Da Piedrahita a Roma. María de Santo Domingo e l’Italia (con l’edizione di tre lettere), in «Hagiographica», 29 (2022), 287-312 (con R. Sanmartín Bastida)

In early 16th-century Castile, the Dominican María of Santo Domingo became famous because of her mystical raptures, which brought her as many admirers as critics. The article focuses on María’s three surviving letters, highlighting exchanges and encounters with Italy. María’s relation with Italian culture was surprisingly important, starting from the crucial model of epistolary writing represented by Catherine of Siena, already followed by a Castilian beata of an earlier generation, María of Ajofrín. Girolamo Savonarola and his charismatic follower Lucia Broccadelli also had a considerable influence on María visions. On the other hand, María of Santo Domingo received harsh criticism from the Italian humanist Pietro Martire d’Anghiera and from the General of the Dominicans, Tommaso de Vio. A further glimpse of her relations with Italy, particularly with Rome, is offered by the so far unknown figure of a curial employee, García Valdés. The appendix provides the first critical edition of the three letters.