Material culture in “cloister”: the relics of the Descalzas Reales’ monastery in the 16th and 17th centurie

Abstract

The monastery of the Descalzas Reales is known for housing women of the royal family. It was founded in 1559 by Princess Juana, sister of Philip II, and many prominent figures professed in this monastery, like the Empress Maria - also sister of the Prudent King-, or her daughter, sor Margarita de la Cruz. At the same time this place was visited by numerous queens, princesses and infants of the Hispanic Monarchy and from the other kingdoms. But it was a space of power too, a feminine palace with one of the largest collections of relics and reliquaries as private gifts to these royal women. There was no ambassador, nuncio, or legate who did not bring a box with relics for the illustrious nuns of the monastery. Due to their importance, their symbolic and diplomatic value, and because its care was one of the main activities in this religious center, the relics of the Monastery of the Descalzas Reales deserve to be studied as objects of worship, but also as gifts in the sphere of power.

Keywords

• Descalzas Reales, reliquias, relicarios, clarisas, diplomacia