Gender and Exemplarity in Medieval and Early Modern Spain

Gender and Exemplarity in Medieval and Early Modern Spain gathers a series of studies on the interplay between gender, sanctity and exemplarity in regard to literary production in the Iberian peninsula. The first section examines how women were con¬strued as saintly examples through narratives, mostly composed by male writers; the second focuses on the use made of exemplary life-accounts by women writers in order to fashion their own social identity and their role as authors. The volume includes studies on relevant models (Mary Magdalen, Virgin Mary, living saints), means of transmission, sponsorship and agency (reading circles, print, patronage), and female writers (Leonor López de Córdoba, Isabel de Villena, Teresa of Ávila) involved in creating textual exemplars for women. Contributors are: Pablo Acosta-García, Andrew M. Beresford, Jimena Gamba Corradine, Ryan D. Giles, María Morrás, Lesley K. Twomey, Roa Vidal Doval, and Christopher van Ginhoven Rey. Preface / Yonsoo Kim and Rebeca Sanmartín Bastida ix Abbreviations x Notes on Contributors xi Introduction: Saints Textual: Embodying Female Exemplarity in Spanish Literature / María Morrás 1 Part 1. Rewriting Models 1. Hagiography, Corporeality, and the Gaze: Sexual/Ascetic Tension in the 'Vida de Santa María Egipciaca' / Andrew M. Beresford 43 2. Under Suspicion: Mary Magdalene in Late Medieval Castile, Virtuous and Illustrious? / María Morrás 75 3. Discernment of Spirits and Spiritual Authority: The 'Tractatus de vita spirituali' and Its Afterlife / Rosa Vidal Doval 112 4. Women Prophets for a New World: Angela of Foligno, 'Living Saints', and the Religious Reform Movement in Cardinal Cisneros’s Castile / Pablo Acosta-García 136 5. Models of Female Spirituality in Sixteenth-century Spain: Women Accused of Lutheranism / Jimena Gamba Corradine 163 Part 2. Inscribing Models 6. 'No hay quien vele a Alonso': 'Imitatio Mariae' and the Problem of Conversion in Leonor López de Córdoba’s 'Memorias' / Ryan D. Giles 193 7. Speaking of Heaven in Conventual Women’s Writing (Constanza de Castilla, Teresa de Cartagena, Isabel de Villena, and Teresa de Jesús) / Lesley K. Twomey 212 8. Torn to Pieces: Textual Destruction in Teresa de Jesús’s 'Vida' / Christopher van Ginhoven Rey 252 Index 283 "Gender and Exemplarity in Medieval and Early Modern Spain gathers a series of studies on the interplay between gender, sanctity and exemplarity in regard to literary production in the Iberian peninsula. The first section examines how women were construed as saintly examples through narratives, mostly composed by male writers; the second focuses on the use made of exemplary life-accounts by women writers in order to fashion their own social identity and their role as authors. The volume includes studies on relevant models (Mary Magdalen, Virgin Mary, living saints), means of transmission, sponsorship and agency (reading circles, print, patronage), and female writers (Leonor López de Córdoba, Isabel de Villena, Teresa of Ávila) involved in creating textual exemplars for women. Contributors are: Pablo Acosta-García, Andy Beresford, Jimena Gamba Corradine, Ryan D. Giles, María Morrás, Lesley Towmey, Roa Vidal Doval, and Christopher van Ginhoven"-- Provided by publisher Gender and Exemplarity in Medieval and Early Modern Spain gathers a series of studies on the interplay between gender, sanctity and exemplarity in regard to literary production in the Iberian peninsula. The first section examines how women were construed as saintly examples through narratives, mostly composed by male writers; the second focuses on the use made of exemplary life-accounts by women writers in order to fashion their own social identity and their role as authors. The volume includes studies on relevant models (Mary Magdalen, Virgin Mary, living saints), means of transmission, sponsorship and agency (reading circles, print, patronage), and female writers (Leonor Lpez de Crdoba, Isabel de Villena, Teresa of vila) involved in creating textual exemplars for women. Contributors are: Pablo Acosta-Garca , Andrew M. Beresford , Jimena Gamba Corradine , Ryan D. Giles , Mara Morrs , Lesley K. Twomey , Roa Vidal Doval , and Christopher van Ginhoven Rey .