Teresa described her visions and her
youthinanautobiography,The Life, and
the philosophy of her new order inThe
Way of Perfection. In 1567, the head of the
Carmelite order, Giovanni Rossi, asked her
to establish new reformed convents, and
for the next decade she traveled through
Spain with a companion, Saint John of the
Cross, and gained renown throughout the
kingdom for her austere spirituality. Male
orders of barefoot friars who followed her
precepts were also established, and new
Discalced Carmelite monasteries were es-
tablished in foreign countries. In 1571 Ter-
esa returned to the Convent of the Incar-
nation in Avila as the prioress, and
reformed the main order’s rules. She then
wroteThe Foundations, a book of instruc-
tion for members of the order, andThe
Interior Castle, a book about the process of
“mental prayer,” which Teresa believed to
be a road to direct communication with
God. Her strict rules for the “unreformed”
Carmelites raised opposition by some lead-
ers of the Catholic Church, some of whom
saw silent prayer as a less devout practice
than vocal prior. She lost her position as
prioress at the Convent of the Incarnation,
and for a time was even under investiga-
tion by the Spanish Inquisition. In 1578,
however, the pope of the church officially
recognized her order, which was declared
separate twelve years after her death in
- Teresa was declared the patroness of
Spain by the Cortes (Spanish parliament)
in 1617, and in 1622 she was canonized as
a saint by Pope Gregory XV; in 1970 she
became the first woman to be named
“Doctor of the Church.” Her writings and
philosophy grew in importance among
Catholics throughout Europe and Teresa
was eventually accepted as one of the ma-
jor figures of the Counter-Reformation, in
which the church returned to its spiritual
roots in order to better contend with the
rising popularity of the Protestant sects of
northern Europe.SEEALSO: Catholicismtheater .............................................
The medieval religious plays performed
for small audiences, blossomed into the
theater, the most popular form of enter-
tainment during the Renaissance. The new
drama was given impetus by the discovery
of ancient Greek and Roman plays, includ-
ing the works of Terence, Plautus, and Sen-
eca. In Italy, the new tradition of pastoral
plays gained popularity along with the
tragedies and comedies written on classi-
cal models. The Italian love for music and
display emerged in the intermezzo, a piece
performed between the acts of a serious
performance, and the commedia dell’arte,
a boisterous and improvised comedic
romp with a familiar set of characters that
was performed in city streets and squares.
Eventually music, drama, and dance would
be combined in the new form of opera;
which emerged in the sixteenth century in
the works of Claudio Monteverdi and
other Italian masters.
In France, the leading playwrights in-
cluded Estienne Jodelle and Alexandre
Hardy, who defied the classical style. In
the late Renaissance, however, there was a
return to ancient forms of tragedy (in the
works of Jean Racine and Pierre Corneille),
and masterful comedies by Moliere. These
playwrights wrote under the influence of
Cardinal Richelieu and the Catholic Refor-
mation, which resisted innovation and
sought a return to tradition, whether that
of religion or of art. The Spanish writer
Lope de Vega authored hundreds of plays
full of action and drama in the tradition
of the medieval chivalric romance. Theater
flourished in Spain through the seven-
teenth century, with the production ofsac-theater