Teresa of Avila and the Politics of Sanctity

'An important addition to our understanding and the current reconstruction of one of the best-known mystics, reformers, and spiritual writers in history.'—Church History

'An ambitious book.... [Ahlgren] seeks to'contextualize the life of Teresa the woman and the meaning of Teresa the saint within the Counter-Reformation agenda by exploring the complex and conflicting notions of female sanctity at work in sixteenth-century Spain.'The compelling arguments of the book make it worth reading.... Perhaps Ahlgren's most significant contribution to Teresian scholarship is her meticulous assessment of the prolonged theological debate that took place over [Teresa's] person and writings after her death.'—Sixteenth Century Journal

'This [book] is indispensable to understanding the saint's motivations and accomplishments. Beginning with a carefully documented analysis of the religious climate before the Valdes Index of 1559, Ahlgren focuses on the alumbrados and holy women who claimed spiritual authority on the basis of visions and mental prayer.... Impeccably researched and distinguished by a thorough grasp of the theological and political issues of sixteenth-century Spain, the volume is a brilliant argument for how and why Teresa of Avila authorized in writing and action her belief that'the discovery of God's presence in the soul is a spiritual imperative for all people.''—Theological Studies

Gillian T. W. Ahlgren is Associate Professor of Theology at Xavier University.

This [book] is indispensable to understanding the saint's motivations and accomplishments. Beginning with a carefully documented analysis of the religious climate before the Valdes Index of 1559, Ahlgren focuses on the alumbrados and holy women who claimed spiritual authority on the basis of visions and mental prayer.... Impeccably researched and distinguished by a thorough grasp of the theological and political issues of sixteenth-century Spain, the volume is a brilliant argument for how and why Teresa of Avila authorized in writing and action her belief that 'the discovery of God's presence in the soul is a spiritual imperative for all people.'

An ambitious book.... [Ahlgren] seeks to'contextualize the life of Teresa the woman and the meaning of Teresa the saint within the Counter-Reformation agenda by exploring the complex and conflicting notions of female sanctity at work in sixteenth-century Spain. The compelling arguments of the book make it worth reading.... Perhaps Ahlgren's most significant contribution to Teresian scholarship is her meticulous assessment of the prolonged theological debate that took place over [Teresa's] person and writings after her death.

An important addition to our understanding and the current reconstruction of one of the best-known mystics, reformers, and spiritual writers in history.