FELICIANA MARIA DI MILANO (1629 – 1705)

IN THE MARK OF OWNERSHIP THE MOTTO OF LIFE

Abstract

An enigmatic and almost mythical figure of the Portuguese 17th century, D. Feliciana Maria de Milão is known for a life path that was unusual for the social norms of the time. What remains of her is the memory of her strong culture and, above all, of her critical spirit, present in the written collection she left behind, in the testimonies of the conviviality she developed with court personalities and, also, in the religious life she adopted in 1659, when she entered the monastery of S. Dinis in Odivelas. It would not be easy for a woman in the 17th century, and even more so without any known relatives, to distinguish herself by her spirit and erudition. However, in the prompt answers that have been recorded for posterity and in the correspondence that she kept with important figures of the society, it is evident that D. Feliciana de Milão had a privileged access to works that shaped her culture in its oral and written expression. The encounter with books (few) that belonged to her, is not enough for a study of her library. They reveal, however, the presence of literature in the Italian language, unusual for the time, especially for a woman. Above all, they reveal a mark of possession that is in itself a life motto: “La fortuna o la mejor o ninguna”.