Isabel de Villena

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Isabel de Villena (1430 Valencia, Spain – 1490 Valencia, Spain) was Illegitimate child of Infante Henry of Aragon and poet and prose writer noblewoman. She became the abbess of the Real monasterio de la Trinidad of Valencia and the first female writer of Catalan. She was one of the first women to openly show her feminist stance, and tried fervently to clean up the bad image of women at that time.

Biography

The queen Maria of Castile took care of her from when she was 4 years old, she lived in the court of Alfonso V of Aragon (the Magnanimous) and was educated there until 1445 when she became a nun in the Monastery of la Trinidad where eventually she was appointed as abbess in 1463, a responsibility she bore until her death.

She wrote many treaties about the religious life but only one has been conserved, the Vita Cristi (Christ's Life). Thanks to the intervention of her successor, Aldonça de Montsoriu, after Isabel's death, this treaty was published for the first time in Valencia in 1497.

One of the most influential figures in Isabel's life and the person who inspired the Vita Cristi was Jaume Roig. He was the doctor of the monastery and they shared literary ideas on more than one occasion. It is said that the Vita Cristi is a response to the misogynist work of Roig Espill o Llibre de les dones (Mirror or Women's book).

References

Persondata
Name	Villena, Isabel de
Alternative names
Short description	Spanish writer
Date of birth	1430
Place of birth	Valencia, Spain
Date of death	1490
Place of death	Valencia, Spain

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