Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Juana Inés de la Cruz


 

Juana Inés de la Cruz is considered to be among the very first, if not the first, feminists of the New World. Through her writing she was able to advocate for female equality in society, especially in education at a time when women were only meant to be seen and not heard.

In simple terms, Juana Inés de la Cruz was a Mexican writer, philosopher, composer and poet of the Baroque period, and Hieronymite nun. Her writings dealt with such topics as love, environmentalism, feminism, and religion.

To learn more about the woman who Stuart Murray calls a flame that rose from the ashes of “religious authoritarianism” here are the top 10 fascinating facts about Juana Inés de la Cruz;

1. Inés was born out of wedlock

Hacienda of Panoaya in Amecameca, residence of the Ramírez de Santillana family

Hacienda of Panoaya in Amecameca, residence of the Ramírez de Santillana family – Wikipedia

Inés was born on November 12, 1651 in San Miguel Neplantla, Mexico. She was the illegitimate child of Don Pedro Manuel de Asuaje y Vargas-Machuca, a Spanish officer, and Doña Isabel Ramírez de Santillana y Rendón,  a wealthy criolla.

In Hispanic America, criollo is a term used originally to describe people of Spanish descent born in the colonies. Just like her mother, Inés was also considered to be a criolla owing to her Spanish ancestry and Mexican birth.

Despite her father being completely absent from her life, Inés enjoyed a privileged childhood thanks to her maternal grandfather, who owned a very productive hacienda in Amecameca. She also never felt abandoned or lonely, thanks to her neighbours from the surrounding haciendas and to the numerous relatives who constantly visited their hacienda.

2. Inés was a very intelligent child

Portrait of Juana Inés de la Cruz

Portrait of Juana Inés de la Cruz with her works – Wikimedia Commons

No doubt we have all heard of Inés’ remarkable intellectual pursuits such as reading and writing Latin by the age of four, Greek by the age of eight and could do accounts by the age of five which are probably exaggerated, before coming for my head! Highlighting the word, probably. However, there is no shred of doubt that Inés was a very gifted intellectual, especially when you consider she educated herself in Greek and Latin, science, logic, and literature at relatively realistic ages.

At the age of 17 Inés’ intelligence was tested when several theologians, jurists, philosophers, and poets were invited to a meeting with the viceroy Marquis de Mancera, she had joined the court as a teenager to be a lady in waiting. During the meeting, Inés correctly answered many questions and clearly explained several difficult points on various scientific and literary subjects.

Everyone present was astonished and impressed by her vast knowledge, which spread throughout Mexico. She was greatly admired at the viceregal court.

3. Denied the chance for formal education

Old books on a shelf – Image by Gerhard from Pixabay

Inés grew up in a time when women’s intellectual capability was regarded as inferior to that of a man’s, hence limited rights for women. Some of these limited rights included education, which Inés was very passionate about and had to find a creative way of getting around this challenge.

As a child, Inés would frequently hide in the hacienda chapel to read her grandfather’s books from the adjoining library. These books enabled Inés to self educate herself in an array of field such as language; at age 13 Inés was teaching Latin to young children, poetry; Inés wrote her first poem at age eight on the Eucharist, and so much more.

At the age of 16, Inés asked her mother’s permission to disguise herself as a male student so that she could enter the university in Mexico. Sadly her mother declined the idea and as a result, Inés continued to pursue her education privately.

4. Inés was very passionate about learning

Statue of Sor Juana Inés in Madrid, Spain

Statue of Sor Juana Inés in Madrid, Spain – Wikipedia

Inés’ desire for knowledge is a theme that radiates brightly throughout the course of her life, as many of the choices she made were to enable her to pursue knowledge without being shunned by the society. Her desire for knowledge was very great that even at one point she shaved her hair in protest of how slowly she learned.   

In one passage, she explains why she cut off her hair.“It turned out that the hair grew quickly and I learned slowly. As a result, I cut off the hair in punishment for my head’s ignorance, for it didn’t seem right to me that a head so naked of knowledge should be dressed up with hair, for knowledge is a more desirable adornment,” — from The Reply to the Very Illustrious Sor Filotea de la Cruz, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz.

5. Marriage was an option that Inés did not consider

Rings depicting marriage by sandy Miller

Rings depicting marriage by sandy Miller – Unsplash

Inés was an independent thinker who did not conform to society norms. She declined marriage at a time when the end goal of many young women was to find a respectable man to be married to.

In 1664, at the age of 16, Inés was sent to live in Mexico City with relatives. While in Mexico at age 17 she joined the court of the Marquis de Mancera to be a lady-in-waiting for his wife because her aunt and uncle thought it would be a great place for Inés to find a respectable husband.  

True enough, while at the court Inés was widely admired because of her blooming beauty and remarkable intelligence that she received several proposals of marriage, which she declined.

Instead, in 1667, she joined the Monastery of St. Joseph, a community of the Discalced Carmelite nuns, as a postulant. Later in 1669, at age twenty-one, she entered the Convent of the Order of St. Jérôme, where she would remain until her death.

6. Why did Inés opt to become a nun

Monument of Sor Juana in Chapultepec

Monument of Sor Juana in Chapultepec – Wikipeida

If marriage was an option for Inés, why then did she opt to become a nun? Joining a religious order was the only socially accepted way that Inés could study.

In her own word, “In the face of this primary concern (surely it is the most important one) all the stubborn little impertinences of my nature gave way and bowed: that is, wanting to live alone; wanting not to have any obligatory duties that would hinder my freedom to study; being free from community noises that would interrupt the peace and quiet of my books.”

This proved to be the right choice for her because after becoming a nun she began writing poetry and prose, turned her nun’s quarters into a salon visited by New Spain’s female intellectual elite and collected a large array of books dealing with different subject.  

7. Was Inés involved in a romantic relationship with María Luisa

Portrait of Tomás de la Cerda, husband to María Luisa

Portrait of Tomás de la Cerda, husband to María Luisa – Wikipedia

Inés’ passionate love poems to her friend and patron María Luisa Manrique de Lara y Gonzaga , the wife of Tomás de la Cerda, 3rd Marquis of la Laguna de Camero Viejo, are also widely known.

Many media outlets showcasing the life of Inés depict romantic scenes between these two characters. The question is were the two really involved in a romantic relationship, or is it exaggeration from the media?

Through her poetry as well, Inés makes it clear that she understands that the love she has for the monarchy can not amount to anything, since she must respect her vows of chastity, and the hierarchy of the viceroy would forbid any relationship with a commoner.

From this it is fair to conclude that there was no romantic relationship between the two since Inés opted to remain faithful to her chastity vows and her social status did not allow her to be in a relationship with a high-born.

Also in her love poems, Inés’ did not only describe her love for María Luisa but also that of her husband Don Antonio Sebastián de Toledo and of María’s only son.

8. Forced to give up writing

Quill pen and inkwell resting on an old book

Quill pen and inkwell resting on an old book – Unsplash

Being a nun gave Inés the chance to fulfil her desire to study, but it also took away her passion when the church forced her to stop writing.

It all started when the bishop of Puebla, Manuel Fernández de Santa Cruz, under the pseudonym of Sor Filotea, published Inés’ critique of a 40-year-old sermon by Father António Vieira, a Portuguese Jesuit preacher, without Inés’ permission. Many of the letter’s readers interpreted the letter as Inés challenging the hierarchical structure of religious authority.

This letter resulted in a controversy that led to Inés putting her pen down in 1693 in fear of risking official censure. She even sold her extensive library of over 4,000 volumes, and her musical and scientific instruments.

Inés spent the reminder of her life performing her nun duties and died after ministering to other nuns stricken during a plague, on 17 April 1695.

9. Inés’ re-establishment into today’s world

Octavio Paz, 1988

Octavio Paz, 1988 – Wikipedia

After her death Inés work remained largely undiscovered for centuries, and it is Nobel Prize winner Octavio Paz who is credited with re-establishing her importance by publishing his 1982 study “Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, o Las Trampas de la Fe.”

According to Octavio Paz, Inés has over one hundred unpublished works with only a few of her writings having being saved by the vicereine, which are known as the Complete Works.

In today’s world, Inés’ remarkable work has earned her nicknames of “The Tenth Muse” or “The Phoenix of America”.

10. Inspiration behind her name

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz by Miguel Cabrera

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz by Miguel Cabrera – Wikipedia

Inés was born Doña Inés de Asbaje y Ramírez de Santillana, but when she joined the Hieronymite nuns in 1669 she changed her name to  Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz.

The name change was inspired by either Sor Juana de la Cruz Vázquez Gutiérrez, a Spanish nun whose erudition earned her one of the few dispensations for women to preach the gospel. Or Saint Juan de la Cruz, one of the most accomplished authors of the Spanish Baroque

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