Violante Do Ceo - Biography

Biography

She entered the convent of Nossa Senhora da Rosa da Ordem do Grande Patriarca Santo Domingos on August 29, 1630 and lived and worked there until her death on January 28, 1693 (Macado 775, Boyce 135).

Sor Violante possessed a natural gift for poetry and began writing as an adolescent. She wrote her first known work La Transformación por Dios at the age of twelve (Machado) and continued to write in her distinct baroque, lyrical poetry after she entered the convent. Yet, her entrance in the convent did not affect the direction of her literary work, as she continued writing romantic and even erotic poetry (Mendes 13). Moreover, after entering the convent, Sor Violante continued to interact with members of the upper class and maintained an awareness her more worldly surroundings as another theme found in her poetry includes the important political occurrences of her time (Dugaw 9). This interaction also manifests itself in the fact that tertulias, or poetry gatherings, and certamens, or poetry contests, often took place, for these poetic gatherings not only involved nuns but also noble members of Lisbon society (Pociña 13).