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Autobiography and Other Writings

Edited and Translated by Darcy Donahue
Ana de San Bartolomé (1549–1626), a contemporary and close associate of St. Teresa of Ávila, typifies the curious blend of religious activism and spiritual forcefulness that characterized the first generation of Discalced, or reformed Carmelites. Known for their austerity and ethics, their convents quickly spread throughout Spain and, under Ana’s guidance, also to France and the Low Countries. Constantly embroiled in disputes with her male superiors, Ana quickly became the most vocal and visible of these mystical women and the most fearless of the guardians of the Carmelite Constitution, especially after Teresa’s death.

Her autobiography, clearly inseparable from her religious vocation, expresses the tensions and conflicts that often accompanied the lives of women whose relationship to the divine endowed them with an authority at odds with the temporary powers of church and state. Last translated into English in 1916, Ana’s writings give modern readers fascinating insights into the nature of monastic life during the highly charged religious and political climate of late-sixteenth- and early-seventeenth-century Spain.

196 pages | 6 x 9 | © 2008

The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe

Biography and Letters

History: European History

Literature and Literary Criticism: Romance Languages

Religion: Christianity

Women's Studies

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Series Editors' Introduction

Volume Editors' Introduction

Volume Editors' Bibliography

Note on Translation

Autobiography of Ana de San Bartolomé

Appendixes

A. "An Account of the Foundation at Burgos"
B. "Prayer in Abandonment"
C. Chronology of the Life of Ana de San Bartolomé

Series Editors' Bibliography

Index

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