‘Senhoras donas’: nuns’ relationship with the outside world through their properties in the Convent of St. Monica (Goa, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries)

Goan nuns at the Convent of St. Monica (17th–18th centuries) actively engaged with the outside world through their extensive property holdings, challenging the notion that convents were isolated from secular society. Analysis of administrative sources reveals how these properties—spanning urban houses and villages across Goa and beyond—facilitated a network of sociability between nuns and diverse individuals and institutions. The study highlights the convent's role as a hub for economic and social interaction, with the locutório (visitor’s parlor) and portaria serving as key interfaces. This research demonstrates that Goan Monicas were not merely spiritual figures but active participants in the colonial socioeconomic landscape, building substantial patrimony that extended across the Estado da Índia and the Portuguese kingdom.

Vigas Oliveira, R. M. (2025). ‘Senhoras donas’: nuns’ relationship with the outside world through their properties in the Convent of St. Monica (Goa, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries). Women’s History Review, 35(5), 857–876. https://doi.org/10.1080/09612025.2025.2535059