1686. Carta de Francisco Esteban de Jesús, fraile, para sor Antonia Teresa de San José, monja.

Letter from Francisco Esteban de Jesús María, a friar, to Sister Antonia Teresa de San José, a nun.

The author writes to Sister Antonia Teresa in order to give her advice, information and to offer his support and his trust.

Sister Antonia Teresa de San José was a religious from the convent of San José of the barefoot Carmelites of Cuenca. In 1686, after receiving a self-incrimination letter from Juan de la Concepción, a provincial priest, the Inquisition accused her of eluded, insane and relaxed. The letter pointed out the nun´s habits and her excessive use of the correspondence, as well as other unusual behaviours. According to the different testimonies the nun acted in a strange manner. She awoke at night and suffered from manias from which she was treated by the congregation doctor, who declared that Sister Antonia Teresa had suffered from hypochondria and deliriums for years. In order to defend herself from all the accusations, she wrote several memorials and sent several letters to the tribunal addressing every offence she was charged with (first fragment fols. 28-38; 39-42; second fragment fols. 22-35; 56-89). Specifically, one of the justifications she alleged is that she was solicited in several occasions by a number of friars, also Carmelites, some of which had already passed away. Among the trial documentation there are seven letters received by Sister Antonia Teresa from different superiors encouraging and advising her about her state of health. She recognized these letters in folios 91r and 92r: “Seven letters addressed to her and provided by herself to the ministries of the tribunal in charge of gathering her statement”. Another subject she has to justify herself about is her writing obsession, which she did not deny but claimed she just did so with her superiors. Eventually, no one was condemned after this trial: neither the priests denounced by the nun, given that there were no enough evidences; nor the nun herself, as her mental condition was taken into account and was used to justify her behaviour.