What is it about?
The article examines the complex evolution of female monastic enclosure in early modern Spain, specifically focusing on the tension between institutional control and personal agency. The author contrasts the Council of Trent’s restrictive mandates, which used threats of excommunication to enforce isolation, with the Teresian reform of the Discalced Carmelites, which reframed confinement as a spiritual "cell of one's own." While church authorities viewed the cloister as a tool for protecting patriarchal honor and monitoring female religiosity, Saint Teresa de Jesús transformed it into a dynamic space for internal pilgrimage and intellectual independence. By analyzing the "intus/foris" (inside/outside) dichotomy, the sources highlight how nuns negotiated these rigid gender hierarchies to find empowerment through solitude. Ultimately, the study reveals that the convent served as a paradoxical site of liberty, allowing women to escape worldly domesticity while building a collective, mystical identity.
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Why is it important?
One of the most important aspects of the study is its interpretation of the notion of Teresian enclosure on three intertwined levels: communitarian, spatial and spiritual. Although the practice of going barefoot originated in a pre-Tridentine context, it had to survive and take root amidst the full implementation of the Council’s norms. Teresa redefines the concept of cloistered life. While accepting the legal framework, she insists on its spiritual significance, ensuring it is not reduced to mere physical confinement. This highlights the fruitful ambiguity identified by the study: Teresian cloistered life is neither pure resistance nor simple obedience. Rather, it is a creative reinterpretation that preserves spaces of inner and communal freedom within an increasingly restrictive system.
Perspectives
The study enables a deeper understanding of one of the most frequently misunderstood aspects of the history of female religious life: enclosure. At a time when Discalced Carmelites are drafting a new constitutional text in which enclosure is an important element that must be addressed, both for its own significance and because of the need to comply with the Holy See’s regulations, specifically the Cor Orans decree, the study addresses the root meanings and uses of the Teresian clausura.
Dr. Julia Lewandowska
Uniwersytet Warszawski
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: ‘Cell of One’s Own’. The Notion of Female Enclosure in the Teresian Reform in Spain, January 2025, Brepols Publishers NV,
DOI: 10.1484/m.wr-eb.5.149952.
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