This article is part of a series on hidden histories of European royalty. For further reading, consult "The Nuns of the Descalzas" (María Dolores Pérez) and "Forbidden Friendships: Same-Sex Love in the Early Modern Convent."

While her "relationships" are often interpreted as platonic or intellectual, her passionate poetry addressed to the Vicereine of Mexico suggests a deep, romantic soul. Benedetta Carlini:

To write monjas reales with romantic storylines is to acknowledge that holiness and humanity are not opposites. A nun’s vow is a choice, not an amputation. Whether tragic, triumphant, or quietly unresolved, these narratives remind us that love—in all its forms—seeps through cloister walls, through prayers, through the cracks in stone. And sometimes, it is precisely because of their devotion that nuns fall: not away from God, but into a deeper, messier understanding of what love can be.

In the 19th century, a similar scandal rocked the convent of Notre Dame in France. Two nuns, Sister Marguerite and Sister Colette, were accused of having a romantic relationship.