King Pedro I and his mother wanted to eliminate the threats which hung over them at the hands of the nobles who achieved power and wealth thanks to Leonor de Guzmán, the mistress of his father.
One of those threats was the husband of Doña Maria Coronel, Juan de la Cerda, descendant of the Royal family of Leon and candidate to the Royal Crown if something happens to Pedro. The King ordered that Juan was imprisoned in the ‘Torre del Oro’. Faced with the big danger that could happens to her husband, Maria Coronel travelled from Seville to beg the king’s forgiveness personally, and she got it but when she returned to the city, Juan had already been executed. Desolate, Maria takes refuge in the convent of Santa Clara and she ordained nun.
The King was infatuated with Maria and claimed her presence. She did not go and King Pedro I looked for her personally at the convent. Maria managed to hide from him, covering her cache with sticks and branches but the King returned another day without warning and took her by surprise. Maria ran down the entire convent and went to the kitchen, there she reacted leans over boiling oil that left her disfigured. Starting from that moment, the King watching her face lost the interest and left her alone.
Died Pedro at the hands of her half-brother Enrique, the new King ordered to return their assets to the Colonel sisters. With the fortune recovered Maria and her sister Aldonza founded the convent of Santa Inés in the solar of the old palace of his father; they moved there in 1376 with the nuns of the convent of Santa Clara.
Maria Coronel was the first Abbess of the new convent. It is believed that Maria died on December 2, 1411 at 77 years of age. In 1626 In 1626, the transfer of her remains made her uncorrupt body was found, his face and neck were still marked by burns. Every December, 2 on the anniversary of her death in the Church of Santa Inés her corp is exposed to the public.
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I.P.P. y C. D.
