Weaving a life of relics. Strategies for conscience control by the satanic saint Magdalene

Admirada como pocas, la cordobesa Magdalena de la Cruz gozó de fama de santidad durante casi cuarenta años, en los que superó los condicionantes de la vida en el microcosmos de un convento y se relacionó con lo más granado de la sociedad de Ia primera mitad del siglo XVI. Su final es conocido, descubiertos sus engaños por una facción de hermanas y franciscanos que recelaban de su enorme poder, procesada por la Inquisición de Córdoba, acabó sus días sirviendo en la cocina de un convento de Andújar. En este artículo estudiamos las estrategias de control de conciencias que llevaron a Magdalena de la Cruz a ser considerada una reliquia viva, sus mecanismos de dominio de la opinión pública y de proyección de carismas. O, lo que es lo mismo, el andamiaje escondido de una exitosa carrera de santa profesional.Magdalena de la Cruz, born in Córdoba, was admired for almost 40 years as a saint. She overcame the difficulties of her life in a convent and was in contact with the crème de la crème of the society of the first half of the 16th century. She had a well known end. When her deceptions were discovered by a faction of sisters and Franciscans who were suspicious of her power, she was prosecuted by the Spanish Inquisition in Córdoba and ended up her days working in the kitchen of a convent in Andújar. We study in this article the strategies of mind control which made Magdalena de la Cruz be considered as a living relic, as well as her mechanisms for the control of the public opinion. In other words, we offer an insight into what a successful career as a professional saint would be like