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

by Redworth, Glyn

• ISBN13: 9780199571222
• ISBN10: 0199571228
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-05-08
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Before dawn one morning in June 1612, an elderly Frenchman took charge of a carriage carrying a precious cargo near Tyburn Fields, London's notorious place of execution. It was heading for a house in Spitalfields, where a wizened Spanish woman was waiting to receive the mortal remains offreshly-martyred Catholic priests. Her name was Luisa de Carvajal and this book tells her story. Born into a great Spanish noble family, Luisa suffered a horribly abusive childhood and from her early years hankered to become a martyr for her faith. For almost 20 years she struggled to become possibly the first female missionary of modern times. In 1605 - the year of the Gunpowder Plot - she was secreted into England by the Jesuits, despite the fact that she spoke not a word of English. To everyone's surprise including her own, she steadily assumed a prominent role within London's underground Catholic community, setting up an unofficialnunnery, offering Roman priests a secure place to live, consoling prisoners awaiting execution, importing banned books, and helping persecuted Catholics to flee abroad. Throughout this time she ran the grave risk of imprisonment and execution, yet she miraculously managed to avoid this ultimate fatein 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. In parts humorous, thebook contains Luisa's biting 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 taught at Oxford University for several years and was a research fellow at Christ Church before moving to the University of Manchester. Closely associated with the Institute of History in Madrid, he has spent several years in Spain researching Luisa's life. He has published widely on sixteenth and early seventeenth century religious and political history, including In Defence of the Church Catholic: The Life of Stephen Gardiner and The Prince and the Infanta: The Cultural Politics of the Spanish Match.

Table of Contents

List of Plates	p. xi
Picture Acknowledgements	p. xiii
Introduction: 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
Appendix: 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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