Celebrating Teresa of Avila

Teresa of Avila's cult was dramatically disseminated in previously unknown celebrations honoring her beatification (1614) and canonization (1622) in Italy and Portuguese Asia, the purview of her Discalced Carmelite Order's Italian Congregation. Reconstructions and analyses of the festivities in Genoa, Rome, Naples, Hormuz, and Goa center on the presentation of Teresa's gender, deeds, virtues, and miracles. The geopolitical roles played by religious, secular, and family networks in particularizing and propagating Teresa's universal cult are emphasized. The desired goal of converting Muslims and Hindus is addressed in light of attitudes toward ethnic and religious diversity shared by lay and ecclesiastical authorities.