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Maarten Janssen, 2014-

PS6178

1706. Carta no autógrafa de Pedro Pablo Díez, boticario, para Manuela Ramos, beata de Nuestra Señora del Monte Carmelo.

Author(s) Pedro Pablo Díez      
Addressee(s) Manuela Ramos      
In English

Unsigned letter from Pedro Pablo Díez, an apothecary, to Manuela Ramos, blessed of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

The author reprimands Manuela Ramos for deciding to change her confessor.

Following an accusation of alumbrados, dishonesty and having been imbued in the errors of Molinos, a process occurred between 1708 and 1711 against Manuela Ramos, alias Manuela Sánchez or Manuela de Santa Leocadia. Manuela Ramos was born in Novés (Toledo) in 1679 and had a Catholic upbringing. She declared herself Old Christian and a descendant of Old Christians. She lost her mother at age eleven and she moved to Illescas (Toledo) where she began to serve in a convent of the Concepción Francisca. After five years her father died and her brother had her transferred to Santa Isabel convent in Toledo where she learned to read and write. She was devoted to Our Lady of Mount Carmel and had as a confessor Fray Manuel de Santa Leocadia from 1700 to 1704, a Discalced Carmelite who also lived at the convent. In November 1704 Manuela moved to Madrid for three months in order to flee the harassment and threats of a carpenter named Francisco who wanted to marry her. During her time in Madrid, she stayed in Diego de las Cuevas´ house and had as her confessor Fray Francisco Fernández de Villegas, a Discalced Carmelite and Prior of Valdemoro. She married Blas Martín Pingarrón in Toledo in 1707.

During the Holy Office´s process against her, she was tried for heresy, alumbradismo and dishonesty. Specifically, she was accused of: faking visions and divine revelations; premarital relations; and an unlawful carnal knowledge with her confessor, Fray Francisco Fernández de Villegas. 48 letters (PS6143-PS6191) were provided to the process and used as incriminating evidences for the aforementioned crimes. The letters are sewn together in a notebook attached to the documentation of the process. Inside this notebook two epistolary collections can be distinguished: 18 letters written by Blas Martín Pingarrón and addressed to Fray Francisco Fernández de Villegas, and 28 letters written by Manuela Ramos and addressed to Fray Francisco Fernández de Villegas. There is also a letter signed by Diego del Amor, alias Diego de las Cuevas, and another one from Cristobal de Alfaro (PS6164) to Fray Francisco Fernández de Villegas. There is also a copy of a letter from Pedro Pablo Díez, an apothecary from Yepes, to Manuela Ramos (PS6178). Within the process, two other letters which do not appear in the notebook and addressed to Fray Francisco Fernández de Villegas are mentioned: one of them written by Fray Francisco Salazar, a Carmelite from Valdemoro convent, and another one written by Manuela Ramos.

Regarding Blas Martín Pingarrón’s letters, he admitted they were his and in his confession to the Holy Office he explained the reason why he had written them. Villegas frequently visited Manuela Ramos in Toledo because of her visions and hallucinations and asked to be informed about her in his absence. Therefore, the letters from Blas Martín Pingarrón were "basically to tell Villegas of how Manuela Ramos was being tormented by the devil and of her visions" (f. 188r). The correspondence between Blas Martín Pingarrón and Fray Francisco Fernández de Villegas took place approximately from 1706 to 1707 and its content was used as incriminating evidence to prove that either Manuela Ramos or Villegas were "deluded, deceiver, hypocrite and feigner of supernatural favours" (f. 231r). In the letters, Blas Martín Pingarrón used to sign as "Baptista" and refer to Manuela Ramos as "M" or as "Rosa".

Regarding Manuela Ramos’ letters, she did not admit to being their author in her confession to the Holy Office. Instead, she argued they were written by a María Basagutia, with whom the defendant had lived for a while in Toledo. During the process, this statement was proved to be false and it was also proved that the letters belonged to Manuela Ramos. She was accused of trying to deceive the Court by changing her handwriting: "[...] neither is less worthy of reflection the changing variety of handwriting which the defendant tries to deceive us with (although unsuccessfully) since she has proved many times this handwriting is hers. She may have thought that she could scape blame for being the author of the letters by deceiving this tribunal into thinking it was not her handwriting. Nevertheless, before she was arrested she recognised that the signatures on the documents and denouncements were hers. On these documents the capital letters found in the signatures indicate she writes with great agility. After she was imprisoned and being suspicious over the use of the letters as exhibits, she began to simulate different handwritings in the signatures of the hearings. She was trying to demonstrate clumsiness and difficulty either in the sluggishness she was signing on or the hesitation about whether or not would be able to begin with capital letters" (f. 557r-v)." These suspicions, together with the opinion of four handwriting experts, show that Manuela Ramos is the author. The correspondence between Manuela Ramos and Fray Francisco Fernández de Villegas was exchanged approximately from 1704 to 1706 and it was used as incriminating evidence to prove their relationship was not just spiritual. Some of the reasons to believe so were the following ones: there were crosses and zeros representing kisses and hugs in many of the letters; the cautious way they were writing, withholding their names and; lastly, some of the treatment formulas they employed (for instance: my soul´s husband). Manuela Ramos used to sign her letters as "Manuela de Santa Leocadia" or "Manuela Bautista".

Ultimately, the content of the letters filed in the process documentation were used as exhibit not only to prove that the relationship between Manuela Ramos and Fray Francisco Fernández de Villegas did not reflect "a spiritual love, on the contrary [...] it was human love, sensitive and very close to the sensuality, which probably was, and at least very dangerous and leading to spiritual ruin against honesty" (f. 231r); but also to accuse Manuela Ramos and Fray Francisco Fernández de Villegas of eluded and alumbrados.

In the trial sentence against Manuela Ramos the judgment was: the defendant should lose half of her properties; she should walk to the scaffold as a penitent, candle in hand, to publicly abjure of the errors and heresies she was accused of; she should be exiled for four years from the court of Madrid and eight leagues from the villages of Novés and Illescas; she should pass the first of those four years in prison, wearing the sanbenito, the garment of public humiliation, on her clothes.

Being asked about the content of this letter, the defendant explains she is being reprehended for having stopped confessing with Fray Manuel de Santa Leocadia and having substituted him for Fray Francisco Fernández y Villegas. Regarding the author of the letter, the defendant stated the following: "When I received it I knew through María Basagutia about its content and also that it was written by Pedro Pablo, apothecary of Yepes, he sent it inside a letter from Fray Manuel de Santa Leocadia, his confessor. And he [...] had the letter sent to Alcalá and from there to me by using a boy from the school as a courier. Knowing that, I looked for the boy and made him write a letter for me in order to collate the handwriting with the one I had received to find out it was from the same hand"(fl. 38r).

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no dudo q se le ara a Vm gran nobeda de ver letra de quien no conoce pero como dios nos conoce y sabe nuestros secretos no nos toca a nosotros mas q venerarlos y obedecerlos i no escrudiñrlos. y asi le digo a Vm q por mandado d este gran dios q mora en nuestras almas como biv en los tenplos q somos suios lo ago para decirla q lo q Vm esta egecutando intenta no es del agrado ni gusto de dios q conviene no pase adelante sino q desde luego lo dege y se sugete a lo q este gran dios de las misericordias quiere i es q Vm no busque teologias humanas q goviernen su alma pues sabe mui bien Vm q este señor se la da divina al ministro q la enseña desde su principio y mientras viva este su ministro ni Vm ni criatura ninguna q tenga a su cargo tiene q buscar otro a su modo n intentarlo porqu ni es boluntad de dios ni la criatura ba bien lo qual Vm esprimentara si acaso no ai ya otra bes en pecado a esprimentarlo pues por doitos grandes q aiga me parece q este gran señor no gusta ni quiere q baia a otro sino es solo al q su magestad le tiene a Vm señalado pues en el a depositado una ciencia divina q todos los teologos guntos no alcancaran con sus letras i sin buscar fuera de casa quien lo confiese q esto es cierto y lo puede decir el padre billegas Vm por boveria i locura si supiera q yo buscaba confesor letrado i santo tiniendo uno q ni Vm ni yo segun las noticias q tengo mereciamos descalcar a quien el gran dios a tantos feneficios q le a q sobrepugan a y q por santos q sus yjos no le an de faltar para gobernarlos. creo Vm q en este caso q el me abia engañado y porq aunq yo quisiera estaba mi alma en tal de perfecion q este padre me entendia i q antes retrasaba q adelantaba q era sobervia q quien governado a una isabel i la abia dado lus asta tanbien a mi llebarme aunq fuera ni santa como san lo qual amonesta q santos no nos de andar confesores baiase por el q a tomado y a andado a todas horas tras Vm lo qual se a sabido por aca i si tanto de virtud como de confesor mui estara en la degando el confesor q le a dado y tomando el q a querido escriviendo estoi i me dicen q diga a Vm q al principio estaba mas al gusto de dios porq estaba mui distraida de criaturas y aora esta mui mestida d ellas y asi degese Vm de cuidados q no le tocan ni para su alma inporta una ormiga bea Vm q humildad ni q obediencia q por ai conocera lo aprovechada q esta consulte Vm con el padre q fue a los principios del empecar Vm i ese camino i este papel i si no gustare sea con dios solo. artas oraciones me a costado el pedir a dios si pudiera escusar el q yo iciese esto pero no me e dolido escusar segun precisado al señor Vm bea por este si le toca por este papel si abla con Vm todo lo dicho es berda i el señor por el q me lo a mandado cierto jesus

señora manuela y hermana en christo

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