Classificació geogràfica

Europa > Espanya

Moviments socio-culturals

Edat Moderna > Humanisme

Grups per àmbit de dedicació

Divulgadores / Promotores culturals > Agents culturals

Escriptores > Poetes

Personatge
Tecla

Tecla de Borja i de Borja

Xàtiva? 1435 ‖ València 1459

Període d'activitat: 1455

Classificació geogràfica: Europa > Espanya

Moviments socio-culturals

Edat Moderna > Humanisme

Grups per àmbit de dedicació

Divulgadores / Promotores culturals > Agents culturals

Escriptores > Poetes

Context de creació femenina

The author belonged to the Borgias, a lineage of the small nobility who, in the following centuries, underwent a process of exaltation thanks, above all, to the proclamation of Popes Calixtus III and Alexander VI. The consolidation of the lineage also shows the importance of the cultural and political role played by some women in the clan, managing the family patrimony and taking care of the education of children. In addition to Isabel de Borja, Tecla’s mother, other Borgian female figures stand out as important patrons of the ducal court, such as Maria Enríquez, the famous Duchess of Gandia and later a Clarist nun. With her daughter, also a nun, Isabel de Borja (Sister Francesca de Jesús), she helped to establish an important literary and spiritual nucleus in the convent of Santa Clara of Gandia, where many women of the Borgian clan lived and wrote between the 16th and 18th centuries. The nucleus of women of the Borja family clan left written some devout works composed especially in the convent, but they stand out particularly for the writing of letters preserved fragmentarily and mostly unknown. This epistolary production, fundamentally in Spanish, but also in Catalan or Italian, makes it possible to study aspects related to women's writing, spirituality or the history of emotions (kinship relationships), etc. 
The noble training received by Tecla, as by other ladies in the family, allowed her access to the world of culture. Tecla de Borja represents an essential figure of the Valencian Golden Age, along with other contemporary authors living in Valencian lands such as Isabel Suaris (1440-1490) or the religious Isabel de Villena (1430-1490). 

In addition, the work of Tecla de Borja is part of the tradition of courtly games from the troubadour tençó, as well as the letters that Isabel Suaris exchanged with Bernat Fenollar. Other contemporary authors were the writer of the songbook Florencia Pinar (1470-1530), the humanist Beatriz Galindo (1465-1535) or the great patron and author of letters, Lucrezia Borgia (1480-1519), related to Tecla de Borja. 

Another contemporary figure of interest was Queen Maria of Castile (1404-1458). Her work and political action are part of the epistolary production of other queens and nobles of the Crown of Aragon, such as Violant de Bar, Maria de Luna or Sibila de Fortià, within the production of the Royal Chancellery. She is also associated with epistolaries such as that of Hipólita Roís de Liori and Estefania de Requesens. 

Ressenya

An intellectual and poetess born into the Borgia family. She was, specifically, the daughter of Jofré de Borja and Isabel de Borja and had 4 siblings, including Roderic de Borja, the future Pope Alexander VI. She was supposedly born in Xàtiva in 1435 and died in Valencia due to the plague at the age of 24, in 1459. She excelled in the intellectual spheres of Valencia thanks to her family lineage and her training. However, only one composition is known: the answer to the poetic demand written to her by Ausiàs March, when she was already a widow.

Justificacions

  • Intellectual and noble woman who belongs to the Borgia family.
  • Considered the most cultured person of the Borgias at this time.
  • Woman with prestige who accessed the intellectual spheres of the city of Valencia.
  • Author of a poem in Catalan in response to the poetic demand addressed to her by Ausiàs March.

Biografia

Tecla de Borja i Borja (Xàtiva?, 1435-Valencia, 1459) belonged to the Borgia family, daughter of Jofre de Borja and Isabel de Borja. When her father died, around 1437, she went with her mother and siblings Joana, Beatriu, Roderic and Pere Lluís to Valencia, where her uncle, Alfonso de Borja, the future Pope Calixtus III, was bishop. There, she received a complete education and acquired knowledge for the cultivation of poetry and music, as well as learning to read Greek and Latin, a milestone in a society, the medieval, in which women had obstacles to receive education. In fact, she is considered the most cultured person of the Borgias in this difficult and confrontational time.
 
She married Vidal de Vilanova, but soon became widowed and without children. After the death of her husband, she demanded the return of the dowry to the heirs, but as they could not meet the obligation to return it, the baronies of Atzeneta and Pego, lordship of the Vilanova, were awarded to her, which Tecla bequeathed when her mother and siblings died.
 
The family lineage, the rich formation and the proximity to the circles of power allowed her to acquire prestige in the intellectual spheres, since, even Ausiàs March, older and well-known, addressed a poetic demand to her when she was already a widow, called Demanda feta per Mossén Ausias March a la senyora Na Tecla de Borja, neboda del pare Sant. The answer to this demand is the only evidence that has come to date of the work written by Tecla, along with the eulogy that inspired the scholar Antonio Tridentone, a clergyman from Parma (Italy), the death of the young lady at 24 years old. 

Obres


Resposta a la demanda poètica: Demanda feta per Mossén Ausiàs March a la senyora Na Tecla de Borja, neboda del pare Sant. 

Bibliografia

Garcia Sempere, Marinela (2010). “Tecla de Borja”, in  Diccionari Biogràfic de Dones, 20-03-2022,  https://dbd.vives.org/index.php 

Iborra, Joan (2012). “Na Tecla”. Institut Internacional d’Estudis Borgians, 20-03-2022, https://elsborja.cat/blog/na-tecla/ 

 Fita Colomé, Fidel (1887). «Poetesses i dames intel·lectuals». 

Pagès, Amedée (1912). Auzias March et ses predecesseurs, París, H. Champion. [Trad. by Víctor Gómez, València, Alfons el Magnànim 1990] 

 Zaragoza Gómez, Verònica (2021). Les dones Borja. Històries de poder i protagonisme ocult, València, Tres i Quatre / IIEB (Biblioteca Borja Minor, 7). 

Enfocament Didàctic

The author can be studied in the subject of Valencian: language and literature or Catalan language and literature.

She can be included in several blocks of the curriculum of 3rd of ESO:

- Block of listening and speaking.
- Block of reading and writing.
- Block of knowledge of the language.
- Block of literary education.
 

Documents