On September 10, 1579, Doña María de Guzmán, a young, beautiful, and rich widow founded this monastery which only accepted young women from upper-class Spanish families. At the time, it was a tradition for the second daughter of a wealthy family to enter a life of service to the church. Life was hard and it was advantageous to have a family member regularly pray for her relatives’ welfare. Elder sons and daughters were normally married off to create ties with other powerful families and to provide for parents in their…
