Open AccessExperiencing food in Anne of Saint Bartholomew ( 1549-1626)
Author(s) -
Rebeca Sanmartín Bastida
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
via spiritus
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2183-0444
pISSN - 0873-1233
DOI - 10.21747/0873-1233/spi28a5
Subject(s) - saint , ambivalence , breastfeeding , art , sociology , religious studies , philosophy , art history , psychology , psychoanalysis , medicine , pediatrics
The Blessed Ana de San Bartolomé (1549-1626) is a famous disciple of Saint Teresa of Avila who devoted much attention to food in her prolific writings (letters, autobiographies, declarations, meditations, prayers...). The role that food plays in her life interests us in several ways: her conception of the prioress as a breastfeeding mother; her cannibal understanding of Saint Teresa’s relics; her ambivalent relationship with fasting; and finally, her broad description of conventual food, which help us to better understand how 16th to 17th centuries diets were conformed.