Sor Juana

November, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz de Asbaje y Ramirez is born in the village of San Miguel Mepantla near Mexico City. She is the illegitimate child of a Spanish Captain, Pedro Manuel de Asbaje and Isabe Ramirez. The father, according to all accounts, is absent from her life. She is baptized December 2 when she is registered on the Church rolls as "a daughter of the Church" because her parentswere not married. She is raised in the country at the home of her maternal grandfather.
1651 (aprox.) At the age of three, Sor Juana follows her sister to a school for "amigas" (girls) and coaxes the teacher into teaching her to read. She then turns to her grandfather's library and is unstoppable in her quest of learning through study of his books.
1654-58. Sor Juana hears of the university inMexico City and begs her mother to send her there disguised as a boy. Her mother refuses, so Sor Juana continues to conte nt herself with her grandfather's library. She writes a dramatic poem for the Eucharist and inflicts punishments on herself for not learning fast enough. She receives twenty Latin grammar lessons which she forces herself to learn well by cutting her hai r off everytime shedoesn't learn a certain point. She later said, in her Reply to Sor Philothea, "It turned out that the hair grew quickly and I learned slowly. As a result, I cut off the hair in punishment for my head's ignorance, for it didn't seem right to me that a head so naked of knowledge should be dressed up with hair. For knowledge is a more desirable adornment." (Flynn, 15)
1659 (aprox.) Sor Juana is sent tolive with her aunt in Mexico City. By this time, Sor Juana's knowledge and memory is amazing and she becomes known as a prodigy.
1664. A new viceregal couple, Antonio Sebastian de Toledo, Marquis de Mancera, and Leonor Carreto arrive in Mexico City. They hear of Sor Juana and she is presented a t their court. Vicereine Leonor takes the sixteen year-old girl under her wing as a maid-in-waiting. SorJuana spends five years in the court of the viceregal couple. She continues to develop intellectually and socially. The Marquis later recounted th at he tested Sor Juana's knowledge with a barrage of learned men, theologians, philosophers, mathematicians, historians, poets, and other specialists; the ease with which she answered their questions and argued her points put to rest once and for allher intellectual brilliance. Also during this time, she writes numerous poems and sonnets, many for funerary or celebratory occasions.
1667 14 August, Sor Juana enters the Convent of the Discalced Carmelites of St. Joseph. She finds the reformed rule of this order too strict and leaves the Convent November 18 of the same year.
1669 24 February, Sor Juana enters the Convent of the Order of St.Jerome where she remains until her death. In his forward to A Sor Juana Anthology, Octavio Paz notes that the life of this Convent was not austere. The nuns had private living quarters, often occupying two floors, and complete with kitchens, baths and parlors. Many of the nuns, including Sor Juana, had servants. This lifestyle allows Sor Jua na to amass her own library, to write, correspond, study,and hold intellectual court with her friends. Her duties at the Convent include attendance of divine offices, observance of canonical hours, and teaching girls musical and dramatic activities. Th e viceregal couple continue to protect Sor Juana from detractors and are regular visitors to her "salon". (p.4-6)
1673. The viceregal term of the Marquis and Marquise de Mancera ends. Sor Juana remains ongood terms with the viceregal court, now headed by Archbishop Friar Payo Enr iques de Ribera, although he does not attend her intellectual gatherings as frequently.
1676-91. Sor Juana writes carols for the Cathedrals of Mexico, Puebla, and Oaxaca.
1680. Friar Payo is succeeded by the Marquis de la Laguna, and his wife Maria Luisa, Countess de Paredes. Sor Juana and Maria are close in age and...