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

Abstract

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.