Women of the Romance Countries (Illustrated): Woman: In all ages and in all countries Vol. 6 (of 10)Effinger, John R. (John Robert)
History
Women of the Romance Countries (Illustrated): Woman: In all ages and in all countries Vol. 6 (of 10)
Effinger, John R. (John Robert)
Women -- Italy -- History; Women -- Spain -- History
no more pathetic figure in all the history of Spain than this poor,
mistreated Juana la Loca, "the mad Juana," and to every diligent
student of Spanish history this instance of woman's inhumanity to woman
will ever be a blot on the scutcheon of the celebrated Isabella of
Castile.
The religious fanaticism which was responsible in part at least for the
fate of Juana soon took shape in a modified form as a definite national
policy, and the grandson and great-grandson of Isabella, Charles V. and
his son, King Philip, showed themselves equally ardent in the defence of
the Catholic faith, even if their ardor did not lead them to treat with
inhumanity some member of their own family. Spain gloried in this
religious leadership, exhausted herself in her efforts to maintain the
cause of Rome in the face of the growing force of the Reformation, and
not only sent her sons to die upon foreign battlefields, but ruthlessly
took the lives of many of her best citizens at home in her despairing
efforts to wipe out every trace of heresy. This whole ecclesiastical
campaign produced a marked change in the character of the Spanish
people; they lost many of their easy-going ways, while retaining their
indomitable spirit of national pride, and became stern, vindictive, and
bigoted. In the process of this transformation, the women of the country
were perhaps in advance of the men in responding to the new influences
which were at work upon them. The number of convents increased rapidly,
every countryside had its wonder-working nun who could unveil the
mysteries of the world while in the power of some ecstatic trance, and
women everywhere were the most tireless supporters of the clergy. It was
natural that this should be the case, for there was a nervous excitement
in the air which was especially effective upon feminine minds, and the
Spanish woman in particular was sensitive and impressionable and easily
influenced. Among all of the devout women of this age living a
conventual life, the most distinguished, beyond any question, was
Teresa de Cepeda, who is perhaps the favorite saint of modern Spain
to-day.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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