Cecilia del Nacimiento

In spite of the birth of the scientific revolution, 16th-century Europe was concerned predominantly with the relationship between man and God. Spain saw a burgeoning spiritual innovation, as ideas from northern Europe and Italy penetrated the Iberian Peninsula. The devotio moderna, a 14th-century reform movement that sought a return to a more primitive, authentic Christianity, galvanized the Spanish Court. Spiritual leaders such as Ignatius of Loyola, Luis de Granada, Pedro de Alcántara, Teresa de Ávila, and John of the Cross spread the new spirituality through their writings and foundations. The classic study of 16th-century Spanish mysticism, Peers 2002, covers the history and major elements of mysticism with excerpts from major mystical writers. Peers has been superseded by more recent scholars such as Pacho 2008, whose extensive analysis of Spanish mysticism focuses more on the spiritual and theological components and less on the literary aspects of mystical writing. By the early 17th century, interest in science and technology grew in northern Europe, although in Spain the monarchy repressed scientific inquiry and fomented works supporting religious orthodoxy. The cult of saints was encouraged, and the canonization of Teresa de Ávila produced countless imitators. Some convents became centers of intellectual activity, where nuns produced a plethora of Vidas (or spiritual memoirs) and poetry (Arenal and Schlau 2006, Haliczer 2002, Poutrin 1995). Increasing numbers of women claimed mystical enlightenment, causing alarm among Church authorities, who often attributed their experiences to female hysteria or demonic possession (Sluhovsky 2007). Although Teresa had faced the same kind of skepticism, by the 17th-century, the Spanish Inquisition had become even less tolerant of female mystics. Haliczer 2002 argues that the male-dominated church hierarchy saw the prestige conferred on women by mystical experience as a threat to their own authority. Many 17th-century Spanish female mystics passed into oblivion, either because they were overshadowed by Teresa de Ávila or because the Church downplayed or ignored their experiences. Although Cecilia del Nacimiento (b. 1570–d. 1646) was recognized for her spiritual perfection and literary achievements in her own time, after her death, she was virtually forgotten. However, burgeoning interest in early modern women mystics has led investigators to rediscover her writing. Cecilia was the daughter of Antonio Sobrino, secretary of the University of Valladolid and holder of several papal commissions, and the highly educated Cecilia Morillas, his wife and assistant. Nearly all their children entered religious life. The two daughters, Cecilia and her older sister María, both took vows at the Carmelite convent in Valladolid in 1589, and both became accomplished writers. In fact, they made the Valladolid Carmel into a beehive of artistic activity, where nuns wrote not only Vidas but also poetry, plays, and treatises and even composed music. An excellent administrator, Cecilia was ordered in 1600 to Calahorra to found a convent with Fray Tomás de Jesús. A controversial figure because of his missionary zeal, Fray Tomás brought the wrath of the Carmelite hierarchy not only on himself but also on her. Nevertheless, she was a highly effective prioress who inspired her nuns (Dobner 2011). Cecilia probably wrote her Canciones de la unión y trasformación del alma before leaving Valladolid, but her much praised Tratado de la Transformación del alma en Dios and Tratado de la union del alma con Dios were the product of the difficult years from 1600 to 1603. During this period, she also wrote a Vida, which relates her spiritual evolution from early childhood, but most of it has been lost. After returning to Valladolid, she enjoyed another highly fecund period (1629–1643). She died in 1646 after a flood made conditions in the convent of Valladolid unhealthy. Most of the bibliography on Cecilia del Nacimiento is quite specialized. General or teaching editions are marked as such.

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