The She-Apostle The Extraordinary Life and Death of Luisa de Carvajal

by Redworth, Glyn

• ISBN13: 9780199533534
• ISBN10: 0199533539
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-11-15
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Here is the full-length biography of Luisa de Carvajal (1568-1614), possibly the first female missionary of modern times. Born into a great Spanish family, Luisa suffered an abusive childhood, dreamt of martyrdom for the Catholic Church and smuggled herself into England in the year of the Gunpowder Plot. The book explores her courageous intrigues on behalf of the Catholic cause in Protestant England, from distributing banned books to preserving and distributing the bodily remains of executed priests. She risked imprisonment and execution for these activities, a fate she miraculously managed to avoid in spite of being arrested on a number of occasions. This vividly written biography, the first to give equal treatment to her double life in Spain and England, is based on Luisa's own autobiographical writings, her sparkling collection of poems and letters, and the detailed reminiscences by dozens of people who worked with her. The book contains Luisa's biting--and often humorous--descriptions of the cost of living in Shakespeare's London, the poor quality of food in the capital, as well as the weekend rowdiness of the English.

Author Biography

Glyn Redworth is a Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Manchester and the author of In Defense of the Church Catholic: The Life of Stephen Gardiner.

Table of Contents

List of Plates
The Last House in London	p. 1
A Carvajal and a Mendoza	p. 6
Blessed Discipline	p. 19
Toledo Street	p. 34
'Sweet Manacles'	p. 48
New Ways of Living	p. 62
Generation of Vipers	p. 71
The She-Apostle	p. 86
The Most Extraordinary Journey	p. 96
Treason and Plot	p. 110
Carrots, Capons, and Plague	p. 125
Grand India	p. 135
Sovereign Virgin	p. 148
Broken English	p. 160
Fashionable and Modest	p. 175
Pears and The Last Supper	p. 188
Oran	p. 199
The Siege of Spitalfields	p. 214
Afterword	p. 226
Three Poems	p. 229
Note on Sources	p. 234
Abbreviations	p. 236
Notes	p. 238
Bibliography	p. 263
Index	p. 269
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