ABSTRACT
Writing the history of a convent's founding became an important way of reinforcing a sense of identity and purpose among its members, and communicating the progress of the order at large. Foundation narratives in general were intended to record the establishment or expansion of an order in a new site and serve as a form of religious historiography for each community. In addition, these narratives often provide a minutely detailed account of the interaction between the religiously centered life of the cloister and secular society. The narratives themselves take a variety of forms. Some, like Teresa of Avila's Libro de fundaciones, which was the first of the foundation narratives, were written at the request of male prelates and may be considered official records. In her narrative of the politics of space and spirituality, Teresa is definitely center stage in overcoming the multitude of crises that beset the Discalced Carmelite foundations.
