María Luisa Manrique de Lara y Gonzaga, Marchioness of la Laguna, 11th Countess of Paredes (April 17, 1649 – September 4, 1721) was by birth member of the

House of Gonzaga The House of Gonzaga (, ) is an Italian princely family that ruled Mantua in Lombardy, northern Italy from 1328 to 1708 (first as a captaincy-general, then Margraviate of Mantua, margraviate, and finally Duchy of Mantua, duchy). They also ruled M ...

and Vicereine of New Spain by virtue of marriage.

Early life

She was born as the eldest daughter of

Vespasiano Vincenzo Gonzaga Vespasiano Vincenzo Gonzaga (1621–1687) was an Italian noble, by birth member of the House of Gonzaga The House of Gonzaga (, ) is an Italian princely family that ruled Mantua in Lombardy, northern Italy from 1328 to 1708 (first as a captainc ...

(1621–1687),

Viceroy of Valencia This is a list of viceroys of the Kingdom of Valencia from 1520 to 1707. *1520 : Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, 1st Count of Melito *1523 : Germaine of Foix and Johann of Brandenburg-Ansbach *1526 : Germaine of Foix and Ferdinand of Aragon, Duque ...

, and his wife, María Inés

Manrique de Lara The House of Lara (Spanish: ''Casa de Lara'') is a noble family from the medieval Kingdom of Castile. Two of its branches, one of the Dukes of Nájera and one of the Marquises of Aguilar de Campoo were considered Grandees of Spain. The Lara famil ...

, 10th Countess of

Paredes de Nava Paredes de Nava is a municipality located in the province of Palencia, Castile and León, Spain. It is the birthplace of Renaissance painter Pedro Berruguete. Some paintings by him can be seen in the predella of the local church of Santa Eulalia ...

(d. 1679). Her siblings included Maria Josefa (b. 1660), future Marquesa de Malpica, Isabella and Diego who both died young.

Biography

She married

Tomás de la Cerda, 3rd Marquis of la Laguna Tomás may refer to: * Tomás (given name) * Tomás (surname) Tomás is a Spanish, Portuguese, or Irish surname, equivalent of '' Thomas''. It may refer to: * Antonio Tomás (born 1985), professional Spanish footballer * Belarmino Tomás (18 ...

de Camero Viejo, thus becoming

vicereine A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the Anglo-Norman ''roy'' (Old Frenc ...

of New Spain from 1680 to 1686. In 1680, The Cabildo commissioned two triumphal arches for the arrival of the Marquises of la Laguna de Camero Viejo, the new Viceroys, to Mexico City. The first, displayed in Santo Domingo, was created by Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora. The second, displayed in the Mexico City Cathedral, was the allegorical Neptune of

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Sor or SOR may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * School of Rock, 2003 film starring Jack Black * Shades of Rhythm, a British based rave music group * Son of Rambow, 2008 film starring Bill Milner and Will Poulter * Sor, Serdar Ortaç ...

. Sor Juana compares the new Viceroy with

Neptune Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun. It is the List of Solar System objects by size, fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 t ...

and his wife, Maria Luisa, with

Amphitrite In ancient Greek mythology, Amphitrite (; ) was the goddess of the sea, the queen of the sea, and her consort is Poseidon. She was a daughter of Nereus and Doris (or Oceanus and Tethys).Roman, L., & Roman, M. (2010). Under the influence ...

, the goddess of the sea. The only son of María Luisa, José María de la Cerda y Manrique de Lara was born on July 5, 1683, and Sor Juana also dedicated poems to the event. He was baptized on July 14, 1683, by the Archbishop Aguiar y Seijas in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Mexico City.

Juana Inés de la Cruz

She was the patron of

Juana Inés de la Cruz Juana Inés de Asbaje y Ramírez de Santillana, better known as Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (12 November 1651 – 17 April 1695), was a Hieronymite nun and a Mexican writer, philosopher, composer and poet of the Baroque period, nicknamed "Th ...

and she supported the nun and had her works published in Spain Sor Juana dedicated several poems to her. Just as Leonor Carreto was "Laura" in the poems that Sor Juana dedicated to her, Doña Maria Luisa was "Lysi".

Octavio Paz Octavio Paz Lozano (March 31, 1914 – April 19, 1998) was a Mexican poet and diplomat. For his body of work, he was awarded the 1977 Jerusalem Prize, the 1981 Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the 1982 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, a ...

dedicated a chapter of his book "Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz o Las trampas de la fe" (Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz or the traps of the faith) to the relationship between the virreina and the poet. Publisher Flores Raras published a compilation of poems that Sor Juana dedicated to the virreina entitled "Un amar ardiente" (An ardent love) edited by Sergio Téllez-Pon.País, Ediciones El (29 de marzo de 2017)
"El amor sin tabúes entre sor Juana Inés de la Cruz y la virreina de México"
EL PAÍS. Retrieved on March 29, 2017. Dona Maria Luisa also appears as a character in the movie " Yo, la peor de todas" (I, the worst of all) by Maria Luisa Bemberg and in the limited TV series "

Juana Inés ''Juana Inés'', is a Mexican television series co-produced by Canal Once (Mexico), Canal Once and Bravo Films. The series is created by Patricia Arriaga Jordán, based on the life and work of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. The series consists of s ...

" aired on

Canal Once Canal Once (channel 11) (stylised as canal once, formerly once and once tv) is a Mexican educational broadcast television network owned by National Polytechnic Institute. The network's flagship station is XEIPN-TDT channel 11 in Mexico City. I ...

. Sor Juana presented her play "Los empeños de una casa" (The Pawns of a House) for Maria Luisa and her husband, as well as Archbishop Francisco de Aguiar y Seijas. In the work Sor Juana includes several verses in honor of Maria Luisa such as "Divina Lysi". Dona Maria Luisa published the book of poems of Sor Juana "Inundación Castálida" (Castálida Flood) in 1689 in Madrid. The second volume was published a few years later in Seville.

Death

María Luisa Manrique de Lara y Gonzaga died on September 4, 1721, in Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy.

In popular culture

Dona Maria Luisa is featured as a recurring character in the Spanish-language

television mini-series Juana Ines, from episodes 4 through 6.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manrique de Lara y Gonzaga, María Luisa 1649 births 1721 deaths House of Gonzaga 17th-century Italian nobility Viceroys of New Spain