Luisa Carvajal y Mendoza
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Luisa Carvajal y Mendoza (1566-1614) was a member of the Spanish nobility and religious poet and writer.
Carvajal y Mendoza's parents died when she was young. The Jaraicejo native moved to live with her uncle and aunt in Pamplona. Because she did not wish to marry, after her uncle's death, she lived a holy life by herself and a few servants in Madrid, claiming her inheritance against her brother through a legal suit. She at first wished to donate the amount to found a nunnery in Belgium, but with the help of the Jesuits, she decided to leave the monies to the Order and travel to England.
Arriving in London shortly after the Gunpowder Plot, Carvajal y Mendoza attempted to reconvert the Anglicans to Catholicism by preaching in the streets. Her actions, considered disruptive and traitorous, landed her in jail, but she was released through the intervention of the Spanish Ambassador. After her second imprisonment, she fell mortally ill from a bronchial infection. King Philip III ordered her body shipped back to Spain, where she was revered at first as a putative saint. Her canonization proceedings, however, resulted only in her beatification.
Carvajal left autobiographical writings and a brief but excellent collection of religious poetry. Her unusual decision to travel to England as a missionary has attracted the attention of feminist scholars. Carvajal y Mendoza's legacy in Spain was evidenced during the 1990s, when Spain's airline, Iberia, named an Airbus A340 jet airliner after her.
