Books by Pablo Acosta-García
Step into the world of 16th-century Castile, where a devout community of Franciscan women preserv... more Step into the world of 16th-century Castile, where a devout community of Franciscan women preserved the public preaching of their visionary abbess, Juana de la Cruz (1481-1534), through writing. This groundbreaking book uncovers how her sermons were recorded, explores the materiality of the surviving codices, and reveals their role in the controversial censorship and blocking of Juana’s canonization. Tracing the rich tradition of the liturgical vision (12th-16th centuries), it delves into female literacy and the creation of collective knowledge in female religious houses around Europe. Featuring rare insights and fresh evaluations of historical texts, this volume illuminates the intersection of female prophetic preaching, community, and the written word at the end of the Middle Ages.
Revista de Poética Medieval, 2024
Il «Dialogo» di Caterina da Siena. Per una nuova edizione critica: filologia, tradizione, teologia. Cur. Silvia Nocentini, Firenze, SISMEL-Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2023
Towards a new edition of the «Dialogo» of Catherine of Siena. This volume collects the papers of ... more Towards a new edition of the «Dialogo» of Catherine of Siena. This volume collects the papers of the discussants involved in the 16th Seminar of history and theology of mistics «Claudio Leonardi», held in Rome at the Pontificia Università S. Tommaso d'Aquino («Angelicum»), 2-3 December 2021. Papers by P. Acosta-García, A. Bartolomei Romagnoli, E. Berti, A. Diriart, N. Estrafallaces, G. Festa, C. Lagomarsini, S. Nocentini, N. Pigini, F Santi, C. Tesson, P. Tylus.
Primera traducción al español anotada y filológicamente revisada del "Memoriale" de Ángela de Fol... more Primera traducción al español anotada y filológicamente revisada del "Memoriale" de Ángela de Foligno, una de las primeras voces femeninas que podemos leer en Occidente.
Texto de la contraportada:
"El Memorial o Libro de la Vida de Angela de Foligno (1242-1308) constituye una de las obras más importantes de la mística europea medieval. A pesar de no haber sido escrito por esta mujer analfabeta, una terciara franciscana de la Umbria, sino dictado a su guía espiritual, resuena su voz potente para expresar una experiencia inefable, una peregrinación que se inicia con su desnudamiento ante la cruz, según el ideal de pobreza de las nuevas corrientes espirituales, para concluir en el punto sublime de conciliación de los contrarios. Precursora de los grandes maestros de la mística renana como el Maestro Eckhart, su relato cautivó, entre otros muchos, a Georges Bataille que la bautizó como “Dama de la Noche”.
«Quien busca está consigo y así se posee, pero a la vez le falta algo, puesto que se pone a busca... more «Quien busca está consigo y así se posee, pero a la vez le falta algo, puesto que se pone a buscar» (Espejo, p. 148).
Journal articles by Pablo Acosta-García
Medieval Sermon Studies, 2014
This first edition presents a critical text of The Sermon on the Trinity by the visionary Francis... more This first edition presents a critical text of The Sermon on the Trinity by the visionary Franciscan abbess Juana de la Cruz (1481–1534), accompanied by a philologically rigorous transcription and an English translation a fronte. The introduction situates Juana de la Cruz within the broader context of medieval female preachers, examining her unique contributions to the theological and spiritual discourses of her time. By addressing both her visionary experiences and the socio-religious constraints on female preaching, this work sheds new light on Juana’s role as a pioneering voice in late medieval Christianity.
Revista de Poética Medieval, 2024
Introducción al número monográfico de la Revista de Poética Medieval "IMAGEN, PALABRA Y PERFORMAN... more Introducción al número monográfico de la Revista de Poética Medieval "IMAGEN, PALABRA Y PERFORMANCE: NUEVAS PERSPECTIVAS PARA EL ESTUDIO DE LAS SANTAS VIVAS EN LA BAJA EDAD MEDIA CASTELLANA". En el panorama literario hispánico sigue siendo difícil abordar las figuras de Teresa de Jesús y Juan de la Cruz desde el punto de vista de su tradición europea. La percepción de su obra como culmen de la literatura mística del Siglo de Oro proyecta aún hoy una alargada sombra que tiende a presentarla como un unicum de la cultura castellana. Sin embargo, como ponen en evidencia los estudios sobre los movimientos de reforma, la transformación de la vida carmelita promovida por Juan y Teresa, en la que su obra se integra en gran parte, no es una excepción, sino una constante en el seno del cristianismo (Bataillon 1996 [1937], Mixson/Roest, 2015; Mazzonis 2022). Los estudios que se han realizado en las últimas décadas sobre mística europea (en particular, aquellos sobre mística femenina) muestran un panorama complejo, donde abunda una diseminación transnacional de escritos, ideas y prácticas, que desdibuja la imagen monolítica e idealizada de estos dos autores, y que propone, además, un boom anterior de la mística castellana femenina, en el siglo xv (Sanmartín Bastida 2012; Graña Cid 2014; McGinn 2017). En 1990, Gabriella Zarri publicó un influyente libro monográfico que incluía la definición de un nuevo paradigma: el de las santas vivas...
Hipogrifo. Revista de literatura y cultura del Siglo de Oro. , 2022
In this article I conduct a comparative analysis between some of the
sermons of the Libro del con... more In this article I conduct a comparative analysis between some of the
sermons of the Libro del conorte, which textualizes part of the ecstatic preaching of the Franciscan abbess Juana de la Cruz (1481-1534), and some of the public or semi-public revelations of Elisabeth von Schönau (1129-1164/1165). Despite the years separating their work, I study in depth a series of characteristics shared by both visionaries: prophetism as one of the two possibilities of medieval female preaching, liturgy as the cause and collective setting of revelation and, finally, vision as a form of biblical exegesis. This allows me to define a chronological and theoretical frame of reference that will permit the study of female preaching as a European tradition in the near future.
Revista de literatura medieval, 2022
In this article new codicological data from the manuscript Royal Library of the Monastery of San ... more In this article new codicological data from the manuscript Royal Library of the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial J-II-18, which contains the visionary sermons of the Franciscan abbess Juana de la Cruz (1481-1534), are presented and analyzed. The finding of former library call numbers, the examination of the paper watermarks, and an in-depth study of the binding provides with new perspectives on the apocryphal nature of the prologue.
Studia Aurea, 2021
In the following pages I provide a Philological edition of five unpublished songs linked with the... more In the following pages I provide a Philological edition of five unpublished songs linked with the production of the Franciscan abbess Juana de la Cruz (1481-1534). I study first the source from a material point of view, and then develop a metric analysis of thesongs, putting them in the context of the Franciscan lyrical poetry at a European level. On the other hand, I make a brief theological commentary of each of the songs, contextualizing them in the visionary preaching activity of the abbess.
Resumen: En las siguientes páginas edito y comento un corpus inédito de cinco canciones vinculadas a la abadesa franciscana Juana de la Cruz (1481-1534). Además de un texto que se transcribe siguiendo criterios filológicamente fiables, proporciono una descripción material de la fuente y realizo un estudio métrico de las composiciones. Por otro lado, desde la ladera de su interpretación histórica, hago un breve comentario teológico de cada una de las piezas, que las propone como parte de la producción lírica franciscana europea, a la vez que las contextualizo en la predicación visionaria de la abadesa en su contexto cisneriano. Palabras clave Juana de la Cruz; reforma observante; franciscanismo femenino; predicación femenina; Libro del conhorte; lírica religiosa; laude.
Journal of Medieval Iberian Studies, 2021
This article introduces the “Catalogue of Living Saints,” a wiki catalogue that provides knowledg... more This article introduces the “Catalogue of Living Saints,” a wiki catalogue that provides knowledge about the lives of Castilian charismatic women, prior to Teresa of Ávila (d. 1582), who acquired reputations for holiness in their own times. The lives of these “holy” women show great contact between court and convent, and they contribute to better understanding the history of women and their subsequent impact on society. The collected lives appeared in a diversity of sources: manuscripts of the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries, including conventual books and compendia ontaining lives of saints, handwritten and printed chronicles of religious orders in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Castile, and other works. Thus, the Catalogue recovers several texts that have never been printed before and that in most cases were never edited independently. Furthermore, it integrates the development of a database in order to
understand the different proposed hagiographical models and their performative shape and spatial distribution of power. Additionally, this article discusses how gathering, editing, and reading the lives of these women via an open-access virtual tool creates a new hermeneutical framework regarding the materiality of the original codices and printed volumes. Finally, it proposes mitigation measures in the near future to bring contemporary reading practices (and interpretation) closer to historical ones.
Religions, 12(3), 223, 2021
In this article, I study in depth the first vita of the Franciscan Tertiary abbess Juana de la Cr... more In this article, I study in depth the first vita of the Franciscan Tertiary abbess Juana de la Cruz (Vida y fin de la bienaventurada virgen sancta Juana de la Cruz, written c. 1534), examining it as a chronicle that narrativizes the origins and reform of a specific religious community in the Castile of the Catholic Monarchs. I argue that Vida y fin constitutes an account that was collectively written inside the walls of the enclosure that can help us understand themes, motifs, and symbolic Franciscan elements that were essential for the self-definition of its original textual community. I first discuss the narrative of the convent’s foundation and then examine the penitential identity of the community, highlighting the inspiration that Juana’s hagiography takes from the infancy of Caterina da Siena, as described in the Legenda maior by Raimondo da Capua, and analyzing to what extent the represented penitential practices related to the imitatio Christi reflect a Franciscan Tertiary identity in opposition to a Dominican one. Finally, I address the passages in which the hagiographer(s) discuss(es) the sense of belonging to the Franciscan order rather than the Dominicans, and the mystical figure of Francesco d’Assisi as a founder, guide, and exemplar.
Open Access: “‘En viva sangre bañadas’: Caterina da Siena y las vidas de María de Ajofrín, Juana de la Cruz, María de Santo Domingo y otras santas vivas castellanas”
Archivio italiano per la storia della pietà, XXXIII, 143-172, 2020
Open Access: DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4580499
A Summary in English by Camila Walls Castillo: https://o... more Open Access: DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4580499
A Summary in English by Camila Walls Castillo: https://othersisters.hypotheses.org/239
In this article I gather the lives of a group of Castilian sante vive from the 15th and 16th centuries (María de Ajofrín, Juana de la Cruz and María de Santo Domingo and others) and establish a detailed hagiographic comparative analysis which takes into account some previous and contemporary Italian narrative patterns. I am particularly interested in clarify two issues: first, to what extent Catherina of Siena's Legenda maior by Raymond of Capua inspired the narratives of these Iberian lives (and, additionally, what do these results mean in the pre-Modern Castilian context); second, what a comparison with the bio-hagiography of an Italian charismatic woman as Lucia Broccadelli da Narni could tell us about the construction of radical models of sanctity. I divide the analysis in two parts: the childhood, as a symbollic formative period of the saint, and the maturity of the visionary women, where I focus especifically on the signification of the narratives of the stigmatization.
Hispania Sacra, 2020
In this article I analyze the devotional post-incunabula commissioned by Cardinal Francisco Ximén... more In this article I analyze the devotional post-incunabula commissioned by Cardinal Francisco Ximénez Cisneros through a case study: the Liber qui dicitur Angela de Fulginio (1505), which also includes Liber specialis (spiritualis) gratiae by Mechthild von Hackeborn and the Prima regula by Francis of Assisi. In the first place, I will study the specific versions of the works which were finally printed, through their comparison with their European manuscript tradition. In the second place, I will discuss the presence of a “reformist program” linked with Cisnero’s intentions through specific fragments emphasized by printed maniculae in the margins of the book.
Religions, 2020
In this article, I analyze the translation commissioned in 1511 by Cardinal Francisco Ximénez Cis... more In this article, I analyze the translation commissioned in 1511 by Cardinal Francisco Ximénez Cisneros of the Life of Catherine of Siena by Raimundo de Capua, which includes the legendae of Giovanna (also known as Vanna) da Orvieto and Margherita da Città di Castello in the light of its translation, commission, and reception in premodern Castile. In the first place, I clarify the medieval transformations of Caterina's text by discussing the main branches of her manuscript tradition and explaining the specificities of the editions authorized by Cisneros in order to know what exactly was printed. In the second place, I put these specificities into the courtly, prophetic context in which those books were published. Finally, I analyze the reception of these editions in the Iberian Peninsula, especially in relation to the figure of María de Santo Domingo, the famous Dominican tertiary.
Apophatic Mountains: Poetics of Image in Marguerite Porete and John of the Cross
Viator. Medieval and Renaissance Studies., Apr 2017
Abstract
This paper aims to develop a theory of image based on the Mirror of Simple Souls by the... more Abstract
This paper aims to develop a theory of image based on the Mirror of Simple Souls by the French beguine Marguerite dicta Porete (ca. 1260-1310) and the poems and commentaries by the Spanish Carmelite John of the Cross (1542-1591), by making a comparative analysis focused on the way they think using images, the way they create images and how these ones relate to their texts. In particular, we will analyze the symbol of the mountain, which both authors use in a very specific way, and through which they chart a spiritual topography, both graphic and mental, in devotional and didactic contexts. The mountain is studied through its inherent structure of polarity (top and bottom) and its articulation through the gradual image of the ladder. We will study how they construct negative theologies through an apophatic meditational practice, and we will highlight analogies by discussing historical differences. This will persuade us of the possible existence of a continuum, a real underground tradition, a transmission of metaphors and apophatic discourses, which encompasses the Mirror of Simple Souls and emerges in Spain in the 16th century.
‘Notez bien, bonnes pucelles’: A Complete Transcription of the French and Continental Latin Annotations of 'The Mirror of Simple Souls'
Sacris Erudiri Journal of Late Antique and Medieval Christianity., Dec 2017
This article contains three different parts: first, it presents and analyzes the main scholarship... more This article contains three different parts: first, it presents and analyzes the main scholarship related to the edition of the text of the The Mirror of Simple Souls (Speculum simplicium animarum / Le Mirouer des simples ames) by the heretic beguine from Hainaut ftarguerite dicta Porete (d. 1310). It demonstrates that despite the publication of the 1985 bilingual edition by Romana Guarnieri and Paul Verdeyen, the manuscripts of the French and Latin Continental traditions need to be examined afresh from a material point of view. Second, it describes each of the codices, gathering the infor- mation that already exists in each case, adding new findings which come from direct examination, and classifying these manuscripts according to or- igin, date and use. Afterwards, since each one possesses marginalia, the ar- ticle places special emphasis upon analysis and commentary from the point of view of this annotation. It posits that it is essential to establish not only diverse typologies of notes in terms of their functional relationship with the main text (some of them comment, while others evaluate or guide the reader’s access to the main allegorical discourse), but also to understand how these marginalia were conceived from the perspective of the history of read- ing and the production of the manuscripts. Third, it provides a transcription of the whole corpus of marginalia, cross-referencing the contents of the mar- gins of the manuscripts with the 1986 Corpus Christianorum text.
Mirabilia, Oct 14, 2013
Abstract: This article is part of the scholarly revival in Angela of Foligno (c.1248-c. 1308) stu... more Abstract: This article is part of the scholarly revival in Angela of Foligno (c.1248-c. 1308) studies in relation to images. With the exhibition entitled "Dal visibile all’indicibile. Crocifissi ed esperienza mistica in Angela da Foligno" (Foligno, October 6th, 2012 – January 6th, 2013) and the publication of the catalogue, relations between Angela’s visions and her artistic context have been examined in greater depth. However, despite the excellent essays included in the book, there is still lacking a theoretical basis to explain Angela's devotional relationship with some images and, in particular, her reception of them. The main aim of these pages is therefore to develop that theoretical background and to interpret from such a basis the events that occurred in Assisi in front of
the so-called “vetrata degli angeli” (the stained glass window of the angels).
Eikón Imago ISSN 2254-8718, Dec 15, 2014
In this article we compare the language of light used by Dante Alighieri with the one used by his... more In this article we compare the language of light used by Dante Alighieri with the one used by his “heretical” contemporary Marguerite dicta Porete (†1310) to express the final contact-vision of God. We will analyze both authors’ use of the images of light, of the gradual ascent and of the knot, placing their books in the context of the theological doctrines concerning the visio Dei in the 14th century. This will allow us to posit the authors’ shared eschatological background based on the conception of God as a visible being who radiates his love and knowledge through the created universe. In conclusion, we will discuss the visual and narrative strategies these authors employed in order to express a relationship with the divine, focusing on the historical heterodox implications of the Commedia and the Mirouer.
Resumen: En este artículo comparamos el lenguaje de la luz utlizado por Dante Alighieri con aquel de su contemporánea Marguerite dicta Porete (†1310) para expresar la visión final de Dios. Para ello, analizaremos el uso que ambos hacen del imaginario lumínico, del ascenso graduado y del nudo, poniendo sus obras en el contexto de las discusiones teológicas sobre la visio Dei en el siglo XIV. Esto nos permitiráreivindicar un transfondo escatológico compartido, basado en la percepción de Dios como ser visible cuyo amor-conocimiento se irradia por todo el universo. Como conclusión, reflexionaremos sobre las estrategias visuales y narrativas que ambos autores utilizan para abordar su visión directa de lo divino y discutiremos las implicaciones que las mismas representan en relación a la posible consideración de sus textos como heterodoxos.
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Books by Pablo Acosta-García
Texto de la contraportada:
"El Memorial o Libro de la Vida de Angela de Foligno (1242-1308) constituye una de las obras más importantes de la mística europea medieval. A pesar de no haber sido escrito por esta mujer analfabeta, una terciara franciscana de la Umbria, sino dictado a su guía espiritual, resuena su voz potente para expresar una experiencia inefable, una peregrinación que se inicia con su desnudamiento ante la cruz, según el ideal de pobreza de las nuevas corrientes espirituales, para concluir en el punto sublime de conciliación de los contrarios. Precursora de los grandes maestros de la mística renana como el Maestro Eckhart, su relato cautivó, entre otros muchos, a Georges Bataille que la bautizó como “Dama de la Noche”.
Journal articles by Pablo Acosta-García
sermons of the Libro del conorte, which textualizes part of the ecstatic preaching of the Franciscan abbess Juana de la Cruz (1481-1534), and some of the public or semi-public revelations of Elisabeth von Schönau (1129-1164/1165). Despite the years separating their work, I study in depth a series of characteristics shared by both visionaries: prophetism as one of the two possibilities of medieval female preaching, liturgy as the cause and collective setting of revelation and, finally, vision as a form of biblical exegesis. This allows me to define a chronological and theoretical frame of reference that will permit the study of female preaching as a European tradition in the near future.
Resumen: En las siguientes páginas edito y comento un corpus inédito de cinco canciones vinculadas a la abadesa franciscana Juana de la Cruz (1481-1534). Además de un texto que se transcribe siguiendo criterios filológicamente fiables, proporciono una descripción material de la fuente y realizo un estudio métrico de las composiciones. Por otro lado, desde la ladera de su interpretación histórica, hago un breve comentario teológico de cada una de las piezas, que las propone como parte de la producción lírica franciscana europea, a la vez que las contextualizo en la predicación visionaria de la abadesa en su contexto cisneriano. Palabras clave Juana de la Cruz; reforma observante; franciscanismo femenino; predicación femenina; Libro del conhorte; lírica religiosa; laude.
understand the different proposed hagiographical models and their performative shape and spatial distribution of power. Additionally, this article discusses how gathering, editing, and reading the lives of these women via an open-access virtual tool creates a new hermeneutical framework regarding the materiality of the original codices and printed volumes. Finally, it proposes mitigation measures in the near future to bring contemporary reading practices (and interpretation) closer to historical ones.
A Summary in English by Camila Walls Castillo: https://othersisters.hypotheses.org/239
In this article I gather the lives of a group of Castilian sante vive from the 15th and 16th centuries (María de Ajofrín, Juana de la Cruz and María de Santo Domingo and others) and establish a detailed hagiographic comparative analysis which takes into account some previous and contemporary Italian narrative patterns. I am particularly interested in clarify two issues: first, to what extent Catherina of Siena's Legenda maior by Raymond of Capua inspired the narratives of these Iberian lives (and, additionally, what do these results mean in the pre-Modern Castilian context); second, what a comparison with the bio-hagiography of an Italian charismatic woman as Lucia Broccadelli da Narni could tell us about the construction of radical models of sanctity. I divide the analysis in two parts: the childhood, as a symbollic formative period of the saint, and the maturity of the visionary women, where I focus especifically on the signification of the narratives of the stigmatization.
This paper aims to develop a theory of image based on the Mirror of Simple Souls by the French beguine Marguerite dicta Porete (ca. 1260-1310) and the poems and commentaries by the Spanish Carmelite John of the Cross (1542-1591), by making a comparative analysis focused on the way they think using images, the way they create images and how these ones relate to their texts. In particular, we will analyze the symbol of the mountain, which both authors use in a very specific way, and through which they chart a spiritual topography, both graphic and mental, in devotional and didactic contexts. The mountain is studied through its inherent structure of polarity (top and bottom) and its articulation through the gradual image of the ladder. We will study how they construct negative theologies through an apophatic meditational practice, and we will highlight analogies by discussing historical differences. This will persuade us of the possible existence of a continuum, a real underground tradition, a transmission of metaphors and apophatic discourses, which encompasses the Mirror of Simple Souls and emerges in Spain in the 16th century.
the so-called “vetrata degli angeli” (the stained glass window of the angels).
Resumen: En este artículo comparamos el lenguaje de la luz utlizado por Dante Alighieri con aquel de su contemporánea Marguerite dicta Porete (†1310) para expresar la visión final de Dios. Para ello, analizaremos el uso que ambos hacen del imaginario lumínico, del ascenso graduado y del nudo, poniendo sus obras en el contexto de las discusiones teológicas sobre la visio Dei en el siglo XIV. Esto nos permitiráreivindicar un transfondo escatológico compartido, basado en la percepción de Dios como ser visible cuyo amor-conocimiento se irradia por todo el universo. Como conclusión, reflexionaremos sobre las estrategias visuales y narrativas que ambos autores utilizan para abordar su visión directa de lo divino y discutiremos las implicaciones que las mismas representan en relación a la posible consideración de sus textos como heterodoxos.