La Beata de Piedrahita
Encyclopedia
Sister María de Santo Domingo, "La Beata de Piedrahita" ("the "holy woman of Piedrahíta
") was a Spanish
mystic
(born ca. 1485 — died ca. 1524) of the early 16th century.
. According to her contemporaries, this peasant visionary, who was the daughter of devout farmers, spent her childhood doing charitable works and spending long hours in prayer.
Piedrahíta
, near Ávila, where the Inquisitor General Torquemada had gone to live in the Dominican monastery, was María's spiritual home. As a young woman, she became a tertiary sister
in the same Dominican order
in Piedrahita that had fostered the young Torquemada, taking the name María de Santo Domingo. She was what in Spain at that time was termed a beata, that is to say, an unmarried woman who was not a nun, but who quested after holiness by taking vows of chastity and often of poverty. Soon she transferred to Ávila.
María's charisma
tic personality expressed itself in numerous revelations, in which she held celestial converse with the Virgin Mary and the Savior. She informed her contemporaries that Christ
was with her, that she was Christ , and that she was Christ's bride, a concept that offers parallels with her neighbor in Ávila, Saint Teresa of Ávila
. For hours she would remain in an ecstatic trance, unmoving, her arms and legs rigidly extended, dissolving herself in the arms of the Deity. Though unlearned she was reputed to be the equal of the most sophisticated theologians, her supernatural lights easily compensating for her lack of schooling. At Ávila, Diego Magdaleno, Provincial of the Dominicans sent her to Toledo to inspect the Orders houses there and initiate ascetic reforms, a move that was still shocking in its inherent impropriety to the Dominican historian Beltrán in 1939.
News of her deeds reached Ferdinand II of Aragon
, who summoned her to his court at Burgos, where she stayed during the season of 1507-08, impressing king and courtiers and meeting Cardinal Cisneros. However, she confounded and scandalised many of her contemporaries, who denounced her as a self-seeking fraud and labeled her ecstatic behavior "lascivious". Some theologians, including the new Master General of the Dominicans, Thomas Cajetan
, suspected that she was inspired by the devil rather than God, and restricted her access to the friars of Santo Domingo, who were agitating for ascetic reform in the Dominican Order and for whom she was spokesperson; the Duke of Alba, one of whose palaces faced the monastery at Ávila, took a patron's interest in the affair. Serious charges were made regarding her orthodoxy, culminating in four trials between 1508 and 1510.
Three influential patrons, the Duke of Alba, his cousin King Ferdinand and Cardinal Cisneros, recently regent of Castile, convinced the episcopal hierarchy that La Beata enjoyed a special inspiration available to very few; their support was largely responsible for the failure of her critics to bring about her downfall as a heretic
. She was absolved of the charges and her life and doctrine pronounced exemplary. La Beata went on to rule as prioress in a convent founded especially for her by the Duke of Alba in her native village in central Castile
. Jodi Bilinkoff has demonstrated that her pronouncements and actions helped the establishment consolidate power, endorsed their policies and reinforced their sense of identity.
Her Book of Prayer, stream-of-consciousness utterances that were transcribed by Antonio de la Peña and her apologist Diego Victoria, was printed around 1518. It was thought that all copies had been lost, but a copy was discovered in Zaragoza
and a facsimile edition published in Madrid
(1948). An English translation appeared in 1992.
The name of alumbrados
("illuminati"), says the orthodox Catholic Encyclopedia
(1907-1914), was assumed by some 16th century Spanish "false mystics" who claimed — like La Beata de Piedrahíta — to have a direct connection with God. "They held that the human soul can reach such a degree of perfection that it contemplates even in the present life the essence of God and comprehends the mystery of the Trinity. All external worship, they declared, is superfluous, the reception of the sacraments useless, and sin impossible in this state of complete union with Him Who is Perfection Itself. Carnal desires may be indulged and other sinful actions committed freely without staining the soul." There is no evidence, however, that La Beata shared such views, and the Catholic Encyclopedia cautions that although La Beata de Piedrahíta "is cited among the early adherents of these errors...it is not certain that she was guilty of heresy". Furthermore, many recent scholars, like Álvaro Huerga, question, on chronological and other grounds, the tendency to consider La Beata de Piedrahíta one of the alumbrados, placing her rather among the "pre-alumbrados"
La Beata was not alone. At Toledo, Isabel de la Cruz actively proselytized, and Magdalena de la Cruz
, a Poor Clare of Aguilar, near Córdoba
, was even more famous. The Inquisition
, however, convinced the latter to abjure her heretical errors in 1546. Their ideas found wide responses among Spanish Catholics, though the Inquisition proceeded with relentless energy against all suspects, citing before its tribunal even St. John of Avila
and St. Ignatius of Loyola
.
Piedrahíta
Piedrahíta is a municipality located in the province of Ávila, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 2,024 inhabitants. More info: http://www.piedrahita.tk...
") was a Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
mystic
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
(born ca. 1485 — died ca. 1524) of the early 16th century.
Life
María was born in the village of Aldeanueva de Santa CruzAldeanueva de Santa Cruz
Aldeanueva de Santa Cruz is a municipality located in the province of Ávila, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 172 inhabitants....
. According to her contemporaries, this peasant visionary, who was the daughter of devout farmers, spent her childhood doing charitable works and spending long hours in prayer.
Piedrahíta
Piedrahíta
Piedrahíta is a municipality located in the province of Ávila, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 2,024 inhabitants. More info: http://www.piedrahita.tk...
, near Ávila, where the Inquisitor General Torquemada had gone to live in the Dominican monastery, was María's spiritual home. As a young woman, she became a tertiary sister
Third order
The term Third Order designates persons who live according to the Third Rule of a Roman Catholic religious order, an Anglican religious order, or a Lutheran religious order. Their members, known as Tertiaries, are generally lay members of religious orders, i.e...
in the same Dominican order
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
in Piedrahita that had fostered the young Torquemada, taking the name María de Santo Domingo. She was what in Spain at that time was termed a beata, that is to say, an unmarried woman who was not a nun, but who quested after holiness by taking vows of chastity and often of poverty. Soon she transferred to Ávila.
María's charisma
Charisma
The term charisma has two senses: 1) compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others, 2) a divinely conferred power or talent. For some theological usages the term is rendered charism, with a meaning the same as sense 2...
tic personality expressed itself in numerous revelations, in which she held celestial converse with the Virgin Mary and the Savior. She informed her contemporaries that Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
was with her, that she was Christ , and that she was Christ's bride, a concept that offers parallels with her neighbor in Ávila, Saint Teresa of Ávila
Teresa of Ávila
Saint Teresa of Ávila, also called Saint Teresa of Jesus, baptized as Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada, was a prominent Spanish mystic, Roman Catholic saint, Carmelite nun, and writer of the Counter Reformation, and theologian of contemplative life through mental prayer...
. For hours she would remain in an ecstatic trance, unmoving, her arms and legs rigidly extended, dissolving herself in the arms of the Deity. Though unlearned she was reputed to be the equal of the most sophisticated theologians, her supernatural lights easily compensating for her lack of schooling. At Ávila, Diego Magdaleno, Provincial of the Dominicans sent her to Toledo to inspect the Orders houses there and initiate ascetic reforms, a move that was still shocking in its inherent impropriety to the Dominican historian Beltrán in 1939.
News of her deeds reached Ferdinand II of Aragon
Ferdinand II of Aragon
Ferdinand the Catholic was King of Aragon , Sicily , Naples , Valencia, Sardinia, and Navarre, Count of Barcelona, jure uxoris King of Castile and then regent of that country also from 1508 to his death, in the name of...
, who summoned her to his court at Burgos, where she stayed during the season of 1507-08, impressing king and courtiers and meeting Cardinal Cisneros. However, she confounded and scandalised many of her contemporaries, who denounced her as a self-seeking fraud and labeled her ecstatic behavior "lascivious". Some theologians, including the new Master General of the Dominicans, Thomas Cajetan
Thomas Cajetan
Thomas Cajetan , also known as Gaetanus, commonly Tommaso de Vio , was an Italian cardinal. He is perhaps best known among Protestants for his opposition to the teachings of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation while he was the Pope's Legate in Wittenberg, and perhaps best known among...
, suspected that she was inspired by the devil rather than God, and restricted her access to the friars of Santo Domingo, who were agitating for ascetic reform in the Dominican Order and for whom she was spokesperson; the Duke of Alba, one of whose palaces faced the monastery at Ávila, took a patron's interest in the affair. Serious charges were made regarding her orthodoxy, culminating in four trials between 1508 and 1510.
Three influential patrons, the Duke of Alba, his cousin King Ferdinand and Cardinal Cisneros, recently regent of Castile, convinced the episcopal hierarchy that La Beata enjoyed a special inspiration available to very few; their support was largely responsible for the failure of her critics to bring about her downfall as a heretic
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
. She was absolved of the charges and her life and doctrine pronounced exemplary. La Beata went on to rule as prioress in a convent founded especially for her by the Duke of Alba in her native village in central Castile
Castile (historical region)
A former kingdom, Castile gradually merged with its neighbours to become the Crown of Castile and later the Kingdom of Spain when united with the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Navarre...
. Jodi Bilinkoff has demonstrated that her pronouncements and actions helped the establishment consolidate power, endorsed their policies and reinforced their sense of identity.
Her Book of Prayer, stream-of-consciousness utterances that were transcribed by Antonio de la Peña and her apologist Diego Victoria, was printed around 1518. It was thought that all copies had been lost, but a copy was discovered in Zaragoza
Zaragoza
Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...
and a facsimile edition published in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
(1948). An English translation appeared in 1992.
The name of alumbrados
Alumbrados
The Alumbrados was a term used to loosely describe practitioners of a mystical form of Christianity in Spain during the 15th-16th centuries. Some alumbrados were only mildly heterodox, but others held views that were clearly heretical...
("illuminati"), says the orthodox Catholic Encyclopedia
Catholic Encyclopedia
The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia and the Original Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language encyclopedia published in the United States. The first volume appeared in March 1907 and the last three volumes appeared in 1912, followed by a master index...
(1907-1914), was assumed by some 16th century Spanish "false mystics" who claimed — like La Beata de Piedrahíta — to have a direct connection with God. "They held that the human soul can reach such a degree of perfection that it contemplates even in the present life the essence of God and comprehends the mystery of the Trinity. All external worship, they declared, is superfluous, the reception of the sacraments useless, and sin impossible in this state of complete union with Him Who is Perfection Itself. Carnal desires may be indulged and other sinful actions committed freely without staining the soul." There is no evidence, however, that La Beata shared such views, and the Catholic Encyclopedia cautions that although La Beata de Piedrahíta "is cited among the early adherents of these errors...it is not certain that she was guilty of heresy". Furthermore, many recent scholars, like Álvaro Huerga, question, on chronological and other grounds, the tendency to consider La Beata de Piedrahíta one of the alumbrados, placing her rather among the "pre-alumbrados"
La Beata was not alone. At Toledo, Isabel de la Cruz actively proselytized, and Magdalena de la Cruz
Magdalena de la Cruz
Magdalena de la Cruz was a Franciscan nun of Córdoba in Spain, who for many years was honored as a saint. However, St. Ignatius Loyola had always regarded her with suspicion. Falling dangerously ill in 1543, Magdalena confessed to a long career of hypocrisy, ascribing most of the marvels to the...
, a Poor Clare of Aguilar, near Córdoba
Córdoba, Spain
-History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...
, was even more famous. The Inquisition
Inquisition
The Inquisition, Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis , was the "fight against heretics" by several institutions within the justice-system of the Roman Catholic Church. It started in the 12th century, with the introduction of torture in the persecution of heresy...
, however, convinced the latter to abjure her heretical errors in 1546. Their ideas found wide responses among Spanish Catholics, though the Inquisition proceeded with relentless energy against all suspects, citing before its tribunal even St. John of Avila
John of Avila
Saint John of Ávila, Apostle of Andalusia was a Roman Catholic priest, Spanish preacher, scholastic author, religious mystic and saint...
and St. Ignatius of Loyola
Ignatius of Loyola
Ignatius of Loyola was a Spanish knight from a Basque noble family, hermit, priest since 1537, and theologian, who founded the Society of Jesus and was its first Superior General. Ignatius emerged as a religious leader during the Counter-Reformation...
.
External links
Further reading
- Suirtz, Ronald E. Writing Women in Late Medieval and Early Modern Spain: The Mothers of Saint Teresa of Avila (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press) 1995. María de Santo Domingo examined in the context of five Castilian beatas of the fifteenth and sixteenth century, advocates of spiritual reform.