Teresa de Cartagena and Her Family: Jewish Continuity, Christian Endeavor, and Converso Voice

Abstract

This dissertation examines the fifteenth century Castilian nun Teresa de Cartagena within the context of her family, her monastic career, her writing, and her religiosity. At its core, the study addresses the issue of religious continuity of Judaism after conversion and across three generations in Christianity. By situating Teresa alongside her grandfather and uncle, whose writings and careers reveal the persistence of Levitical traditions, the dissertation explores how familial background shaped her own spiritual identity and literary production. Methodologically, the project combines close textual analysis of key works by these family members with attention to the broader socio political and religious currents of fifteenth century Castile. This approach illuminates the ways in which Teresa’s voice, often read in isolation, resonates within a lineage negotiating faith, identity, and cultural belonging in a period of intense religious transformation. The central argument advanced here is that the Levitical heritage of the Cartagena family contributed significantly to the roles they assumed and to the distinctive sense of religiosity that Teresa herself embodied. In highlighting these continuities, the dissertation offers a new perspective on Teresa de Cartagena, situating her not only as an individual writer but also as part of a family whose experiences reflect larger patterns of conversion, adaptation, and cultural influence in late medieval Iberia. The findings contribute to scholarship on converso identity, women’s religious writing, and the interplay between Judaism and Christianity in medieval Spain, thereby enriching our understanding of Teresa de Cartagena’s place in Castilian cultural history.