Like Francis of Assisi several centuries earlier, Teresa of Ávila was the child of a successful and prosperous cloth merchant. Like Francis, Teresa fell ill, and later underwent a conversion experience that led her to renounce wealth and found an order of reformed religious, the Discalced, or shoeless, Carmelites. In reforming the nuns, many of whom were used to a luxurious life inside their cloister, Teresa insisted on poverty, self-sufficiency, and social equality. She also proved to be a sound theologian and writer, and left numerous works, including an account of her own life. By the time of her death in 1582, she had founded or reformed fourteen convents.

1. One of Teresa's major works is "The Way of Perfection." It is available online at
   http://www.ccel.org/t/teresa/way/main.html
2. Around 1650, the great Baroque sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini carved one of his masterpieces, "The Ecstasy of St. Teresa," depicting a decidedly sensual Teresa as her heart is pieced by the angel's arrow. Note her discalced feet.
   http://www.artchive.com/artchive/B/bernini/teresa.jpg.html
3. See cyberviews of Ávila, including of Teresa's convent, at
   http://www.cyberspain.com/ciudades-patrimonio/fotos/avienci.htm