Ursula de Jesús was born into slavery in 1604 in Lima, Peru. She developed a strong faith and affinity for the Virgin of Carmen. Through religious visions, she illuminated the racism inherent in both the Catholic Church and Peruvian society, where society and the convent were stratified along racial lines. Despite being born a slave, Ursula became a renowned mystic whose writings are still discussed today. She was eventually freed from slavery due to her renown, though she continued her life of service within the convent.

1. Ursula de Jesús
A Seventeenth- Century Afro-Peruvian Mystic
Selection by: Nancy E. Van Deusen
Powerpoint by: Jamie Fonden

2. Lima, Perú in the 1600s
Lima, Perú had a population of 2,500 in 1619 and by 1680 the population
had grown to 80,000. In 1687, a series of violent earthquakes significantly
decreased the numbers of residents as they fled from the disease,famine
and destruction that ensued.
One of Lima’s largest sources was wealth was the abundence of silver. Silver
was largely traded for European items as well as illicit ones. There were large
quanities of money to be made from silver mining and the trade of slaves.
Lima’s social hierarchy in the 1600s was tiered into four levels; in the highest
were wealthy Spaniards and Creoles.Second to the Spaniards and Creoles
were the custas or people of mixed race ancestry then the Amerindians or
indigenous people. The lowest level of the hierachy was the freedmans and
slave population. It is the lowest tier of the social hierarchy to which Ujrsula
de Jesús belonged.

3. A Holy Community
Lima’s community was deeply religious and the hierarchy present in its society
was born from the stratefication within the church. Within the religious
covenants, nuns with black veils reigned supreme followed by nuns of the
white veil. Donadas were servants of particular spiritual prowess and beneath
them were regular servants that tended to the basic household needs. Ursula
de Jesús served in the Convent of Santa Clara. Much like the caste system in
India, it was not possible for a black slave to enter the upper tier of either
society or within the convent. Since Lima’s relgious and social communties
were so grossly intwined, even seats and access to relgious ceremonies were
based on your ranking within both. The spaniards and creoles being the
priority for seating and inclusion.
Ursula was naturally rebelious spirit and it was not until she experiened a near
death trauma that the mystic she became known to be developed.

4. Born out of slavery
• In 1604, Ursula de Jesús was born an Afro-Peruvian religious servant or donada to Gerónima de los Rios
• Gerónima was a wealthy member of high society that conducted business via a male representative.Her
primary source of income was from buying and selling slaves,Naturally,she had a plethera of slaves from
racially diverse origin. In a period when Lima,Peru rivaled Rome’s religious eccentricity, many strongly
associated themselves with religion. Ursula was no exception and during her time with Gerónima
developed a strong affinity for the Virgin of Carmen.
• It was in 1612 when Ursula lived with Luisa de Melgarejo,a mystic and beata(pious laywoman) that she
was exposed to mysticism. Mystics were purveyors of divine visions received via religious meditation with
a deity. They were important people in the deeply religous Lima community.
• Ursula experiened a divine vision in which a respected man,Licenciate Colonia, aired his grievences
regarding his excruciating entrapment in Purgatory and his desire to be forgiven. Jesus spoke to her and
said the man had no hope for release and was dammed forever. This vision itself was not peculiar as many
mystics were visited by the tormented souls of Purgatory. However, Licencia Colonia was a man that
occupied the highest tier of society and so it was strange that his soul should seek out a lowly donada like
Ursula. The strangeness and rarity of this event reflected the inherent racism and classism prevelant in
Lima. If not for Ursula’s writings of her experiences, her life may well have been unacknowledged. Due to
her status as not only a slave but an african slave, she was afforded experiences different than those
occupying a high social sphere. Her writings illuminated the inherent rascism in the hierarchies of both
church and state.

5. Ursula’s female peers
Ursula was not the only documented female in the
seventeenth century in Latin America. Catalina de Cristo
was a baker within a convent and reported seeing souls of
Purgatory in mass and claimed she was awoken each
morning by a saint. Juana de Cristo was a spirtual advisor
to the slaves within the convent and exuded her spirtitual
dedication by sleeping on an uncomfortable wooden
bench each night for Jesus’ suffering on the cross.
Gerónima did not discriminate by race when she kissed
the feet of the dead and was also signed as “Slave of the
Blessed Souls of Purgartory”. Saint Clare originally
intended for all the nuns within the convent to do the
chores as the slaves because it was humbling to lead a life
of poverty and labor for god. Unfortunately,the convent
maintained a large slave population due to the increase in
the needs of an increasing number of those who sought
the black veil.

6. Ursula,the well and after the well
To lead a life without vanity or desire for material posessions is no easy feat.
Many of the nuns living in the convent were plagued by the desire to wear
stylish clothing. These articles of clothing were treasured and after receiving a
skirt she had lent thoroughly soiled, she angrily began cleaning it on planks
over a well. The boards on which she was standing snapped and left her in a
dire predicament. Ursula trutly believes she was saved from a painful death by
the Virgin of Carmen. From that day on she dedicated herself vigorously to a
life of servitude. Ursula became humble and sought the most grueling tasks
within the convent and tended to the most ill of patients. She had many
spirtual experiences and was regarded within her convent as a very
devout,religious woman. She had significant contact with Jesus and in one
instance, Jesus even equated her with two of the most highly regarded,black
veil female saints. Despite this,she remained a slave.In 1645 Ursula’s owner
was very disgruntled by her inattention to the regular chores of a slave. Ursula
wanted to focus on leading a spirtual life and sought to leave the convent and
find a new owner. Ursula had become such a valuable mystic that doña Rafaela
de Esquivel purchased her freedom.Ursula chose not to become a donada
because she wanted to be free of the tasks of slavery and finally be free after
forty-one years.She did later become a donada as it was the best path for her
own personal spirituality.

7. A life of service
1633 in Santa Clara there were 47 donadas and 16 white veils. Almost all belonged
in the upper tiers of Andean descent with the exception of Ursula and few other
africans that had received their freedom. Racism and classism were inherent not
only in convent life but within the public sphere as well. Ursula de Jesús was a
pioneer for women in the seventeenth century and her visions are still discussed in
Barrio Altos today.

8. Sources Cited
• Van Deusen, Nancy E. "Ursula De Jesús: A
Seventeenth-Century Afro-Peruvian
Mystic." The Human Tradition in Colonial Latin
America. Wilmington, DE: Scholarly
Resources, 2002. 88-101. Print.