On to Portugal: The Lisbon Carmel, 1584–1603

Abstract

In December 1584, María de San José arrived in Lisbon, where she founded São Alberto, the first female Discalced Carmelite convent in Portugal. Soon afterward, São Alberto housed a group of Clarissas [Poor Clares], who had escaped the Low Countries. Brétigny was anxious to found a Discalced convent in Paris, with María as its prioress, but the moment was not propitious. María was a gentle and efficient prioress, yet she was a strict disciplinarian, and nuns were often whipped as a form of mortification. Throughout Europe and the Spanish colonies, self-mortification was common, as it was considered a means of helping individuals share Christ’s suffering and thereby bringing them closer to God.