This is a very minor point. I was curious about the weapons the demons were carrying in one of her visions (Chapter 39:17). The English translation says: "Some held spears; others, swords; others, daggers; and others, very long rapiers." "Sword" and "rapier" are two very slippery words in the Early Modern period. Rapiers, more specifically the Spanish espada ropera, were used in a more civilian context because it was becoming useless on the battlefield. (Most historians point to the Battle of Pavia in 1525 as the first effective use of gunpowder on the battlefield. Since firearms were being developed in Spain much earlier than the rest of Europe, the sword also made an earlier the transition to civilian life than the rest of Europe. The espada ropera was being developed in Spain as early as the 1490s.) The espada ropera, literally "sword of the robe", would be worn as a status symbol; in order to be more easily worn with civilian dress, it was made lighter, slimmer, and longer than the average sword. This made it more conducive for thrusting movements rather than chopping through armor. Spears, on the other hand, seem to denote a lower class. (Anyone anywhere could make and wield a spear.) Taking both of these into account, Teresa would be placing this spiritual battle within the context of civilian society; the spiritual battle could not just take place on a clearly marked battlefield but could be located in the most unexpected of places.
Yet, the Spanish text suggests a different reading: "unas, lanzas; otras, espadas; otras, dagas y otras, estoques muy largos." The Spanish carries with it a very different feel, one which highlights the influence of chivalric romances. "Lanzas" (lances) are a very knightly weapon and could only be used effectively on horseback. "Estoques" or estocs carry a different connotation from very long rapiers. Like the rapier, the estoc was more of a thrusting weapon rather than a cutting weapon. It was carried by infantrymen and was specifically designed to pierce armor. They had a triangular or square cross section which would have provided greater strength for stabbing as opposed to the espada ropera's flat, two-sided blade. The estoc also never developed a basket hilt (an intricate set of loops to protect the hand above and below the cross guard); therefore, controlling the point was more difficult. All this to say, these weapons clearly situate the battle on the battlefield. The range of weapons (from the lanzas and espadas of the knights to the daggers and estocs of the infantry) suggest a full battle array.
Also, "unas" is in the feminine. To those of you more familiar with Spanish than I, was this common to refer to a large group in the feminine? Is it related "gente"? Or are we to take this as a group of armed women? (It would be absolutely fascinating that her tormentors are female in full battle array!)
Well, I don’t know much about medieval armor, but perhaps this is another manifestation of Teresa’s formation in novelas de caballería. This would explain the anachronisms.
ReplyDelete(By the way, on the MLA database I found these two articles dealing with this topic. I haven’t looked at the articles themselves, though, so I don’t know how relevant they are:
'Este gran Dios de las cavallerías' (This Great God of Deeds): St. Teresa's Performances of the Novels of Chivalry Detail Only Available By: Slade, Carole A.. pp. 297-316 IN: Blumenfeld-Kosinski, Renate (ed. and introd.); Robertson, Duncan (ed. and introd.); Warren, Nancy Bradley (ed. and introd.) The Vernacular Spirit: Essays on Medieval Religious Literature. New York, NY: Palgrave; 2002. vii, 324 pp. (book article)
Santa Teresa's Libro de su vida as Romance: Narrative Movements and Heroic QuestDetail Only Available By: Chorpenning, Joseph F.; Revista Canadiense de Estudios Hispanicos, 1989 Fall; 14 (1): 51-64. (journal article)
As far as the Spanish goes, I agree that the “unas” is somewhat strange in that it doesn’t have a clear stated antecedent, and it seems that Teresa could have just as correctly used the masculine to refer to a general “some.” However, sometimes “gente” can function as a countable noun and could be pluralized. “Unas” could also refer to an implicit “personas,” which is grammatically feminine. In any case, at the end of the same paragraph Teresa writes, “yo no temía toda la otra gente, ni ellos… me podían hacer daño.” Here, despite the grammatically-feminine “gente,” Teresa then uses the general, masculine “they” of ellos.
Thanks for helping me with the Spanish! I agree with you; it would be coming out of left field (ha!) if she was describing a group of armed women. The "ellos" which you pointed out at the end of the paragraph supports a more traditional reading.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, the articles are not available through MLA, but I've requested them through Article Delivery and will post them here.