Episode 45 - Santiago vs Teresa

In 17th-century Spain, Santiago faced his greatest threat to date. While the Reconquista was well in the past, his new rival was a Carmelite nun, born Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada, but known to history as Teresa of Avila. Soon after Teresa died, and well before she was canonized, a movement grew to elevate her to serve as co-patron saint of Spain, alongside James. Santiago's advocates, however, were stridently opposed. This episode explores that struggle with the professor who wrote the book on it, Dr. Erin Rowe, author of State and Nation: Santiago, Teresa of Avila, and Plural Identities in Early Modern Spain.