Resumen

PRESTA, Ana María. A colonial elite and its nuns: Family and networks in a monastery in Charcas (1574-1620). Travesía (San Miguel de Tucumán) [online]. 2019, vol.21, n.2, pp.13-36. ISSN 2314-2707.

The creation of the Monasterio de Los Remedios represented the undissimulated answer to the multiplication of women in the homes of the elite. Its founding fathers, the encomenderos of La Plata, sought to place in its walls the daughters who, intending to preserve their recent fortunes, decided to marry God, a great candidate, sensibly less expensive than the postulants to succulent dowries that the families would have to bury in order to exhibit opulence and prestige, without exhausting their economic capital. Among the founders, there was a lady, the encomendera and thrice-widow doña Petronilla de Castro, benefactor and forerunner of women’s monasteries, in which to deposit daughters, nieces and grand-dauthers. For her, the convent was the sociability space as an extention of their neighboring houses. They witnessed forceful admitions, purchased desires, buried kinships and reckless transgressions based on the sacredness of their social networks.

Palabras clave : Convent; Women; Elite; Charcas; Doña Petronilla.

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