HistoryExtra podcast Juana Inés de la Cruz: life of the week
Mar 3, 2026
Paul Gillingham, historian of Mexican history and Sor Juana specialist, guides us through the life of a 17th-century nun and prodigious writer. He covers her early education and bold choice to join a convent to pursue learning. He examines her courtly fame, provocative poetry and proto-feminist writings. He also traces the church backlash, her enforced silence and lasting legacy in Mexican letters.
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How Sor Juana Gained Unlikely Power
- Sor Juana achieved rare social mobility despite being illegitimate and Creole by leveraging intelligence, beauty, and contacts.
- She left court life at 16–17 to become a nun so she could study, build a library, and host an intellectual salon in the Convent of San Jerónimo.
Hair Cutting As A Learning Incentive
- Sor Juana taught herself languages and punished mistakes by cutting her hair to motivate learning Latin.
- At age three she could read; by six she sought university and used hair-cutting as an incentive tied to grammar lessons.
Court Patronage Fueled Her Fame
- Sor Juana rose to prominence by attaching to viceregal courts and producing ceremonial verse that placed her at the top of official publications.
- Her ode for a viceroy's arrival became first in the ceremonial book and earned public praise from Mexico's top intellectuals.
