, I have not written you until now, when I have felt a special desire to remind your grace of what you owe God, and to remind you to love him with all your heart and glorify him. Keep him always in your sight, and prefer nothing outside the obedience of his holy law. 2. What great services your grace can do for him there, and what natural abilities his sovereign Majesty has given you so you may do them well, if you wish! Place yourself and your soul in God’s esteem and that of your servants as you assume the great post that you have been given, and you will be most joyful, and await death and give reckoning to God without being surprised by the hell that begins on this earth. 3. Father Cresvelo [Creswell] has written me that your grace has had another son, as beautiful as the one I saw. My congratulations, and may God bless your house, amen. And may God keep your grace and grant you favors and his most holy love, which is what I desire and entreat his Majesty. From Highgate, next to London, July 5, 1609. 4. I kiss my cousin’s hands, and I beseech her to receive this letter as hers. I wish to serve you both in anything that I can, as I will do if you ask me.

260 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza My brother [Alonso de Carvajal] writes me that he owes your grace many favors, and constantly tells me what your grace deserves and is worth, and I am aware of it.

(BAE 108: 290) To Don Alonso de Carvajal, her brother London, Highgate, July 5, 1609 Carvajal’s first extant letter to her brother reveals her attempt at reconciliation between them, slyly comparing his lack of support to that by the Spanish ambassador, Pedro de Zúñiga, and her advice as to how he should conduct himself spiritually. Jhs. 1. When the courier who brought me your first letter left [for Spain], I could only write your grace a few lines to relate the happiness I felt. In your letter, your grace complains frequently about me, despite my expressing all the love and esteem that was possible in the one I left your grace on my departure.120 Yet your grace stopped writing me altogether, and I followed the path I had begun whereby our great thirst for God quenches that of any creatures’ ardent love, making us spurn the need we think we have of their help and support. And this is all that will ever be said on the matter. 2. My first act, my brother, will be to glorify Our Lord for the sweet and singular consolation he has seen fit to offer me with news of your grace. He knows how much I have loved you and with what deep sighs and misty tears I have tried to move his divine clemency so he would resuscitate that dead lion of your grace’s soul. However, since my soul has also sinned in other ways, I could not achieve it. I would like to know which method was His Majesty’s, and which principle of light banished your grace’s darkness. May God increase your own [light] with such fullness and profit that I may be able to say, “Like his darkness, so is his light”121 and thus elevate and glorify his sovereign name. 120. When Carvajal left for England, January 13, 1605. 121. González and Abad translate as “sicut caligo eius ita et lux” and erroneously refer to Psalms 138.11; the reference is to Psalms 138.12 “sicut tenebrae eius ita et lumen eius” [the

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 261 Tell me, your grace, if after my leaving, you have made a general confession of your entire life (for this is an admirable means of ensuring our salvation and liberating our conscience from many sufferings and the temptations of the devil at the hour of our death); how many times you take communion; and if you devote some time each day to prayer, for you should always make time. I entreat you to hurry and rush to do all this, my brother, since life bids us hurry so it will come to its end. And may a strong and ardent love restore your grace from the wounds of past winters, as I am told this is how I count the years. And what real and incomparable power is his, that mends such horrible and hopeless breaks! How efficiently, and with such sweetness and brevity! 3. Having begun to write this letter, I receive one from your grace dated April 25, which has pleased me inordinately, and to know the quiet and contentment your grace finds in your post at San Clemente.122 It seems, as your grace says, that it should add in no small part to your soul, presupposing your grace’s state and the desire Our Lord gives your grace to be punctual and careful when meting out justice and mercy. Your grace will never lack for my poor prayers, as you have never lacked for the deep love I have always felt for your grace. It seems that Our Lord already consoled me greatly in my prayers, even before I received news from your grace. 4. My brother, try to become a devoted follower of the Society of Jesus (and of all other orders as well), for I cannot abide that they are not revered and loved as they should be. But I remind your grace of the particular obligation that we have to the Society, as it was a means of salvation for our grandfather, father, and other close relatives.123 Through the Society, God has increased the sacraments’ frequency in these times, attracting innumerable souls to him. This needs no proof. Tell me, your grace, who is your confessor and a thousand other darkness thereof, and the light thereof are alike to thee]. 122. Alonso Carvajal was chief magistrate in the town of San Clemente. 123. Carvajal’s grandfather, the Bishop of Plasencia, founded the College of Jesuits after meeting the Jesuit General Diego Laínez at the Council of Trent.

262 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza details of your spiritual life and actions, although they may seem infinitesimal to you. 5. Do not think, your grace, that not seeing your children has not made me suffer. May God bless them! Please give them many tight embraces on my part, and to my sister, I say the same, whose hands I kiss many times, and from both I beseech your prayers. May Our Lord receive as many favors as your grace grants me through your [prayers].124 6. I have received so many from Don Pedro [de Zúñiga] as if he were ten times my brother, without my insisting, in sustenance, housing, clothing, care, gifts, and honor. His liberality and timeliness were Our Lord’s means to carry out his most sweet providence. Help me, your grace, to glorify him for this and for all I owe him. I do not fear Don Pedro’s leaving, rather, I accept it with joy for his sake. He has served Our Lord here and enhanced as much as possible his most holy glory and Spain’s honor, which is not at all difficult. Everyone praises him and demonstrates their love, a great miracle among these heretics, when one does what is right, as he has. God’s grace has visibly helped and guided him. 7. My heart palpitations have tired me somewhat these days. On some, I could not pick up the pen, but Our Lord gives me strength when I least expect it. It is certainly needed in this land, so turbulent and far from ours, and so notably unloving and cold toward foreigners, which I have experienced not a few times! My companions are angels: and I believe that something of mine has rubbed off on them, for their relatives have already forgotten them entirely. 8. Please write to our sister doña Leonor,125 your grace, and send her a thousand loving regards and handkisses, and ask her to recommend 124. The zeugmas and litotes frequently used by Carvajal are examples of her highly developed sense of rhetoric. 125. Alonso de Carvajal’s wife, who probably did not reside in San Clemente.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 263 me to Our Lord. I do not write to her, because it befits me to limit my letter writing, yet try as I may, I cannot cease from writing so many. Yours will make me especially happy. They tell me Rivas is leaving soon and I do not want this one to be left behind. May God protect your grace, brother of my soul, by increasing his grace in you that I desire and entreat him. Amen. Highgate, July 5, 1609. 9. Along with this letter, I write one for Don Rodrigo [Carvajal]. I tell him what your grace says you owe him, and that you esteem and love him. Luisa. To Don Alonso de Carbajal [sic] y Mendoza, my brother and lord, may God keep, etc. San Clemente. (BAE 110: 292) To her brother, Don Alonso de Carvajal London (Highgate) November 22, 1609 Carvajal continues in her efforts to serve as spiritual guide to her brother. The letter describes the actions of the Puritans, and the effect of the recent plague on London. Jhs. May Our Lord offer you his favors, my brother, and his most holy fear and sovereign love grow in your soul according to my desire. 1. I know that your grace accepts in your heart a most firm proposal not to offend him on heaven or earth with even one mortal sin; for if he took pity on your sin, it would be more joyful to lose you a million times over. How easy this is for someone who has a living light and knowledge of such a sovereign and sweet creator and an infinitely thankful creature! 2. I am sending your grace a book of litanies, and if you have no other devotions that take up your time, I beseech you truly to pray the litany of the Life and Passion of Christ Our Lord every day, reflecting, if only

264 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza briefly, on each of the short stations of the Cross, so full of the love we owe him. 3. Father Cresvelo [Creswell] has sent me your grace’s letter; it gave me pleasure to read and learn of your good health and that of my sister and your children. Please have Francisco learn good Latin, as it is important for boys when they become men, for a hundred reasons. Please, your grace, give each of them a hug for me. May God bless you and make them his! 4. My health is as usual and my companions peaceable and very religious. It seems, my brother, that Our Lord does not believe that my perseverance is a result of my freedom, since it is true that I am now deeply rooted in England. If your grace knew how bad it is here: water and rust everywhere, expensive, and everything weak, with the climate changing always; as Don Pedro [de Zúñiga] says, every year, every day encompasses both summer and winter. And along with a thousand afflictions, London and other parts suffer continually from the plague. London has had it for six years, without even a week’s break. When it has gotten worse, half the city has suffered in a short time (the city is very big; all others can be enclosed in it, as there is no other city larger than a reasonably sized town in Spain). They cannot cure it, and the Puritans, who are so protective of their sect, say it is great joy to die of the plague, as they call this illness, and that it is a positive sign from Our Lord, and when asked from what one of their friends died, they reply gravely and devoutly, “from the sign of Our Lord.” All go to the funeral, and afterward, they lock the house with whoever is inside and they feed them there at their expense for a month. An old man or a rogue guards the door, and for a piece of bread, he lets them out whenever they want. They sell the dead person’s bed and clothes on the day he dies, and there are many buyers. I never thought I would see such beastliness; it is a miracle that everything has not been destroyed. Since their souls are so blind, God allows them to be blind in government, which is full of complaints and discord. And they love their

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 265 homeland, which they believe and say is paradise on earth, greatly disparaging Spain. They believe it is dishonorable to be a Spaniard. Don Pedro has corrected some of these perceptions, at least among the courtiers. 5. We have spent all summer since March outside London, because the plague has hit harder than other years. And although we are in a place that persists in its error, Our Lord has consoled us with some who have converted, and by giving us many occasions to serve our divine Majesty in this way. May he keep your grace, my brother, in his most holy favor, as I wish it. From Highgate, 22 November, 1609. 6. Tell me, your grace, about Ana de la Transfiguración, the Recollect nun, as I do not know whether she is dead or alive; and a thousand warm messages to my sister doña Leonor and my housemaid. Luisa. 7. It consoles me very much to know that your grace keeps in touch with our cousin, the holy Carmelite.126 Tell me what you can about her when you write to me, and offer to serve her for both of us. If Rivas allows it, I will write with this, but if not, with the first courier who leaves. I have sent the letters by way of Father Gracián,127 but he has never informed me whether he received the letter, or whether he sent it to my cousin. To Don Alonso de Carvajal y Mendoza, my brother and lord, whom Our Lord keep, etc. San Clemente.

(BAE 113: 297) To Inés de la Asunción London, June 4, 1610 Carvajal discusses the arrival of the new ambassador, Alonso de Velasco y Salinas, future Count of la Revilla, to Madrid, and her relations with 126. Francisca, daughter of Carvajal’s uncle, the marquis of Almazán. 127. Father Jerónimo Gracián de la Madre de Dios was in Flanders at the time.

266 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza him. Although Carvajal did not consider Velasco a good ambassador and laments Don Pedro de Zúñiga’s departure, Spain’s problems arose from England’s increasing competition with Spain’s overseas empire and the country’s economic problems. In this, one of her lengthiest and most despondent letters to Inés, she reveals her frustration at the English Catholics’ perceived dismissal of Spain, despite the country’s support, and complains bitterly of her mistreatment by them, yet asks Inés to burn the letter so no one may misinterpret her pessimistic feelings. The letter also describes her efforts in attempting to create a religious house with her female companions. Unlike a convent, however, the community was not cloistered in any way nor did her companions take any vows. Jhs. 1. I have received your two letters almost at the same time, from November 8 and January 15, and only one from our mother [Mariana de San José]. Your letters can be sent by way of doña Ana María de Vergara, which is shorter and more secure. You have probably seen in the one that I sent her, how upset I was then; I believe that the prayers I requested have forcibly released Father Michael [Walpole] from the heretics’ hands; he is now in Flanders. With his and Don Pedro’s departure, we have had to undergo a rare suffering. Our Lord has not wished to assign any [priests] in England to my poor spirit’s care and consolation. Nothing has been so important or caused me so great an effort, ever since I was a child, than seeking a guide and father who would take care to conduct my soul to God. Except for my sins, nothing has pained me so much as this lack, and this pain now overrides all others that I would ordinarily feel, such as that brought about by Don Pedro’s absence. We have kept the house, which some funds from doña Ana María have allowed us, thanks to God, who so benignly tempers the travails in which we find ourselves. It is a great thing to have a corner in which to hide, despite so many people in this wretched kingdom, and what is more, to have assured our being able to hear mass, since the house is next to the ambassador’s house, and it is said in one of our small

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 267 rooms, with a door to the patio whose key I have. Don Pedro was very sad to depart and showed great emotion on leaving me here in this land. He had no money left, as he gave us whatever he could, with which we paid some necessary repairs that he had ordered before he left. We will have enough to cover our meals for four or five months or less, although we will have to share our poor sustenance with others and spend money on them in these times, which Our Lord demands of us, so we cannot and must not refuse to do so, even though a person may sell himself.128 2. Don Alonso seems like a good and virtuous gentleman; he has acted favorably toward us and sometimes charitably given us some food from his table.129 Yesterday he told me that if we needed anything, to let him know, and that I should always do this. What does he think? That because so much is needed, I would brazenly ask him? Certainly not. The day that we are in need of one last piece of bread, I will joyfully do it, but at any other time, I plan not to bother him much. I responded that, if it came to an extreme, I might do as he ordered, since Don Pedro [de Zúñiga] would often force us to take something against our will. You have no idea, sister, what this gentleman did for me! What an increasingly warm and ready heart he had for all that I have been through! I truly commend him to God, as it will be one of the major favors he will do me. And I entreat our mother [Mariana de San José] to do the same. They owe him this for all the service to Our Lord that he has rendered on this island and the great zeal he has demonstrated for our religion, and his good example in all things. He told me that he would go to visit you both. 3. [Pedro de Zúñiga] did many remarkable things to try to free Father Michael, but there were great difficulties and he could not get him out. They released six priests instead: one a Benedictine, another from the Society [of Jesus]. He received one of the major state counselors, [Robert] Cecil’s word that he would not apply the death penalty 128. Possibly a reference to Catholics who accepted the oath of allegiance. 129. Alonso de Velasco y Salinas, Count of la Revilla, was appointed Spanish ambassador after Pedro de Zúñiga’s departure in 1609. He served until 1613, when he was replaced by Diego Sarmiento de Acuña, future Count of Gondomar.

268 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza that others insisted on giving him, but instead send him quietly to Flanders, as he did sixteen days ago. I do not know why there was such resistance to his departure (after having once allowed it, they changed their minds, making [Don Pedro] roar like a lion). Our Lord must have wished me to suffer greatly because of this, and Don Pedro also, because now they will exile many—they say all those not imprisoned in the Tower—through an edict they have proclaimed. They wanted to lock Father Michael [Walpole] in there, and there is a Capuchin friar there, whose imprisonment has caused great pain and punishment for Scotland’s sins. He is Scottish and an admirable preacher, resourceful and strong as a lion, yet humble and soft-spoken. He was for many years Provincial in France. I had begged him, just the day before, not to come to London.130 He was about to return to Scotland and had escaped from more than one hundred horsemen who had been searching for him for over three weeks before they caught him. This priest and Father Michael are the most lucid spirits I have found here. And I can assure you, that after my arrival I have always seen in Father Michael notable improvement and spiritual growth from year to year and from one period to another. 4. The books have arrived; and it has cost me not a little to claim them from customs. I do not know why I send news of England, as it serves no purpose, and if it were not for Don Pedro, they would probably have opened the boxes and everything would have been lost, thanks to those papers.131 Would you believe that Catholics like to talk about the times under Queen Elizabeth? I find few, even among the priests, who do not want to elevate her to the skies. They say that there were fewer persecutions in her time, as if they cannot despise the current king who leads them, without exalting that miserable creature, or when speaking of this persecution, they must forget the previous one. When I say that I do not believe Our Lord enjoys such exaltations and opinions, some become very angry at me, and the same happens when I defend my nation and land on hearing from one or another the most indignant and strange things anyone could think of. I was unaware of 130. Carvajal probably wrote him, but there is no extant document. 131. Carvajal may be referring to the letters she received with the books in response to her letters.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 269 these ideas when I first arrived, but I know of no one who would not be affected by them. I have been such a simpleton, believing that all that was needed was to speak out modestly, and that it was a virtue to undo if possible these ideas about the Spanish nation. I now see that they become irritated by my merely contradicting them, and thus, I have decided to remain silent. To speak ill of Spain and exalt the queen is one and the same, and who does one, does the other, and who does not do the one, does not do the other; coming here, one can see how these actions mean the same. Even many good [English Catholics] show a great lack of love for Spain, and my being a Spaniard has not contributed to their liking me. I think they believe that Spain has a natural obligation to serve them, and thus, they complain without appreciating what has been done or what is being done. The same happens with me: they do not remember how often they forget all about me and my house, yet when they want some large or small thing done, whether of a material or spiritual nature, they come to me with absolutely no qualms to order me to do it. If I see that it has merit, I agree to it joyfully for Our Lord’s greater glory. Yet there are many wealthy Catholics with well-appointed houses, and those who are lords are not subject to the laws against Catholics demanding payment, or to searches, or other kinds of burdens. Although they donate large amounts of alms to themselves, believe me, we do not expect even an apple from them as a show of courtesy or love. One lady who lived in Spain for twenty years has sent us some little gifts once or twice, and a merchant who came from Seville and wishes to return soon has done the same. I believe they learned to behave like this in Spain. 5. I understand that this rejection is sign and proof that Our Lord has accepted my poor service in coming to England as soon as I could solely for his love, and treating my own country so coldly. The [English Catholics] must have their reasons to think that they are right in how they treat me, and I believe that their treatment comes directly from Our Lord and from his opinion of me, which I deserve for my imperfections. It was said that my imprisonment was not due to religion but because I insulted Queen Elizabeth, and the rumor even reached Flanders. I told Father Michael that I should complain to Personio [Father Robert Persons], and he agreed. I have not received one drop

270 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza of comfort or assistance from the English Catholics, except what I squeeze from them when I serve them. Burn this letter, and reveal its contents to no one. My dear sister, I entreat you to interpret what I say positively. I do not wish to accuse them for their mistreatment, since as I say, I see that it comes from the hands of Our Lord, and it is a great favor to me. I only want you to know more accurately what happens here. 6. Please beseech his divine Majesty that if he wishes, to return our good priest [Michael Walpole], so full of mercy, to us once and for all. He and others, equally moderate, have had nothing to do with what I have told you, or at least from what I have seen. Because of the latest proclamation, it seems not to his benefit to return soon, but to let months or a year go by. And my pain would be less if someone else were to substitute for him even partially. 7. I do not know whether Father Creswell believes my letters too long, for I often tell him, when asking him to be careful how he sends the alms he has received for us, that we do not receive any relief from the Catholics, nor any crack from which to expect any. I do not know how many long letters I wrote him, before Don Alonso [de Velasco]’s arrival, asking him to procure an ambassador who will respond to our needs here, one who has important connections for the greater glory of God and the Catholics’ comfort and encouragement, and to inform him of the situation here with the heretics, which he has wanted to know. He asks me not to tire in this, for I accomplish many more things than I know. With the warning he gives me in his latest letter, however, I will be much more measured in mine, although until now, they have often exceeded the two folio limit. 8. The scissors and other items I requested have never arrived. My cousin Doña Luisa132 sent me a pair that she purchased in Madrid, but they were useless; they were not hers or Father Creswell’s. Please try to send me the Corónicas de San Francisco [Chronicles of Saint Francis] and the book by Fray Juan de la Cruz [John of the Cross] by means of 132. The marquis of Almazán’s oldest daughter.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 271 Doña Ana María, who is as charitable with me as Don Pedro, but in any case, send us El deseoso [The Desiring One], since everyone here wants to know about “Bien Me Quiero [I Love Myself].”133 You sent me a piece of hoof over two years ago, without saying anything in your letter. Tell me who gave it to you and how good it tastes.134 9. Doña Ana de Velasco135 remains in Brussels; her brother wishes to bring her [to London], but I do not know if she wants to come. They say that until now, he has been unable to convince her. I would like to learn the truth and especially what kind of person is this de Pernía, whose first name is doña Ana. She and the other servants must have been given the title of “don.” I have told them that if they come, they must leave their titles, for if the English hear that “Anas” and servants are called “don,” they will be surprised and not take doña Ana or her daughter for ladies. They believe that it is a title for queens and great ladies, and cannot be convinced otherwise. If the Pernía lady has the necessary qualities to live here and a very strong spirit, if she wishes to stay, I will take her in and bring her by sea from Antwerp in one or two days. However, if she is not prepared to come, it does not pay me to spend my time and money on her, for it may be too difficult for her to adjust to what she will find here. I am not referring to my companions, of course, who are very peaceful and of good will. I am consoled by them, and Our Lord lets them suffer the same rigors and lack of support from their people as I do. No one remembers them, not even their wealthy relatives and masters, whom they served for so long. Three are already in Flanders; one a Discalced [Carmelite], and two others left recently to become nuns; one wished it, and I agreed. The other two would not leave me; they 133.The Corónica mentioned may be the Spanish translation of Jordan of Giano’s 13th-century chronicle of Saint Francis; John of the Cross was likely in manuscript form; whereas the Tratado de El deseoso o espejo de religiosos, was an anonymous Catalan religious treatise first printed in Barcelona in 1515. “El deseoso” and “Bien Me Quiero” are allegorical protagonists on a spiritual pilgrimage. A Spanish versión was published by Juan de Junta in 1548. 134. The piece of hoof [pedazo de uña] may refer to a cow heel. 135. The new ambassador, Alonso de Velasco’s sister.

272 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza are most virtuous souls, and I forced them to go, because their nature is such that I saw they would soon lose their health. It is better for them to be safe and sound in a convent as nuns than to stay in this sea of troubles. We await another one who is said to be very discreet, which is most needed for the manner in which we live here, as we walk always among thousands of inconveniences and difficulties. Another two have removed themselves, or been removed, as even in this the people do not help us. I have found only two priests who are in favor of the growth of religious life in England. The rest say that they are already sufficiently perfect and, if they wish to have more religious, they should leave the kingdom to profess as nuns elsewhere, since they cannot keep evangelical council nor any of the rules and measures of perfection that I would like. 10. Please give Father Luis de la Puente my humble regards, and tell me something about Father Antonio de Padilla, of whom I have heard nothing, and of Father [Gaspar de] Pedrosa, who was our spiritual father. 11. Don Alonso [de Velasco] dispatched his courier Pedro to Spain without letting me know, I have no idea why. Today I take advantage of a ship sailing from Vizcaya with Don Pedro’s [de Zúñiga] clothing and some of his young men. Since it leaves today, I write you in a hurry, although a hundred impediments have stopped me from it beforehand. 12. May Our Lord keep you, my beloved sister, in his most holy favor, as I wish. I do not believe I can write to Isabel this time; I was overjoyed with her letter, and will respond with the next [courier] who leaves from London. June 4, 1610. 13. I have not been able to re-read your letters in order to answer them. They are, as usual, very good, and they do me a great favor in telling me so much about you and the rest; I beg you to do so always. I do not know how this business of writing is taken there. I write to God’s servants, because I am in need of their prayers, and to those

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 273 who send us alms and letters, I am obliged to answer if I am to accept their alms, and if not allowed, I would still write to express my thanks and love. I see no reason, dealing always with such perverse demons as the people are here, and with such a lack of spiritual help, to keep from writing to those in Spain to whom I write, for they are very few and have strong foundations. The matters here are so overwhelming, that I have needed to unburden myself in some way. I am sure you will note that this letter exceeds my limit of two folios; I could not stop myself. It is full of trifles. Luisa

(BAE 117: 307–309) To Father Joseph Creswell, S. I. London, September 26, 1610 Luisa de Carvajal comments on the proclamation of June 2, 1610 on the implementation of all laws against recusants after Henri IV’s assassination. To Father Joseph, of the Society of Jesus. 1. I have received your grace’s dated July 4, for all my other friends there have already forgotten me, and so, I have not received letters from anyone for a long time, save one from my brother. And I do not include Doña Ana María among them, since she sends her letters any way she can. I will do so by means of Flanders, for I do not know when Don Alonso [de Velasco] will dispatch [the mail]. He sent his courier Pedro when he arrived in London, and they did not let me know, so I did not write to your grace, but I did so soon afterward with a servant of Don Pedro’s, who left with some clothes and other servants to Vizcaya; I also wrote your grace with his master, who has probably arrived by now. 2. Someone else will have to write for me to you one of these days, as my ill health tires me so. And the good thing is that when I made one of my English ladies try to write what I dictated, she managed to

274 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza do so very well, I assure your grace, although she does not have the intelligence that the others do. I love her and the rest as if they were my own sisters, and they are very deserving. 3. I have already written your grace that the king of France’s death sorely affected these people. As the treasurer said in Parliament, they bled his religion from a vein in his head. They became angry at our holy religion and made a proclamation so that all would take the oath and the Catholics leave London. After Don Pedro [de Zúñiga] left the kingdom, they conducted general searches for three nights with great noise, although this did not stop people from coming to mass here and to the Venetian [ambassadors’]. The French ambassador does not allow any English [Catholics] to attend mass, saying that he will do so in time, as he must conduct business now. With the proclamation, the devil spread fear throughout the kingdom, for if it is demanded and they refuse, they will be condemned to prison for life and lose all their goods and whatever rents they receive. Thus, although the heretics have lessened the storm for some, this fear is waging war in the hearts of others. 4. My lord William has not taken the oath, as you have probably heard. Some rich lords and gentlemen protected themselves by going to Flanders, at least until they can see where this business will end. Things have continued thus for about a month, since with the law against women, fear has grown, and many heretics are afraid because their wives are Catholic. As one said the other day, “What kind of a pestilent law is this? Shall we leave our wives in jail, just so we do not pay any money for them? This would mean losing our honor entirely.” 5. It is certainly true that Parliament forced the king to impose this law, and despite being married to Catholic women, many members of the House of Commons are poisoned against the faith, and those of the House of Lords did not dare to favor the faith, and its bishops not only pushed for the law, but for many others that the king did not allow. I believe that the Council, because of the State, held him back. One of the laws was to demand great fees from all the Catholic

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 275 houses and oblige them to be responsible to make sure, each of them, that they did not send their sons abroad. When applied to women, the law is that, no matter what their social level or if their husbands are lords, if they refuse the oath, they will be jailed for life, but their husbands can rescue them, if they wish, by paying ten English pounds per month, or the third part of their property. The seas are now rough and some are calling [the Catholics] to offer them to take the oath. But they flee from their homes, and the majority of those who are known for their lands and goods are running from one part to another, leaving their houses vacant until the storm abates somewhat. Thus, no one has been jailed in the countryside, and only seven or eight in London. One is Mr. Abindton, who will be set free this week and will leave London thanks to the law; and the others are poor, and have nothing to lose. And according to the Catholics, one or two are spies placed there for that purpose. One of Mr. Dorel’s sons has been jailed in Newgate. The pursuivants brought him from the countryside, when they surrounded his father’s house and found no one inside but him, some servants, and some church linens. They decided to bring them to the Archbishop of London, who is a malicious beast. He refused the oath and was sent to prison. Yesterday, a servant girl was jailed; she had been found in the street and taken to the commissioners, where she refused the oath. No other woman has been jailed by him. Mistress Cook, a fervent Catholic, was also brought before the commissioners and pressured, but she paid no attention to what she heard and refused to take the oath, so they sent her back to her house. Such as God’s providence, that it does not let them do all they wish against his servants. 6. Parliament will again meet on Saint Michael’s Day [September 27] to finalize what monies they will be giving the king. They have offered him 180,000 pounds per year in order for him to lift the law against minors, so they and their property will be free, as in other parts of the world. They say he will do so, and I am very glad, for I felt sorry for the poor minors, as they were like slaves. It is likely that the persecution wil increase when Parliament meets. Once it is dissolved and gone for

276 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza good, it is expected that they will forget about this oath. Whatever the king and the council decide will at least seem better. 7. There are two recently jailed men in Newgate: a clergyman and a Benedictine recently arrived. Although there have been sessions, they have not been called. In the countryside, they have imprisoned two clergymen, and after condemning them to death, imprisoned them again. One was condemned because he reconciled a thief in the jail, who then died on the gallows a good Catholic and spoke to everyone there with great fervor about the faith, despite his having been so recently converted. 8. Father Preston, superior of the Italian Benedictines,136 who was in Gatehouse Prison paying his fees, has managed to be set free and can go wherever he wishes for a month and a half, and after that, he must return to jail. This has cost him money and he expects that, for more money, little by little, he will be given a longer period of freedom. Mr. Fenel, from the same prison, is confined to a house, as I have written. Mr. Colinton, who is in the Clink, expects the same and for this reason, they say, they did not wish to be exiled with the rest who left the countryside and London, all because of the proclamation, which allowed them to leave, after Don Pedro’s departure. This is all the news I have: despite the rigors of the time, the number of Catholics who attend chapel is very large. 9. I wrote this letter more than fifteen days ago, and for the past thirteen, I have come down with a great fever that causes much sweating and is known everywhere as pestilent, because no matter how many try, few escape from it. I feel sufficiently well today to write these lines, as it is no mean feat to take pen in hand. Don Alonso has ordered me to write to your grace and to Don Pedro, and I do so as best I can. 10. One of the priests jailed in the hinterlands, after having been exiled, is now a glorious martyr. We believe that the one who converted the thief will be one soon as well. The oath is being forced on 136. Preston had defended as licit the oath of loyalty.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 277 everyone, but there are still not many imprisoned besides those I have mentioned, and Mr. Dorel’s oldest son, who is in Newgate. 11. Entrust me to all our friends, your grace, for it is painful for me to write any further, and so I will not tell you what good persons I think Doña Ana de Velasco and her daughter are. If this fever does not end my life, I will tell you in another letter, which I will send very soon via Flanders, with all the most recent news that I do not mention now. I ask for your grace’s and Father Sylvester’s prayers, as well as those of Father Espinoza and Father Lorenzo. May Our Lord keep your grace as I wish. From London, September 26, 1610. 12. I find Lady Doña Ana an extremely good person, she and her daughter show me much love, and the lord Don Alonso, great good will and a home. May your grace please thank him very much for me, I beg you. To Father Joseph Creswell, of the Society of Jesus, etc. Madrid.

(BAE 121: 311) To Don Pedro de Zúñiga London, April 16, 1611 This letter shows Carvajal’s close relations with the former ambassador, Don Pedro de Zúñiga. It reveals how highly she thought of Zúñiga and how she was helped economically by her continued contact with him. Carvajal passes on information to Don Pedro about the new Spanish ambassador, Don Alonso de Velasco, with whom she would not get along. This letter repeats part of the same information written to the Jesuit Joseph Creswell, and to the Marquis and Marquise of Caracena in letters to each of the same date and sent with the same courier. 1. Your lordship has very rightly made us wish for your letters, for we esteem them enormously, as your lordship knows, and your not thinking so would be our greatest offense. I have written you many,

278 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza without knowing if you received them and without ever receiving one single line from your lordship. And at the time of our worst afflictions, Our Lord has comforted me with two from you that came almost at the same time, dated November 30 and December 27, and which have made me most happy, and the captain with his.137 He is a loyal friend of your lordship’s in your absence, and you absent yourself to all kinds of people, but we expect that Our Lord will be served with your presence so close to the king, and your answers and propositions will have great effect on many occasions. 2. I do not know why your lordship says nothing to me about the state of your soul, as I wish its salvation so fervently. The more efficient your means are to ensure this, the happier news this will be for me. I have heard numerous rumors about your lordship’s marrying. As your servant, this is what I wish for you, which your lordship already knows: A peaceable woman, religious and virtuous, one who will help your lordship on the road to heaven, will make very good company and your house, fortunate with your descendants. But as much as I wish your house to fill with your descendants, I could not wish a wife for you who would sicken your blood, shorten your life or involve your heart in vanities and in forgetting God. 3. The news I have for your lordship cannot withstand such a long journey, and I fear complaints. We have had four holy martyrs receive their glorious crowns before Christmas. The last two were Thomas Somers, whose English servants, under the names of Vuilson [Wilson] requested your lordship’s protection,138 and Father John Roberts, a Benedictine monk, whom your lordship knew well.139 During the eight or ten months before his 137. A friend of Don Pedro’s, identity unknown to González and Abad. 138. Thomas Somers, who at times used the pseudonym Wilson, was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn on December 10, 1610. He was beatified in 1929. 139. John Roberts was captured “on 2 December, 1610 by the pursuivants arriving just as he was concluding Mass, took him to Newgate in his vestments. On 5 December he was tried and found guilty under the Act forbidding priests to minister in England, and on 10

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 279 death, I noticed in him a great increase in virtue and devotion, with notable peace and tranquility; Our Lord was preparing him for his lofty adventure. He had been imprisoned six times, but never condemned to death until this last time, and because he was so hopeful for this, a few days before the sessions, when three of his companions escaped through a broken wall, he refused to do so. He assured me, already sentenced, that despite his escaping so easily, he would not do it for anything in the world, so close to the sessions, the time when the shepherds needed to set an example of constancy and encouragement to their flock. 4. I helped them in what I could before their death. When they were taken to be notified of their sentence, Father Roberts trembled so much that he could hardly tie his laces and button his jacket sleeves. And he said to me, “See how I tremble.” I responded that he reminded me of the Great Captain, who had also trembled when he armed himself in battle, saying that his flesh was afraid of his heart.140 He laughed and lowered his head, as if appreciating my good opinion. He was extremely humble and spiritual in prison. When they returned, they were not brought to Justice Hall, which is where the prisoners for our holy faith are kept, but to the other, where heretics, murderers, and thieves are jailed. To console them and myself, a difficult step if one considers it, I paid the jailer I know not how many reales to allow me to go there. Not only did he let me do this, he allowed me to take them to where the rest were, late at night, through a small secret door high up in the Tower. Father Roberts walked carefully, worried that I and two of my companions who had followed me, along with two friends from the city, not fall down the staircase, which was tricky. The room was full, and all were happy that they had come there. They all sat down to dinner, more than twenty, and only two people not prisoners. I sat at the head of the table, which I December was hanged, drawn, and quartered at Tyburn. Roberts’ body was recovered and taken to St. Gregory’s, Douai, but disappeared during the French Revolution.” http://www. newadvent.org/cathen/13098c.htm. Accessed January 15, 2012. 140. A reference to Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba (1453–1515) known as the “Great Captain” for his military exploits and his role in the capture of Granada.

280 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza had never wanted to do before, but I did so to be comforted by the two saints’ nearness, although it was impossible for me to eat even a bite. The table was full of joy and devotion, and I was deep in thought over what I was experiencing, as it vividly reminded me of Christ Our Lord’s last supper. Father Roberts said to me, “Do you see how I am here, unedifying them with my excessive joy? Would it not be better for me to go into a corner and pray?” I said certainly not, that there could be no better example than to see him with such notable spirit and resolution to die for Christ. A Benedictine father named Haens, whom your lordship saw in Highgate, gave me [Roberts’] bone and oil from his marrow, mixed with some from Father Somers, to give your lordship. He says he sends them since he is so appreciative of the consolation that the Catholics received from your lordship. 5. I would need more folios if I wished to describe how the persecution over these eight or nine months has increased. No Catholic—I mean lay—can walk the streets free from danger, as they did before, as the pursuivants will immediately take him to the most insolent false bishop (this is what he called Father Roberts—“the insolent Roberts,” when he condemned him to death). He offers them the oath, and if they do not take it, he sends them to jail, and one of those he has sent is the mother of the blonde girl that I had with me at Highgate. There are so many in Newgate that cannot fit in that dark, airless room, full of the smells that come from those dirty places on the other side where the heretics are jailed. And as there are no separate rooms, they are kept as sheep in a pen, and we fear that the majority will die from illness this summer, if it gets hot. And there are many delicate and wealthy, and no few priests. The doors of the Catholics and the streets that are illuminated are spied upon at night, so that not even the nights are safe for them. 6. Two ambassadors have been here: a marshall from France who they say came to establish peace, and one from Savoy, who it is believed came to note down marriages, and must return. He was very well received. Both left without having asked for priests. May it please God

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 281 that these are not the parties and feasts of King Herod, celebrated while Saint John the Baptist was in prison.141 They attempt to attain peace with all, and pretending to be gentle and pious, to make the Catholic princes forget the intolerable afflictions that the Catholics are suffering in this nation by astutely convincing them or weakening their constancy.142 Surely this must pain your lordship, as it does my soul. What great good these ambassadors could do here, if only they had zeal and discretion! And how important it is to take notice of those who are sent here! No doubt, God will demand an account from them. They say that we must appeal to the state, for ours are imprudent fervors. But what if there is no prudence or zeal, then what will become of the state? Their reasons, if taken wisely and with a just heart as regards God, are very different from the rest, and it is His Divine Majesty who makes states prosper. 7. Women are again being persecuted, and even if married to counts, they can be imprisoned if they do not go to church or take the oath. They say that Noles143 is frightened to death that they might begin with her. It is rumored among some that one of the most principal ladies confessed before Holy Week. She retired to her palace for this purpose, but they say that she did so with a non-too-devout companion, more in order to persuade her husband, to whom she wants to be loyal as to her religion, than because she is afraid of his anger, as he is not a Catholic. I have also heard that she asked some Spanish ladies to recommend a confessor, and that they responded that they did not dare involve themselves in the matter for their love of peace, and that it was the second time that she had spoken to them. Time will tell what she plans to do.

141. Carvajal writes on the left margin: “I keep forgetting to correct my mistakes. If Herod’s guests did not share in the prisons, at least they did not have the saint join in their happiness, which is what I fear in this case.” 142. According to González and Abad, this was Henri IV’s policy with respect to Rome’s conduct toward James I. 143. This name has not been identified.

282 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 8. May Our Lord repay your lordship the favor you have done him by helping me so much in my harsh pilgrimage with all the innumerable favors that, for his most holy love, you have done to me in him. And for the king our lord to be so inclined to this with such rare piety, I kiss his royal feet and hands and those of the duke many times.144 I ask your lordship to represent me. Nothing gratifies me so much as seeing that I am succored solely for God’s sake, as an act devoid of all human concerns. My needs are so far from anyone’s eyes and I such a ruin, that they are visible even from there. May Our Lord be forever glorified! Amen. 9. I do not wish to prattle to your lordship, but no matter, I will tell you that I have had an encounter with Abbot, the false bishop of London and now of Canterbury.145 As usual, there is free license at Newgate for all kinds of people to enter. When I was there, seeing that the martyrs had been condemned to death solely because they were priests of our most holy Catholic religion, I prostrated myself at their feet and kissed them, wishing to show them that although I was but a small and crude example,the esteem shown by my nation for such a joyful kind of death. If possible, I wished to increase their heroic resolution, less against the horror naturally caused by death as it was described in their sentence, than against vainglory and arrogance. A few days earlier, to gift them with something, I had sent them some pear tortes as befitting our poverty. A false brother found out, and through him, the false bishop. I was unaware of this, but since I was ill for many days after the two priests’ martyrdom, Our Lord hid me by having me stay indoors. When he saw that I remained indoors, [the bishop] grew angrier with me, convinced that I had encouraged the martyrs in their death, by kissing their feet and honoring their condition and faith as much as possible. He said that the tortes were excellent, and denied the priests’ death on their last day. He finally decided to send for me, ordering me to present myself immediately, as he was waiting for me with one of his pursuivants, a great fool, who very gently forced us to 144. Most likely as a request from Zúñiga, Philip III had ordered the Spanish embassy to give Carvajal 300 reales monthly. The duke she mentions is Lerma. 145. George Abbot, Bishop of London, was raised to Archbishop of Canterbury in 1611.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 283 open the door. I peeked out the door’s crack to hear him, saying that I did not believe that [the bishop] was sending me any message, and even less with him. When Don Alonso found out, he let me know that I should at all times respond quietly and excuse myself from going, as I was not feeling well. He later explained that thought this was necesssary, for the bishop was an important person here in spiritual matters, and it was not good for me to act in a free manner and discourteously. This information is only for your lordship. 10. I have heard that the treasurer is anxious for two prisoners to come, as he says he exchanged them for Mr. Rich. Although he does not say, I heard the other day that one had come, and I think it is the one that he most wanted, a relative of his master’s, but I do not know. 11. Your lordship probably already knows what this king’s heretical agent has written about you, that your lordship did not favor them at all, and that he is warning them so they can see that no Spanish ambassador may be trusted. At this, the treasurer asked, “Is it possible that Don Pedro has behaved in this manner? We love and respect him as much as possible. I cannot believe what I hear, I must be dreaming it.” This has probably caused him and other courtiers to be lukewarm toward your lordship, and toward me as well. But all the rest, even those who are not Catholic, have good memories of your lordship and lament your departure, as it were yesterday. And for the Catholics especially, it seems that their kind words about you increase each day, and they ask me if there is any hope that your lordship might return to England. 12. Ever since your lordship left us, I have not had even an hour of relief, and instead, a hundred new occasions for worry. I am much more disfigured and thin than when your lordship last saw me. Don Alonso and his sister and daughter-in-law have acted very charitably toward me. Yet I have been unable to serve them in anything, and although I wished to do so, given all that I have learned and experienced here, they take everything as offensive and bothersome. And so, I respect them from a distance, with very little communication, they do not seek me out, as they knew me from the start. We see each other at

284 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza most at chapel, where they are separated by railings in the middle, with two steps of the old gallery that lead to Sedeño’s room. The ladies sit upstairs, I downstairs, with the English. 13. If the messenger allows me, I will write to my cousin and to the Father Teacher, whose hands I kiss.146 May Our Lord keep your lordship in his most holy love for many yours, as I wish. Amen From London, April 16, 1611. New Style. 14. Your lordship should know that the treasurer took some letters that they say were in William Cook’s pocket,who is in Newgate, and they were in Spanish and for someone in Spain. Don Alonso refused to tell me to whom they were addressed. He suspected that they were the captain’s, but he did not know. The treasurer sent them to him to make up for having said at Council “Our powerful enemy, Spain.” The letters railed against Don Alonso, calling his sister and daugher “the women,” which also upset them. He has since borne everything with much patience. 15. It seems like I have only now begun to write. Your lordship should know that this king is now poor in the extreme. He fought furiously with Parliament,without it giving him anything he asked from them. The need to make peace with Spain grows daily. This is a good time in which to help the Catholics; any significant means will work miracles. 16. My companions humbly kiss your lordship’s hands. They remember your lordship often in their prayers, and I, in my own very impoverished ones do so as well. 17. After having written you this letter, I received your lordship’s dated March 10, and I do not know, my good lord, what to say of the exquisite charity your lordship shows me, that you take time to write me such a long letter, although to me it seems only one line long. If 146. Father Juan de San Agustín, an Augustinian who had been at the Spanish Embassy and later was named Provincial of his Order and rector of the convent of San Felipe el Real, Madrid.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 285 I no longer see your lordship in this life, I hope in God’s grace that I will see you forever in heaven, and that I will receive good news from your lordship in this my harsh pilgrimage. I wish whatever resolution is best for your lordship’s soul. If in this occupation,147 your lordship attempts to make God happy in everything, holding the reins strongly on the occasion of sin so as not to fall, by being so near the king our lord, your lordship can serve God almost without thinking, since, at times, with these monarchs, one little word from those who are near can do good a thousand times, and also evil. 18. I am very pleased that the queen has grown close to the order of the Recollect Augustines.148 May God keep her, may he be blessed for having given her and such a king to us. For this alone Spain is indebted to God! 19. Don Alonso has informed me that, owing to him,149 the king has made me a favor that he does not wish to divulge. The alms are admirable, but your lordship knows very well the many occasions there are here to serve God, and for which I and any other equally as low will give up what we have. My being in London has increased these occasions,150 and I speak constantly to heretics about the Catholic religion. I will stop here, so as not to speak any longer about this. 20. I hardly ever see the captain, nor does he come to see Don Alonso. There are many rumors circulating about here. 21. I very much fear that the lawsuit in Granada may end my cousin’s life and estate.151 Lawsuits are so intolerable! This pains me so much! 147. On his return to Spain, Don Pedro was named Philip III’s equerry. 148. Margarita of Austria founded the royal monastery of the Encarnación, where Luisa de Carvajal’s remains are still kept. 149. Don Alonso had apparently negotiated Carvajal’s subvention from the king. 150. Carvajal had returned to London from Highgate. 151. González and Abad suggest that Carvajal may refer to her cousin, Inés de Vargas, Rodrigo Calderón’s wife.

286 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza May God keep your lordship, like I beg of him. Amen. And may he enrich your lordship with his most holy love as much as I wish. From London, April 16, 1611. 22. The licentiate Agustín Pérez is carrying this letter inside the envelope to Father Creswell, who I have asked to give your lordship the letter in your hand. He has behaved very well here, so far as I know, and I see that he has satisfied everyone here. I beg your lordship to favor him in what he asks in whatever way you can. He has requested this from me, always with the respect and esteem he owes your lordship, and I beg you to please burn this letter. 23. They removed Arabella from London, despite the fact that she was sick in bed. They say she died on the road, some distance from Highgate. I do not know if this is true, because no one dares to speak about her.152 To Don Pedro de Zúñiga, lord of the villa of Flores de Ávila, and his [……] May Our Lord keep him many years, etc.

(BAE 130; 329–332) To Father Joseph Creswell, S. I. London (Spitalfields), September 3, 1611 Carvajal’s letter to her Jesuit patron relates in great detail her living arrangements and the need she has for continued funding to maintain her household. Her comments about Calvin show an understanding of the controversial interpretations on the “harrowing of hell,” and of her knowledge of Protestant theology. She explains to Creswell how much Catholics and others are suffering due to the enforcement of the Oath of Allegiance, which was “offered” to non-Anglicans.

152. A reference to Arbella Stewart, who was imprisoned in the Tower by James I for marrying William Seymour. In 1611, she escaped but was captured aboard ship and died in 1615.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 287 Jhs. 1. I found out today that Lampe153 will leave tomorrow, and my strength is diminished, but not my desire to recount many things to your grace. For this, I very much need a companion who can write in Spanish. It has been almost one year and three months that I have been unable to give my illness an hour of rest and cure. Last May and June, I suffered a furious colic. The first five weeks all I said was “Oh!” barely eating and sleeping the minimum. It seemed almost impossible to live, and to my illness there were added other dangerous fainting spells. Because Dr. Foster thought that the air and smallness of that little house would end my life soon and do the same to the others, I decided to find one near one of the ambassadors, as all are Catholic, and it is impossible for me to go far to hear mass. We stayed in Spitalfields, a small plaza with a great pulpit from which the false bishop of London or Canterbury preaches in no small quantities. The Flanders ambassador’s house is on the plaza, where they are waiting for him, and so are the houses of two English Catholics, a Schismatic and the Venetian ambassador.154 Ours was on the end, toward the field, as it is the last London house in the neighborhood. It is full of light, with ample room, and its air much cleaner than that of other parts of London. I believe I am feeling better, but so broken by the fury of my last illness that I cannot yet recover, and may die this winter without falling ill again. The house is more than a mile from Don Alonso [de Velasco]. It seems Christ has compelled me, through my illnesses, to abandon the protection from Spain so I may be more dependent on his most holy providence and more exposed to suffering among the Catholics, since there is very little one can expect from other ambassadors for one’s poverty and troubles.

153. Juan Lampe. A mail courier. 154. The Flemish ambassador, Ferdinand de Boisschot. Antonio Foscarini, ambassador to France and to England, was accused of being a spy. On his return to Venice, he was elected senator. In 1622, he was jailed in Venice for selling secrets to foreign countries; he was strangled in prison and the following morning found hung between the two columns in the piazza San Marco. He was exonerated from the charge of treason a year later.

288 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 2. Until now I have been forced to keep both houses; I believe my friends will see that I cannot pay the 50 pounds that both cost me. Your grace told Don Alonso what Don Rodrigo [Calderón] gives us, and because of that, I believe, he has stopped the charity that he had begun to give us, except for the 300 reales from his Majesty. And it is truly difficult not to spend more, given the many joyful occasions that are offered me and that would comfort you should you know them. I do not spend much on them at a time, not even a real, without first thinking carefully, with the glory and pleasure of Our Lord. If we continue in this way, I am sure his divine providence will not fail us. 3. It would be a great kindness to us if you would remind the duchess155 of the favor she promised us two or three years ago, and I beseech you also of Doña Ana María’s 100 ducats, without much fanfare, for we owe the drugstore for my illness, and no less for the other house. Medicine is much more expensive here than there and a bloodletting costs 10 reales, 4 or 6 of these for the cuts in the vein that do not draw blood, but the medicine is of good quality. We also owe a physician, which bothers me, as I hate debts and would rather suffer than enter into them, but life and health are expensive. Our monthly allowance goes to pay for the house, only one of them, and the everyday expenses, on which we spend religiously, although the high prices are frightening, and they continue to rise without rhyme or reason. They sell what they want, without fixing prices; I do not know how the mayor and aldermen are dealing with bread, it is of little importance and help to the populace. All they seem to remember to do is to worry the Catholics and steal from them. 4. For other expenses, it is necessary to wait for alms from Spain. If they would give me what they write his Majesty has sent me, we would have more than enough. And do not be surprised, your grace, that we need so much, because this is like a community and a monastery, where, as in the early church, doors are never closed to the many pilgrims and servants of God who come. Sinners come for the good of 155. Most likely Vittoria Colonna, Duchess of Medina de Ríoseco; and Ana María de Vergara, her friend.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 289 their soul; if they are far from home, we never turn down offering something to eat and drink, which is expensive here. The wimples arrived in good shape. If at all possible, please send me with Lampe what I have requested and want very much: the books by Cayrasco on saints’ lives, in verse, divided in twelve months.156 People here who can understand the language appreciate them greatly. Your grace sent me only six months, and my lady Veb (Webb?) has them now. I received only today the book our grace sent me, so I have not been able to see it. My friends will see it, but whenever they see a book in Spanish, they say that it is silly and thoughtless to write those written for them in a language that is not English or even Latin, since what good is it if in Spanish? 5. I am sending the book about England’s religion, in which your grace will find the most monstrous lies you will ever see in your life. A Protestant gentleman gave me his, so I could see his precious religion, and I have folded every page that contains lies and contradictions, as there are many, so you may see them. It gives as an error of faith Calvin’s opinion on the descendit ad inferos, and in the margins, other authors of the same, leaving out Calvin, who is the first and principal author.157 I showed a Prostestant the horrendous blasphemies that Calvin writes in his book Institutions on this issue, as I did not have his On Saint Matthew, in which he states even greater blasphemies.158 He answered that he was deeply sorry that such a great man would have said such things, but he assured me that if Calvin were alive then, he would have changed his beliefs. And this is a mature man, with a college degree, who thinks himself a scholar. 156. Bartolomé Cayrasco de Figueroa, Tiempo militante, triumphos de virtudes, festiuidades y vidas de Santos (Valladolid, 1602). 157. John Calvin, “Descendit ad inferos” in Institutio Christianae Religionis Lib. II, c. 16 (1536). Carvajal makes reference here to Calvin’s belief that Christ suffered the pains of the damned in Hell. 158. I have not been able to locate this book; Matthew 12.40 compared Jonas being swallowed by a huge fish and Christ’s descent into hell for three days.

290 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 6. We have received Saint Mother Teresa’s Life, in English, very well translated.159 7. The Capuchin friar was released from the Tower; he left for France, thanks to a French nobleman who asked the king for his release. He told me he had been well treated by the Tower guard, who has also treated Father Baldwin and others with much courtesy. They say he will soon be exiled. 8. Newgate is replete with prisoners, and that is where they are most confined. Recently the recorder, who hates Catholics, has softened considerably and gives them license to leave this summer to wherever they want, the lay persons need only give their word for themselves or for another; the priests give their word to the jailer, or he relies on the word of some wealthy man, heretic or Catholic, that they will return for the night. They are much more free in the Clink, and all are out now because of the pestilence there. In the countryside, the Catholics and priests who are jailed suffer terribly in comparison to those in London. 9. The oath has been enforced more strictly in the past two months; it is offered to heretics and Catholics, and some Puritans have rejected it. I wanted to relate a fine story about a Protestant and many other things in this letter, but I barely have the strength to write the minimum that needs to be said, and not enough hands for all that can be said. 10. The searches that are taking place, and in the manner they are being done, is the equivalent of slavery; the persecution is insufferable. Many rich men, fearing the oath, have fled to Flanders, pretending to be in bad health and needing to take the famous waters;160 others go 159. Saint Teresa of Ávila’s Life was very likely translated by Michael Walpole (see Spinnenweber). 160. Carvajal refers here to the Belgian town of Spa, known since Roman times for its medicinal baths.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 291 from one place to another, abandoning their houses. Monteagudo has paid 26,000 ducats so he will not be offered the oath.161 11. Arabela [Arbella Stewart] remains in the Tower; so does her aunt Sherosbery [Shrewsberry] for her knowledge of her attempt to leave for the Netherlands, where Arbella’s husband is currently after his escape from the Tower as a laborer, carrying a small trunk on his back.162 Baron [de] Ros, grandson and heir to the Count, [Robert] Cecil’s older brother, has arrived and been given license to dress in the Spanish style, as he and all his house do in their clothes, coach, and food.163 Whenever he can, he defends Spain, praising it as much as possible, with great persuasion and reason. The prince [the future Charles I] loves him very much. I believe he has angered the English ladies, especially those at court, for saying that he will not marry anyone but a Spaniard, and that there is no comparing the Spanish to the English ladies. Recently, three Protestant ladies told me these things about him, and I responded that he had taken everything from Spain, save for its religion. They laughed and one replied playfully, “God knows I surc you, madame, that he is not without tast of it” [sic].164 It seems that with my illness, I have forgotten how to write in English; before it, I wrote better and now, I can hardly write this sentence. I speak reasonably well about anything; without a teacher ever, as I have never found anyone, indoors or out, who would want to tire themselves out teaching me even for one week. 12. They say that the ambassador from [the Duchy of] Savoy will arrive soon. The queen, according to some English sources, confessed during Holy Week with a clergyman who has not one pinch of good judgment; this 161. Very possibly Anthony-Maria Browne, 2nd Viscount Montagu, arrested in connection with the Gunpowder Plot and jailed for a year in the Tower. 162. In a previous letter, Carvajal was unsure of Arbella Stewart’s whereabouts. 163. William Cecil, 17 Baron de Ros (1590–1618), was Thomas Cecil, I Earl of Exeter’s grandson, and Robert Cecil’s grandnephew. 164. In English in the original.

292 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza happens with few people, and they say that he even gave her the Holy Sacrament afterwards, and that she goes to church as she used to, for I believe she stopped going only for some two weeks. 13. If I have a chance, I will write to my brother and my cousin, whose hands I kiss many times, in case I cannot in the future. Please send me news of the Countess of Castelar, as I know nothing about her and never receive a response to the letters I write her. 14. Please give my humble regards to the lady Doña Francisca Fajardo and Doña María de Gasca. I ask their and Father Espinosa’s prayers, and wish to know his health. If I can, I will write to him and to the lady Doña María Ponce.165 And with this, my lord, I end, and may this remain said now and forever, as I would like to write well of everyone and when I do not write anything, it is because I do not find anything worth saying that might please you or anyone. 15. The relic I am sending is flesh from the chest of the saintly father [John] Roberts, that I removed although it was not fresh. Please give some to Lord Ceráin from me, and I kiss the hands of Doña Ana María, his wife.166 May Our Lord keep your grace as are my wishes, amen. From London, September 3, 1611. 16. I hope that the good lady Doña Ana María de Vergara is reveling in God’s presence. To Father Joseph Creswell, Society of Jesus, may God keep, etc. I beseech your grace to ensure that these letters are not lost; it is not possible for me to write to more people today.

165. All noble friends of Carvajal’s in Spain. 166. John Roberts, a Benedictine friar, was martyred at Tyburn December 10, 1610. He was canonized in 1970 as one of the 40 Martyrs of England and Wales. The Jesuit’s accountant Juan de Ceráin is mentioned in the following letter. He had helped Carvajal with her lawsuit in Valladolid (Redworth 50).

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 293 (BAE 131; 332) To Father Joseph Creswell, S.I. London (Spitalfields), October 15, 1611 Carvajal repeats much of the information earlier written to Creswell, and continues giving news of the dire situation of the Catholics. Jhs. 1. Your grace will have already received some of my letters after my recovery. I recover very slowly, and writing makes me worse. Recently, by way of the Carmelites in Brussels, I sent a folio to Don Pedro [de Zúñiga] to take to you. Juan Lampe leaves today, and I am very grateful to the secretary who informed me. With your grace’s letters, I receive great favor and comfort. May our Lord repay your grace in the same way in which you favor me. 2. Because of my illness, and because the physicians thought I would die from the bad air of the little dwelling next to the ambassador’s, they have made me move to another in Spitalfields, an open plaza with a few houses at the end of the area. Our house is the last one, in the fields, with no other house next door. It abuts the orchard and part of the house of the Venetian ambassador. The Flemish ambassador and his wife, Magdalena de San Jerónimo’s niece, live next to him, which is some protection although it has seemed very little until now, but they act lovingly toward me.167 I am exposed to the labors and worries suffered by of the Catholics, and out of Spain’s protective shadow in everything possible. Our Lord must have wanted it, as it seems to have been his will that led me here. At least, it is very quiet for prayer, something entirely missing in my other house, which was so small that not even a corner was empty. I have kept it and we pay for both: I, for the most expensive, and my friends, for the other, as it is not to our benefit to sell it. 3. I am writing today to Don Pedro thanking him for the favor he has granted me. We have need of everything, believe me, your grace, and your help will also comfort and please you, since with the exception of 167. By this time, Magdalena had already severed communications with Carvajal and returned to Spain.

294 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza a very cheap dress made of serge, almost always tattered, and the food that I cannot live without, all else is spent on your grace’s nation and its people, not just any which way, but in the most careful way we can here, as it most pleases our Lord. 4. Some believe that it would be beneficial if another Spanish lady, that is, one with a lively spirit, came to aid me. Your grace should see if he can find one there, even if she is not a principal lady, but she should be very prudent. 5. I have distributed the letters sent by your grace and by Randal. As to the 100 ducats from Doña Ana María [de Vergara], she will be arriving soon, as she has not been in London for days. I am writing to the duchess with the love that I owe her; I have not dared to mention alms to her.168 Believe me, your grace, you are the only one with whom I am not embarrassed; with others, it is difficult for me. I may be able to break this habit when I write her another letter, as this is the first time in many months. Please tell her, your grace, that our house is like a convent. I am not alone, and am so challenged by the many occasions to give glory to God and much consolation to whoever will see me, that I would not go back, even if I were to starve there. And Our Lord must have approved this, as he has done so much to help us. I see that His Divine Majesty always uses as his instrument people who are charitable, and always with the king’s royal encouragement, and that of our lord Don Rodrigo [Calderón] who has behaved just as royally; may God repay him for being who he is. 6. Your grace is probably expecting to hear news about the Jesuits, yet my heart has begun to resent my hand’s movement, which they say is caused by the arteries. Father Baldwin is in the Tower. No one speaks about him, but everyone believes that he will be exiled in time. He is the only priest there. In Newgate, there are three; in the Clink, I believe there are six, besides those who did not take the oath. In Gatehouse, there are 168. Probably Vittoria Colonna, the Duke of Medina de Ríoseco’s widow.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 295 eleven, one is a physician named Bishop; and currently, in the Clink, one of the assistants, an old and serious man who was brought from the countryside recently. There are 42 in Newgate altogether, that is, lay persons and priests, and the majority have been condemned in a public trial to life imprisonment and loss of all their goods for rejecting the oath. The searches are constant, with their usual insolence. Oh, my lord, my ill health keeps me from telling your grace the hundred good things that happen with all this! And I have left out many, even when writing you long letters. I try to save the souls that I can from heresy, those in whom I do not sense any laxity, but a great thirst. 7. I am speaking English reasonably well, without a teacher, by putting my mind to it, without ever having been able to convince any of my companions to tire herself out by helping me. Since they more or less understand me, it is enough for them, and they do not want more, as they are servants of God. I would like their number to grow, which is not easy, for if they do not wish to marry, they want to leave England, even though they cannot be nuns. I believe that the devil strives hard to eliminate any intent here of perfection or of following the teachings of the New Testament, which women could do through public example, at least of poverty and chastity. 8. The book against the proclamation and the latest laws is very nice, but it is in Spanish, which here is worth little or nothing. I believe it would be much more useful in English to encourage and strengthen the Catholics. Your grace should know that they are not as fervent as they are thought to be there, and this is most inconvenient, because they themselves underestimate the book, saying that there is no truth in it, although it is in their favor. I have seen this, certainly, and heard them say on occasion, “Why do they write these lies in books?” If your grace sends me one of these books or to Mr. Rich, to Louvain, they might be published in English. 9. A morisco [Arab converted to Catholicism] arrived here who is called Miguel there or in his home and here, Ismael Muca. He comes as a Turk, saying he has been sent by the Great Turk to this king, so he will give license for some moriscos to come to this kingdom and have

296 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza them all well received. I saw him going to mass in the Venetian ambassador’s house, and had him brought to mine, as he spoke Spanish well. I wanted to press him on what he needs for salvation, thinking that he was a renegade and not a morisco. He said he left Spain eight years ago and went to Constantinople. I saw him so obstinate, since I did not know he was a morisco. I told him that this king did not love Arabs and not to tire himself out with his demand. 10. Another, Greek, in Greek Orthodox clothing, has been here eight or nine months, as he himself admits, while others say for more than a year and a half. He says he is archbishop of Alexandria, and that he had been forced to pay the Turk [the Ottoman empire] a great sum of money so they may be allowed to live as Christians. He came from Rome, where he saw the Pope, to whom the others and he (much more than the rest) give obeisance.169 He never attempts to say mass. The other day, at the Venetian ambassador’s chapel, he confirmed some poor, dimwitted people, who believed him, and one of the confirmed also told me that he consecrated his forehead and the palms of both his hands with holy oil. I marvel that they have allowed him to stay here so many months, if it is true that he is a bishop of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, and that he comes here to ask for alms so publicly. Some say he asks for alms daily at Saint Paul’s, hanging some very long sheets of paper on the walls for this purpose, and that he speaks freely about the Pope with the ministers. I don’t know if this is true. The lord Don Alonso gave him alms and a passport ordering that he be treated well by whomever he meets, and I did not know this until now. He is leaving for Spain and has asked me for letters to my friends in Portugal, as he says he will go there first. I told him that I knew no one there. Fortunately, he is a good man, or not so bad a man, but just in case, your grace, I suggest that it would be a good idea to keep track of this man there, if only for his own soul, because if he is a traitor or spy, it will do him good to be caught and punished, if possible. 11. Please tell me about Father Gaspar de Pedrosa and Father Hernando de Espinosa, as a letter of mine to the former was returned, sealed, as if he were not alive; and from the latter, I have not received 169. Camilo Borghese was anointed Pope Paul V (1605–1621).

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 297 an answer to any of those I wrote him several months ago. Your grace can tell me if they are in good health, and give my best wishes to the accountant, Juan de Serayn [Ceráin], and to his wife and his mother. 12. I am sending with this letter some pieces of the flesh of the saintly Father John Roberts, that I removed from his own body, and they make very good relics. 13. There is much being said about the marriage exchanges between France and Spain; and that the king and the prince are upset to have been persuaded that the prince could marry the Infanta, although he is not a Catholic. If Lampe wishes, please have him bring any of the books that I have asked him for. And may your grace entrust to God the souls of the heretics that I deal with, especially five or six, as I very much wish their salvation. It seems that I have left out a thousand things from this letter to your grace so as not to make it any longer: I have written it today in fits and starts, and have rested during other periods. Send me news, your grace, of my cousin Doña Luisa, and of her daughter, as it has been a long time since I have news of them, and she does not respond to the letters I have written her.170 May Our Lord keep your grace as I wish. Amen. From London, 15 October, 1611.

(BAE 135; 338–342) To: Father Joseph Creswell, S. J. London, February 16, 1612 Carvajal’s next letter to Creswell, after several months, dwells on the treatment of the Catholics by the English pursuivants. Its literary style clearly demonstrates Carvajal’s great facility in writing and the care she takes in narrating the encounters between Catholics and “heretics.”Her 170. The Marquis of Almazán’s eldest daughter.

298 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza letters to Creswell, full of news of highly ranked Londoners, reveal her depth of knowledge about the political turmoil in the city. Jhs. 1.I do not know if the news has reached you of how Baron Vaux’s mother171 was captured in her house before dawn, by men climbing her garden wall and forcing the doors with iron claws and wood planks. They took all the adornments from her chapel, arranged for All Saints’ Day [November 1], including some diamond settings. In all, she lost 1,000 pounds or more. This search was carried out under special orders given here. They say that for this feat, the man in charge has been made a knight of the Justice of the Peace. One of the lady’s servants, a gentleman, could not resist the attackers’ insolence and lack of courtesy; he took out his sword and injured the Justice’s son. Showing much charity and devotion, the good lady herself began to cure him with medications that are kept in houses here. I say that even among this imprisonment one could find a Malach.172 They brought her to the Fleet, the public jail in London, where she suffered discharges. Pretending to do her a great favor, they allowed her to rent a better house on Fleet Street, where she remains imprisoned, paying both the prison and the house with their guards, as if she lived in both, and they are very expensive: this is how Catholics are tormented here. 2. Two priests were jailed in Gatehouse, where they remain under strict watch, without being able to see, speak, or receive anything from anyone. They tell me that they are now able to be in the same room, and that there has been a move to allow them to say mass, which they will do before dawn, because the jailer is a terrible beast. 3. Lady Vaux says that the heretics’ fury against her was such that during the search, they destroyed the house, walls, floors, and roofs, as they usually do. But the worst was that they went to her garden and 171. The mother of Edward Vaux, IV Baron Vaux of Harrowden, was Elizabeth Roper; the families were noted Catholic recusants, and Elizabeth often hid Jesuits in her estate. For information on her daughter Anne Vaux, see Carvajal’s letter 58. 172. “Malco” in the original; means “angel” in Hebrew.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 299 orchard and pulled up all the plants, trees, and fruit trees by the roots, and threw them in the fields. All the unusual gazebos and coverings that she had built for her recreation and enjoyment were torn down to the ground. 4. If only your grace could see what takes place at these searches, even the small ones! I do not believe that the disciplines that the Discalced Carmelite superiors impose on their order can compare to those brought on by the most insolent pursuivants and obstinate justices. They have offered Lady Vaux the oath, and she responded that she did not understand what it meant. 5. Her son, the Baron, arrived from Flanders on this occasion, and on going to see the Treasurer [Robert Cecil], he was asked when he had visited the king’s agent in Brussels, and the Treasurer, knowing that he had done so shortly before his departure, said: “You took advantage of the first and best time to see the seminarians.” The young man responded “In truth, milord, I have good reason for telling you that I did not go earlier to the agent’s house. I arrived there with so little money and clothes, that I could not leave my rooms without dishonoring myself.” The Treasurer said, “Your mother cannot help but be at fault, since she was not happy to have one of those old priests from Queen Mary [Tudor], but had to have two of those bloody Jesuits.” The youth replied “My mother, sir, has been an ancient and great Catholic, and this is so well known in all the realm, that you or anyone else could not have doubted that she would truly love and embrace all that is loved and esteemed by her religion. And as to what you say of those two persons, I believe that when you treat and examine the two taken from my mother’s house, you will find them to be most honorable (as it is said here), faithful, and of reat virtue.” At this, they said goodbye, and the Treasurer stated, “You are very young, take care of yourself.” He was recently called to the Council, where he was offered the oath. He responded that he did not believe that the king or the Council doubted his loyalty, but that the oath had confusing statements that did not reassure his conscience, and therefore he did not dare take it. Showing some compassion toward him, they responded that he was very young and they wanted to give him time to think about it.

300 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza Afterward, the Treasurer told him that he could be certain that if he did not take the oath, he would lose all his possessions. They have given him five weeks, and he is trying to find a way to exempt and free himself of this great pressure through his friends and with money, to remain as he is, without being pressured any more. 6. Mr. Jorge Gage,173 having escaped Christmas night from the hands of the pursuivants when he was leaving our ambassador’s house, again was accosted by them at an “ordinary,” which is a place where friends or persons without dining services (no matter how noble they may be) gather to eat. Although he asked them to take his word and allow him to attend an important meeting, they refused; one of them began to speak insolently, so he placed his hand on his sword. On hearing the commotion, three or four friends came down, along with the house’s second official (after the owner). One of the pursuivants stabbed him through with his sword, thinking he would attack him. He sent his soul to hell, since he died a Protestant, without the poor man unsheathing his sword or having it in hand. One of Gage’s friends, a captain and Schismatic, if he follows any religion—and he neither does nor should—fearless and courageous, laid a thousand kicks on the pursuivants and their servants, stabbing several without killing them, and taking a sword from one, broke it into pieces, and hitting him relentlessly, made him flee. He was certainly smart to do so. If this happened more often, these insolent and notorious pursuivants, sent by the false bishops, would temper their behavior occasionally. But the poor Catholics are not allowed to show the slightest anger, for then they use it against them to destroy them even more, saying that Catholics do not suffer because of their religion. If only the heretics say this, one can understand, but when foreign Catholics say it, it assaults their conscience and gives great pleasure to the heretics, increasing the suffering of the English servants of God when they hear it. The pursuivant walks free, and I am told so does the captain; since he is not Catholic, he is not charged. Everything has fallen on Gage,

173. George Gage was an English Catholic agent who would later be ordained by Cardinal Bellarmine in Rome. James I sent him to Rome in 1621 to solicit the papal dispensation for the marriage of the Infanta to Prince Charles.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 301 who had to flee England. Sir William Percy174 had to go into hiding, and they have searched for him everywhere. Since then, the pursuivants have been more quiet than usual; they must have received a little scare, which will soon pass. 7. On this occasion, [the Bishop of] Canterbury went to the king to lament loudly, and they say he cried in front of him, saying that the Catholics were fast increasing in number, determination, and freedom. I do not know how much more they can be accosted and pursued, they are in constant fear and anxiety. No one pounds at their door without their heart pounding, and even more so if they are harboring priests. Innumerable souls respond when they hear about our religion, believing it the best, but how can they suffer this kind of life, with no rest or peace in bed or at the table, inside or outside their homes? They love themselves too much, and so strong is the antagonism, that they first resolve to risk their salvation or destroy it completely, than suffer the kind of life Catholics lead. Clearly, only God can give them the patience they display and at every step one sees what the New Testament says: “As lambs among wolves” (Luke 10.3). 8. Newgate jail is completely filled with Catholics who have refused the oath; there are 18 priests and two altars each morning. Lay people who give their word can leave to take care of their business and return; and thanks to God’s providence, they have a moment of respite. The priests are in worse condition than before. They are seldom given permission for friends to visit them; if they allow it one week, they prohibit it the next or the following. I have been told that the Council called the jailer—either the private one or the one who is paid commission—to scold him for allowing Catholics to visit them. There are also many priests at the Clink, besides those who have taken the oath: at Gatehouse Prison, Doctor Bishop and Mister Vuar,175 the latter has been several days in the dungeon. They tell me that because years ago, he escaped from jail, the jailer now refuses to lock him in any other space. 174. Poet and playwright, son of Sir Henry Percy, 8th Earl of Northumberland. 175. These names have not been identified.

302 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 9. The ambassador from Savoy asked for priests; he was promised 6, and left someone in charge of their leaving the country. He had a difficult time in releasing Bishop, but they say it has all been arranged now. It is thought that Sir Sherle [Robert Shirley] will ask for some and that they will give them to him. I do not believe this so readily, since they say he goes to the heretics’ churches, and the son that was born to him was baptized there, with the Prince [of Wales] the godfather. The Persian lady has a fine reputation of being a good Catholic, and she has never wanted to go to any of their churches.176 They say that the queen has become withdrawn and often has bouts of fear; when ministers visit her with their daily supplications, she says that she pays no attention to what goes on. 10. The Savoy [ambassador] was given a good present of silver. They say that Milord Waton [Wotton] will go to Savoy as ambassador. Here there is one from the Palatinate asking for Milady Isabel’s [Elizabeth’s] hand in marriage. There is much talk that she will not marry the Duke of Savoy, and God would spare him much if this is so.177 She took her communion this Christmas in her church; she shows herself to be a great Protestant. Her brother, some say, is inclined to marry in Spain, and would be satisfied to wait for the second daughter.178 11.The French marriages have caused much sorrow; as is said in a letter that fell into my hands from a heretic to another, there could not be any worse news.179 The Huguenots will be destroyed in France, 176. Sir Robert Shirley, traveler and diplomat, lived in Persia and married Teresia, a Circassian lady. They lived in Spain and in England from 1609 to 1613. 177. Sir Henry Wotton had been ambassador to Venice; he was twice ambassador to the Duchy of Savoy. Frederick V, Elector Palatine, married Elizabeth Stuart, James I’s daughter in 1613. The Duke of Savoy was the widower of the Infanta Catalina Micaela, Philip II’s daughter. A Catholic who often sided with the French and English, the duke was disliked by Carvajal. 178. Although referring to Henry, Prince of Wales, his brother, Prince Charles, would later attempt a Spanish match with Philip III’s second daughter, Maria Ana. 179. Philip III’s daughter Ana married Louis XIII; his sister, Isabel of Borbón married the future Philip IV, sealing the peace between France and Spain.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 303 and then the Catholics will take over England. This surely shows the need to prevent such damage, by seeing how the peace with Holland may be broken, authorizing Maurice to gather more strength than before; procuring that the Huguenots rebel against the boy king and his mother; and in Italy, against the King of Spain, for which they have the Duke of Savoy as a means and James I’s daughter should marry him; and they assure that neither he nor her father will stop her from remaining a Protestant against the prince’s wishes.180 It is said among their friends that there is an attempt to have the king and the Catholics reach an agreement by having them contribute 200,000 ducats yearly, which amounts to 50,000 pounds rent in perpetuity, so that they will be entirely free from fines for not attending the [Anglican] churches, and will not be forced to submit to the oath. But if the searches are not stopped, which is the worst part, Catholics will remain harshly enslaved. They say that if the compromise works out, there could be orders to relieve the tensions. But as I see it, your grace, comfort and hope for Catholics resemble an eagle soaring out of reach, while their tribulations are like birds in the hand, or better said, an albatross around their neck, intolerable. 12. The king is borrowing from everyone, Catholics and heretics, asking for payments in nine months. The tailor, Mr. Griffin, has given 10 pounds; this is how the distribution of the loans are being carried out. 13.A Spanish Franciscan friar from León has arrived from the island of Trinidad; they say he held an important office in his convent and was about to be named its superior. 14. Poor [George] Blackwell died in the Clink last Saturday, although he seemed happy and in good health.181 That day, he walked about the orchard a long while until nightfall. Thinking he had caught cold, and seated in his room, he called out in anguish to several people; by 9:00 180. The letter expresses the desire to have the fiercely anti-Spanish Dutch general, Maurice of Nassau, break the current peace with Spain, which would allow the Huguenots to rebel against Louis XIII and regent Marie de Medici. 181. George Blackwell, the Roman Catholic Archpriest of England (1597–1608), believed that Catholics could take the oath licitly, denying that it contradicted the Pope’s supremacy.

304 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza pm, he was already dead. Some say that he did not confess; others, that he did, but with his usual confessor, Mr. Charnoc (I believe your grace knows this name better than I do). What an evil man he was with regard to the oath! Of course, he was not offended by his own sin; I still do not understand it. Here, there is always news, especially about important people, that is not true, and it is necessary to examine and take special care of what is said, unless one wishes to follow in the liar’s footsteps. 15. They say that the priest Coliars [Colliers?] has turned heretic, but I am not so sure of this as I am of Shelden, and rumors are being spread throughout the city very publically that Mr. Juan Copply [John Copley] son of Lord Copply [Copely], who was in France, has become a Protestant, and wants to be a minister, and has already taken a wife. He was in Newgate over four years ago, where I saw him frequently, and he was released because he had been born in Flanders and not in England, and left for that country.182 [This letter is not signed.]

(BAE 138; 345–347) To Don Rodrigo Calderón London, June 21, 1612 During Carvajal’s last two years of life, her correspondence with Rodrigo Calderón, the Duke of Lerma’s favorite, increased considerably. From February 1612 to November, 1613, twenty-three letters are extant, approximately one per month. This was also the period when his power at court had begun to decline. Luisa de Carvajal served not only as his spiritual advisor, but as his political confidante. In return, she does not fail to ask for his charity or to put in a good word with the king. The letter also reveals Carvajal’s continuing interest in international affairs, siding as she does always, with Spanish interests. In dramatic terms, she also relates to him the way in which she obtained the relics that she sent him, in an obvious attempt to curry favor with 182. John Copley was a Catholic priest who left the priesthood in 1611. His father, Sir Thomas Copley, was one of the leading English exiles during Elizabeth I’s reign.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 305 Calderón. She will again recount her experiences in disinterring the martyred priests even more dramatically in letters to other correspondents in October of that year. Jhs. 1. May your lordship be welcomed to that land:183 I cannot but be joyful that you are so close to this one, and I harbor the hope of seeing your lordship. How lonely my cousin must be! May Our Lord return your lordship to your house as well as I beg of him. Amen. Your lordship knows how to oblige people to love you so easily. I trust that your lordship will truly deploy this talent in God, until you gather the benefits of your reduced position, for your state is capable of this. 2. My lord, we hold fresh memories of two glorious martyrs who suffered faithfully last Saturday. One, a lay priest named Niuport [Newport?], and the other, Friar Mauro de Sahagún, a Benedictine monk who spent seven years in Spain. He came from there to England less than two years ago, was imprisoned for many months, and exiled with the ambassador from Savoy. Shortly after his return, he was again jailed and sent to Heaven, so I have new relics to add to your lordship’s reliquary. 3. They have condemned the young Lord Vaux to the loss of all his possessions and life in jail, and he has been locked up with unusual rigor in a very bad one, here in London, where there is pestilence. He has given a great example, by not giving in to the sacrilegious orders and mandates. His mother has received the same sentence. They treat those condemned for their faith extremely cruelly, and it seems that their outrageous cruelty and madness is meant to avenge their pain and resentment over the marriages of our princes, which I ask that God make very happy. 183. Calderón had been sent to Flanders to announce the marriages of the Infanta Ana with Louis XIII and Prince Philip with Isabel of Borbón. He had been named ambassador to Vienna before, and received the title of lord.

306 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 4. From what I have heard from serious persons, they think that the lord Don Pedro de Zúñiga has come to ask, on the part of the king our lord [Philip III], the hand of this princess, Isabel Gras or Gracia in Spanish [Elizabeth Grace]. They wish it to be true so that the offer can be rejected and they will have a good laugh at the affront, in revenge for what they say his Majesty has done by not giving his oldest daughter [the Infanta Ana] to the Prince [of Wales]. From this, your lordship can see their pride and madness.184 My response is that I know for certain that such a proposal has not approached the heart of our good king and lord, not even at a distance of 1,000 leagues, nor has even the thought of marrying Isabel Gracia, who seems to have no graces: she is a known heretic, badly spoiled, flighty, and a bad influence. They confirm that her face is becoming coarse and less attractive, although she is not even twenty years old. A serious Catholic lady, one who is close to these kings, told me about a month and a half ago that, undoubtedly, they wanted this marriage, and that those who could do so should begin talks with our king, stating that she would become a Catholic for this purpose. One cannot imagine, my lord, this England and these people. From their comments, I would not know they were talking about Spain if they did not mention its name; I would think they were speaking of mountains where monkeys or savages live. When they begin to speak about Spain or about the Pope and the Catholic faith, they are as if in a strange dream. I tell them that they will first have to convince me that noon is midnight, or that I have not been born. Since about two years ago, they have exchanged their feelings toward Don Pedro [de Zúñiga] from benevolence to anger and hatred, believing those who have told them that he has demonstrated bad faith toward them and said gravely dishonorable things in Spain against the king and queen. Some Council members have shown that they cannot stand having 184. Phillip III became a widower in 1611 on the death of Margaret of Austria. Although Carvajal vehemently denies it, Zúñiga returned to Spain as ambassador extraordinary, apparently to arrange for a marriage between Philip III and James I’s daughter, should the king agree. James, however, had already accepted the Elector Palatine for Elizabeth Grace. See Samuel R. Gardiner, History of England: From the Accession of James I to the Outbreak of the Civil War, 1603–1642, vol. II (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1899), 151–52.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 307 him in their presence, and therefore it is feared that they may poison his food or drink, as there is great skill here for this. 5. [Robert] Cecil has died; he is one of those who, it is said, greatly lamented what Don Pedro was supposed to have said, and a man of great ability in anything he wished to accomplish. 6. It seems, my lord, that I should give your lordship an account of all these events. I do not tell your lordship others, because Juan Lampe is late in departing, and I am grateful that he has come for these letters. 7. Many works in which you have invested your funds, without doubt acceptable to God, are written in the account that your lordship will give to him. One of these has been what it has cost you to prepare and conserve the holy bodies of the two martyrs, which has amounted to almost 500 reales, including the lead boxes in which they are enclosed. They were disinterred on the third night, after having been hanged, quartered, and buried the depth of one man with two thieves on top like beasts, under a great quantity of earth. It gave much work, because the hole was very wide and the earth had to be removed in its entirety. I managed to have two men whom I knew do the work, and our servant took them to where they were buried, because there were other holes with thieves, and they had only about four hours in which to do it, without being seen, as there are usually guards and sentinels on duty. I and my companions stayed up praying for their success, full of fear, seeing that it was already 4:00 am and they did not come. The place is in the fields outside London, 4 miles from our house. About 5:00 am, our servant arrived to ask for a coach in which to bring the holy relics, that had been left a mile away from the hole, and 2 miles by horse from where they left them among bushes and grass. I sent the coach and they brought the bodies. I and my companions received them in the first room from the door, in procession with a cross and lighted candles and many branches and flowers that we had scattered on the path to the chapel, which we call oratory, where there were many lights and flowers. They stayed there that day, as we were interrupted by the visits of numerous heretic friends who came to see me because I was ill.

308 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza That night, we washed the mud off, as the bodies were caked in it, and we prepared them during the next day or more. I spent those four days completely exhausted, with my bad health and this work, accompanied by others and careful that no one know about our activity and come to the house to search for the holy bodies, where we would have a difficult time saving them from their evil hands. Nothing has yet been discovered, thank God. Some Catholics have let me know that they will try to obtain some of these relics for me, as they can go and disinter them. I am grateful but do not dare tell them where they are, to keep the secret. Father Mauro [de Sahagún] was cut and his chest opened while alive. I have the clothes that he wore to the gallows. I have many anecdotes about this case which I will not recount so the letter does not become too long, as it will not be the last one your lordship will receive from me. I beg your lordship that you burn it after reading it. That city [Brussels] is full of spies who pass as Catholics. Last night, at 11:00 pm, in Don Alonso’s coach, I took the holy bodies with two of my companions and brought them where they would be more safe, in such secrecy that no one from the house heard but the porter and the coachman, both English, very loyal, reserved friends of mine. 8. The task of wrapping the bodies in linens and burying them cannot be done in Spain, nor other great tasks such as this one. How, my lord, did I ever deserve to take on these tasks! May Our Lord be glorified forever and may he keep your lordship as I wish, and fill your lordship with his divine love and grace. Amen. From London, June 21, 1612. 9. I would be so pleased if my brother has been serving your lordship with much care, as he wished.185 As it is past 1:00 am, I cannot read what I have written. May your lordship forgive my faults, and as your lordship already recognizes my handwriting, there is no need for me to sign, as they do so much here. L. 185. Her brother Don Alonso de Carvajal had accompanied Calderón to Brussels.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 309 (BAE 142; 351–353) To Don Rodrigo Calderón London, July 1612 [no date is given] In this letter, Carvajal diplomatically but firmly rejects Calderón’s offer inviting her to enter the convent he has purchased in Valladolid. She offers instead her services as a relic when she is deceased. She communicates to him the recommendations that anonymous persons had made to Calderón that he reinstate himself in the Duke of Lerma’s good graces. Jhs. 1. Proscribed by reasons of state, we remain without seeing each other, your lordship and I; your lordship, for reasons of this world, and I, for those of Heaven. In this, I have the advantage, as I also believe I have in wishing to see your lordship, for you are more deserving. I assure your lordship that I am not allowed to even imagine the other side of the sea, and if my thought attempts it, it is harshly restrained and sent back. Nothing less, I believe, would hold me back. It must be for my benefit for Our Lord to bring your lordship so near and then depart, without my having seen you, so I can offer him this as well, along with the cross of my perseverance in England, that I embrace so tightly. It appears always so great that it reaches from the ground to the heavens. And until now, my lord, I am so certain of God’s will, by the clearest and surest rules that the holy Catholic church gives us, that I do not dare to look for reasons to leave, I promise your lordship, so as not to damage my lowly being and self-esteem, who loves this life too much to exchange it for one in Spain. 2. As to the offer you propose to me of your house and convent of Porta-Celi [Portacoeli],186 may God repay your lordship with the most abundant blessings that may descend on us both. Whenever Our Lord wishes me to leave England, it will be a great comfort and joy to go to Portaceli and serve its [nuns] with such desire and zeal so that it becomes the holiest and most solemn [convent] in the world. I hope that your lordship will strive toward this, with the 186. Calderón’s palatial residence, known as the “house of latches” [casa de las aldabas] was next door to the convent of Portacoeli in Valladolid. Since Enrique IV was born in the palace in 1425, the purchase corroborated Calderón’s social climb.

310 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza virtue and understanding that Our Lord has given your lordship, and it will be most rewarding to know how well it turns out. 3. If I die a martyr and the parts of my body are gathered, your lordship may place it where it will be well received, giving some part to the English Novitiate of the Company of Jesus in Louvain. It was founded by the poor rent that I left them, and it is the first ever in that nation. If I do not die a martyr, then I do not deserve to be buried; I have received infinite and most extraordinary mercies from God, being the most miserable person one can imagine, and I do not give signs of improvement so as to worry about my burial. 4. If the person who loves your lordship remains constant, as he has shown you,187 it would be best for your lordship to go to Germany, where your experience and person are most qualified. What can be more just for this purpose than to wish and give your lordship financial support? The great cost of your journey is obvious. It should be entrusted to God, along with whatever else your lordship mandates. 5. I hold in great esteem the great friendship and love that your lordship shows me in wanting me to know the state of your affairs. It reveals great piety and a noble heart, which may be in payment for the favor you give me. I also wish your lordship immense happiness in eternal life, and I accept the added obligation of serving you with my poor prayers and those of my holy friends. As to whether your lordship should return to your post, this is (as you say) the most important business your lordship faces. Your lordship must commend yourself to Our Lord, as you have done this these days and should continue to do. It has been beneficial to your body and soul to have left the court in the way you have done, thanks be to God. For your lordship to stay at home, peaceful and free from the rivalries and tricks of your enemies and adversaries, seems the best thing possible for you, unless there is more glory for God in your returning to 187. Carvajal refers here to the Duke of Lerma.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 311 court: consider this well, your lordship, I beg of you. If God’s glory makes you return, do not fear, for God will save you from everything. Fear God and embrace his divine grace and friendship, so those who wish you harm will be confused. Besides myself, who knows you well, other creditable persons affirm that they know of no one who can fill your lordship’s absence and satisfy the obligations of your post and service as loyally and virtuously as you have done. And there is no doubt that this is of great importance for the public good and God’s glory. Most people reason that it makes sense to flee from those posts; however, since someone must occupy them, it is infinitely better to have them filled by those of known and experienced virtue, honesty, and good conscience. The people who have entrusted this matter to Our Lord believe that your lordship should return to your post with little difficulty if the king our lord or the duke offers it. All your lordship needs is to express your thanks to the duke; be happy for this turn, as it is so just, but your acceptance and whatever your lordship resolves in rectifying your intention, should be for no cause lower than the love of God, and for his pleasure and glory. His divine Majesty is a great friend to those who are thankful. Your lordship knows that nothing is worthwhile if not for this purpose; without it, all is lost, no matter how good or just the cause. It is great wisdom to act accordingly in all things. If your lordship returns to court, it will be necessary to have no less caution and vigilance than what you know your adversaries will have toward you, as they are sure to oppose you. 6. May God keep my cousin and lady; I give thanks to the news of her recovery.188 Sons are usually more difficult to care for than daughters, who exude nobility, and if Our Lord takes good care of their father, they will not lack for money, and I believe that your lordship will not stand in the way of any who wish to profess as a spouse of Christ. 188. A reference to Inés de Vargas, Calderón’s wife and Carvajal’s cousin, and her son with Rodrigo Calderón, who had fallen ill with his mother.

312 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza My cousin, I believe, owes her husband the most in the entire world. Everyone knows your kind treatment toward her mother, knowing as we all do how much we owe your lordship. Your lordship has given us many and abundant alms. If the king our lord is willing to increase somewhat the alms he gives us each month, ensuring its transmittal, it would be a great relief to our house, as there is little relief in this beast-infested jungle, and your lordship would do us no little charity by beseeching it to his Majesty and the duke.189 Your lordship’s debts are great, but I know that you dispose and arrange everything with such great order and prudence, that you will not suffer from the harm and charges that have befallen others. There are so many necessary works that must be carried out for our present honor and consolation there, that as I wrote in another letter, it terrifies me to see you taking so much care of those here. For what cause, if not for charity? Your lordship will see what he can do for God here, without failing to do what he wants done there. I offer to do in your lordship’s name a great part of the works that I know are of such importance in his divine eyes: and there are many! 7. I will do what your lordship orders me, to go and gather beautiful relics. I have a full box of them here. They cannot be sent until the flesh and everything have been preserved; it takes many days after their death. They say they should not be moved nor let the air touch them so they will be preserved past the time of decomposition. 8. When there are more martyrs, I would be very pleased to take them from the hands of the heretics and preserve their bodies. His excellency the duke might wish to take part in this. When I ask friends, removing the bodies does not cost, since I give them some of the same relics. Preserving the bodies costs 500 to 600 reales, in all. 9. As I write this I have been given your lordship’s letter of July 9, after your return from Cologne. I thank God that he has encouraged your devotion to the relics of his saints, so precious to him.

189. It will not be until the following year that Philip III increases Carvajal’s subsidy.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 313 10. I have received the original and duplicate from your lordship, for which I kiss your lordship’s hands many times. Everything is being written down in the accounts of eternal events: I am but the poorest of pilgrims. 11. The marquis is well, it is very strange to see him here again.190 I wish to see him leave this evil land, even if I lose the comfort of his presence. I was more sorry than I thought to see my brother leave. I never finish dying to myself.191 I commend him to your lordship, whom I wish Our Lord will keep as I beseech him. And may he help your lordship in everything. From London, July, 1612 [date illegible] 12. My brother is bringing a reliquary to your lordship while the others are sent. I will send the chronicle of both of the last martyrs, which is very good. I do not have time to read what I have written; please forgive the errors that your lordship may find.

(BAE 150; 365–367) To Don Rodrigo Calderón London, September 22, 1612 Carvajal offers political advice to Calderón, urging him not to leave Spain but to stay close to court. She explains the continued stay in London of Pedro de Zúñiga, now given the title Marquis of Flores Dávila and her accommodations by changing residence so he will not be pursued. Jhs. 1. The letters I have from your lordship are dated from the 6th to the 10th of September, with no few things that are pleasing to me, and great contentment that you respond “yes” to what I wrote your 190. Pedro de Zúñiga had been given the title of Marquis of Flores Dávila; he returned to England as ambassador extraordinary. See letter 138, note 183. 191. Carvajal’s assessment of her spiritual condition recalls Saint Teresa’s famous lines, “I live without living in me / and so strongly do I hope / that I die for not dying.”

314 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza lordship in mine. What a good thought to have, my lord, that God esteems us while we conform to his will, since we cannot impede it in any way! This happens to you for being infinitely good, as it does to other infinite thousands of wills full of sweetness and piety, with whom I am sure I will see your lordship forever in heaven, and I will console myself for not seeing you again in this life. May God carry out his most holy will through your lordship and your concerns, increasing in you the light of what matters, which is the treasure of heaven and earth. 2. The aggravations of your lordship’s arrival here, since it has not been made entirely public nor secret, do not seem to me considerable, although I have taken them into consideration. It was clear that your lordship was assured of the duke’s consent, and as it now seems so to their Highnesses, it is my opinion that we have even more to offer Our Lord. Your lordship has not lost anything by wishing to take on so much work; instead, you have gained, as it is based on the love of God. Because it is pious and discreet, it may appear good to everyone, but since those who are lukewarm know nothing of zeal, and your lordship has, as they say, enemies so violent and quick to harm you, it is fine to excuse whatever it is thought they may use against your lordship. 3. The marquis [de Flores Dávila] has not shown himself to be as opposed as I interpreted from your letters; rather, in speaking with him in order to respond to your lordship, and telling him that your lordship would have the best security and that everything else was unimportant, he begged me to write these things to your lordship, so as to enable your arrival. 4. It is good for your lordship to hurry back to Spain; I am very disinclined to your serving outside the country, and I believe it is not bad reasoning to think that your enemies will supplant your lordship and will seek your ruin if you are out of Spain, and they will have a greater advantage over your lordship if you learn about it late, as you will prevent it with more difficulty.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 315 If your lordship is offered the governorship of Navarra or Valencia, without affronting my cousin, but bring him to court or satisfy him with a similar offer, this would please me very much, for these are honorable and peaceful sites, where one saves and does a thousand services to God, which is the most important.192 5. The marquis and I have discussed frequently what would be better for your lordship, and we both agree that it is to not leave Spain, but to offer yourself to the duke wholeheartedly, if he wishes, and to entertain his excellency and look after his life and health, with the love that your lordship surely has for him, attending to any other business but this one. One might say that people will also complain there that your lordship cheats and deceives the duke, offending you both highly. I do not know what inroads those working against you have made in the king’s heart, nor their hatred and malice, and therefore, I cannot judge. Many times Our Lord plans events that have unexpected outcomes that are based on human prudence. 6. In Navarra or Valencia, your lordship will not be very far from the duke. The Indies would be rather frightening, what with a young and delicate wife and children so small, given that there would be no need to go so far, as I have noted here. You have seen, your lordship, that the Flanders post is not much coveted, and it is also far. Rome is a great post, and if one must leave, it is the best. I do not know what they spend there or how much they are paid. In summary, your lordship is sitting on a mountain of fears and difficulties, vulnerable to storms and the capsizing of worldly goods, wherever your lordship serves. But even if the swells of your lordship’s enemies prevail, God is above all this. In order to comfort your lordship somewhat, I will relate what a good servant of God said and swore to me, and to whom I ask always to commend your lordship to 192. Carvajal refers to the Marquis of Caracena, Vicerroy of Navarra, and married to her cousin, the daughter of the Marquis of Almazán. She suggests that he be given another post if Calderón replaces him.

316 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza God. When he does so, and presents your lordship to our sovereign Majesty, it seems that he treats your lordship benignly. 7. What your lordship did in Antwerp193 was edifying and a great example, since the ambassadors always find occasion not to notice their lack of funds, but to spend much with lords and kings who have neither given them life along their journey, nor created gold in Potosí, nor expect to gain eternal life from them. They should instead find occasion to spend their monies with God, on charities and provisions of their choice. 8. I have not forgotten all the items about which I need to answer your lordship; I will write them in other letters, and believe me, I am truly extremely grateful, and grateful to the one who deserves your lordship’s gratitude.194 9. I will write to my cousin, although not by means of your lordship, that I am most pleased with the recovery and health of her son. 10. The marquis is here, like a lion in his lair, showing courage, without moving or speaking. He needs great courage to suffer the mistreatment he receives, without having turned his back on them from the first day, and he refrains from leaving only because of his respect and obedience to the king our lord. I wish that they [in Spain] could see what has happened: every day is worse than before. Let us see if the great counselors of state then tell me that we are undergoing a peace. 11. I have moved to the little house where I used to stay for a very few days so that the marquis will not go to mine, where my brother visited me. The ambassador from Flanders lives nearby, where the marquis would also visit. And since they are always together [Zúñiga and the ambassador], a thousand jealousies have given rise to rumors that the marquis is plotting and they must think that he does so in the ambassador Hernando Boscot’s [Ferdinand de Boisschot] house. The 193. According to González and Abad, Calderón paid from his own pocket all the debts of those in prison for debt. 194. An implied reference to the Duke of Lerma.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 317 neighborhood is full of spies and guards and other scoundrels, and by abandoning the neighborhood, the crowds have gone and no one is to be seen. I leave for two or four days, so they do not think I have fled or have noticed that they are there. I accompany the young ladies that guard the house [in Spitalfields] and return for the same number of days to the house in Barbican, next to the marquis’s house. When he leaves, I will settle in Spitalfields, since, no matter how much protection I have from the Spanish embassy, I do not believe that Our Lord wishes me under its shadow, but instead wants me to show his powerful hand in public. We will always have rooms nearby if we need them on the occasions when it is convenient for me or my companions in case of an alarm or to withdraw. Our spiritual father is in greater danger than the ladies. I have two [ladies] who, if I give them license when the scoundrels of the pursuivants come, would give them a strong slap in the face so they know who hit them, and also some good beatings with sticks. I instruct them with sound reasons: to keep their actions short and sweet, and to have much modesty and an open heart. The priest we have is the most spiritual, devout, and discreet I have seen in all of England. Another is in Duay [Douai], at the college of the Flemish Jesuits; he is English, named Miguel Valpolo [ Michael Walpole], and I very much wish that you could meet him. From the first years of my pilgrimage and suffering, I owe him the greatest charity that one could ever receive for everything. Many times it seemed that I was in the street, alone, without even a corner in which to hide, if not for him. In my spiritual afflictions, he has comforted me with much devotion and valor. From here, I write him often that he commend your lordship to God and that he have others do the same. 12. My pen will not allow me to tire your lordship any more with this letter.

318 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza I thank your lordship very much for the favor that you offer to do for my brother, and I kiss your hands for it. He loves you very much and makes a good chronicler for your lordship. I was pleased to hear him, and what is more, the persons whom I love so much, as I do him and the marquis, love your lordship truly. This gives me great joy. May Our Lord give your lordship the same in everything, and keep you many years in his most holy love, as I beseech him. Amen. From London, September 22, 1612. 13. My lord, when I wrote you about the Duchess of Peñaranda, I did not mean to say the young duchess, but the widow, to whom I owed much when I was in Spain, and whom I have loved very much. Luisa 14. The licentiate Pardo has the occasion to ask for your favor with the duke, so he may be given the post of attorney of the Bull of the Crusades [fiscal de la Cruzada], and I beseech your lordship to grant him this favor. The marquis appreciates him and wishes it. I take it for most appropriate, as I do the favor you gave in Madrid to Don Luis de Bracamonte, a very virtuous, married nobleman; my brother will tell your lordship about him. It is true that I have owed him extraordinary support on many occasions, which he himself of his own will, has asked from me four years ago. And the first thing that he sought was that I ask for your favor. I am very reluctant to involve myself even for a brief time in these worldly affairs, but some times it is not possible to evade them. The marquis should tell your lordship of the king’s visit today. 15. Burn this letter, your lordship, because of what I say about the priest and the peace, which are viewed as terrible things here.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 319 (BAE 151; 367–370). To the Marquise of Caracena London, October 19, 1612 Carvajal’s letter to the Marquise explains in much greater detail than her letter to Calderón dated June 21 her role in disinterring martyrs and preparing relics. She embellishes this account to her cousin, to whom she had not written over the summer. This letter included four others of the same date: two to two religious in Valencia; one to Mother Mariana de San José; and one to her brother, Don Alonso. With the latter, she sends another letter to the Countess de la Oliva, Calderón’s wife, which is not included in the collection. Jhs. 1. I am sorry to have written so briefly to your excellency, cutting short any consolation, which I have lost altogether in these months, while waiting for my burden to ease and my strength to return. Your excellency’s last letter arrived very well accompanied with three from great servants of God, such is your excellency’s desire to always see how you can do good. They were as bouquets of different flowers, and stirred in me the same emotions of vigor and spirit with which to continue along this path, that becomes ever more rough. 2. I do not know if your excellency remembers what you said in your letter, which incidentally is very devout. May Our Lord repay your excellency the favor you do me in asking for prayers for me from those who are close to his divine Majesty, and to remember my labors in your excellency’s own prayers: there is no more treasure for me than this. I have written to all three fathers. I wish we had one of them here with us, as nobody agrees to come with one of the ambassadors. Do not, lady of my soul, worry about me, because God’s infinite mercy does so and in great measure, for I have never had to do what I thought I must when I arrived here, which is to beg from door to door. And since I have such a weak and queasy stomach, I thought

320 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza this would cost me my life. Both kind and evil hearts are so closed here that I could hardly expect that I would be given even a corner if they were to see me thrown in the mud, for the prudent and virtuous reasons Catholics give to throw me out are admirable, although they are very liberal and charitable among themselves. But his divine Majesty touches and moves various persons in Spain, and with this and with all that I have received from your excellency, and with what the ambassadors give me from what they receive from there, we manage, and this relieves the great scarcity of this miserable land, so loathsome save for the perseverance demonstrated by the good Catholics. 3. Don Alonso [de Velasco] is not the skillful man that that your excellency says; at least, he does not show it in his handling of the embassy. I cannot say what ability or inclination he has. He has helped me considerably on some occasions; yet, he has intended not to have any dealings with me or to even see me. It did not please Our Lord to give me good health, not even when I lived next door to him, under whose shadow it would seem that I would be free from assaults by heretics. Having been forced to leave his neighborhood, I moved to that of the Venetian ambassador, since I could not find a house next to any other that had a chapel. It is at more than a mile from Don Alonso’s, on the outskirts of town, with unusually strong walls, of good height, and with several doors. These must be double, as it is never advisable to open one without closing the other, as is done everywhere. The house is surrounded by fields and orchards; one of them belongs to the Venetian ambassador, where there is a door through which we enter every feast day to hear mass, as they do not dare to say it during the week. The ambassador is very worldly and a very bad influence, yet I get along with him passably well. I never see him outside of mass, and it is sufficient that he lets me enter. He praises me to the heavens, and I cannot keep from laughing at his tone of voice. The Flemish ambassador lives nearby, but all the other neighbors live far, and given how most are, it is better this way. In sum, my lady, our house is a castle erected on the beards of our holy church’s enemies: it appears to defy them all. We have our large guard dog, and whoever tries to enter, will not do so without causing noise, giving me time to remove and hide what needs to be saved. For ourselves, we have no fear, as thieves

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 321 know we are poor, and heretics also, those whose thirst for wealth is insatiable. When I lived next to Don Alonso and had a door through which I communicated, the Lord Justice of London and the Archbishop of Canterbury sent their pursuivants or sheriffs after me. When I moved to Spitalfields, my friends thought that I would be assaulted each day, and Don Alonso withdrew from me more and more, trying not to see me as it was not advisable. God’s plan, that caused no little devotion and left us immediately under his protection, and no one has knocked at the door, not even those loutish pursuivants. They go by very often here, and the bishop calls me insolent. 4. The air is so fresh and clean, in comparison with London, that my health has improved. I do not know if your excellency heard of my illness, of a furious colic that lasted five weeks with little sleep or eating. For over a year, this has kept me very worn out and with little hope of recovery, until three weeks ago, when the marquis of Flores arrived. I have begun to feel much better and with increased strength, which I have much to deploy it on. May your excellency request from Our Lord that I improve for his major glory. 5. Last Pentecost eve, these evil people sent to Heaven two saints and our intercessors, very noble men, one a lay cleric, and the other, a Benedictine monk from Spain, who had been here less than two years; I believe he had been in Spain for seven. His name was Friar Mauro de Sahagún, and in England, Guillermo Escot [William Scott]; the other, Ricardo. Father Juan, also a monk, whom your excellency mentions, also suffered terribly! Father friar Mauro Merino came to ask me one night to receive the body of the other martyr, and afterward, I received his. When these savages feel like placing the quartered limbs on the towers, we cannot reach them. They always place the heads there, and when they bury them, it is near the gallows in a very deep and wide

322 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza hole, and much dirt has to be removed, and the thieves hanged with the saints are placed on top of them. They do not quarter these, so we can tell which are the saints. Three days later, we received orders to steal them, or better said, to take our treasure from them. We did this at great risk, since it was still light at 10:00 pm, and day breaks at 2:00 am, and it takes a long time to disinter them. The men wore iron vests and carried pistols, in case the guards came, as they are always stationed there. They brought a horse on which to carry the saints, and sacks made from our bed linens. I waited for a sure sign from them 4:00 am, and when it did not come, I was sorely worried until 6:00 am, when our servant, a very virtuous and trustworthy French lad, came running for a coach. Everyone had left, leaving the hole filled and smoothed over, and the bodies deposited a mile’s distance, under some brambles, with an English merchant, very rich and pious, and very loyal to me, keeping watch by pretending to pace in front, guarding the bodies. I was worried for him, since he had gone on my behalf, in case they caught him, as his house and possessions would be lost. I sent a trustworthy coachman, known to the Flemish ambassador, to borrow the ambassador’s coach for an urgent need, but he would not lend it without his Flemish coachman. This was too risky, as the coach would have to drive through the city to reach my house. I sent for a rental coach, which I rented for the usual price of 20 reales, with no problem, as they gave it to my coachman. We prepared a procession among us, with each one carrying two candles, for a total of twelve, and the merchant and our servant strewed many flowers and branches, from the door of the chapel to the altar. With great devotion mixed with joy and pain, we placed them over the rug, in front of the altar, covered with a large, new cloth of red taffeta, with many odiferous flowers covering them. We knelt to pray there, and the entire day we were visited by our heretic friends. I do not know what made them come, it seemed that the devil sent them, and with these people in the house, we did not dare act carelessly, and we had the holy bodies under lock and key. We spent all the night until late in the morning washing the mud and dirt that had clung to them in the hole, with dry cloths and drops of water from our mouths for fear of their decomposing. We rubbed them with strong aromatic spices, and covered them in thick lead boxes, so the air could not penetrate, as

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 323 this is the best method to avoid decomposition. They will be kept like this for a year. The English tell me that it is almost impossible in this land to preserve a body without decomposition, due to the humidity. The men who helped disinter the bodies numbered 10 or 12. They did not accept any money nor any other payment, except for part of the bodies. They were most needed, and courageously dug out the hole, which was the depth of a tall man, and more than two or three yards wide. It was necesssary to remove all the earth, and because there are other holes, their location would not have been known were it not for our French servant, who was there when they were buried and noticed the site. The executioner said, “Place them down deep, so the Papists cannot reach them.” This, my lady, was our funeral. I know well that your excellency will read this to the marquis, may God keep him; so I will not do so. May Our Lord bless my lady the marquise and her husband, and sisters,195 whose hands I kiss many times, and parents, sons, and grandsons. Amen. 6. I would like to know if you received a book of spiritual poems in Spanish, which was sent by means of Doña Ana María de Vergara, widow of one of the members of the Treasury Council, who lived in Vitoria, the Basque Countries, with her mother and sisters, and is now deceased. I gave the envelope of relics to one of Don Alonso’s cooks, who served him as courier and had worked in your excellency’s kitchen in Navarra. He promised to give it to whoever I ordered him in Madrid, but instead he gave it to another courier in France, who then gave it to another. I was upset because he was going to Madrid: I do not know what caused this craziness. I now send your excellency a small white box, not more narrow than a hand’s width, with relics from these latest martyrs, and they are very clean. They tell me that Don Pedro’s time to leave has arrived, and it is not at all brief. There are many comforting things that can be said, but 195. The children of the Marquise of Caracena.

324 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza of grief, there are innumerable. Our strength and the time leave me always short. Our Lord keep your excellency, my most beloved lady, in his holy love, as I wish. From London, October 19, 1612. I have your excellency’s letter in front of me, but I have not been able to read it in its entirety in order to answer. I have written all these letters in great haste.

(BAE 161; 383–385); To Her Brother Don Alonso (de Carvajal) London, December 7, 1612 Don Alonso de Carvajal had hoped to be named ambassador to England. Although Carvajal has erroneously heard that the new ambassador will not be Don Diego Sarmiento de Acuña, she writes her brother expressing her thoughts on how an ambassador should act, clearly in the hope of discouraging him. Through her own experience living next door to the embassy, she was familiar with the ambassador’s household. Jhs. 1. I had decided not to take pen in hand until after Christmas, but what makes me break my resolve is the motive that your grace gives me in yours of November 5, wanting to know what I think as to your coming here, and by the letter dated December 8, I see that Don Diego is not coming.196 2. For my own solace and peace, I am entirely inclined to continue my journey here alone, without any brother. For your grace’s temporal state and advancement, it is a good step, if your grace carries out the position well. 3. This embassy is, I believe, as difficult as any other. It consists in no small part of maintaining the honor of Spain and of the Holy Catholic Church, as these two are very united, infinite thanks be to God. The 196. Don Diego Sarmiento de Acuña, later awarded the title of Count of Gondomar, served as ambassador to England from 1613 to 1618 and from 1619 to 1622.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 325 ambassador comes here to deal with monsters and rare vipers with no faith or truth, with a brittle manner, full of deceit and ruses, people abandoned by God, in the highest level of blindness; their consciences completely governed by the devil and therefore most proud and arrogant, capital enemies of Spain, and a Council of State made up of two different and contrary nations [England and Scotland], that wish to drink each other’s blood. But this is not the worst, if the ambassador is cunning and skilled. 4. The ambassador must be a man of the greatest courage and reasoned resolution, and not conceal anything against his honor that smells of weakness of spirit, with too much a desire for peace or too little; for concealment only increases the risk and shamelessness. The ambasador’s honor, as your grace will see, is that of the king and God. I believe a good allegory would be to paint him with an unsheathed sword in one hand and a golden cup in the other, as here the cup stands for hospitality and courtesy. 5. The worst kind of ambassador is one who is overly confident, an enemy of asking and taking advice, and who has a timid and tight heart. Like a blindman, he will go feeling the walls of his affairs and occupations, and, being easily fooled with false praise, he will prefer to believe those whom he should never trust, than to conquer himself by showing that he needs advice, or to seek out those who will tell him the truth, which is intolerably bitter for some, but the best rule from which proceed all good decisions. It is infinitely desirable that he not give bad example in matters of religion or in those of vice, nor should he allow this in anyone assigned to his house. 6. This court is a hellish one, more suitable to the devil than others, and the house of the ambassador from Spain must be at the center, like a ray of light during the dark night, beaming Catholic faith, a chaste life, valor, and honor. If it is not, then it is a thousand times better not to have an ambassador, for an agent will do. At least, I would not want to have my pain doubled, as this would affect me personally.

326 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 7. It is important to spend well the monies of the king our lord. It is a shame and great discredit to the ambassador, to spend it on too many purchases, and to throw it in handfuls to where it will neither shine nor help; sometimes, only purchasing the good mood of some, and of others, palpable deceits and frauds. And believe me, your grace that it is impossible to deal here with the affairs of this embassy, without the means in proportion to their difficulty, that is, without persons of good judgment, as was the Marquis of Flores. It is not tolerable for Spain’s honor that the ambassador leave the house for frivolous matters, or even at times for those of great importance. 8. The persons who were in the marquis’s employ were as follows, and without people like them, I have said that your grace cannot carry out any honorable or correct task, no matter if they are in themselves. And if your grace cannot recognize this, then there will be very little understanding. Doctor Teyler, a very rational man, of mature judgment and age, careful and a good worker, God-fearing and with the cleanest hands in matters of exchanges. He received 1,500 ducats a year in salary from Spain, from what I have heard. He would always visit the palace and the councilors of state; he arranged affairs, carried messages, resolved minor difficulties, and attended the lawsuits against pirates and merchants. He had two young boys, one whom he trained and the other his relative, both of whom he employed in some of these occupations. He was not English, but he made up for it by having lived in Flanders for so many years that he was already naturalized here. Whoever the ambassador brings must be able to speak English at least reasonably well, and French, very well. And the same is true for the interpreter secretary of languages, because French supplants the lack of English. One or the other must be spoken perfectly, and the secretary knows how to express himself well and is a sound and discreet man. I heard that last year his salary was 300 ducats a year, more or less.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 327 The secretary in charge of codes, and another thousand things that are not handled by the two mentioned above.197 I also heard that his salary was 200 ducats a year, and all three were paid separately by the king our lord, and they all must clearly be loyal, rational, discreet, and from Spain. For the ambassador’s household, six gentlemen, as they are called here, are needed. They should be well treated, and I would recommend that they are of reasonable size, as the contrary inclines toward contempt and discredits the house. The most important is that they are rational and do not provoke God with trivialities in a land that has him so irritated, that it is a miracle that the earth does not open up and swallow them. Not many pages are the rule here, but there cannot be fewer than four, from fourteen to sixteen years of age: the usual number of servants in a large house, and two coaches, with two porters. At the table, with or without guests, there should always be served at least six or eight main courses, and if there is an important guest, one should see if more are needed. 9. Lastly, my brother, I come to the highest matter: for the chapel, the ambassador should bring two religious, whether calced or discalced. These last two should not find it easy to become used to satin and taffeta doublets, velvet breeches, tight shoes, long periods of card playing, few days of mass, much leisure, and depriving the house of doctrine and edification, rather, filling it with bad example. I do not know what sorrow this is, that on coming here, they become the most imperfect persons. And if a secular priest is brought here, all the better, if he fulfills what is needed. If he knows how to write, he will replace the scribe, which one must have, besides the secretary. It is necessary to say mass twice on feast days, and sometimes, a priest may become ill. If three were to come, the mass and other sacraments can be given more decently to comfort a larger number of people. Even if the priests are the only 197. The embassies required a secretary or “secretario de cifra” to encode and decode messages.

328 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza men of spirit and prayer, the ambassador will receive much help and will see their good effect in his affairs and his soul. The marquis had three religious, and so did Don Alonso. 10. In no way should the secretary be a priest, as this is viewed as scandalous here by Catholics and heretics, and gives rise to rumors. 11. Here everything is very expensive; the house costs 7,000 or 8,000 reales depending on the location, and since the ambassador who comes here must leave some monies to maintain his house there, he can see what he has left and what his Majesty should give him per year, not counting his usual salary or other pension. He needs to have three furnished salons and a gallery, and for his bedroom, tapestries, damask, and velvet cloth. It makes no difference whether in winter or summer: tapestries should be hung in both seasons. The silverware and buffet must be of very good quality. 12. Customarily, authorization is not given to bring a wife and children to this land, as this is a terrible expense, along with a hundred other considerable inconveniences. 13. From what I have said, which is not exactly how I would wish it, I leave to your grace’s consideration to see what is best for you, whether to solicit this post or accept it, if it is given to you. I desire that Our Lord’s pleasure be done, whatever it may cost to your grace and to me. 14. Lampe’s certificate has arrived, without my being able in this letter to begin to discuss other things. Father Antonio Hosquines198 writes me that, in any case, I should try to have your grace come, as he believes that your grace will make a good ambassador. I leave everything to Our Lord, and may he keep your grace, my brother, as I wish. Amen. From London, December 7, 1612. 198. There are no letters extant to this Jesuit, although Carvajal writes him; see her letter 176 (342).

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 329 (BAE 173: 407–410) To Don Rodrigo Calderón London, October 4, 1613 Carvajal’s letter demonstrates her knowledge of the Irish Parliament revolt and its consequences in England, of the fate of Irish Catholics, of the marriage plans between France and England, and even of the colonization of Virginia by the English. She shows how well integrated she had become in the affairs of the Spanish embassy and how much the new ambassador, Diego Sarmiento de Acuña, later Count of Gondomar, relied on her advice, which she never fails to give openly and frankly. Jhs. 1. I have received your lordship’s of August 23 and 26 via Flanders and Lampe, and all those that your lordship tells me that you have sent with him, without missing a single one. 2. Thanks be to God that, after being so indisposed, your lordship is now feeling better; it is and must be due to his divine will above all, and having him obliged (as he wants us to say) to a very special providence is the best good of all. His love is so sweet and faithful for those whom he loves so much that, as he said to Saint Gertrude, he does not allow even the slightest breeze to touch the surface of their clothing without his orders.199 How much more will it stop the roof tile that is about to fall or the great force of the fever and mortal illness that threatens your salvation! Your lordship should take good care of your health, as it is most necessary, not only for your wife, children, household, and friends, but also for the king our lord’s service and for the commonwealth, or your lordship will lose your good judgment and your abundant loyalty. I do not believe that it is harmful to your lordship to lose weight; I do not know whether your lordship is moderate in food and drink and avoids what does not help the body or soul’s health, but my cousin [Calderón’s wife] must be attentive to this. 199. Carvajal was familiar with the Benedictine saint’s Libro intitulado Ynsinuacion de la Diuina piedad … Revelado a Sancta Gertrudis, Monja de la orden de Sant Benito, translated from Latin into Spanish (Salamanca, 1605). In a letter to Joseph Creswell dated April 4, 1611, she requests “the last part of Saint Gertrude in Spanish with annotations by Friar Leandro Vanegas.” ARMEN, Legajo 5. Not in González and Abad.

330 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 3. Your lordship must have received my letters that I sent with Rivas, and, given all the your lordship favors me, I fear they may bore you, for they were very long. In fact, I do not know how many I have received from your lordship that I must answer, and now I do not know whether I will have time to shorten two, dividing up the news, so I can mail them out today. And let us begin by speaking about God’s business first, and then about our good king, yours and mine. May the Lord protect him, amen. You should know, your lordship, that I am the staunchest enemy of involving myself in the things of this life, but who is there so lacking in zeal that he will not attempt to become involved through any crevice possible? It is important to know the real and most religious heart of the king and of the duke, and how this affects your lordship. Of the 12 Irishmen, all Catholics, that have been jailed here because of the Parliament affair [in Ireland], 6 have achieved freedom and gone to Ireland. There, it was insisted that Parliament could not continue if part of the 12 were not returned to Ireland. This king [James I] chose those least zealous in religion, leaving the most couragous and strong here. The ones jailed say that staying here does not bother them so much, as each one has a son in Ireland, as sufficiently big and strong as they, to defend the holy Catholic faith, else they would lament it to their death.200 They say that the Catholic people and nobles are more united than ever. They have been ordered not to collect funds, because to pay the expenses of these men, that island’s priests, who are many and good, valiant Jesuits, have been taking up a collection. One of the first items that were assigned to be resolved in Parliament was that if a priest or a church item is found in a Catholic house, this amounts to high treason, as they say here, or crime of lèse majesté. And no one attended Parliament on the second day without carrying a sword, or without a servant by his side, also with a sword. The 200. For the Parliament revolt in Ireland, see T. W. Moody, et al., A New History of Ireland III: Early Modern Ireland, 1534–1692 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), 210–2l7.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 331 Parliament was dissolved and they were sent here. The first day saw many unsheathed swords. This king has sent someone to investigate what happened to some English persons, the main one, I believe, is Sir Carlos Cornuallas [Charles Cornwallis], who had been in Spain. He is a perverse heretic, malicious, and cunning.201 The poor Irish do what they can in their defense. Your lordship can see what a heroic work and great state objective it would be to see how to help them and covertly reduce their poverty. They are spirited and determined to worry this king and make him tremble. People have said that 20,000 pounds will be given to them so that Parliament does not discuss matters of religion. 4. It is said that the Palatina [Elizabeth Grace] might thrust a scorpion on the world, as one can only fear from those parents, but an English servant of hers has come from there, and says that there is no talk or rumor that she is pregnant. May God confound them, if they will never become better than before. I regretted that marriage with the Elector [Frederick V], and I hoped it would come apart, as I wrote to your lordship before it took place. My only consolation is that God not give them descendants, but his divine Majesty knows best. 5. There is talk of marriage in France, and English merchant heretics say that their king is very poor, despite the French boasts of wealth, and they know for sure that this is the case. This king [James I] is after two things: he wants to receive a large dowry from his daughter-inlaw, and have her be the daughter of a great king. He cannot stand to go back on his word with his sect, and so he realizes that he cannot deal with Spain, may immense thanks be given to God. How painful it is to see that they are so willing in France—and worse, a woman who is of Austrian blood!—that it is feared that if the king does not find the money he desires, he will encounter tepidness and lack of religious zeal in bringing about his marriage alliances.202 Some prudent 201. Cornwallis had been ambassador to Spain; he was sent to Ireland in 1613 to investigate Irish grievances. 202. Marie de Medici, although granddaughter of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, was in favor of her daughter ‘s marriage to the Prince of Wales.

332 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza Englishmen believe that this will never come to pass, but if this king loses all hope with Spain, he will very probably want and try with all his might, and better, if he thinks that they will give him the daughterin-law to bring her up here, so he can make her a Protestant. If she is not given to him and grows up in a Catholic household with a heretic husband, who will bring the situation into line? She will not want to be married by a heretic minister, nor will he want to be married by a Catholic priest or go to church. What they can do is what is said was done for the marriage of her father [Henri IV] to his first wife, Margarita [Marguerite of Valois], daughter of the French king. He was a heretic, and she was a Catholic; and in order not to impede the marriage, they made up a contract between them that passed as a marriage. Afterward, when they fell out with one another and had begun to tire of each other, each one affirmed that they had never wanted to marry in their hearts. This way, the marriage was invalid and was dissolved. Others believed that his lack of intention was founded in that he had not planned converting to the holy faith after the wedding, nor she to Calvinism. But if they did not give a deadline on when to change religion, when he became a Catholic, his first marriage was revalidated, because [Marguerite] was still alive and had been when he married the second queen, mother of the king [Louis XIII].203 May God make him his so he may deserve the good that he has done on being the son-in-law of our king!204 What a scandal there would be in all Christendom if the queen of France gave in to her daughter’s marriage with a heretic prince, one so heretical and of such low stature! All these matters are weighty, and may God give your lordship grace so you will know what to do. 6. The notice about Virginia must already be old there: that its Indians, although beastlike, are sorcerers, and they complained bitterly to their demons about the English foreigners attempting to occupy their land, and that they had not remedied the situation. The demons promised to do something so they went to where the English were and, entering 203. Marguerite of Valois obtained an annulment of her marriage and the right to retain her title of queen. 204.Louis XIII married Ana of Austria, Philip III’s daughter.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 333 their bodies, they took out their swords, killing one another to about 700. Two hundred were left, frightened to death, ill, and hungry. There must have been few of them who risked leaving their fortresses to seek food.205 7. Don Diego has entered London with the reputation of being a man of great character.206 His appearance shows it, despite being so joyful and cheerful. He has demonstrated his desire to employ good men to serve him, like those who served the marquis. However, I am not sure whether he yet realizes the need he has for them. He says he does not know how or where to find them, although he has written to Flanders about this. If the peace were to continue and it was in my hands to do this, I would find a person of good judgment, valor, and loyalty among the king our lord’s vassals (but not a Flemish), to come here and learn English, which would take him some 4 or 5 years to learn well, and he could stay for the next ambassadors. He should be very practical in all things, since the English nation, if the person is Catholic and has other qualities, can be trusted in this. The cause of the true Catholics and that of the king our lord is one and the same in this kingdom, and all who are grave and discreet wish the ambassador of Spain much success as to his honor and effect, as if they were theirs. His comfort and spirit depends on this, and they know very well what he must do, and so far as general matters are concerned, these are as well known as the alphabet. 8. Don Diego brought with him as secretary of codes the licentiate Agustín Pérez, who had been secretary to Don Alonso. He is still missing a secretary-translator and an outside agent for affairs and the important issues of the Council of State. The agent is more important than the secretary-translator, as important as the latter is, because he can replace the translator, while the translator cannot replace the

205. The Virginia colony of Jamestown was founded in 1607. Since Don Pedro de Zúñiga’s mission as ambassador to London was to spy on the English, he sent maps and documents to Philip III, urging him to put an end to the colony. Alexander Brown, The Genesis of the United States, vol. 2, (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1890), 1067–1068. 206. The new ambassador, Don Diego Sarmiento de Acuña, Carvajal’s protector.

334 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza agent, unless both have the same qualifications, which is not needed and indeed very difficult to find in one person. A gentleman, an English principal and Catholic, with whom I have spoken 4 or 5 times, has been assigned to the office from Madrid. Don Diego asked me what I thought of him; I said that I found him a wise man, but that I did not know him, and he should ask good and serious Catholics about him (his name is Ricardo Bery [Richard Berry]). If he has others from which to choose, he should choose, but if this is the only one and he has received references in good conscience, then he should employ him and try him out in less important affairs. I do not want him to blame me for anything, as I cannot give him better advice in this case. For this reason, I beg your lordship to keep this letter. This is certainly true: the marquis [Don Pedro de Zúñiga] well knows that it is impossible for an ambassador from Spain to be here with all the honor and efficiency advisable for his affairs without someone like the one he had employed, and also that it is necessary to have him in his house, and not reside elsewhere, for very urgent reasons. This is my responsibility, and now I will say what others have told Don Diego about Berry. 9. Immediately on his arrival, [a father] asked Father Richard Blound, whom we call Cook, in front of me, if he knew him and if he thought him loyal and apt for embassy affairs, and I added “and if he had a good conscience.”207 Father Blound responded that he knew him very well, that he found him to be very loyal, very apt, and of good conscience. He assured this based on the experience he had had until then, relying on him for many important issues. As Blound was not in London, he wrote me that Don Diego should employ Berry as an agent, and that I should tell him. From this father, and from another two or three I have heard that Berry has, in general, a very good reputation among Catholics, and that he is very sensible and has not made himself hateful to the Council, since, 207. Richard Blount was an English Jesuit who smuggled himself into England posing as a sailor. He became Superior of the English Mission of the Jesuits in 1617.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 335 although Catholic, he is not the eldest son nor lord of a house and has lived outside England for a long time, they have neither bad nor good news of him (and this last is what is most worrisome to them). They say he has been in Italy and Spain, and a short while in France, for about a total of 10 years. He speaks Spanish and courtly English. He has a good appearance. And as to his close relations in Madrid with Juan Digby,208 he says that these were purely political (as they say here). Clearly, seeing him at court for such a long time, and being such a good Catholic, if he did not pretend a great friendship, as he did (save for his conscience, in all else reasonable), [Digby] would have plotted against him so he could not return to England without great risk of imprisonment for the rest of his life. The other fathers I mention say that this is true, because he was [in Spain] on their and other serious Catholics’ orders to deal secretly with the important affairs of the Catholic cause, and this should remain secret, for if it is known or found out, it would surely cost him his life. I beseech your lordship to tear up this part of my letter that addresses this. 10. I have told Don Diego that I wish to serve him with my experience and reasonably good memory of the events here. He has two roads open to him, following the former ambassadors: he can take either the right or the left road. The fathers say that, if he employs Berry, they will be careful to see how he proceeds outside the embassy and let him know if they hear anything about him. Because man’s heart is unfathomable and he himself does not know what he will do in the future, no one can ensure what he will do then, but given what they know of the past and the present, their assurance of Berry is likely; I had forgotten this. Father Blount has not written since he left the embassy, he left London already ill. He has been close to death, and although better, he is still ill and dangerously thin. 11. Don Diego tells me that [letter torn] Canterbury wants to imprison me and I came to him [letter torn] distressed [letter torn] from the 208. John Digby, 1st Earl of Bristol, was ambassador to Spain; a leading figure in the “Spanish Match,” the failed marriage between the Infanta Maria Anna and Prince Charles.

336 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza street or heretics’ house, when I was there, when God will do me that favor, and then they will say that one of his rogues did it without them knowing about it. I never go to heretics’ houses, unless I do so only to speak to them about the health of their souls, or to visit one of the neighbors who show me loyalty and love as befits the house’s peace, and I do this once a year at most, just as I go out in the streets for similar reasons, or go to the jails, when my health allows it. I have very little inclination to go outside my home. I believe that the ambushes were led by the scoundrels of the pursuivants, who remember everything and to try to catch something, rather than by their bishop of Canterbury, who is very occupied and does not remember me, or so I hear. Although he had recently arrived, I told this to Don Diego, requesting license to leave here and go to the house at Spitalfields so my companions would not fear that I left them there waiting for me, with news of the pursuivants (and they told me, they did not fear) and for other reasons. I also did not want the pursuivants to think I feared them. 12. Don Diego has brought a very good friar, a Dominican, which has made me very happy. 13. I kiss the hands many times of my lady the countess and her mother, and your lordship’s sons. May God keep them and your lordship as I ask always. Amen. From London, October 4, 1613. I will not sign this letter, as I have told your lordship, nor indicate in any way that it is from me, but this is not because I am afraid. Your lordship’s servant. L. 14. As I was busy all day today, I write you very late, at night. Please forgive, your lordship, the errors you may find, they will undoubtedly be many.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 337 (BAE 175; 410–411) To Don Rodrigo Calderón London, October 5, 1613 Carvajal writes to Calderón about her own involvement with the Spanish embassy, helping to select the secretaries that Sarmiento de Acuña will employ. This letter demonstrates her strong feelings against the previous ambassador Alonso de Velasco. Jhs. 1. How much, my lord, do I owe your lordship, and what good news you give me in your letters of the health of the king our lord and his children, and that of the duke! These are great news! May God protect them! May he repay your lordship the favor that you give me with them, and with those of my lady the countess and my nephews. 2. Please give the Prior of Ibernia my congratulations; if England converts, I look forward to seeing him.209 3. I wrote to your lordship with Rivas that I would be pleased if my brother remained there to serve you, and I again say this to you and my lady the countess. I am very sure of your lordship’s favor in all that you can, for I have never seen your lordship alter your ways. 4. I performed a great service yesterday to our lordship at very little cost, as it did not cost more than 26 reales to remove the shackles and a large chain from a virtuous youth, recently jailed merely for being a Catholic. And for this, and for speaking well on the points of our faith, for he knows how to defend them, he was and is pursued by the Puritans (in other times his great friends). He is ill, and with the chains he could not get up from some boards where he lay. We have also given him food, because he is very poor and had nothing more than his work, as he is a very good gilder of swords. They had put him among thieves and criminals. England is another Indies, with such things and events that never occur in Catholic lands. 209. Pedro González de Mendoza y Mendoza, General of the galleys of Malta. A relative of Carvajal’s.

338 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 5. I am sorry that Father Creswell deceives himself waiting for what benefits he may receive from his friendship with Sir John Digby, for without this intention, it is clear that he would not consider it. I am surprised that there is no one to point this out to him, and I would be even more surprised if there were someone, that he would not amend his ways. He is believed here to be one of the good Catholics that should not leave Spain now so as not to disturb the moving of the seminary, which is coming along well. 6. Don Alonso left with the 12 clerics that he was granted without any difficulty; this was a great favor. Four left with his sister and daughterin-law. He said that he could not thank me enough for my favors; I did as much as I could for him, but he understood and took it as a favor that I did not write against what others have said about him, to confirm my trust in him, as his secretary beseeched. I wish, my lord, that I could have done this and be certain that what they said were lies, as then it would not have mattered if I responded to what they said. I have already told your lordship that his sister and daughter behaved with sufficent good sense and modesty in what befitted them. It is known that he leaves very well adorned with good jewels and monies; and his people say that there is no other man in the world that has more ability and skills than he. He certainly cried out in grief and poverty to me! I am happy for his wellbeing and wish the same for his soul, but to tell the truth, your lordship, I do not wish to have a hand in any payment or prize that he may receive for having been here, for I doubt that this would please God. He would have been extremely generous with me with monies and other gifts, more so than any others I have known here, had he the character to allow me to please him, as he has done with others who have served him. However, he has favored me on several occasions, and I think it has hurt me more than it has him that I could not serve him as he wished. 7. The secretary Agustín Pérez complained to me very politely of the great damage he says I have done him in writing that a secretary who is a cleric should not be employed here because it scandalizes the

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 339 heretics and Catholics. From what I gather, I wrote this in a letter to my brother about the embassy. He says that they understood me to mean that he himself had caused scandal here. I responded that this was not what I meant to say, but that I would write in this mail that it was not my intention to blame him for anything, and I write this here. He has not given any bad example that I know of, instead he has given better example than the other priests who came with him, and nobody has complained about him here. Because he was Don Alonso’s secretary, the leading Catholics were very sorry to see that he had come with Don Diego, and nothing more. They are now sorry that he has one person functioning as translator and agent who they do not esteem at all. The secretary and his master are such good friends that it is likely that one has received the same complaints made against the other in Spain. I ask your lordship to favor him in what you can; his master behaved far worse after he had left than when he was here. 8. Don Diego offers to favor me in your stead by giving me the alms sent by his Majesty from his own purse, since he has not yet received any funds for the embassy, and has spent more than what he was sent. These lamentations affect me somewhat, but I am inured to hearing nothing else from ambassadors, and I never bemoan any great or little poverty with them. 9. Since your lordship orders me to let him know what I think of the good Don Diego, I will say a few things. I have two reasons to think that he will do his job well: the first is that, from what we can judge up to now, he is very virtuous and an advocate for the Catholic religion, and I believe he may err on the side of excess than the opposite, which would be a good thing. The second, he has in his company a Dominican teacher, reader of theology, from Valladolid called Friar Diego de la Fuente. He is discreet, prudent, a friend of listening and of putting into effect what is advisable, he is also very religious and spirited, from what it seems. I plan to go to him when I am displeased with Don Diego, which is the best way. I do not believe

340 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza that [Don Diego] is used to listening to those who know what goes on here and wish him to succeed. To these, and to me, I see that he asks some insignificant questions solely to comply. Once he asks, he pays no attention and does not listen. He has a very good opinion of Don Alonso’s conduct, and has taken offense at the rumors against him, and thinks the same of the ambassador from Flanders, the auditor of the army who, although he is an honorable man, in my opinion does not take his behavior, or the state, or any of these matters very seriously. Some of his conversations and reasonings seem perfectly fine. It discredits him to be so entranced over the whims of his wife, who has an ancient will and childish thoughts and the spirit to send him wherever she wants. Thus, it makes him do a thousand childish things and unauthorized acts in which our ambassador must participate, as they hardly leave a day without coming to see him. They spend too much of his time going out to the fields or in conversations, tying him down and constantly witnessing what he must do, that I do not know how he can stand it. He was very tied down with Don Alonso the 18 or 20 days that he was detained here, informing him day and night with great efficiency, and Don Diego frequently stayed away from me then. These two things made me fear his understanding. But the two friends, in this and other cases, have made him stick his foot in the wrong places, and I believe that the pain has been a lesson, that, whether or not he wished it, has been a good experience, one that I hope he will learn from. And although I have hardly had the opportunity to speak to him without going to see him in a visit, I advised him to take care and not throw himself into something without first looking into it. If he remembers, I have already served him well, opportune and inopportunely. It is hard work to give advice to someone who has not asked for it and perhaps does not want it. But it would have been cruel not to give it, as the need is greater even than solely for him alone. He tells me that it has been wrong to write against Don Alonso, and I responded that he should think they will write the same of him if he does not conduct himself well.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 341 10. Doña Constanza seems a good servant of God, sufficient in Catholic lands, but although she is devout she does not have her husband’s zeal: everything she tries for is quiet and rest. He and the teacher father [Diego de la Fuente] are better prepared to be among heretics. She likes the countryside, and has taken me twice to the field here, and in back of their house, thanks to Don Diego’s efficiency, since she has none. Those who live so close to London do not want much; our little orchard in Spitalfields is cooler and cleaner. I will go there today. I will let your lordship know if Don Diego behaves well or reasonably so, and if not, I will remain silent, as I did with Don Alonso, as there are enough persons who will write with the news. 11. The mail was supposed to leave very early this morning, so I thought of sending only the one letter I wrote last night to your lordship. They have given me time, but I do not know if I will have enough to write to my brother. I ask your lordship to favor me by telling him that I am much improved from the 2 or 3 faintings I had, I believe from the air in these rooms. I will write him via Flanders one of these days. I kiss the hand of my lady the countess and of her mother and children many times, and I beg her to remember to bring them up in the fear of God; I am sorry not to write this to her ladyship. 12. For many days now, I have owed the marquise of Flores [Pedro de Zúñiga’s wife] a response to the letter that she favored me with. I will write to the marquis today. 13. May God keep your lordship as I beseech him, and give you his most holy love and his light, with which to live in his glory and greatest happiness. London, October 5, 1613. Servant of your lordship. L. I send my best wishes, your lordship, to the Brother Egiciaco.210 210. General of the order of San Juan de Dios in Córdoba.

342 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza (BAE 176; 413–415) To the Carmelites in Brussels London, November 14, 1613 This letter describes Carvajal’s second arrest and imprisonment for four days after her house was besieged. While the heading, not by Carvajal, is to the entire order, it is clear that she wished the letter to be read also by the prioress, Ana de Jesús. She was clearly shaken by the experience, and one of her companions died in jail. Jhs. Jesus. This is the heading “This letter was the last that we received from the saint Doña Luisa. She wrote it to the mother superior of the Discalced Carmelites in Brussels.” [Added to the letter by an anonymous hand.] 1. At last, my lady, the miserable man who searched for me in all corners,211 being able to take me in the streets, caught me nicely, and I was totally in his hands and power for only four days, because the lord Don Diego, who is by nature very brave, used his influence to release me. For me, this was not the best solution, in my mind, unless my freedom portends God’s glory more than my imprisonment. Since our house was left empty, with neighbors and strangers guarding it at different times, all the items in it that we need for our comfort were destroyed or scattered. Therefore, I can hardly find something to write with, and am staying in the little house next to the lord Don Diego’s, waiting until it will please Our Lord to send me my good maidens, which they say will be soon, as we were not jailed together. 2. What happened was certainly pretty, everything so perfectly from God’s hand that those who carried it out are insulted like monkeys. Despite this, they exert themselves against Our Lord in trying to have me exiled from this rough exile. My lady, will this happen? It seems unlikely, unless it is built on sorrows, because many are exiled from these who leave this country.

211. The Archbishop of Canterbury, George Abbot.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 343 3. The lord Don Diego will not stomach my leaving, unless they give him a reason. He does not consider the complaints about me sufficient that were lodged before him and over twenty members of the Council of State, which is that I am a nun and have founded some convents in England, and that I persuade many people to leave their religion and accept mine, and thus, I have perverted a great number, bringing them over to my faith. This was all they could charge me with.212 I wanted to write a bit more of what happened to our mother and lady,213 but I cannot now, as I can hardly control my pen when I write this, so I ask that she accept this letter as addressed to her, and that she remember me and my companions still in prison. 4. I beseech your grace that the enclosed letter be given to the person who has taken the place of Don Antonio; it is from Mr. Martin Varner [Warner], who has arrived well and says that he wishes to write to your grace in partial acknowledgment of all the favors he owes you.214 5. I beseech your blessed convent to help me glorify Our Lord for the notable favors and mercies that he has given my most unworthy self these days, and especially to the lord Don Juan de Quintana Dueñas,215 and to the Discalced Carmelite fathers. Simon Estock [Stock] will be pleased; please tell him, your grace, that they took us from Spitalfields to Lambeth through streets surrounded by justices and officers on foot and horseback, with the people astounded, as one may think.216 212. Proof that the English government took Carvajal’s presence in England seriously and sought her deportation. 213. Ana de Jesús Lobera founded the Discalced Carmelite convent in Brussels and remained its prioress until her death in 1621. Carvajal met her during her voyage to England, when she spent time at the Paris convent, where Ana de Jesús was first prioress. 214. Antonio de Hosquines had resided in Brussels and served as the convent’s confessor. González and Abad state that Mr. Martin Varmer was possibly a pseudonym for a Jesuit smuggled into England. 215. Also known as Jean de Brétigny, he was the leading promoter of the Discalced Carmelites in France and Flanders. See Jean Sérouet, Jean de Brétigny (1556–1634). Aux origines du Carmel de France, de Belgique, et du Congo, (Louvain: Bibliothèque de la Revue d’histoire Ecclésiastique, 1974). 216. Carvajal may be referring to the English Carmelite Simon Stock, who accompanied Lord Baltimore to found a convent in Newfoundland in 1621. See Luca Codignola, The

344 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza Little Francisca also came with us, and I entrusted Michisan’s soul to God, for she died the next day.217 Without a fever (as the doctor says) or any danger of one, and cured from the smallpox, she suffered so much from the shock and pain of seeing me carried off that she fell mortally ill, giving signs of death; she seemed convinced that I would suffer even greater harm. This is the right time to quote here the verse with which I usually invite those who know how to glorify God: Magnificate Dominum meum, et exaltemus nomen eius in id ipsum.218 May he be so forever, amen. And may he keep our grace as I beseech him. From London, November 14, 1613. 6. I would very much like to receive response to the letter I write to the good Doña María de Quesada, who lives near Rouen.219 I beseech your grace to ensure that I receive them. I kiss the feet of the Infanta, our lady, and I also wish that her Highness revel with me in the presence of Our Lord. The auditor and his wife220 have acted charitably toward me on this occasion. And the lord Don Diego and his wife, and the father teacher, who is a most honorable religious, have behaved no less. Yet, as I have said, these events are not the best for me, as they are for them, for I believe they do it for the love of God. I kiss the hands of Don Luis de Bracamonte.221 Coldest Harbour of the Land: Simon Stock and Lord Baltimore’s Colony in Newfoundland, 1621–1649 (Toronto: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1988). 217. Two of Carvajal’s companions. 218. “Magnify the Lord with me; and let us extol his name together” (Psalms 33:4). 219. According to González and Abad, Quesada may have been the friend of Brétigny, and a relative of Ana de Quesada, who, together with Magdalena de San Jerónimo, convinced the Infanta Isabel Clara Eugenia to found a Discalced Carmelite convent in Brussels (Epistolario y Poesía, 414, note 9). 220. Boisschot, the Flemish ambassador, had been auditor general of the armed forces of the Netherlands before his appointment to London in 1611. 221. Mentioned previously in Carvajal’s letters 84 (243) and 150 (313).

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 345 Humble servant of your grace. [Unsigned]. Added to letter by González and Abad: In the hand of Father Jerónimo Gracián [from Proceso]222 I have it as truth that the cause of [Luisa de Carvajal]’s imprisonment now is that she had persuaded some Capuchin monks who there are heretics to come here; and we have been going after another two Italian Carmelites who left recently, and she had already sent them a message from Rome for their safety with their orders and the Inquisition when they came here. And some of them, who stayed with the archbishops of London and Canterbury, must have discovered this. The dealings that I had with this lady ever since I came to these kingdoms involved my sending her Catholic books, and she would send me the heretics’ notices and books that were printed there, for it was necessary to have them so as to warn Spain.

(BAE 177: 415–416) To Don Rodrigo Calderón London, November 20, 1613 Jhs. 1. Our Lord is sweetest in all things, even in those that are not understood. From the time the justices of London took me from my home with the uproar and noise, about which I will tell your lordship when I can, my health improved so much that people were astonished to see me. My good health has lasted until now, when I received your letter of October 2 with great happiness and a courier will leave in a few hours. Immediately, however, his Majesty has wished a pain to assault my chest, mirrored in my back, so strong that all this afternoon 222. The Carmelite Jerónimo Gracián de la Madre de Dios resided in Brussels from 1607 to his death in 1614 after the revocation of his exile from Spain by the Carmelite Order; therefore, “the kingdoms” and “here” may refer to the Netherlands. Although González and Abad claim that this note was cited by Gracián from Carvajal’s Proceso, the inquiry took place in the 1620s. For Gracián’s travels, see María Pilar Manero Sorolla, “La peregrinación autobiográfica de Anastacio-Jerónimo (Gracián de la Madre de Dios),” Revista de Literatura, LXIII, 25 (2001): 21–37.

346 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza it has not allowed me to take pen in hand, no matter how much I have tried, because it cut off my respiration.223 I am feeling better after taking some medicine, and I only wish to say in a few lines to your lordship that I had the enclosed letter written to the duke before my illness stopped me. I beseech your lordship to give it to him, and both to his excellency and the king our lord, that the journey I am taking here not be obstructed. You may be certain, your lordship, that Our Lord guides it so as to give extreme honor to Spain and affairs of State, which in this case, does not involve God’s glory. 2. About Ireland, I cannot say anything I would like; neither can I say anything to my cousin and lady, about whom your lordship always gives me such good news. 3. They will be comforted by the great favor that God has given me, which I will write about via Flanders to your lordship and the marquis, whose hands I kiss and those of my brother. I will tell your lordship what I have to say about the favor you have done me. Blunt is not here and does not know about this mail. He is in better health, although extremely thin; still, he will respond to your lordship with the esteem owed to such Christian intentions and behavior. 4. I am tormented by not telling your lordship in this letter what has occurred, as it has been for God’s glory and Spain’s honor, and the Catholics have oddly enjoyed seeing me burdened with part of their sufferings, and it has been a source of relief and renewed strength, as I am a foreigner. 5. The king’s fury against Father Suárez’s book is unusual.224 Since I am a Spaniard and thought that Don Diego would not take my side, 223. According to González and Abad, these were symptoms of sudden pneumonia, which would cause her death, although Michael Walpole thought it to be colic (Epistolario y poesía, 415 note 2). 224. The Jesuit theologian, Francisco Suárez’s Defensio catholicae fidei contra anglicanae sectae errores (“Defense of the Universal Catholic Faith Against the Errors of the Anglican Sect”) published in Spain in 1613, was directed against the English oath of allegiance and the divine right of kings.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 347 others thought that he wanted me to pay for it, but I say that he repaid me. I have won the greatest prize, that even my great king could not give me, as good as he is. Father Suárez will be envious and God will give the king [Philip III] an award for his gift to the good of his church, for the heroic act of publishing the book and sending it to England, showing that he himself wishes to govern only through God and his Catholic church. What great joy this event causes me! Oh, great king! How just is this event! I well see that the duke has had a part in it. May God keep his Excellency and your lordship many years, as I wish. From London, 20 November, 1613. 6. I beg your lordship to give my humble thanks to his Majesty for all that he has accomplished with this book. The enclosed letter to the duke has many faults, because, as I have said, I was already very ill when I started writing it, and I have no one but myself to help me when I write. I am writing some eight or ten lines to the marquis, but it is impossible for me to write to my brother. I beseech your lordship to make sure that the enclosed letter to Father Creswell is not lost. L. 7. If your lordship is not with the duke, my wish is that you send him the letter as soon as possible.

(BAE 178; 416–417) To the Duke of Lerma London, November 20, 1613 Carvajal’s letter to the Duke of Lerma stresses the spiritual value of her activities to the English Catholics. She emphasizes, as her strongest justification for her stay in England, that her vocation as missionary and her suffering there have been always a part of God’s plan, which the duke must surely accept. Through this letter, she sends the same message indirectly to Philip III.

348 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza Jhs. 1. Your excellency will see how vain I have become, since I dare write to you, having confessed twice now the most holy name of Christ in his enemies’ prisons, in testimony and praise for the Catholic faith; and also how much I rely on your mercy, since I do not wish to miss this occasion to beg your excellency to exult in it with me, glorifying God greatly for such abundant compassion. And the particular circumstances of my being a Spaniard and your servant who loves and esteems you must surely increase the effect it has on your excellency. 2. Don Diego’s verve and courage have taken from me a glorious crown that I thought was so close to being mine, and this leaves me very confident that they will find a way and time unbeknownst to Don Diego, unless Our Lord wishes to defer my crown until after his stay here. 3. I can assure your excellency that my vocation in coming to England, which I had as a child, following the doctrine of the Holy Church, has surely and clearly been a vocation from God, with every event confirming this every day. Without special help from him, it would not have been possible for me to remain among these people as I have. And thus, I beg your excellency never to agree with those who, by their means, are attempting my removal from this kingdom, to leave them on their own to do whatever violence or cheating Our Lord allows them. 4. The false archbishop of Canterbury, who names as mercy what should be called unmercifulness, has accused me of two offenses at the Council of State in the presence of Don Diego: the first, that I have founded convents of nuns; and the second, that through my persuasion, I have converted many Protestants to my religion. And although they have thousands of tongues on their side, they have not been able to prove the most minimal thing about these two accusations, nor have his blind discourses uncovered anything that would surely disturb or drive them mad.

Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza 349 5. If your excellency had seen God’s providence in this event, you would have been astounded, because his enemies (who are equally mine) have not done or said anything that I would not have wanted. Those less obstinate, who are moral and peaceful people, show me love, and some have cried over my imprisonment and come to see me, and multitudes of these Protestants, both titled and middling, agreeing with the Catholics, have criticized this action, thinking it crazy and a discredit to those who have carried it out. But it has served Don Diego well, as it is gaining him great credit for his valor and religious zeal, and the honor to Spain that he has demonstrated, which has truly been great and has pleased everyone in general. 6. It seems, my lord, that I forget I am writing to your excellency, for I go on so long. May your excellency forgive me. I humbly beg the king our lord the same that I have beseeched your excellency: that you both let God free to do what will be of most service to him. 7. May God keep your excellency for us, as his Majesty sees is required and I beseech him, amen. And may he bless your excellency in everything and enrich you with great increments of his most holy love. From London, November 20, 1613. Servant of your excellency. Luisa de Carvajal. González and Abad include the following letter from Philip III to the Spanish ambassador:

350 Selected Correspondence of Luisa de Carvajal y Mendoza From the King my Lord: Madrid, May 21, 1613 Doña Luisa Carvajal The King [To] Don Diego Sarmiento de Acuña, of my Treasury Council and my ambassador to England. Doña Luisa de Carabajal [sic] who as you know resides in England, living an exemplary life of great benefit to the Catholics of that kingdom, has been aided through my orders by the Marquis of Flores and Don Alonso de Velasco, your predecessors, from the expense account of that Embassy, with three hundred reales monthly for her sustenance and that of her maidservants. And I have now resolved that this amount should not only continue, but that she be given two hundred reales in addition from today’s date onward, for a total of five hundred reales monthly. I order you to ensure that she receive this sum punctually during all the time that she remains in that kingdom. And when you depart from there, that you inform whoever is left in your stead and succeeds you in the Embassy, to continue giving this help of five hundred reales monthly to the said Doña Luisa, without waiting for another order from me, for I so will it. In Madrid, March 21, 1613. I, the King Juan de Ciriza225

225. Juan de Ciriza was the personal secretary of Philip III. He was named secretary of state and war in 1610, and awarded the title of Marquis of Montejaso in 1628.

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Index Abad, Camilo María, S.J., 4n10, 5n12, 19, 28, 30, 36, 37, 49, 50, 111, 113n9, 115n10, 125n135, 130n46, 135n52, 149n69, 153, 177, 201, 202, 207, 209n15, 210n18, 215n26, 226, 229n58, 230n63, 254n116, 255n118, 260n122, 343n215, 344n220, 345, 346n224 Aers, David, 32–33 Alba, Duke of, 90, 103n233 Albert of Austria, Archduke of the Netherlands, 48, 60, 68n160, 201, 210, 225n50, 229n56, 229n58, 236n80, 254 Almazán, I Marquis of, and Count of Monteagudo, Francisco Hurtado de Mendoza, 2, 16, 22, 51, 79n188, 121, 125, 130–131, 133, 134–140, 142–150 Almazán, Marquise of, Ana María de Cárdenas y Velasco, 22, 25–27, 35, 125, 127–128, 132, 134, 136n55, 142–145 ambassadors, 5, 14, 50n114, 56, 70, 71, 74, 75, 77,78, 106, 242, 280 see also embassies, Almazán, Marquis of, Gondomar, Velasco, Zúñiga Ana de Jesús, 73, 75, 235, 243–244, 342–343 Anne of Denmark, 218–219, 223–225, 291–292, 302 Ayllón, Isabel de, 22, 24–26, 113n9, 118–122, 123–130, 132, 150 Baranda Leturio, Nieves, 5n12, 12n30, 50n114, 51n116 Bradburn-Ruster, Michael, 40n96 Brey Mariño, María, 4, 50

Bynum, Caroline Walker, 32–33, 39n93, 79–81 Calderón, Rodrigo, Count of La Oliva and Marquis of Siete Iglesias, 52, 60n138, 63–65, 84, 98–102, 108, 202, 232, 252, 254, 259, 288, 294, 301, 321 letters to, 304, 309, 313, 329, 337, 345 Canterbury, Archbishop of, George Abbot, 88, 90, 282, 287, 335, 336, 342, 345, 348 Caracena, Marquis of, Luis Carrillo de Toledo, 51, 76–77, 89, 99, 125n37, 128, 145, 204, 277, 317 Caracena, Marquise of, Isabel de Velasco, see Velasco, Isabel de. Caruth, Cathy, 31n73 Carvajal, Alonso de, 49, 51, 53, 118n14, 129n44, 202, 206, 207n20, 260, 308, 319 letters to, 260, 263, 324 Carvajal, Francisco de, 17–18, 112 Carvajal y Mendoza, Luisa de, 1, 18 adolescence, 25–35 aristocratic privilege, 15–17, 20, 34, 60, 66, 92, 93, 101, 106, 108–109 beatification, 3n6, 6n13, 28n65, 38n90, 51, 56, 92, 97, 101, 103–108, 217 Información summaria, 108 Interrogatorio, 56–57 see also Doyega de Mendieta childhood, 2, 17–25, 111–117 corporal discipline, see discipline dowry, 13, 13n34, 117

365

366 Index

imprisonment, 75, 244–251, 342–345 lawsuit, 13, 48, 49, 53, 55, 58–61, 204, 205, 207, 213, 292n167, 239, 240 martyrdom, desires for, 5, 17, 48–49, 54–59, 61–62, 70, 82, 85, 91–92, 97, 101, 107, 108, 109, 191 passport to England, 63–66 prayers, requested by, 14, 89, 93, 202, 215, 216, 218, 220, 222, 230, 257, 262, 266, 272, 277, 292, 319 requested from, 2, 99, 243, 259, 261 said by, 22, 27, 106, 120, 126–127, 136, 218, 221 preaching in Cheapside, 74, 75, 244 refusal to marry, 1, 2, 5, 11, 17, 35, 149–150 vows, 48–49, 54, 57–58, 61–62, 70, 134–135, 137, 149, 215n26, 217, 266 will and testament, 14, 61, 93, 100–101, 102 will, strength of, 15, 20, 27, 36, 52, 53, 74, 92, 93, 139–140, 187 writings autobiography, 9–10, 13–14, 18–20, 26, 30, 54, 104, 109, 111–152 correspondence, 2, 5, 19, 22, 48–75, 113n7, 201–350 poetry, spiritual, 3–4, 5, 19, 26, 35–48, 153–199 Cecil, Robert, Earl of Salisbury, 226, 235, 237, 267, 291, 299, 307 Convent of the Descalzas Reales, 20, 23n54, 43–44 see also Juana of Austria Convent of the Encarnación, 3n6, 6n13, 37, 50, 98, 101–103,106, 107, 108, 201, 216, 285n149



see also Margarita of Austria, Mariana de San José Convent of Portacoeli, 60, 99–100, 101, 309 see also Calderón, Rodrigo correspondence, 201–203; see also letters to, Calderón, Rodrigo; Carvajal, Alonso de; Creswell, Joseph; Inés de la Asunción; Lerma, Duke of; Magdalena de San Jerónimo; Mariana de San José; Zúñiga, Pedro de; see Philip II, letter from Creswell, Joseph, 52, 54n124, 75, 77, 78, 88, 202, 259, 270, 347 letters to, 231, 239, 244, 273, 286, 293, 297, 329n200 discipline, penitential, 2, 22, 25–35, 38, 113n7, 132, 137, 139–141, 147–151 flagellation, 30n69, 31, 151–152 imitation of Christ’s Passion, 31–32 penitence, gendered, 28, 29–30, 32, 131, 137, 144 trauma, caused by, 30–31, 31n73 Dolan, Frances E., 73, 75 Doyega y Mendieta, Dr. Juan, 56, 107 Eire, Carlos, 31n74, 81, 94n217 Elizabeth I of England, 59, 68, 101n231, 210–211, 212, 214, 224, 242n92, 246, 248, 268, 269 embassies, Flemish, 89, 242, 243n94, 287n155, 293, 320, 322 Venetian, 89, 90, 274, 293, 296, 320 Spanish, 17, 73, 97, 217n32, 220n37, 282n145, 284n147, 317, 320, 324, 329, 337, 350

Index 367 England, 1, 2, 5, 16, 17, 19, 37, 48, 51, 54, 58–59, 61, 66–71 see also Gunpowder Plot English Catholics, 1, 60, 68, 69, 79, 93, 98, 202 English enterprise, 1n1, 55, 58, 59–61, 68, 94 English language, 70, 71, 94–96, 217, 221, 289 English martyrs, 54, 82, 84, 85, 88, 97, 101, 276 Campion, Edmund, 56 see also Garnet, Henry and Garnet, Thomas Jails, 52, 247, 336 Clink, 276, 290, 295, 301, 303 Gatehouse, 252, 276, 294, 298, 301 Newgate, 275, 277, 278n140, 280, 282, 284, 290, 294, 301, 304 White Lion, 232 Jesuits, English, 1n1, 13–14, 54, 59, 60, 61, 63–64, 67, 69, 73, 100–101, 211, 231, 298n172, 330 legal statutes, 74, 208n72, 232, 250, 275, 276, 280, 290, 295, 299, 303n182 English College of Saint Alban (Valladolid), 1n1, 3n6, 13, 15, 54, 59, 63, 66, 94, 96–97, 254 English College of Seville, 37, 67, 94, 105 English Novitiate, Louvain, 67, 98, 100 Escorial, El, 81, 122, 148n68 feigned saints, 33, 33n79–80, María de la Visitación, 55, 55n126 Franciscan order, 23, 106, 113, 114, 115, 118, 303

Garnet, Henry, 67–69, 70, 78, 221n43, 224n48, 233, 341 Garnet, Thomas, 78, 251, 255 Gondomar, Count of, Diego Sarmiento de Acuña, 6n13, 15, 67n154, 90, 91, 97, 98, 267n130, 324, 329, 333n207, 337 González Marañón, Jesús, 4, 37, 38, 50 see also Abad Gunpowder Plot, 1, 67, 68, 69, 215n25, 217n32, 218, 220n38, 221n43, 223, 224n48, 229n59, 233, 291n162 Haliczer, Stephen, 33, 34n81 Henstock, Christopher, 5n10, 13n36, 37n85, 40n96, 50n113, 52n118 humoral theory, 123, 123n32, 147n66 Inés de la Asunción, 51, 61, 62, 63n148, 75, 77, 79, 201, 202, 208, 213 letters to, 219, 265 Isabel Clara Eugenia, Archduchess of the Netherlands, 2, 21, 22, 48, 50, 51, 52, 58, 68, 118n16, 204n2, 210, see also Albert of Austria claim to English throne, 59, 68 Isabel de la Cruz, 62n144, 79, 208, 220n39, 222 James I and VI, 67, 68, 69, 74, 91, 223, 281n143, 300n174, 303, 306n185, 330, 331 Juan de la Cruz, 40, 41–43, 47, 107, 179n16, 199n30, 270 Juana of Austria, 20, 21, 118 Lazure, Guy, 81

368 Index Lerma, Duke of, 52, 60, 63, 84, 91, 92, 101, 254, 259, 282n145, 310n188 letter to, 347 Magdalena de San Jerónimo, 14, 15, 50, 50n114, 51, 51n115, 58–61, 69–72, 75, 101, 102, 201, 202, 255, 258, 293, 344n220 letters to, 209, 214, 223, 226, 228, 235, 243 Maravall, José Antonio, 16 Margarita of Austria, 51n116, 106, 192, 251, 285n149 Mariana de San José, 10n24, 37, 51, 56n130, 66n152, 70, 72–73, 75, 78, 103–106, 107–108, 201, 220n36, 266, 267, 319 letters to, 216, 255 Martz, Louis, 44 Mendoza family, 2, 16, 17, 18, 22 see also Almazán, Caracena, Carvajal Hurtado de Mendoza, Francisco, Almazán, I Marquis of, see Almazán, I Marquis of Hurtado de Mendoza, Francisco, Almazán, II Marquis of, 125n37 Hurtado de Mendoza, Juan, Lord of Almazán and Count of Monteagudo, 17, 131, 131n48 Hurtado de Mendoza, María, 123, 125n37, 126, 127, 128, 132 Mendoza y Pacheco, Luisa de, 220, 270, 297 Mendoza y Pacheco, María de, 17, 17n43, 19–20, 111–113, 116–117 Miranda, Count of, 60, 62, 63, 64 Miranda, Countess of, 36, 51, 61 Moriscos, expulsion of, 51 Muir, Edward, 31

Muñoz, Luis, 3, 3n6, 27, 36, 37, 38n89–90, 62, 105, 153 Pando Canteli, María J., 52, 52n119 Park, Katharine, 82, 83 peace treaties, 67, 68, 70n165, 92, 214, 235, 235n79 Persons, Robert, 1n1, 60, 61, 67, 68, 70, 100–101, 231, 240n86, 258n120, 269 Philip II, 2, 20n51, 23n54, 31n74, 48, 53, 54, 81, 118n16, 204, 231n68 see also El Escorial Philip III, 12n32, 13, 15, 54, 60, 67, 68, 77, 91, 97, 98, 101, 106, 204, 229, 236n80, 242, 254n117, 282n145, 285n148, 302n179–180, 306, 312n190, 333n206, 347 letter from, 350 Philip IV, 56n130, 104, 105, 106, 302n180 Pinillos Iglesias, María Nieves, 4n20, 22n53, 113n9 Pollard, Henry, 37, 105 Ponte, Lorenzo da, S.J., 75, 76, 90, 244, 258 popes Paul V, 60, 229, 296 Urban VIII, 103, 104, 105–106, 108 pursuivants, 89, 221, 249, 275, 278n140, 280, 282, 297, 299–301, 317, 321, 336 Quirós, Leonor de, 36n85, 51, 61 Redworth, Glyn, 13n33, 29, 30, 50n113, 67, 69n162 relic, Carvajal’s body as, 97–102, 104, 310 relics, commercialization, 83–84 cult of, 51, 78–83

Index 369

relics, preparation of, 53, 78–87, 88–89, 228, 297 residences, Luisa de Carvajal’s Almazán, 2n3, 22, 49, 53, 79, 122–127 London, 5, 7, 12, 13–14, 36, 49, 52, 59, 66–71, 71–78, 90–92, see also England Madrid, 2, 7, 18, 35, 36, 48, 49, 51, 53, 55, 62n144, 118–122 Monteagudo, 123 Pamplona, 2n3, 25–27, 35, 36, 54, 130–134, 146 Spitalfields, 89, 217n32, 287, 293, 317, 321, 336, 341, 343 Valladolid, 13, 15, 35, 36, 47, 49, 51, 59, 60, 62n144, 207n11, 213, 220n30, 222, 231 Rhodes, Elizabeth, 29, 203n1 Rodríguez Moñino, Antonio, 4, 50 Sandoval y Rojas, Bernardo de, Archbishop of Toledo, 12, 60, 112n3 Sandoval y Rojas, Francisco de, see Lerma, Duke of Serrano y Sanz, Manuel, 3, 4n7 Teresa of Ávila, 4, 5, 8, 10–12, 51n117, 66, 93, 103n233, 106, 127n42, 235 Book of Her Life, 3n5, 10–11, 290 corpse, 81, 98 poetry of, 40, 45–46, 155n2, 313n192 Vargas, Inés de, 63n149, 99, 232n69, 252n113, 254, 311n189 see also Calderón, Rodrigo Vargas y Carvajal, Gutierre, Bishop of Plasencia, 18, 18n44–45 Vaux family, 224, 298n172, 299, 305

Velasco, Alonso de, Count of la Revilla, 14, 86, 87, 89, 91n212, 265–266, 267, 270–271, 272, 273, 277, 287, 320, 337, 350 Velasco y Mendoza, Isabel de, Marquise of Caracena, 36–37, 50, 51, 53–54, 85, 88, 89, 123, 125n37, 128, 145n64, 179, 277 see also Caracena, Marquis of letters to, 203, 319 Vierio, Francisco, 107, 107n243, 108 Vollendorf, Lisa, 5n11 Walpole, Christopher, 15, 66, 69 Walpole, Henry, 3n5, 54n124, 56 Walpole, Michael, 3, 3n5–6, 10n24, 11, 13–14, 15, 15n38, 18, 30, 37, 66–67, 70, 93–94, 105, 112n5, 230n64, 240, 241, 257, 268, 290n160, 346nn224 Walpole, Richard, 13n34, 220, 239 Ward, Mary, 89 Zamudio, Ana María de, 50, 209, 213, 243 see also embassies, Flemish Zamudio, Beatriz, see Magdalena de San Jerónimo Zúñiga, Pedro de, Marquis of Flores, 70, 72, 76, 86, 87, 91n212, 202, 216, 226, 232, 233, 237, 239, 240, 242, 248, 253, 258, 262, 264, 266, 267, 272, 293, 306, 313, 316, 321, 333n206, 334, 341 letter to, 277