Biography

by Cassie Sudekum

Soror Tomásia Caetana de Santa Maria was a nun born to Manuel de Mira Valedão and Josefa Maria on March 7, 1719, in Lisbon, Portugal. She was born in the parish of Santa Justa. She entered the convent at the age of thirteen in 1732. Within the convent, she served as a religious teacher. She belonged to the Convent of Santa Cruz de Vila Viçosa, which followed the Clarissan Order, also known as the Poor Clares. She joined the convent on September 29, 1731, and took her vows as a freira (nun) on October 15, 1732. Tomásia remained in the convent until her death. 

The Convent and Church of Santa Cruz de Vila Viçosa date back to the 16th century (Salgueiro). The convent was built using houses donated by Father Mendo Rodrigues de Vasconcelos and was constructed facing the front side of the structure’s location (Salgueiro). This placement is notable because an “important communication route” passed in front of the convent, connecting it to the city (Salgueiro). The first nuns to reside in the Convent of Santa Cruz de Vila Viçosa came from a nearby monastery that was still under construction, and they participated in the first profession on December 27, 1529 (Salgueiro). Between the time of the first profession and the Extinction of Religious Orders, when the monastery was forced to close its doors, 345 nuns professed in this convent (Salgueiro). António de Oliveira Cadornega, a retired captain and native of Vila Viçosa, described the convent as a place that “has people of great nobility and quality.” However, its doors were also open to common people because it was a place devoted to Jesus, where everyone was welcome. He further explained that this was a place of redemption for the “human race,” and that there should be no exceptions to entry, as all are children of God (Salgueiro). Within the convent, it was not uncommon for nuns to have portions of their works published (Conde).

During the 17th and 18th centuries, monastic literary production was a common practice, with works published either individually or collaboratively with other authors (Artes & Letras – CECHAP). Tomásia was able to produce and publish her writings because of her social rank, as such connections were often necessary for a woman’s work to gain recognition at the time (Bellini). It is also important to acknowledge the role that dedications to prominent civil and ecclesiastical figures played in enabling women to achieve publication (Bellini). During Tomásia’s period of writing, religious women often employed what was known as the “modesty formula”—a rhetorical strategy that balanced humility and self-deprecation with claims of divine inspiration or spiritual authority (Bellini). Like many other women of her time, Tomásia likely described herself as “unworthy” of having her work published due to her gender, social status, and religious position (Bellini). Publishing was a risky endeavor for women, and success was often only possible through cultivating relationships with influential patrons (Bellini). Tomásia’s writing differed from that of other female writers of the period because she wrote extensively, while most women at the time composed only one or two poems in response to specific circumstances (Tacón García).

The pieces Tomásia published were unique in nature because of their explicit connection to the court and the “privileged relations” she enjoyed (Morujão). Her relationship with the court was also reinforced by the historical ties between the city of Vila Viçosa and the monarchy (Morujão). She demonstrated this connection through her vocabulary and the literary focus she placed on the monarchy and the court (Morujão).The works she published reveal extensive knowledge of the inner workings of the court and the Portuguese royal family, exposing a familial network linked to royalty (Reis). The most apparent connection to the court came through her father, Manuel de Mira Valadão, who was the main sponsor and distributor of her works (Reis). He is mentioned on nearly all of her title pages due to their familial ties and his role as a financial patron (Reis). Mira Valadão acted as her literary agent, an intermediary between the printing house and the convent. He was actively involved in her publications and deeply enthusiastic about her work (Reis). After studying at the University of Évora and undergoing a career change, he eventually became an “approved surgeon at the court” (Reis). He was likely seeking to improve his social standing and prestige at court through Tomásia’s literary success. Their relationship was mutually beneficial: he used his court connections to help publish her works, while he, in turn, used her success to enhance his own reputation within the same court (Reis).