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The devotion of Juana Inés de la Cruz
Feminist icon, Mexican legend, and one of the greatest poets in recent history
No other female poet has made an impact like Juana Inés de la Cruz. She has become a feminist icon, a Mexican legend, and one of the most loved poets in recent history.
Juana Inés was a rebel and a prodigy. To understand her work, you first have to understand her life and her world.
Don’t want to read? Listen to this story and hear a reading of “My Divine Lysis” on the tiff loves words podcast.
Daughter of the church
Juana Inés de la Cruz was born Juana Ramirez de Asbaje, most likely on December 2, 1648. There is no official record of her birth remaining but there is a baptismal certificate of “a daughter of the church” that lists her aunt and uncle as godparents. What’s a daughter of the church, you ask? Well that’s a lovely 17th century way of saying she was a bastard.
Juana Inés was born in San Miguel Nepantla in New Spain, which is now Tepetlixpa in the State of Mexico.
Her parents were reportedly poor. Her mother, Isabel Ramirez, had six children. Her father, Pedro Manuel de Asbaje, is actually almost a complete mystery. Juana herself says he was a Basque but not much else is known about him. In fact, there are rumors that he could have even been a priest, which would have been a huge scandal at that time. Escandlo!
In the 17th century, the Renaissance was taking its last breath and there was a small pause before the Age of Revolutions. But things were far from quiet. When Juana was born, the world was in the middle of upheaval, cultural shifts, the rise of scientific experiment, and of course, wars.
Let’s add some familiar context so you can understand just how crazy things were in the 1600s. Shakespeare was penning masterpieces at the same time that Galileo was discovering the moons of Jupiter. Protestants were fighting Catholics in the Thirty Years War, the Ming Dynasty was falling, and England was becoming a republic and then shortly after…
