1 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:07,680 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday Today. Maybe the three seventy one birthday of 2 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:10,920 Speaker 1: Sorwana and Nez Dela Cruz. As we note in our 3 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:14,160 Speaker 1: episode on her, her birthdate is not entirely clear, but 4 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:16,279 Speaker 1: one of the possible dates that comes up a lot 5 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:20,400 Speaker 1: is November twelve, sixty one. She was a poet who 6 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:23,280 Speaker 1: lived in New Spain, and she was requested by a 7 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:27,400 Speaker 1: lot of listeners. Our episode on Sorguana came out on 8 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:34,240 Speaker 1: September eight, nineteen, and it is Today's Saturday Classic Enjoy 9 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:37,879 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 10 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:47,440 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and Welcome to the podcast. 11 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:50,920 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. Holly, we 12 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:52,680 Speaker 1: have one of those episodes that a lot of people 13 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:56,280 Speaker 1: have been asking us to do for years, indeed only 14 00:00:56,560 --> 00:01:00,480 Speaker 1: just now getting to it. We have had a lot 15 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:03,320 Speaker 1: of listener requests to talk about sor Juanna Inez de 16 00:01:03,440 --> 00:01:11,720 Speaker 1: la Cruz, including from Bailey, Alyssa, Wendy Arturo, Tressa, Shannon Mario, Ella, Jessica, Gail, Lindsay, 17 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:16,040 Speaker 1: Megan and Chavon. At least three of those are folks 18 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:18,760 Speaker 1: who requested it when I asked for some topic suggestions 19 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:21,120 Speaker 1: on our Facebook page recently, and I'm sure we have 20 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:25,160 Speaker 1: had other requests as well. At this point, we can 21 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:28,200 Speaker 1: only look back through like four years or so of email, 22 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:31,960 Speaker 1: and the rest of it is gone into oblivion. Well, 23 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:34,920 Speaker 1: and even some of those four years has gone into 24 00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:39,000 Speaker 1: oblivion thanks to a number of email migrations. Those unfortunately, 25 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:44,039 Speaker 1: they are always casualties. Yes, yes, when uh when, When 26 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:47,440 Speaker 1: you are not the personal controller of your own email 27 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:51,000 Speaker 1: because you work for a company, then sometimes things happen 28 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:54,840 Speaker 1: that are beyond your control anyway. Sorwana Inez de la 29 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:58,160 Speaker 1: Cruz lived in New Spain in the seventeenth century, that's 30 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:01,640 Speaker 1: in what's now Mexico, and she was the Spanish Empire's 31 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:05,640 Speaker 1: most widely published poet of her time. Her work was 32 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:08,880 Speaker 1: read in both Spanish and Portuguese speaking areas in Europe 33 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 1: and the America's and the Philippines, and her work has 34 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:15,760 Speaker 1: survived until today. But in terms of like her own 35 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:19,680 Speaker 1: personal thoughts and introspection, we don't have as much about 36 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:23,799 Speaker 1: a lot of her life. Consequently, her life has been 37 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:28,720 Speaker 1: just really subject to interpretation. It has been interpreted incredibly 38 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:32,960 Speaker 1: differently depending on who has been doing the interpreting. So 39 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:34,840 Speaker 1: I mean, there's a lot of variety you can you 40 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:37,400 Speaker 1: can get an almost totally different sense of who she 41 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:42,040 Speaker 1: was depending on exactly who is describing her. Also, her 42 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:46,160 Speaker 1: poetry is very complex, and she wrote in poetic forms 43 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:49,079 Speaker 1: that were common during the Spanish Golden Age that won't 44 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:52,480 Speaker 1: necessarily be familiar even to people who have studied poetry 45 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:56,440 Speaker 1: like I have studied poetry, but I have studied poetry 46 00:02:56,440 --> 00:02:58,880 Speaker 1: in English, and a lot of the poetic forms that 47 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:01,960 Speaker 1: she wrote in are totally unfamiliar to me. So if 48 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:05,840 Speaker 1: you studied Spanish language poetry, specifically in particular the New 49 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:09,280 Speaker 1: Spanish Baroque, that might all be forms that you know about. 50 00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:14,639 Speaker 1: Um not as easy to explain to English speakers who 51 00:03:14,639 --> 00:03:17,679 Speaker 1: don't have the familiarity. So this episode is a lot 52 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:22,360 Speaker 1: more about sor Juana's life than it is about her work. Yeah, 53 00:03:22,360 --> 00:03:25,200 Speaker 1: when I studied poetry in college, there was not really 54 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:29,320 Speaker 1: any delving into the New Spanish Baroque. No, well, then 55 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:33,000 Speaker 1: it's it has the added layer of complexity of if 56 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:35,360 Speaker 1: if you are not a fluent speaker of Spanish, you're 57 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:40,280 Speaker 1: reading a translation into English, and translating poetry is particularly 58 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:44,960 Speaker 1: difficult because of how poetry works. Yes, I learned that 59 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:49,960 Speaker 1: primarily from Charles Baudlair, not Spanish, but similar translation issues 60 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:53,200 Speaker 1: not nearly as beautiful or melodic to my ear in English, 61 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:55,720 Speaker 1: but well. And one of the things that one of 62 00:03:55,760 --> 00:03:58,280 Speaker 1: my one of my literature professors told us when I 63 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:02,000 Speaker 1: was in college was that Baudelaire was the person who 64 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:08,000 Speaker 1: translated Poe into French. So pose poetry in French is 65 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:11,720 Speaker 1: incredibly beautiful in a way that it isn't necessarily in English. 66 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:15,360 Speaker 1: It really is like the cadence of it is really beautiful. 67 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:18,120 Speaker 1: It uh, it has its own rhythm that is not 68 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:20,320 Speaker 1: the way it reads in English. I also love Poe 69 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:22,159 Speaker 1: in English, but there is a whole it's like a 70 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:26,120 Speaker 1: whole different writer essentially, um, which is kind of illustrative 71 00:04:26,120 --> 00:04:29,800 Speaker 1: of what you were saying, Like, anytime you're translating and 72 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:34,720 Speaker 1: then interpreting and extrapolating someone's essence from their written work 73 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:37,760 Speaker 1: and poetry that has been shifted around, you're going to 74 00:04:37,839 --> 00:04:40,880 Speaker 1: get different versions of who that person was. Yep, if 75 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:42,960 Speaker 1: you only read Poe in French, I bet you would 76 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:44,760 Speaker 1: think he was slightly different than he really was in 77 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:49,360 Speaker 1: real life. So applying this to today's topic, Sarjuana and 78 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:52,880 Speaker 1: Es de la Cruz was born Juanna Ramirez as Bahi 79 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:55,919 Speaker 1: in San Miguel and the Pantla, which is southeast of 80 00:04:55,960 --> 00:05:00,000 Speaker 1: Mexico City. Her mother was Isabel Ramirez de Santiana, who 81 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:03,120 Speaker 1: was a creolea woman, that is, she was of Spanish descent, 82 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:05,839 Speaker 1: but she was born in New Spain, and her father 83 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:10,120 Speaker 1: was Pedro Manuel de Esbahi, who Wanna described as Bosque. 84 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:12,919 Speaker 1: He had come to the Americas from Europe, and Juana 85 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:15,279 Speaker 1: was the youngest of three daughters who were born to 86 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:19,120 Speaker 1: Isabel and Pedro. Wanna's date of birth isn't clear, as 87 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:20,720 Speaker 1: is the case with a lot of people born this 88 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:24,520 Speaker 1: long ago. Some sources note it as November twelfth, sixteen 89 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:28,320 Speaker 1: fifty one, but there's also a baptismal record from her 90 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:33,039 Speaker 1: parish that's probably hers and that was dated December two sixty. 91 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:37,080 Speaker 1: This record notes the baptism of a girl named Inez, 92 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:41,920 Speaker 1: whose godparents were Isabel Ramirez's brother and sister, so her 93 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:46,080 Speaker 1: maternal uncle and aunt. This record also describes the young 94 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:48,880 Speaker 1: Innes as daughter of the Church, which meant that her 95 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:52,559 Speaker 1: parents weren't married to one another. Sometime after Juanna was born, 96 00:05:52,839 --> 00:05:54,960 Speaker 1: her father left the family, and we do not know 97 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:57,840 Speaker 1: why that happened or where he went. We don't even 98 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:00,440 Speaker 1: actually know exactly when it happened. It us by the 99 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:03,120 Speaker 1: time Juanna was five or six years old, but it 100 00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:06,560 Speaker 1: was probably earlier than that, and As took her children 101 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:09,440 Speaker 1: to live with her father at his hacienda known as Panoya, 102 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:12,000 Speaker 1: and this was one of two haciendas that he was 103 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:15,320 Speaker 1: leasing from the church, which had a workforce of enslaved 104 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:19,960 Speaker 1: Africans and Indigenous people. Enslavement of indigenous people had been 105 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:23,599 Speaker 1: outlawed in New Spain, although working conditions for indigenous people 106 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:28,000 Speaker 1: still tended to be abusive and exploitive. This family wasn't 107 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:32,280 Speaker 1: especially affluent, but they were relatively comfortable and stable, and 108 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:35,279 Speaker 1: they were able to send Juana's older sister, Josepha Maria, 109 00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:38,000 Speaker 1: to a local school that was being run by a 110 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:40,640 Speaker 1: woman in the community for the benefit of its less 111 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:44,359 Speaker 1: wealthy children. When she was about three years old, Wanna 112 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:47,400 Speaker 1: sneaked away from home and followed her sister to school 113 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:50,240 Speaker 1: and then told the teacher that her mother had ordered 114 00:06:50,240 --> 00:06:53,760 Speaker 1: that she get lessons to In Juanna's account, this teacher 115 00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:56,880 Speaker 1: did not believe her, but she found the whole thing 116 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:00,760 Speaker 1: so charming that she gave Wanna lessons anyway, and Juanna 117 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:03,400 Speaker 1: learned so quickly that by the time her mother realized 118 00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:05,880 Speaker 1: what she was doing and put a stop to it, 119 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:09,440 Speaker 1: she already knew how to read. Aside from that and 120 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:13,880 Speaker 1: about twenty lessons in Latin, this was Wanna's only formal education. 121 00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:17,560 Speaker 1: But once she knew how to read, Wanna started educating herself. 122 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:20,760 Speaker 1: She started with her grandfather's library. She would take the 123 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:23,240 Speaker 1: books from the shelves and then go hide in the 124 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:26,680 Speaker 1: hacienda's chapel to read them undisturbed. Juanna did not have 125 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:28,840 Speaker 1: a lot of choice in what she studied. The books 126 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:30,920 Speaker 1: that were available to her were the ones in her 127 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:34,720 Speaker 1: grandfather's library, and that was that. But she dedicated herself 128 00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:37,960 Speaker 1: to whatever she had at hand, and to motivate herself, 129 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:40,160 Speaker 1: she would cut a few inches off of her hair, 130 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:43,760 Speaker 1: intending to master a particular subject by the time it 131 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:46,680 Speaker 1: grew back, and if she failed, she would cut more 132 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:48,960 Speaker 1: of her hair off. She said, quote, it did not 133 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:51,640 Speaker 1: seem to me reasonable that I dressed the hair of 134 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:55,320 Speaker 1: a head naked of knowledge, which was a more appreciable adornment. 135 00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:58,560 Speaker 1: When she learned that there was a university in Mexico City, 136 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:01,760 Speaker 1: but that only men were wowed to attend. She begged 137 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:04,080 Speaker 1: her mother to let her dress as a boy so 138 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:06,880 Speaker 1: that she could go. Her mother did not go for 139 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:09,520 Speaker 1: this plan. I think she was also still a small 140 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:11,920 Speaker 1: she was too young in addition to being a girl, 141 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:14,800 Speaker 1: too young to go to university, but yeah, there was 142 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:16,920 Speaker 1: no way her family was going to allow her to 143 00:08:17,040 --> 00:08:21,040 Speaker 1: do that. In January of sixteen fifty six, when she 144 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:24,440 Speaker 1: was about eight, Juanna's grandfather died, and at about the 145 00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:27,360 Speaker 1: same time, her mother started a relationship with a man 146 00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:32,160 Speaker 1: named Diego Ruiz Lozano, although they also never married. Isabelle 147 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:35,199 Speaker 1: and Diego had two daughters and a son together, and 148 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:38,200 Speaker 1: sometime as all of this was happening, Wana was sent 149 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:41,720 Speaker 1: to Mexico City to live with her mother's sister. All 150 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:44,480 Speaker 1: of these changes probably played a part in her going 151 00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:48,600 Speaker 1: to Mexico City, but the exact reasons for Juanna's departure 152 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:51,719 Speaker 1: aren't documented anywhere, and we also don't know whether her 153 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:54,560 Speaker 1: older sisters were also sent to live somewhere else at 154 00:08:54,559 --> 00:08:57,200 Speaker 1: the same time. But we do know that Juanna's half 155 00:08:57,200 --> 00:09:00,200 Speaker 1: siblings had better prospects for their futures than one and 156 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:03,560 Speaker 1: her sisters did. All six of them had been born 157 00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:06,920 Speaker 1: to unwed parents, although that was not as stigmatized as 158 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:10,560 Speaker 1: folks may imagine. In terms of religion, New Spain was 159 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:14,200 Speaker 1: very strictly Catholic, but at the same time people seem 160 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:16,720 Speaker 1: to recognize and accept that people who were not married 161 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:20,280 Speaker 1: to each other might have babies together. The family doesn't 162 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:23,040 Speaker 1: seem to have been looked down on or ostracized because 163 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:25,600 Speaker 1: of any of this, and several people within the family 164 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:30,000 Speaker 1: went on to marry prominent, respected men, attend university, or 165 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:33,400 Speaker 1: find careers in the church or the military. I think 166 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:36,920 Speaker 1: people imagine that if if you had children and you 167 00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:40,559 Speaker 1: were unmarried, that your whole family might be immediately shunned 168 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:43,680 Speaker 1: from society and you had to hide forever, And that 169 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:46,160 Speaker 1: just doesn't seem to be how things were actually working 170 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:50,080 Speaker 1: when and where it wanted was living. More important than 171 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:53,240 Speaker 1: the children's birth was the fact that Diego Ruiz Losano 172 00:09:53,400 --> 00:09:56,440 Speaker 1: had some money and he was present in his children's lives. 173 00:09:56,559 --> 00:10:00,160 Speaker 1: So one has half sisters, all had dowries, and they 174 00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:02,720 Speaker 1: had a father to negotiate for them in their marriages. 175 00:10:03,280 --> 00:10:06,800 Speaker 1: Wanna had none of that. She did have some relatives 176 00:10:06,840 --> 00:10:10,520 Speaker 1: who could offer some protection. Though her mother's sister, Maria 177 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:13,600 Speaker 1: had married a wealthy man named Wanda Mata, and we 178 00:10:13,679 --> 00:10:16,120 Speaker 1: know very little of her life over the next few years, 179 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:19,760 Speaker 1: except that she was extremely precocious and continued to be 180 00:10:19,840 --> 00:10:23,319 Speaker 1: very eager to learn. By age thirteen, she was teaching 181 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:26,520 Speaker 1: Latin to others, and she also taught herself no waddle. 182 00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:30,000 Speaker 1: She also grew into an attractive young woman, which caught 183 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:33,280 Speaker 1: the attention of New Spain's nobility. We will get to 184 00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:46,040 Speaker 1: that after a quick sponsor break. In the seventeenth century, 185 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:49,040 Speaker 1: New Spain was ruled by a viceroy who acted as 186 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:52,760 Speaker 1: the Crown's presence in the America's The viceroy was sent 187 00:10:52,800 --> 00:10:56,079 Speaker 1: to the America's from Spain and to try to ensure 188 00:10:56,240 --> 00:10:58,840 Speaker 1: that the viceroy would be loyal to the Crown but 189 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:03,320 Speaker 1: also not become too powerful. Viceroys were given limited terms. 190 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:06,880 Speaker 1: The standard term was technically three years, but often the 191 00:11:06,920 --> 00:11:09,719 Speaker 1: actual assignment was more like seven or eight. A lot 192 00:11:09,720 --> 00:11:12,199 Speaker 1: of vice stories were given an extension before they even 193 00:11:12,320 --> 00:11:16,240 Speaker 1: left from Europe. Relocating someone all the way across the 194 00:11:16,240 --> 00:11:20,679 Speaker 1: ocean every three years seems like a lot. Antonio Sebastian 195 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:24,760 Speaker 1: did Toledo. Marquis de Mancera began serving as Viceroy of 196 00:11:24,800 --> 00:11:27,640 Speaker 1: New Spain in sixteen sixty four, and he arrived with 197 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:31,720 Speaker 1: his wife Donia leonar Caretto. Buanna's aunt and uncle presented 198 00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:34,280 Speaker 1: her at court, and Juanna, at the age of sixteen, 199 00:11:34,679 --> 00:11:37,040 Speaker 1: was selected to be a lady in waiting to the Viceroy, 200 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:40,160 Speaker 1: who was in her early thirties. Wanna lived at court 201 00:11:40,240 --> 00:11:42,520 Speaker 1: from the age of sixteen until she was about twenty, 202 00:11:42,679 --> 00:11:46,240 Speaker 1: and she became known as a court prodigy. One of 203 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:48,800 Speaker 1: the most famous stories from these years is that the 204 00:11:48,880 --> 00:11:52,080 Speaker 1: Viceroy brought in a panel of forty scholars to try 205 00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:55,000 Speaker 1: to test her intellect and, in his words, quote in 206 00:11:55,040 --> 00:11:58,280 Speaker 1: the manner of a royal galleon defending itself against a 207 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:01,120 Speaker 1: few small sloops that had a sale, that did Wanna 208 00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:05,359 Speaker 1: and as free herself of the questions, arguments and objections 209 00:12:05,400 --> 00:12:09,240 Speaker 1: that so many each in his own class propounded. It's 210 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:12,600 Speaker 1: likely that this story was exaggerated at least somewhat, but 211 00:12:12,679 --> 00:12:16,200 Speaker 1: the Vice Roy shorted Love to tell it, so probably 212 00:12:16,360 --> 00:12:19,480 Speaker 1: some version of it really did happen. Probably also, the 213 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:22,599 Speaker 1: collective memory of everyone involved shifted to match with the 214 00:12:22,679 --> 00:12:26,960 Speaker 1: Vice Royce. Yeah, yeah, it's not the only you know, 215 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:30,040 Speaker 1: examination of a person by a team of scholars that 216 00:12:30,040 --> 00:12:32,760 Speaker 1: we've talked about on the show that is probably a 217 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:37,280 Speaker 1: little embellished. Being at court would have given Wanna lots 218 00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:42,360 Speaker 1: of resources to continue educating herself. Although she studied literature 219 00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:45,120 Speaker 1: and is best known for her writing, Wanna was also 220 00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:50,359 Speaker 1: interested in science, astronomy, medicine, and law. She also wrote extensively, 221 00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:52,880 Speaker 1: although most of her poems are not dated, so we 222 00:12:52,960 --> 00:12:56,520 Speaker 1: don't always know when any particular poem was written. Her 223 00:12:56,520 --> 00:13:00,280 Speaker 1: poetry included love poems, including ones written to the Vice Drine, 224 00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:03,200 Speaker 1: and in these poems she refers to the vice Rine 225 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:07,000 Speaker 1: as Laura, which is a reference to Petrarch's sonnets. These 226 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:10,040 Speaker 1: were socially acceptable given the vast differences in the two 227 00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:13,400 Speaker 1: women's positions. It was more like a troubadour writing a 228 00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:16,520 Speaker 1: courtly love sonnet to a lady than a lover writing 229 00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:19,040 Speaker 1: a poem to someone who was considered their equal or 230 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:22,720 Speaker 1: their partner. There's a lot of speculation about one as 231 00:13:22,760 --> 00:13:25,679 Speaker 1: time at court. A lot of her writings suggest to 232 00:13:25,760 --> 00:13:29,120 Speaker 1: people that she had some firsthand experience with love. Her 233 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:32,800 Speaker 1: poetry especially is really evocative of all the feelings that 234 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:36,040 Speaker 1: can come along with a passionate or stormy love affair, 235 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:40,480 Speaker 1: including affection and jealousy and betrayal, and the joy of 236 00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:44,359 Speaker 1: requited feelings. A lot of these poems are also erotic, 237 00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:46,720 Speaker 1: but at the same time, there is a lot that 238 00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:49,839 Speaker 1: we just don't know, which has led people to wonder 239 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:53,000 Speaker 1: whether Wanta had a tragic love affair at court, and 240 00:13:53,040 --> 00:13:55,440 Speaker 1: if so, who it was with, and what that person's 241 00:13:55,480 --> 00:13:58,559 Speaker 1: gender was. This tickles me a little because I certainly 242 00:13:58,600 --> 00:14:00,440 Speaker 1: know that I have read the writing of people who 243 00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:03,120 Speaker 1: have never had a romantic relationship who right as though 244 00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:05,920 Speaker 1: they did. So it's kind of funny to think, like, 245 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:08,280 Speaker 1: she must have been involved with someone, look what she wrote. 246 00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:11,840 Speaker 1: I'm like, not necessarily, she may have just been perceptive. Yeah. 247 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:14,880 Speaker 1: As we noted earlier, the vice Regency of New Spain 248 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:19,200 Speaker 1: was a temporary position. Juana seemed to have been very comfortable, 249 00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:22,520 Speaker 1: cared for, and liked during her time at court, but 250 00:14:22,640 --> 00:14:25,200 Speaker 1: she also knew that once the Viceroy and Vice rene 251 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:28,120 Speaker 1: went back to Spain, there was no guarantee that she 252 00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:32,240 Speaker 1: would find herself similarly favored by their replacements. It was 253 00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:36,040 Speaker 1: also incredibly unlikely that she would find a husband while 254 00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:38,680 Speaker 1: she was at court. Number one, most of the men 255 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:42,080 Speaker 1: at court were already married. They did like to flirt. 256 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:45,840 Speaker 1: There were for her dalliances and affairs, but they were 257 00:14:45,880 --> 00:14:49,720 Speaker 1: already married. No, I'm not saying there were necessarily affairs 258 00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:54,840 Speaker 1: with her, just they existed. Also. Number two, marriages were 259 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:58,560 Speaker 1: negotiated between families, and Wana didn't have anybody at court 260 00:14:58,600 --> 00:15:02,000 Speaker 1: who could be negotiating eating on her behalf. Number three, 261 00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:05,920 Speaker 1: she still had no dowry. More important than all of that, though, 262 00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:09,360 Speaker 1: she just didn't want to get married. Even if she 263 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:12,080 Speaker 1: did have a dowry, it was incredibly unlikely that a 264 00:15:12,200 --> 00:15:15,720 Speaker 1: husband would just allow her to continue on with her self, 265 00:15:15,840 --> 00:15:19,200 Speaker 1: educating and her writing, rather than expecting her to leave 266 00:15:19,200 --> 00:15:21,800 Speaker 1: all that behind and take up the duties of a wife. 267 00:15:22,600 --> 00:15:25,960 Speaker 1: She said she felt a quote total antipathy towards marriage, 268 00:15:26,560 --> 00:15:29,400 Speaker 1: so she decided to become a nun. As was true 269 00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:31,760 Speaker 1: for many other women at the time, this was more 270 00:15:31,800 --> 00:15:35,880 Speaker 1: of a practical decision than a religious calling. Juanna was 271 00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:39,120 Speaker 1: a devout Catholic, but she had never expressed a desire 272 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:43,240 Speaker 1: to devote herself to a religious life. Instead, she recognized 273 00:15:43,280 --> 00:15:45,560 Speaker 1: that a convent was the place that she was most 274 00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:48,120 Speaker 1: likely to be able to continue on with her course 275 00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:51,080 Speaker 1: of study and writing. One flaw in this plan was 276 00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:54,280 Speaker 1: that women whose parents were not married were not generally 277 00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:58,239 Speaker 1: allowed to join. So Juanna said her birth was legitimate, 278 00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:01,720 Speaker 1: something she repeated it numerous points throughout her life, even 279 00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:04,040 Speaker 1: though it seems to have been common knowledge that her 280 00:16:04,040 --> 00:16:08,000 Speaker 1: parents were not married. Religious orders and convents in New 281 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:11,360 Speaker 1: Spain were stratified and segregated in the same way that 282 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:15,160 Speaker 1: the rest of the general society was different. Convents had 283 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:18,200 Speaker 1: different levels of wealth. Some of them were only open 284 00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:21,800 Speaker 1: the people directly from Spain, and others were open only 285 00:16:21,840 --> 00:16:25,160 Speaker 1: to Creolea women. The first one that want to join 286 00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:28,880 Speaker 1: was the convent of the Discounsed Caramelites of St. Joseph, 287 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:31,480 Speaker 1: but she was only there for a few months. Some 288 00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:34,040 Speaker 1: sources say that she left because of her health, but 289 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:36,800 Speaker 1: there's really no record of that. It is more likely 290 00:16:36,840 --> 00:16:40,600 Speaker 1: that she just found this particular order way too restrictive 291 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:43,920 Speaker 1: for her tastes. About eighteen months later, she tried again. 292 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:48,440 Speaker 1: On February sixteen sixty nine, she became sore Juana and 293 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:51,200 Speaker 1: As de la Cruz at the Convent of Santa Paula 294 00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:55,160 Speaker 1: of the Heeronomite order in Mexico City. In the minds 295 00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:58,640 Speaker 1: of many in Mexico City, this was the best possible outcome, 296 00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:01,880 Speaker 1: not just for Juanna, but for society as a whole. 297 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:05,520 Speaker 1: Intelligent women were regarded as a threat, and so were 298 00:17:05,600 --> 00:17:10,040 Speaker 1: beautiful women. Her Jesuit confessor, and Tonio Nuniez de Miranda, 299 00:17:10,440 --> 00:17:12,840 Speaker 1: said that he rejoiced once she was in a convent 300 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:16,120 Speaker 1: because her continuing to be in the public eye had 301 00:17:16,160 --> 00:17:18,480 Speaker 1: the potential to cause a lot of harm. Thanks to 302 00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:22,280 Speaker 1: how beautiful and learned she was, this convent was a 303 00:17:22,320 --> 00:17:25,800 Speaker 1: little different from the very spare, minimal existence that might 304 00:17:25,840 --> 00:17:29,639 Speaker 1: immediately come to mind. Each woman joining the convent was 305 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:33,080 Speaker 1: required to provide a dowry. The Convent of Santa Paula 306 00:17:33,359 --> 00:17:37,080 Speaker 1: had an average of between three thousand and four thousand 307 00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:41,119 Speaker 1: pesos for the dowries that it's nuns provided. Sarwata's dowry 308 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:45,240 Speaker 1: was provided by Pedro Velasquez de la Cadenna. Sarwana also 309 00:17:45,320 --> 00:17:47,840 Speaker 1: had a few hundred pasos of her own, which had 310 00:17:47,840 --> 00:17:49,560 Speaker 1: been given to her while she was at court, and 311 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:52,919 Speaker 1: she willed that to her mother. The nuns lived in 312 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:55,880 Speaker 1: spacious cells that were more like apartments with their own 313 00:17:55,880 --> 00:18:00,280 Speaker 1: small kitchens. Sar Juana bought one in sixte that had 314 00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:03,800 Speaker 1: two floors. A nun's servants lived with her, as did 315 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:06,640 Speaker 1: any children or young women they were sheltering or teaching. 316 00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:10,760 Speaker 1: Although the nuns in theory lived communally, these rules were 317 00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:14,280 Speaker 1: not strictly observed in sor Juana's convent. Many of the 318 00:18:14,359 --> 00:18:17,640 Speaker 1: nuns ate food prepared in the kitchens in their own cells, 319 00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:21,159 Speaker 1: rather than eating with their religious sisters. The convent as 320 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:23,679 Speaker 1: a whole was supported by a staff of servants, some 321 00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:26,720 Speaker 1: of whom were enslaved. Sor Juana's mother gave her an 322 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:29,560 Speaker 1: enslaved servant the year that she joined the convent, and 323 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:32,200 Speaker 1: this woman's name is listed as wanted to San Jose. 324 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:36,800 Speaker 1: Then in six four, Sorjuana sold Wanted to San Jose 325 00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:40,360 Speaker 1: and her baby to her sister Josepha Maria, for two 326 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:44,439 Speaker 1: hundred fifty pacos. On average, there were three maids for 327 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:47,399 Speaker 1: each nun at this convent, so it's very likely that 328 00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:50,280 Speaker 1: sor Juanna had other servants who were either free or 329 00:18:50,359 --> 00:18:53,080 Speaker 1: enslaved while she was living there. They're just not specifically 330 00:18:53,119 --> 00:18:57,800 Speaker 1: documented anywhere. Altogether, about two hundred women were living in 331 00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:00,840 Speaker 1: the convent. Daily life in the convent was broken up 332 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:05,000 Speaker 1: into a regular pattern of prayers, meals, and other religious duties. 333 00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:09,080 Speaker 1: It was a very predictable and regimented pattern. At the 334 00:19:09,119 --> 00:19:11,600 Speaker 1: same time, there was a lot of time for chatter 335 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:15,960 Speaker 1: and gossip, which really annoyed sor Juana. To her, the 336 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:20,000 Speaker 1: place seemed like a hotbed of ongoing petty jealousies and intrigues, 337 00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:23,199 Speaker 1: and she often wrote about settling into study only for 338 00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:26,240 Speaker 1: one of her sisters to come in and gossip, or 339 00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:29,320 Speaker 1: of being interrupted by someone playing an instrument or having 340 00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:34,000 Speaker 1: allowed conversation, or otherwise being disruptive. At the same time, 341 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:36,960 Speaker 1: the convent was relatively permissive in terms of things like 342 00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:41,160 Speaker 1: personal wealth. There wasn't a strictly enforced vow of poverty 343 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:44,040 Speaker 1: for any of these nuns, So so or Wanna turned 344 00:19:44,080 --> 00:19:47,439 Speaker 1: her cell into her personal library. She had at least 345 00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:51,400 Speaker 1: fift hundred volumes and possibly as many as four thousand. 346 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:56,280 Speaker 1: She also collected scientific and musical instruments. The convent was 347 00:19:56,400 --> 00:20:00,200 Speaker 1: also pretty lax about visitors. The nuns didn't really eave 348 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:04,720 Speaker 1: the convent, but they welcomed visitors and entertainers frequently. Sor 349 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:07,800 Speaker 1: Juana turned the locutorio, or the sitting area where the 350 00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:10,960 Speaker 1: nuns were allowed to have visitors into a literary salon. 351 00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:14,600 Speaker 1: The nuns were technically supposed to keep their faces veiled 352 00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:17,920 Speaker 1: when they met with outsiders, but this really wasn't enforced either. 353 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:21,080 Speaker 1: So the decision to join a convent, and to join 354 00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:24,840 Speaker 1: this particular convent, given how permissive it was, was an 355 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:28,440 Speaker 1: incredibly savvy move in terms of what Sarwana wanted out 356 00:20:28,480 --> 00:20:31,600 Speaker 1: of life. She had various prayers and duties that she 357 00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:33,679 Speaker 1: had to tend to throughout the day, but she was 358 00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:37,160 Speaker 1: also able to keep studying and learning and writing and 359 00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:40,359 Speaker 1: making a name for herself both within and outside of 360 00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:43,360 Speaker 1: the convent. We'll talk about her most productive years after 361 00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:55,120 Speaker 1: we first paused for a little sponsor break. Overall, sar 362 00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:58,720 Speaker 1: Juana seems to have been pretty well respected within her convent. 363 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:02,080 Speaker 1: The nuns acted women from among themselves to serve as 364 00:21:02,119 --> 00:21:06,240 Speaker 1: mother superior and in other important positions, and at various points, 365 00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:09,719 Speaker 1: sor Juana was elected to be an archivist and a bookkeeper. 366 00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:13,600 Speaker 1: As bookkeeper, she also did an excellent job at managing 367 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:17,560 Speaker 1: the convents funds and interests. She also taught music and 368 00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:20,800 Speaker 1: drama at the Convents School, and it's possible that she 369 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:23,359 Speaker 1: was a painter. One of the portraits that we have 370 00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:26,159 Speaker 1: of her as labeled as being copied from one that 371 00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:29,359 Speaker 1: was made by her own hand. She may have also 372 00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:33,160 Speaker 1: painted miniatures, including things like the medallion that she wore 373 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:36,800 Speaker 1: as part of her religious dress, but no examples of 374 00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:41,000 Speaker 1: her painting survives if that was the case. Vice Roy 375 00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:45,240 Speaker 1: Antonio Sebastian de Toledo was recalled to Spain in sixteen 376 00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:49,080 Speaker 1: seventy three, and the following year his wife, Leonar Caretto died. 377 00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:53,720 Speaker 1: Sor Juana wrote three sonnets to commemorate her passing. Other 378 00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:56,520 Speaker 1: than that, sor Juana's first decade at the convent seems 379 00:21:56,520 --> 00:21:59,120 Speaker 1: to have been pretty quiet, although members of the church 380 00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:02,800 Speaker 1: hierarchy did sometimes admonish her to spend more of her 381 00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:06,280 Speaker 1: time on religious matters rather than all of this secular 382 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:10,280 Speaker 1: study in writing. Then, in sixteen eighty, Tomas de la Cerda, 383 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:15,200 Speaker 1: the third Marquess of La Laguna, became New Spain's new viceroy. 384 00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:18,400 Speaker 1: His wife, Maria Luisa, was almost exactly the same age 385 00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:21,439 Speaker 1: as or Juana, and the two of them became very close. 386 00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:25,040 Speaker 1: The Vice reign visited Sarwana frequently at the convent and 387 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:28,960 Speaker 1: arranged for the publication of her work. Over time, sor 388 00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:32,399 Speaker 1: Juana became something of an unofficial court poet. From within 389 00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:35,800 Speaker 1: the walls of the convent, sor Juanna wrote Maria Luisa 390 00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:40,040 Speaker 1: numerous passionate love poems, addressing her as Lisi or Lisida, 391 00:22:40,600 --> 00:22:43,320 Speaker 1: and they were generally more passionate and intimate than the 392 00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:46,919 Speaker 1: ones that she had written to Donia Leonard Caretto. And 393 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:50,080 Speaker 1: as with those earlier poems, these didn't really attract a 394 00:22:50,119 --> 00:22:52,760 Speaker 1: lot of notice thanks to the huge gap in status 395 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:56,119 Speaker 1: between the two women. It was really such a gulf 396 00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:59,359 Speaker 1: that sor Juanna often referred to herself as the Viceroy 397 00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:03,800 Speaker 1: and vice reigns servant, or even sometimes their slave. Like 398 00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:06,520 Speaker 1: we said earlier, a lot of Sorjuana's work is undated, 399 00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:09,600 Speaker 1: so it's not always possible to tell exactly when she 400 00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:12,720 Speaker 1: wrote a particular piece, but we do know that she 401 00:23:12,840 --> 00:23:16,760 Speaker 1: demonstrated immense skill in the multiple poetic forms that were 402 00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:20,840 Speaker 1: valued during the Spanish Golden Age. She wrote plays in verse, 403 00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:24,760 Speaker 1: which were preceded by short theatrical works known as lous. 404 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:28,720 Speaker 1: She wrote liturgical musical works known as vienskos. She wrote 405 00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:31,760 Speaker 1: at least twenty love sonnets and at least forty sonnets 406 00:23:31,760 --> 00:23:34,280 Speaker 1: on other subjects, as well as ballads that were known 407 00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:38,920 Speaker 1: as romances. The piece that's considered her masterpiece translates into 408 00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:42,840 Speaker 1: English's First Dream and it is a very long, complex 409 00:23:43,240 --> 00:23:46,880 Speaker 1: philosophical poem. And her range with all of this work 410 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:51,080 Speaker 1: was huge. It spanned from the body and erotic to 411 00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:55,080 Speaker 1: cloak and dagger drama to religious work. She wrote a 412 00:23:55,080 --> 00:23:59,359 Speaker 1: satirical poem called Ambre Nacios or Foolish Men, in which 413 00:23:59,359 --> 00:24:02,639 Speaker 1: she pointed out the double standards in the behavioral expectations 414 00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:07,119 Speaker 1: of men and women. She also incorporated multiple languages and dialects, 415 00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:11,400 Speaker 1: including the Nawada language and Hispanic African dialects, and there 416 00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:14,520 Speaker 1: was a lot of this work collected today. It takes 417 00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:17,240 Speaker 1: up four volumes, and a lot of that was published 418 00:24:17,359 --> 00:24:21,679 Speaker 1: during her lifetime. In sixteen eighty nine, a collection titled 419 00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:25,040 Speaker 1: Castilian Flood was published in Madrid, and then other editions 420 00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:28,160 Speaker 1: of that work followed. Her work was collected into three 421 00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:31,119 Speaker 1: volumes during her lifetime, which were all published in the 422 00:24:31,200 --> 00:24:34,359 Speaker 1: years just before and after her death. Thomas de la 423 00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:37,879 Speaker 1: Cerda was recalled to Spain in sixteen eighty six, and 424 00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:41,160 Speaker 1: some biographers point to this as the moment that sor 425 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:45,200 Speaker 1: Juana lost all of her protection and prestige, but that's 426 00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:48,720 Speaker 1: not exactly so. She had been writing and studying before 427 00:24:48,760 --> 00:24:51,520 Speaker 1: the marquess and his wife arrived, and she continued to 428 00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:54,919 Speaker 1: do so afterward. She didn't have as much help getting 429 00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:57,600 Speaker 1: her work published or performed or in front of the court, 430 00:24:57,960 --> 00:25:00,240 Speaker 1: but it wasn't as though there was suddenly a which 431 00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:03,959 Speaker 1: flipped and no one was reading her work anymore. Bye, 432 00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:06,720 Speaker 1: she was one of the wealthiest nuns in her convent. 433 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:10,639 Speaker 1: That year, though, Sorwana got caught up in a dispute 434 00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:14,600 Speaker 1: between Manuel Fernandez de Santa Cruz, the Bishop of Puebla, 435 00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:19,160 Speaker 1: and the Archbishop Francisco de Aguiar say Us. The bishop 436 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:22,359 Speaker 1: asked sor Juanna to write a critique of a sermon 437 00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:26,080 Speaker 1: that had been delivered forty years before by Jesuit priest 438 00:25:26,119 --> 00:25:30,399 Speaker 1: Antonio Vieira. When she did this, he published it without 439 00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:33,600 Speaker 1: her permission, and when he published it, he added a 440 00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:36,960 Speaker 1: letter ahead of it that both praised her work and 441 00:25:37,119 --> 00:25:39,639 Speaker 1: scolded her for spending too much of her time on 442 00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:43,959 Speaker 1: secular things rather than on religious matters. The bishop didn't 443 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:46,959 Speaker 1: sign this under his own name, though he signed it 444 00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:51,000 Speaker 1: sore Philotia, framing it as this being the opinion of 445 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:55,639 Speaker 1: a fellow nun. The archbishop was a friend and a 446 00:25:55,800 --> 00:26:00,199 Speaker 1: colleague of Antonio Vieira, who had written this sermon and 447 00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:04,080 Speaker 1: had helped get that sermon published. So sorwana Is criticism 448 00:26:04,119 --> 00:26:07,639 Speaker 1: of the sermon had been arranged to kind of criticize 449 00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:12,000 Speaker 1: the archbishop by proxy because the Bishop of Puebla didn't 450 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:15,880 Speaker 1: get along with him. It's very complicated and petty. Yeah, 451 00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:21,520 Speaker 1: she was essentially used as a tool by uh squabbling man. 452 00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:25,400 Speaker 1: Who knows what the Bishop of Puebla thought was going 453 00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:28,800 Speaker 1: to happen when he pulled sor Juana into this dispute. 454 00:26:29,359 --> 00:26:31,520 Speaker 1: But what did happen is that a few months later, 455 00:26:31,600 --> 00:26:35,760 Speaker 1: sor Juana replied to sor Philotia defending both her actions 456 00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:40,399 Speaker 1: and the right of women to learn. Her responses simultaneously 457 00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:45,919 Speaker 1: really conciliatory and absolutely unyielding. Sorwana starts off by praising 458 00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:50,240 Speaker 1: sor Philotea and expressing that she herself wasn't at all 459 00:26:50,359 --> 00:26:53,000 Speaker 1: worthy to be writing this. Then she went on to 460 00:26:53,040 --> 00:26:56,120 Speaker 1: say that her desire to learn wasn't something she had 461 00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:59,240 Speaker 1: chosen for herself. It had come from beyond herself and 462 00:26:59,359 --> 00:27:02,159 Speaker 1: was just part of her nature. She talked about her 463 00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:04,840 Speaker 1: upbringing and her time and the convent and how it 464 00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:08,680 Speaker 1: related to this desire to learn. She also gave examples 465 00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:11,359 Speaker 1: from her life, like the time that a mother superior 466 00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:14,119 Speaker 1: ordered her not to study from her books anymore, and 467 00:27:14,160 --> 00:27:17,000 Speaker 1: that was an order that she obeyed, but she wasn't 468 00:27:17,080 --> 00:27:20,760 Speaker 1: able to stop herself from studying whatever was around her, 469 00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:23,480 Speaker 1: like when she saw some children playing with a top, 470 00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:27,160 Speaker 1: she scattered some flower onto the ground to see whether 471 00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:29,760 Speaker 1: the tip made perfect circles when it made its way 472 00:27:29,760 --> 00:27:34,840 Speaker 1: through it. I'm just curious. I can't help it. She 473 00:27:34,920 --> 00:27:37,760 Speaker 1: also described how her desire to learn had mostly brought 474 00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:40,920 Speaker 1: her hardship because to be different was to be seen 475 00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:43,720 Speaker 1: as evil, and because a mind like hers was not 476 00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:47,359 Speaker 1: considered suitable for a woman. But she also writes about 477 00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:50,920 Speaker 1: some of the exceptional women in the Bible, including Deborah, Esther, 478 00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:53,760 Speaker 1: and the Queen of Sheba. It's a little reminiscent of 479 00:27:53,760 --> 00:27:55,960 Speaker 1: the Book of the City of Ladies, which we already 480 00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:57,600 Speaker 1: have an episode on if you would like to check 481 00:27:57,640 --> 00:28:01,200 Speaker 1: that out over and over in this piece, Sor Juana 482 00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:05,440 Speaker 1: combines the idea that her intelligence and aptitude and desire 483 00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:08,960 Speaker 1: to learn are a hardship because of her gender with 484 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:12,199 Speaker 1: the idea that it's also just natural to her and 485 00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:16,080 Speaker 1: it She calls her poetry her quote twice unhappy ability, 486 00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:18,720 Speaker 1: while she also says that it is such a core 487 00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:21,360 Speaker 1: part of her that she has had to struggle not 488 00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:24,960 Speaker 1: to write the letter in verse. Sar Juana's response was 489 00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:28,240 Speaker 1: not formally published during her lifetime, but it was passed 490 00:28:28,280 --> 00:28:32,040 Speaker 1: around in religious circles, and the reaction varied from place 491 00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:35,360 Speaker 1: to place. She got some sympathy and support in Spain, 492 00:28:35,600 --> 00:28:39,800 Speaker 1: but total derision in places where Antonio Vieira was especially revered. 493 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:44,760 Speaker 1: Her confessor, Antonio Nuniez de Miranda, refused to see her. 494 00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:47,640 Speaker 1: He was also reported as saying that if he had 495 00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:50,080 Speaker 1: realized she was going to do all this writing, he 496 00:28:50,120 --> 00:28:53,880 Speaker 1: would have seen her married instead. The archbishop demanded that 497 00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:57,560 Speaker 1: sor Juana give up her studies. He had criticized her 498 00:28:57,560 --> 00:29:00,840 Speaker 1: secular studies before, so this was not new, but things 499 00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:05,160 Speaker 1: definitely did escalate. This might have blown over, but in 500 00:29:05,240 --> 00:29:09,600 Speaker 1: sixte there were extensive floods in the region, and then 501 00:29:09,640 --> 00:29:12,440 Speaker 1: there was a solar eclipse, and then that was followed 502 00:29:12,480 --> 00:29:15,560 Speaker 1: by a plague of weevils, which people either blamed on 503 00:29:15,640 --> 00:29:19,440 Speaker 1: the eclipse or thought the eclipse had predicted this all. 504 00:29:19,480 --> 00:29:23,040 Speaker 1: The whole flooding and we evil infestation then led to 505 00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:27,760 Speaker 1: a famine and food riots in sixteen. The National Palace 506 00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:30,520 Speaker 1: was attacked and burned during the riots, along with a 507 00:29:30,520 --> 00:29:33,880 Speaker 1: lot of the market in the main square of Mexico City. 508 00:29:33,920 --> 00:29:37,840 Speaker 1: On April twenty two of that year, Tomas de Lesserda died, 509 00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:41,920 Speaker 1: so Sarwana no longer had a former viceroy on her side, 510 00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:44,320 Speaker 1: and his widow, who she had been so close to, 511 00:29:44,600 --> 00:29:48,560 Speaker 1: was naturally occupied with other matters. This was a time 512 00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:52,560 Speaker 1: of hardship and chaos for everybody, and everybody, including the church, 513 00:29:52,640 --> 00:29:56,400 Speaker 1: was totally on edge. Sarwana wrote her last published work 514 00:29:56,480 --> 00:29:58,920 Speaker 1: during this time. That was a set of carols to St. 515 00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:03,000 Speaker 1: Catherine of Alexander. In sixteen ninety three, she sold off 516 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:07,160 Speaker 1: her library and her collections of scientific and musical instruments, 517 00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:10,680 Speaker 1: with the proceeds going to help the poor. She renewed 518 00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:13,680 Speaker 1: her relationship with her former confessor, and on March fifth, 519 00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:17,800 Speaker 1: sixteen ninety four, she wrote a repentance signed in her blood. 520 00:30:18,280 --> 00:30:20,680 Speaker 1: That sounds very dramatic, but it was a fairly common 521 00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:24,000 Speaker 1: practice at this time. After all of this, her cell 522 00:30:24,080 --> 00:30:27,800 Speaker 1: was described as containing only three devotional books, along with 523 00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:31,400 Speaker 1: some hair shirts and scourges, although after her death that 524 00:30:31,520 --> 00:30:34,800 Speaker 1: was found that she also still had some money and jewelry. 525 00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:37,520 Speaker 1: A few months before her death, sor Juanna wrote this 526 00:30:37,640 --> 00:30:41,200 Speaker 1: in the Convinced Book of Professions. Quote in this place 527 00:30:41,320 --> 00:30:43,360 Speaker 1: is to be noted the day, month, and year of 528 00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:46,040 Speaker 1: my death. For the love of God and His most 529 00:30:46,080 --> 00:30:49,120 Speaker 1: Holy Mother. I entreat my beloved sisters, the nuns, who 530 00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:51,200 Speaker 1: are here now and who shall be in the future, 531 00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:54,120 Speaker 1: to commend me to God. For I have been and 532 00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:57,760 Speaker 1: am the worst among them. Of them, I ask forgiveness 533 00:30:57,880 --> 00:31:00,960 Speaker 1: for the love of God and his Mother, I worst 534 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:03,760 Speaker 1: of all in the world. Juana and as de la Cruz. 535 00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:07,600 Speaker 1: This was not an unusual amount of self judgment in 536 00:31:07,640 --> 00:31:10,080 Speaker 1: these sorts of religious writings at the time, but it 537 00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:13,240 Speaker 1: is still very evocative. So we don't have any of 538 00:31:13,280 --> 00:31:18,200 Speaker 1: sor Juana's own writing about all this. Catholic biographers, especially 539 00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:21,840 Speaker 1: in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, framed this as coming 540 00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:26,120 Speaker 1: from devotion and from a sincere desire for sor Juana 541 00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:30,520 Speaker 1: to re dedicate herself to religious life. Other More recent 542 00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:33,960 Speaker 1: biographers have described it as a punishment that was inflicted 543 00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:37,320 Speaker 1: on her by an archbishop who was outraged over the 544 00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:40,800 Speaker 1: events of sixteen ninety. Still, others have suggested that it 545 00:31:40,880 --> 00:31:44,160 Speaker 1: might have been more pragmatic. The younger sar Juana had 546 00:31:44,200 --> 00:31:46,719 Speaker 1: recognized that a convent was the best place for her 547 00:31:46,800 --> 00:31:49,920 Speaker 1: to continue her studies, even though she didn't actually feel 548 00:31:49,960 --> 00:31:53,680 Speaker 1: a religious calling to be there. The older sor Juana 549 00:31:53,840 --> 00:31:55,959 Speaker 1: may have thought that the best way to secure her 550 00:31:56,000 --> 00:31:59,080 Speaker 1: future was to, at least for a time, put aside 551 00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:02,000 Speaker 1: her secular study in writing. If that was the case, 552 00:32:02,040 --> 00:32:04,160 Speaker 1: though she didn't get the chance to see if she 553 00:32:04,240 --> 00:32:07,080 Speaker 1: might return to her study and writing someday. In the 554 00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:10,840 Speaker 1: spring of sixteen and epidemics struck the convent. It is 555 00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:15,680 Speaker 1: sometimes described as plague and sometimes as a plague. I 556 00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:20,240 Speaker 1: do not know what type of plague it was, regardless 557 00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:24,160 Speaker 1: though Sarwana contracted it while caring for her religious sisters. 558 00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:27,320 Speaker 1: She died on September seventeen, sixte at the age of 559 00:32:27,360 --> 00:32:31,360 Speaker 1: about forty six. During her lifetime, sar Juana was nicknamed 560 00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:34,640 Speaker 1: the Tenth Muse and the Phoenix of America, but her 561 00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:37,000 Speaker 1: work fell out of view for a time after her death. 562 00:32:37,440 --> 00:32:40,320 Speaker 1: An edition of her work was published in seventeen five, 563 00:32:40,800 --> 00:32:43,920 Speaker 1: and that was it for more than two hundred years. Also, 564 00:32:44,600 --> 00:32:48,520 Speaker 1: laws banning communal ownership of property led to church archives 565 00:32:48,560 --> 00:32:52,560 Speaker 1: being scattered and lost, including records and documents that were 566 00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:56,160 Speaker 1: related to sar Juana. But interest in her work really 567 00:32:56,160 --> 00:32:59,200 Speaker 1: started to be renewed after the turn of the twentieth century, 568 00:32:59,400 --> 00:33:03,720 Speaker 1: especially for the Mexican Revolution. The first modern edition of 569 00:33:03,760 --> 00:33:08,120 Speaker 1: sor Juana's work was published in nineteen forty. Multiple biographies 570 00:33:08,200 --> 00:33:11,200 Speaker 1: have been written since then, including one by Mexican poet 571 00:33:11,240 --> 00:33:14,400 Speaker 1: Octavio pass that was one of those sources for this episode. 572 00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:17,719 Speaker 1: I highly recommend it, especially if you want to know 573 00:33:17,880 --> 00:33:21,680 Speaker 1: more about her poetry, because this work is as much 574 00:33:21,680 --> 00:33:25,240 Speaker 1: about literary criticism as it is about her actual biography. 575 00:33:25,400 --> 00:33:28,360 Speaker 1: There's definitely more recent work about the biography itself, but 576 00:33:28,440 --> 00:33:32,360 Speaker 1: having work about her poetry being written by a Mexican 577 00:33:32,400 --> 00:33:35,640 Speaker 1: poet is like particularly insightful in terms of her writing. 578 00:33:36,440 --> 00:33:39,200 Speaker 1: Her life has also been the subject of numerous plays 579 00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:42,280 Speaker 1: and movies and TV shows, including a twenty sixteen mini 580 00:33:42,320 --> 00:33:45,320 Speaker 1: series called Wanna Z which I haven't watched, but it's 581 00:33:45,320 --> 00:33:51,040 Speaker 1: on Netflix. There's so much on Netflix. Um. In the 582 00:33:51,120 --> 00:33:54,840 Speaker 1: n nineties, sor Juana's convent was being refurbished and a 583 00:33:54,840 --> 00:33:57,520 Speaker 1: set of remains was found with a badge that was 584 00:33:57,560 --> 00:34:01,560 Speaker 1: typical of the medallion that she usually war The bang 585 00:34:01,720 --> 00:34:04,000 Speaker 1: was so warned that it was impossible to tell what 586 00:34:04,120 --> 00:34:07,800 Speaker 1: was on it. Sor Juana's had depicted the Annunciation, but 587 00:34:07,840 --> 00:34:10,320 Speaker 1: it was more common for nuns to wear one depicting 588 00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:15,440 Speaker 1: the Immaculate Conception. Mexican novelist Margharita Lopez Portillo, who was 589 00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:18,600 Speaker 1: a scholar of sor Juana, took the medallion home with her, 590 00:34:18,640 --> 00:34:23,200 Speaker 1: which became a huge issue. Ultimately, she returned it and 591 00:34:23,200 --> 00:34:26,000 Speaker 1: the remains and the medallion were reinterred in the church 592 00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:29,839 Speaker 1: of Santronimo on the three and twentieth anniversary of sor 593 00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:33,520 Speaker 1: Juana's death. Yeah, people, a lot of times these remains 594 00:34:33,520 --> 00:34:36,640 Speaker 1: are described as belonging to her, and it's not impossible 595 00:34:36,719 --> 00:34:39,799 Speaker 1: that they are hers. But the medallion that she wore 596 00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:43,680 Speaker 1: was very commonly warned among nuns in her order during 597 00:34:43,680 --> 00:34:47,560 Speaker 1: her time, with the exception that hers had a different 598 00:34:47,600 --> 00:34:51,960 Speaker 1: depiction on it than was more commonly worn, so it's 599 00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:55,239 Speaker 1: a lot. It's it's not a certain that these were 600 00:34:55,239 --> 00:34:57,319 Speaker 1: her remains, but they have been treated as there they are. 601 00:34:58,239 --> 00:35:01,400 Speaker 1: Until very recently, sir Wana was on the two PTO note. 602 00:35:01,640 --> 00:35:05,799 Speaker 1: Redesigned bills that don't feature her anymore are entering circulation 603 00:35:06,080 --> 00:35:09,759 Speaker 1: literally as we are recording this podcast. Her birthplace was 604 00:35:09,840 --> 00:35:13,719 Speaker 1: also renamed now it's the Pantala Disort Wanna and As 605 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:17,120 Speaker 1: Dela Cruz, and her old convent is now a university 606 00:35:17,160 --> 00:35:20,360 Speaker 1: that is named after her. She is a fascinating figure 607 00:35:20,440 --> 00:35:24,920 Speaker 1: to me, and also a lot more complicated than like 608 00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:27,480 Speaker 1: a lot of the one page write ups that you 609 00:35:27,520 --> 00:35:30,040 Speaker 1: will find about her, like on online. A lot of 610 00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:33,600 Speaker 1: times they're almost one dimensional as sort of like this 611 00:35:33,719 --> 00:35:37,160 Speaker 1: is Sarwana who was such a rebel, or this is 612 00:35:37,160 --> 00:35:40,040 Speaker 1: Sarwana who was like such a child prodigy, or this 613 00:35:40,120 --> 00:35:42,400 Speaker 1: is Sarawana who was the first feminist. That one is 614 00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:45,080 Speaker 1: particularly troubling because none of those grapple with the fact 615 00:35:45,160 --> 00:35:48,520 Speaker 1: that she enslaved people while she was in the comment Yeah, 616 00:35:48,680 --> 00:35:51,080 Speaker 1: well that's always the case, right, We discover over and 617 00:35:51,120 --> 00:35:53,439 Speaker 1: over there's something that's come up or someone has asked 618 00:35:53,480 --> 00:35:55,640 Speaker 1: us to do it because they're like, so and so 619 00:35:55,680 --> 00:35:57,440 Speaker 1: it was a vampire. It's like wait, wait, wait, their 620 00:35:57,480 --> 00:36:02,920 Speaker 1: life is way more nuanced than yeah. So that is 621 00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:10,480 Speaker 1: why we do the work we do. Thanks so much 622 00:36:10,520 --> 00:36:13,560 Speaker 1: for joining us on this Saturday. Since this episode is 623 00:36:13,600 --> 00:36:15,640 Speaker 1: out of the archive, if you heard an email address 624 00:36:15,719 --> 00:36:18,000 Speaker 1: or Facebook U r L or something similar over the 625 00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:21,160 Speaker 1: course of the show, that could be obsolete now. Our 626 00:36:21,200 --> 00:36:25,720 Speaker 1: current email address is History Podcast at i heart radio 627 00:36:25,960 --> 00:36:29,120 Speaker 1: dot com. Our old health stuff works email address no 628 00:36:29,280 --> 00:36:31,920 Speaker 1: longer works, and you can find us all over social 629 00:36:31,960 --> 00:36:35,319 Speaker 1: media at missed in History. And you can subscribe to 630 00:36:35,400 --> 00:36:38,719 Speaker 1: our show on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, the I heart 631 00:36:38,800 --> 00:36:45,440 Speaker 1: Radio app, and wherever else you listen to podcasts. 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