Humility and Influence: Female Agency and the Confraternity of Saint Rosalia in Eighteenth-Century Cuenca
Abstract In June 1773 Doña Luisa García de Medina filed a lawsuit against the Spanish colonial government demanding the return of her generous donation to the confraternity of Saint Rosalia in Cuenca (Audiencia of Quito). This dispute provides a clear testimony of the influence of religious devotion...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
2021
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| In: |
Religion and the arts
Year: 2021, Volume: 25, Issue: 1/2, Pages: 35-69 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Cuenca (Ecuador)
/ Rosalia, Female saint -1160
/ Brotherhood
/ Lay movement
/ Woman
/ Piety
/ History 1700-1800
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| RelBib Classification: | CB Christian life; spirituality KBR Latin America KCA Monasticism; religious orders KDB Roman Catholic Church |
| Further subjects: | B
Audiencia of Quito
B female agency B Cuenca B confraternity of Saint Rosalia B religious patronage |
| Online Access: |
Presumably Free Access Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Abstract In June 1773 Doña Luisa García de Medina filed a lawsuit against the Spanish colonial government demanding the return of her generous donation to the confraternity of Saint Rosalia in Cuenca (Audiencia of Quito). This dispute provides a clear testimony of the influence of religious devotion and the power of female self-fashioning and agency. Doña Luisa’s piety, her promotion of the cult of Saint Rosalia, and her substantial donation allowed her to establish associations with leading local institutions and shape Cuenca’s sacred landscape and its inhabitants’ religious experience. Doña Luisa’s control of the processional route also identified her oratory as a space for spiritual introspection, self-representation, and social exchange. This article illustrates the importance of humility in the advancement of female agency in the colonial period. This research also proves that the study of religious confraternities supports a more inclusive construction of Spanish American history and shows the impact of female patronage in the civic space. |
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| ISSN: | 1568-5292 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion and the arts
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15685292-02501002 |