Born in Nepantla, near Mexico City, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648 or 1651–1695) is best known as one of the greatest Baroque poets and as the iconic forerunner of Hispanic feminism. However, the significance of her work and life in studies of the relationships among gender, science, and society in New Spain (Mexico) and colonial Spanish America has been gaining greater recognition.

In 1662 Sor Juana, then known by her birth name, Juana de Asbaje y Ramírez, was admitted into the service of the viceroy's wife, the marquise of Mancera, who became her protector, a role later filled by the wife of the succeeding viceroy, the countess of Paredes. Believing that a religious life was most compatible with her intellectual pursuits, Sor Juana entered a Carmelite convent in 1667 but left after three months...