Alfonso de Cartagena and His Influence on the Origin and Writing of "Arboleda de los enfermos," by His Niece, Teresa de Cartagena

Abstract

This research exposes the important —and so far overlooked— influence that her uncle, the bishop of Burgos Alfonso de Cartagena, a member of an important family of Judeo-converts, had on Teresa de Cartagena’s work. This is perceptible in the common presence in their works of Seneca’s thought; although, in Teresa’s case, there is an adaptation related to the defence of mortification in her works. The study establishes the meaning of some metaphors such as the grove and the deafness “of the understanding,” the latter concept already present in Alfonso’s texts. It also analyses the devotio moderna in both, but especially in Alfonso’s texts. And it establishes the influence that the defence of equality between men and women, made by the bishop of Burgos in some texts, had on the later creations of his niece. The study points to a probable date for the writing of her work and the need to revise it on the basis of the Cistercian ideas that she assumed when she entered this order through Alfonso’s mediation.