Sor Patrocinio: Biografía de una monja extraordinaria e incómoda

Much more than the nun of the stigmata: a woman of faith confronting power and suspicion. Was she a figure favored by her proximity to the court, or a nun who was out of step with her time? An influential woman, or a mystic questioned for remaining true to her conscience? Sister Patrocinio--María Josefa de los Dolores Quiroga Capopardo--embodies like few others the tensions of a turbulent Spain, torn by political changes, ideological struggles, and deep social divisions. Born in 1811, her life was marked by extraordinary phenomena that aroused both devotion and rejection. Known as the "nun of the stigmata," her name spread amid popular fervor and public suspicion. Yet beyond the legend, she was a Conceptionist nun, a founder of convents, and a champion of education for underprivileged girls, as well as a spiritual advisor to Isabel II during some of the most complex moments of her reign. That proximity to power placed her at the center of controversy: exiles, legal proceedings, and smear campaigns accompanied her career. In these pages, Cristina Ruiz-Alberdi reconstructs with historical rigor and narrative flair the life of a woman who lived between the cloister and the court, between mystical experience and the pressures of the world. Far from simplifications, this biography invites us to look anew, to understand rather than judge, and to discover the human dimension of a figure who continues to challenge the present. A faith that endured when everything urged her to give in.