Nuns Navigating the Spanish Empire

208 Pages·2017·2.483 MB·English

by  Sarah E. Owens

Nuns Navigating the Spanish Empire
M
Diálogos Series
Kris Lane, Series Editor
Understanding Latin America demands dialogue, deep exploration, and frank dis-
cussion of key topics. Founded by Lyman L. Johnson in 1992 and edited since 2013 by
Kris Lane, the Diálogos Series focuses on innovative scholarship in Latin American
history and related fields. The series, the most successful of its type, includes special-
ist works accessible to a wide readership and a variety of thematic titles, all ideally
suited for classroom adoption by university and college teachers.
Also available in the Diálogos Series:
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by Ryan M. Alexander
The Pursuit of Ruins: Archaeology, History, and the Making of Modern Mexico
by Christina Bueno
Creating Charismatic Bonds in Argentina: Letters to Juan and Eva Perón
by Donna J. Guy
Gendered Crossings: Women and Migration in the Spanish Empire
by Allyson M. Poska
From Shipmates to Soldiers: Emerging Black Identities in the Río de la Plata
by Alex Borucki
Women Drug Traffickers: Mules, Bosses, and Organized Crime by Elaine Carey
Searching for Madre Matiana: Prophecy and Popular Culture in Modern Mexico
by Edward Wright-Rios
Africans into Creoles: Slavery, Ethnicity, and Identity in Colonial Costa Rica
by Russell Lohse
Native Brazil: Beyond the Convert and the Cannibal, 1500–1900 edited by Hal Langfur
Emotions and Daily Life in Colonial Mexico
edited by Javier Villa-Flores and Sonya Lipsett-Rivera
For additional titles in the Diálogos Series, please visit unmpress.com.
Nuns Navigating the
Spanish Empire
.
Sarah E. Owens
University of New Mexico Press \ Albuquerque
© 2017 by the University of New Mexico Press
All rights reserved. Published 2017
Printed in the United States of America
22 21 20 19 18 17 1 2 3 4 5 6
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data
is on file at the Library of Congress.
Cover illustration: Diego Velázquez, Sor Jerónima de la Fuente, 1620.
The Prado Museum, via Wikimedia Commons.
Composed in Minion Pro 10.25/13.5
For my parents, Miriam and Raymond Owens

Contents
.
List of Illustrations
ix
Acknowledgments
xi
Introduction
Unveiling the Manuscript
1
Chapter 1
Toledo to Cádiz
15
Chapter 2
Cádiz to Mexico
43
Chapter 3
The Manila Galleon
71
vii
viii contents
Chapter 4
The Convent in Manila
93
Chapter 5
Literacy and Inspirational Role Models
117
Epilogue
137
Notes
141
Glossary
169
Bibliography
173
Index
189
Illustrations
.
Table
Table 1 Founding nuns from Spain and Mexico 10
Maps
Map 1 The nuns’ transoceanic journey from Toledo to Manila 12
Map 2 The nuns’ journey across Spain 17
Map 3 The nuns’ journey across Mexico 53
Map 4 The final leg of the nuns’ journey to Manila 87
Figures
Figure 1 Sor Jerónima de la Fuente 2
Figure 2 Sample page from Sor Ana de Cristo’s manuscript 7
Figure 3 Sor Ana de Cristo’s signature 8
Figure 4 Inside patio of the Convent of Santa Isabel, Toledo 18
Figure 5 Friar Preaching to Native Americans 21
Figure 6 Polychrome sculpture of the Immaculate Conception 27
Figure 7 Madre Gerónima de Asunción 36
Figure 8 Map of Cádiz 46
ix