Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2017-02-16T12:33:24Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Marco Antonio Fontes de Sá.pdf: 12581511 bytes, checksum: 1e34f2547d91a3552a431906e020c78e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-02-16T12:33:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marco Antonio Fontes de Sá.pdf: 12581511 bytes, checksum: 1e34f2547d91a3552a431906e020c78e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-02 / Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq / Fundação São Paulo - FUNDASP / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The devotion of those enslaved in Brazil to the so-called black saints, especially Our Lady of Rosary and Saint Benedict, began in Central Africa, particularly where Congo and Angola are today, before Cabral’s arrival to the land that would be Brazil. Unlike what is often called syncretism and defined as a simple replacement of icons, Catholicism that grew out of those brought from Africa as slaves had a much more complex and elaborated origin. It was this special Catholicism that unfolded in the feasts in devotion to the same saints that exist until today in all Brazil. This research intends, through a reading of photographs obtained over almost 10 years, to point out elements of this original African culture, of people that were called Bantu, showing how these elements are still present today. Studies on this religiosity, cosmology or spirituality, whatever the reader's preference, were made punctually, always focused on a community or city. The importance of this work is to bring a comparison of these parties in various regions of Brazil and to show Bantu presence in all of them / A devoção dos escravizados, no Brasil colônia, aos chamados santos negros, de modo especial N. Sra. do Rosário e São Benedito começou na África Central, de modo particular onde hoje estão o Congo e Angola, antes da chegada de Cabral ao que iria ser o Brasil. Diferentemente do que é frequentemente chamado de sincretismo e definido como uma simples substituição de ícones, o catolicismo que cresceu entre os que foram trazidos da África como escravos tinha uma origem muito mais complexa e elaborada. Foi esse catolicismo especial que se desdobrou nas festas em devoção aos mesmos santos que existem até hoje em todo o Brasil. Essa pesquisa pretende, através de uma leitura de fotografias obtidas ao longo de quase 10 anos, apontar elementos dessa cultura africana original, de povos que foram chamados de Bantu, mostrando como esses elementos continuam presentes até hoje. Estudos sobre essa religiosidade, cosmologia ou espiritualidade, qualquer que seja a preferência do leitor, foram feitas pontualmente, sempre focadas em uma comunidade ou cidade. A importância desse trabalho é trazer uma comparação dessas festas em várias regiões do Brasil e mostrar a presença Bantu em todas elas

Amituofo recitation is the chanting of the phrase "namo Amituofo , which is a rite commonly used among Buddhists for the attainment of merit. However, the attained merits would be nullified if the initiate gets pregnant after she has done Jiezhu. This has much to do with taboos related to female sexuality. Women always have a marginalized status as the supposedly "weaker" gender having a lower social position. The association of female bodily discharges with defilement further discredits their status. Jiezhu in effect reinforces the idea of "defilement" attributed to the female body. The shame that the women feel with the male-defined negative female bodily image affirms the patriarchal hegemony. / Based on historical, textual and field studies, this thesis examines a women-oriented initiation rite called Jiezhu. Jiezhu, a once-in-a-lifetime rite of passage, is performed by menopausal women in Ninghua, Western Fujian, China. / However, ritualistic acts provide therapeutic healing. The Jiezhu woman has to go through a stage in which she has to handle the change of her role and identity as a life-giver (mothering) with the end of her procreative cycle. The ritual provides both private and public meanings to the woman and helps her relieve the physical and mental difficulties that she faces in her menopausal stage. / It is believed in the villages of Ninghua that when a woman reaches her menopausal age, she has to do Jiezhu, without which, her Amituofo recitation (nianfo) would not be efficacious. In other words, Jiezhu, as a pre-requisite for Amituofo recitation, is at the same time a purification rite. / Jiezhu appropriates the woman into a new phase of being by first providing private meanings to her. Ritualistic acts can bridge memory and imagination. The ritual program allows the woman to go back and forth the past, the present and the future. Jiezhu dramatically juxtaposes girlhood and mature womanhood, reenacts her wedding and rehearses her future funeral. Death and rebirth symbols abound. In Jiezhu, the woman "witnesses" her own funerary rites to ensure abundant personal possessions are burned for her to receive in the underworld after her death. The woman acquires spiritual strength to ease off from her menopausal stress and to allay the fears of the approach of death. Jiezhu and Amituofo recitation make up a twin tool they use to ensure a more fortunate rebirth. / Second, Jiezhu gives social meanings. The woman is given a new identity. She is now eligible for Amituofo recitation and becomes a member of the nianfo community. As social inferiority can be compensated for by a show of lavishness, Jiezhu as an expensive event creates symbolic capital. Jiezhu has become a symbol of prestige and resources that in part enhances the status of the women. / The women are also able to express their power within the limits of their traditional politics. The woman's contributions as a wife and a mother are valued and celebrated in the Jiezhu ceremony. The youthful, bright and colourful gift items given by the married daughter display a defiant tone against the association of Jiezhu with old age. Jiezhu celebrates an oft-neglected life crisis of women. / To conclude, Jiezhu on the one hand "traditionalizes", and on the other hand, as a strategic mode of action, challenges traditions through religious and social empowerment. Jiezhu preserves the established order but it also facilitates transformation in the initiate. The two dynamics of ritual are not antithetical; they produce and contend with each other. / Cheung, Tak Ching Neky. / "September 2007." / Adviser: Chi Tim Lai. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-08, Section: A, page: 3178. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 390-406). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

nÃo hà / Este estudo tem como objeto de pesquisa a Irmandade de Nossa Senhora do RosÃrio, da cidade de Fortaleza, antiga Irmandade dos Homens Pretos. Nesta pesquisa, buscamos contextualizar historicamente e identificar as reelaboraÃÃes e ressignificaÃÃes ocorridas na instituiÃÃo antes de sua inativaÃÃo e, atualmente, por ocasiÃo do processo de revitalizaÃÃo. As irmandades de Nossa Senhora do RosÃrio dos Homens Pretos foram instituiÃÃes bastante numerosas no perÃodo colonial brasileiro, espalhando-se de norte a sul do paÃs, reafirmando a presenÃa significativa do negro. As investigaÃÃes e anÃlises observadas nos dados histÃricos e falas dos entrevistados revelaram mudanÃas na forma de admissÃo dos membros da instituiÃÃo. Observamos, ainda, que temas como cultura, religiosidade e manifestaÃÃes culturais negras sÃo frequentes nos relatos dos entrevistados, o que nos possibilitou discuti-los na perspectiva de aprofundar a compreensÃo da relevÃncia histÃrica e contribuiÃÃo da Irmandade de Nossa Senhora do RosÃrio para a histÃria do negro na cidade de Fortaleza, CearÃ. / This study is a research subject the Brotherhood of Our Lady of the Rosary in the city of Fortaleza, former Brotherhood of Black Men. In this research we seek to contextualize historically and identify reworkings and reinterpretation that occurred in the institution prior to its inactivation and currently during the revitalization process. The brotherhoods of Our Lady of the Rosary of Black Men were quite numerous institutions in the Brazilian Colonial period, spreading from North to South of the country, reaffirming the significant presence of black. The research and analysis observed in the historical data and lines of respondents revealed changes in admission of members of the institution. We also observed that subjects such as culture, religion and black cultural manifestations are frequent in the reports of respondents which enabled us to discuss them with a view to deepening the understanding of the historical relevance and contribution of the Brotherhood of Our Lady of the Rosary in the history of black in the city of Fortaleza Ceara.

128f. / Submitted by Suelen Reis (suziy.ellen@gmail.com) on 2013-04-17T17:24:07Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertacao Celio Araujo parte 2seg.pdf: 5276315 bytes, checksum: 3dae5c605950d67928021472bb7734e7 (MD5) Dissertacao Celio Araujo parte 1seg.pdf: 4824480 bytes, checksum: 46ce964739912e2a3d9fc13eb08e19b0 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Rodrigo Meirelles(rodrigomei@ufba.br) on 2013-05-24T11:35:50Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertacao Celio Araujo parte 2seg.pdf: 5276315 bytes, checksum: 3dae5c605950d67928021472bb7734e7 (MD5) Dissertacao Celio Araujo parte 1seg.pdf: 4824480 bytes, checksum: 46ce964739912e2a3d9fc13eb08e19b0 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2013-05-24T11:35:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertacao Celio Araujo parte 2seg.pdf: 5276315 bytes, checksum: 3dae5c605950d67928021472bb7734e7 (MD5) Dissertacao Celio Araujo parte 1seg.pdf: 4824480 bytes, checksum: 46ce964739912e2a3d9fc13eb08e19b0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / Este trabalho versa sobre a atuação política da Igreja Católica baiana durante a conjuntura do Golpe civil-militar de 1964. Tendo como balizas cronológicas os anos de 1962 e 1964, a pesquisa se propõe a investigar os discursos e as ações da Instituição, em volta de três fatos que mobilizaram a Bahia naquele período: as eleições gerais de 1962, a realização da Cruzada do Rosário em Família em Salvador, e a efetivação do Golpe de 1964. Procurando analisar a participação da Igreja nestes três eventos, objetivamos compreender o posicionamento e as relações da Instituição com o campo político baiano e com o Golpe de 1964, que ocorreram mediante a intensa produção de um imaginário anticomunista. / Salvador

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2016-01-25T12:37:12Z No. of bitstreams: 1 normamariavieiradosreis.pdf: 11019734 bytes, checksum: 285a16ad02cdfd6f2d208d1c34969f3f (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-01-25T19:29:00Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 normamariavieiradosreis.pdf: 11019734 bytes, checksum: 285a16ad02cdfd6f2d208d1c34969f3f (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-01-25T19:29:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 normamariavieiradosreis.pdf: 11019734 bytes, checksum: 285a16ad02cdfd6f2d208d1c34969f3f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-08-28 / Esta dissertação tem por objetivo analisar os significados atribuídos pelos filiados e a construção da identidade nas Irmandades de Nossa Senhora do Rosário no cenário contemporâneo partindo da construção e análise comparativa do histórico social e religioso e institucional das irmandades delimitadas para estudo: Irmandade de Nossa Senhora do Rosário dos Homens Pretos, do Paissandu, em São Paulo e a Irmandade de Nossa Senhora e Santa Efigênia dos Homens Pretos, do Alto da Cruz, em Ouro Preto. Para esta análise foi necessário à identificação dos aspectos aglutinadores que permitem a congregação dos filiados no contexto contemporâneo a estas irmandades através da leitura que os irmãos fazem do próprio passado. A pesquisa apoiou-se em documentos escritos, em bibliografia especifica sobre cada irmandade, iconografia, entrevistas e observação participante, sobretudo durante as práticas de devoção para identificar as relações entre os filiados da Irmandade e a memória de Chico Rei com os irmãos do Rosário de Ouro Preto e a memória de Zumbi e da África com os irmãos do Rosário de São Paulo. A narrativa dos irmãos, através das entrevistas realizadas, possibilitou compreender o significado da Irmandade, e o papel que ela assume na memória individual e na memória coletiva e; de verificar o processo de interação com o catolicismo assimilado pelos irmãos q permanece nas práticas religiosas dos fiéis, que conservam em parte suas lógicas culturais, a partir da alta compreensão de sua história e da compreensão das transformações ocorridas com o tempo. Essas memórias preservam e atualizam a identidade dos irmãos distinguindo as categorias que organizam os dados empíricos: memórias/esquecimento, identidade/ diferença e espaço/ lugar. / This dissertation aims to analyze the meanings attributed by members and the construction of identity in the Brotherhoods of Our Lady of the Rosary in the contemporary scenario based on the construction and comparative analysis of the social and religious background of institutional and bounded to study sororities: Brotherhood of Our Lady of Rosary of Black Men, the Paissandu in São Paulo and the Brotherhood of Our Lady and St. Efigênia of Black Men, the High Cross in Ouro Preto. This analysis was required to identify aspects of binders that allow members of the congregation in contemporary these brotherhoods by reading the brothers make last own context. The research was based on written documents, in specific literature for each fellowship, iconography, interviews and participant observation, especially on the practices of devotion to identify the relationships between the members of the Brotherhood and the memory of King Chico with the brothers of the Rosary Ouro Preto and the memory of Zumbi and memory of Africa with the brothers of the Rosary of São Paulo. The narrative of the brothers whose families several generations attending Brotherhood, enabled us to understand the meaning it has in the individual memory and collective memory; to verify that the process of interaction with Catholicism assimilated by the brothers remains in the religious practices of the faithful, which retain their cultural logics in part, from the high understanding of their history and understanding of the changes occurring with time. These memories preserve and update the identity of the brothers distinguishing categories that organize the empirical data: memory / forgetting, identity / difference and space / place.

The Diplom's Thesis "Mariology of Louise M. Grignion de Montfort and Leo XIII" The Marian worshiper Louis Maria Grignion of Montfort worked in France as a Catholic priest and missionary at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. Grignion, the promoter of the rosary prayer and marian veneration, which Pope Leo XIII blessed in 1888, on the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood, left in his writings a spiritual message and taching, the elements of which we find in the works of Pope Leo XIII. This Pope is the author of Marian encyclicals promoting the rosary prayer. The tematic similarity in his view of the figure of the Virgin Mary and her influence in history appears in both, Grignion and Leo XIII, in the field of mariological expression and in the inseparable trinitological basis of mariology. The first chapter of this work contains the biography of the priest and missionary Louis M. Grignion of Montfort. It is followed by a biography of Gioacchino Pecci, the pope of the Roman Catholic Church since 1887. The second chapter clarifies the periodic conditionality of Grignion's works and outlines his partial mariology and Marian veneration. The third chapter maps the thinking of Louis M. Grignion implicitly present in the Marian encyclicals of Leo XIII on a general level and then in the...

[pt] Esta dissertação roçará pelo ficcional. Teremos um Vieira personagem que, como ator, aparece em cena já idoso, invadido pelo passado, a recordar, a escrever, trazido pela narradora onisciente que lhe decifra gestos, palavras e até pensamentos. Através dele, conheceremos um pouco de sua vida e da vida de Inácio de Loyola, o seu grande mestre. Analisaremos, desde a sua gênese, a Reforma e a Contra-Reforma, a sua influência sobre Vieira e o seu posicionamento diante dos dois movimentos que mudaram a história da Igreja.. Neste contexto, examinaremos o movimento artístico que tanto influenciou Vieira, o Barroco - movimento de transgressão, com suas tendências e características, e o interesse da Igreja em dele apropriar-se para fazê-lo a sua arma de divulgação. Analisar-se-ão, finalmente, alguns sermões, começando pelos que se intitulam As cinco pedras da funda de Davi, e nestes sobretudo a questão do conhecimento de si mesmo, abordada por Vieira através das parábolas e histórias bíblicas por ele privilegiadas.Nos sermões do Rosário, referentes aos negros, atentarse- á para o forte cunho social e político que lhes é imprimido e a dura crítica aos senhores de engenho.Nos sermões do Mandato, tratar-se-á da contraposição do amor divino ao humano, destacando-se a questão do fino amor, proposta por Vieira, demonstrada através do contraponto entre a fineza dos dois amores, o divino e o humano, este sempre duvidoso e inconstante. / [en] This thesis borders on the fictional. Its protagonist is Vieira, already an old man, haunted by the past, reminiscing and writing, a character created by the omniscient narrator who deciphers his gestures, words and even thoughts. Through Vieira we learn something not only about his own life but also about that of Ignatius of Loyola, his great master. An analysis is made of the Reformation and the Counterreformation, from their very beginnings, and of their influence on Vieira, showing the stands he took in relation to the two movements that changed the history of the Church. In this context we will examine the artistic movement that had such influence on Vieira, the baroque - a transgressive movement, with its trends and characteristics, which the Church tried to appropriate for its own propaganda purposes.Finally, we will also analyze a few sermons, beginning with those known under the title The Five Stones in David`s Sling, with the emphasis on the issue of self-knowledge, which Vieira approaches by means of parables and favorite Biblical stories.In the Rosary sermons, which refer to the condition of black people, we underscore their very strong social and political flavor, with their harsh criticism of the powerful owners of sugar plantations.In the Mandate sermons, the theme is the contrast between divine love and human love; in them Vieira discusses the topic of fine love, demonstrating his views through a counterpoint between the fineness of the two loves, the divine and the human, the latter always doubtful and inconstant.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-07-29T15:14:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Noeci C Messias.pdf: 1667595 bytes, checksum: 3e93545242f70d0aab538d57a7c80144 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-12-10 / With the purpose of scrutinizing the specifics of some of the religious parties, elected as the locus of this research, two festivals: the Holy Spirit and Our Lady of the Rosary on Monte do Carmo and Natividade; towns from the gold cycle, in the eighteenth century and belonging to former northern Goias, current state of Tocantins. Studies on religious parties and has been increasingly developed in the historiography. Thus, this research aims to highlight the everyday experiences of popular religious devotion held annually in both cities. Such events are expressed through a diverse set of rituals pertaining to the cycle of the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary and Holy Ghost. Also intends to show that such demonstrations represent and reinforce the ritualistic social systems and hierarchical, and a joint incorporation of both elements of modernity and traditional. The research encourages the reader to reflect as parties transplanted from Europe and Afrique to colonial Brazil can be perpetuated until the present time, becoming an important event in local communities, allowing the strengthening of family ties and contributing to the construction and reconstruction of identities local and regional. To support the construction and reconstruction of scientific study enrolled to documentary sources of public and private archives, documents, manuscripts of brotherhood, official letters, journals, oral testimony. As a source of bibliographic support, we use texts from various scholars dealing with the issue in Brazil, Goiás and Tocantins. By doing a comparative analysis it was observed that although the historical origin of the festivities of the Holy Spirit is the same, the paths taken by two different cities experiencing the ritualistic practices, although similar. Many of the existing elements in the celebrations of the Holy Spirit of Monte do Carmo not exist in the Natividade and vice versa. However, it is interesting how an "invented tradition" by a white elite in the colonial period, aiming to provide, among other things, the conversion of the Negroes to Catholicism, can be reinterpreted and reformulated later by a community, going to represent the identity of community. / Com o objetivo de perscrutar as especificidades de algumas das festas religiosas do Estado do Tocantins, elegi como locus desta pesquisa, duas festividades: Divino Espírito Santo e Nossa Senhora do Rosário em Monte do Carmo e em Natividade; cidades originárias do ciclo do ouro, no século XVIII e pertencentes ao antigo Norte de Goiás, atual Estado do Tocantins. Estudos sobre festas e religiosidade tem sido cada vez mais elaborados no campo historiográfico. Assim, esta pesquisa visa destacar as experiências cotidianas de devoção da religiosidade popular realizadas anualmente em ambas as cidades. Tais manifestações se expressam através de um diversificado conjunto de rituais pertencentes ao ciclo da Festa de Nossa Senhora do Rosário e do Divino Espírito Santo. Pretende-se mostrar também que tais manifestações ritualísticas representam e reforçam os sistemas sociais e hierárquicos, em uma articulação e incorporação tanto de elementos da modernidade quanto tradicionais. A pesquisa instiga o leitor a refletir como festas transplantadas da Europa e da África para o Brasil colonial conseguem se perpetuar até o momento atual, configurando-se em um importante evento das comunidades locais, possibilitando o fortalecimento de vínculos familiares e contribuindo para a construção e reconstrução das identidades locais e regionais. Para respaldar a construção e reconstrução deste estudo científico arrolaram-se fontes documentais de arquivos públicos e privados, documentos manuscritos de irmandade, correspondências oficiais, periódicos e depoimentos orais. Como fonte de apoio bibliográfico, utilizei textos de diversos estudiosos que tratam da temática no Brasil, em Goiás e Tocantins. Ao fazer uma análise comparativa foi possível observar que embora a origem histórica das festividades do Divino Espírito Santo seja a mesma, os caminhos percorridos pelas duas cidades revelam práticas ritualísticas diversas, embora semelhantes. Muitos dos elementos existentes nos festejos do Divino Espírito Santo de Monte do Carmo não existem em Natividade e vice-versa. No entanto, é interessante observar como uma tradição inventada por uma elite branca, no período colonial, visando proporcionar, entre outras coisas, a conversão dos negros ao catolicismo, pode ser reformulada e reinterpretada posteriormente por uma comunidade, passando a representar a identidade desta comunidade.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-07-29T16:17:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao euzebio historia.pdf: 2205586 bytes, checksum: a61ccd5cdc94ae11b9a9b95826833a6f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-11-28 / We analyze the rosaryan devotion in the City of Goiás from the Memorial of Memory, written between 1881 and 1930, by Anna Joaquina Marques. During the colonization of Brazil, the devotion to Our Lady of the Rosary gained importance near the enslaved Africans, becoming one of the biggest catholic devotions, in number of loyal ones and in quantity of churches erected to this devotion. Nevertheless, the catholic reform (Ultramountainism) provoked the resign of devotion of rosary. In the last decades of the century XIX, in the backwoods of Central Brazil, the Dominican mission, associated to the administrations of the bishops of the diocese Sant'Anna of Goiás, Cláudio José Ponce de Leão and Eduardo Duarte Silva, the traditional and from the backwoods religiosity was reformed. New devotions were stimulated, others criticized and banished. So, the Catholic Church acted straightly in religious practice of the population, subjecting to his administration the churches administered you them brotherhoods and the principal religious celebrations. We observe the consequences of the ultramontane reforms in religious daily practices of the vilaboenses choosing like key of analysis to devotion to Our Lady of the Rosary of the Blacks, at the level of the experiences of the subjects, through the scripture of Anna Joaquina Marques / Analisamos a devoção rosarina na Cidade de Goiás a partir do Memorial de Lembrança, escrito entre 1881 e 1930, pela vilaboense Anna Joaquina Marques. Durante a colonização do Brasil, a devoção à Nossa Senhora do Rosário ganhou importância junto aos escravizados africanos, tornando-se uma das maiores devoções católicas, em número de fiéis e em quantidade de igrejas erigidas a este orago. Contudo, a reforma católica (Ultramontanismo) provocou a ressemantização de devoção rosarina. Nas últimas décadas do século XIX, nos sertões do Brasil Central, a missionação dominicana associada às administrações dos bispos da diocese de Sant Anna de Goiás, dom Cláudio José Ponce de Leão e dom Eduardo Duarte Silva, a religiosidade tradicional e sertaneja foi reformada. Novas devoções foram estimuladas, outras criticadas e banidas. Assim, a Igreja agiu diretamente na prática religiosa da população, submetendo à sua administração as igrejas administradas pelas irmandades e as principais festas religiosas. Observamos as conseqüências das reformas ultramontanas nas práticas religiosas cotidianas dos vilaboenses escolhendo como chave de análise a devoção a Nossa Senhora do Rosário dos Pretos, ao nível das experiências dos sujeitos, por meio da escritura de Anna Joaquina Marques

Countess Urraca Lope de Haro was the daughter of the noble Lord Diego Lope de Haro, friend and advisor to King Alfonso VIII of Castilla-León and granddaughter of Lord Lope Díaz de Haro and Lady Aldonza Ruiz de Castro, aristocratic courtiers as well as popular monastic patrons. As a young and wealthy widow, Countess Urraca took monastic vows at the Cistercian nunnery of Santa María de Cañas founded by her grandparents. Within a short time of uniting herself to this monastery, she was chosen as its fourth abbess in 1225, a position she held for thirty-seven years until her death in 1262. Following the tradition of monastic patronage established by her noble family members, Countess Urraca expanded the monastery's small real estate holdings, oversaw extensive building projects to create permanent structures for the nunnery, and patronized artistic projects including statuettes of the Virgin Mary and St. Peter in addition to her own decorative stone sarcophagus during her term as abbess. This thesis examines the artistic decoration and architectural patronage of this powerful woman and the influences she incorporated into the monastic structures at Cañas as she oversaw their construction. In dating the original buildings of the monastery at Cañas to the period of Countess Urraca's leadership, the predominant architectural features and decorative details of female Cistercian foundations in northern Spain are discussed. Comparisons with additional thirteenth-century Cistercian monasteries from the same region in northern Spain are offered to demonstrate the artistic connections with the structures Countess Urraca patronized. In addition, this thesis examines Countess Urraca's obvious devotion to the Virgin Mary and St. Peter by considering the medieval monastic world in which she lived and the strong emphasis the Cistercian Order placed on such worship practices. The potent spiritual connections Countess Urraca made by commissioning images of essential, holy intercessors testifies to her devotion to them and the powerful salvatory role she herself played in the lives of the nuns for whom she was responsible. As a nun and abbess, Countess Urraca was urged to emulate Mary's mothering, nurturing qualities, and, as she did so was simultaneously empowered by the Virgin's heavenly authority as administrator of mercy. Indeed, through studying her art it is clear that she saw herself as an intercessor on behalf of the nuns for whom she was responsible. Furthermore, discussion of the imagery displayed on Countess Urraca's decorative stone sarcophagus demonstrates not only a similar message of salvation through intercessors such as Peter and Mary, but also testifies of Abbess Urraca's aristocratic lineage. Through this artistic commission, the Abbess creates another direct, personal link between herself and the Virgin by including the symbol of the rosary throughout the iconography of her tomb. Such a symbol represents her devotion to Mary as Queen of Heaven and simultaneously empowers Countess Urraca as an intercessor herself. All of these architectural and artistic commissions confirm that she was a powerful woman who wielded a great deal of influence.