Carafa, Maria — Azione Romana

CARAFA, MARIA. - Sister of Gian Pietro, later Pope Paul IV, b. perhaps in Naples, in 1468, firstborn of Antonio C., baron of S. Angelo della Scala, and of Vittoria Camponeschi, countess of Montorio, d. 4 Jan. 1552. At the age of 22 she fled into the monastery of S. Sebastiano, from which she left to found on 25 June 1530 the monastery of the Sapienza according to the most austere Dominican rule.

Under the direction of St. Cajetan, of the bl. G. Marinoni and of the Theatines, the "Sapienza" became the first women's monastery in Naples modeled on the reform begun by the Clerics Regular. There entered it, while the foundress was still living, four of her nieces and many young women of the foremost Neapolitan nobility, among them Cassandra, marchioness, celebrated by Sannazzaro. She enjoys among the Theatines the title of venerable.

The famous monastery of the Sapienza, whose splendid church is the work of the architect p. F. Grimaldi, a Theatine, is today extinct.

BIBL.: sources

F. Maggio, Vita della ven. madre d. M. C., Naples 1670; G. M. Monti, Ricerche su papa Paolo IV C., Benevento 1925; F. Andreu, Lettere inedite di S. Gaetano Thiene, Rome 1946, pp. 7-34; E. Re, S. Gaetano Thiene a Napoli. Una lettera del Santo a d. Chaterina C., in Napoli, 60 (1934, 1-ii); A. Quattrone, P. D. Francesco Grimaldi architetto, in Rerum Dei. Collectanea Theatina, 5 (1949), n. 17. Francesco Andreu

@incollection{ec3_carafa_maria, author = {Andreu, Francesco}, title = {Carafa, maria}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {III}, pages = {747--748}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1949}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/carafa-maria} }

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