by Koren Whipp
Isabella Losa de Cardona (1491-1564) was born in Cardona, a town north of Barcelona, Spain. After the death of her husband in 1539, she became a Clarissan abbess and moved to Vercelli in Piedmont in 1553, where she founded an orphanage, Santa Maria di Loreto.[1]
Losa is said to have mastered Latin, Greek and Hebrew and obtained a doctorate in theology, however no information of where she obtained her doctorate can be traced.[2] She died at the age of 74 in 1564.
Losa is often confused with Isabel de Josa i de Cardona, a Catalan noblewoman, also said to have studied theology.[3]
[1] Elgin Eckert, “Cordaud, Isabella de,” Mary Hays, Female Biography; or, Memoirs of Illustrious and Celebrated Women, of All Ages and Countries (1803). Chawton House Library Series: Women’s Memoirs, ed. Gina Luria Walker, Memoirs of Women Writers Part II (Pickering & Chatto: London, 2013), vol. 7, 434, editorial notes, 478-79, on 478; G. De Gregori, Istoria Della Vercellese Letteratura Ed Arti (Torino: Chirio e Mina, 1820), vol. 2, p. 155 and C. Ferrari, Valore e sventura episodio storico della gloriosa difesa di Vercelli contro le armi di Spagna nel 1617 (Vercelli, 1851), 318.
[2] Mary Hays, “Isabella de Cordaud,” Female Biography; or, Memoirs of Illustrious and Celebrated Women of all Ages and Countries (6 volumes) (London: R. Phillips, 1803), vol. 3, 432; Eckert, “Cordaud, Isabella de,” vol. 7, 434, editorial notes, 478-79, on 479; and F. Vespoli, Delle donne (Napoli: Dalla Tipographia di Partenope, 1825), 73.
[3] Anne J. Cruz and Rosilie Hernandez, Women’s Literacy in Early Modern Spain and the New World (Farnham, Surrey, England: Ashgate, 2011), 72.
Bibliography
De Gregori, G. Istoria Della Vercellese Letteratura Ed Arti. vol. 2.Torino: Chirio e Mina, 1820.
Eckert, Elgin. “Cordaud, Isabella de.” Mary Hays, Female Biography; or, Memoirs of Illustrious and Celebrated Women, of All Ages and Countries 1803. Chawton House Library Series: Women’s Memoirs, ed. Gina Luria Walker, Memoirs of Women Writers Part II. Pickering & Chatto: London, 2013, vol. 7, 434, editorial notes, 478-79.
Ferrari, C. Valore e sventura episodio storico della gloriosa difesa di Vercelli contro le armi di Spagna nel 1617. Vercelli, 1851.
Hays, Mary. “Isabella de Cordaud.” Female Biography; or, Memoirs of Illustrious and Celebrated Women of all Ages and Countries (6 volumes). London: R. Phillips, 1803, vol. 3, 432.
Vespoli, F. Delle donne. Napoli: Dalla Tipographia di Partenope, 1825.
Resources:
Brooklyn Museum
Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art: The Dinner Party: Heritage Floor: Isabella Losa
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/heritage_floor/isabella_losa.php
Page citation:
Koren Whipp. “Isabella Losa.” Project Continua (January 31, 2014): Ver. 1, [date accessed], http://www.projectcontinua.org/isabella-losa/
Tags: Abbesses, End of Renaissance, Europe, Nuns, Reformation
