A Dura Inimiga Natureza em Frei Agostinho da Cruz: Amor e Conversão

Abstract

At the age of twenty, on 3 May 1561, Agostinho Pimenta abandoned secular life to take up his Capuchin habit at the convent of Santa Cruz da Serra de Sintra, becoming Friar Agostinho da Cruz. Some critics sought the reasons for this conversion in the Capuchin poet’s verses, considering that they could shed some light on the little that is known about his biography. It was understood that the reason for the changes in Agostinho Pimenta’s life was a love misadventure. Of course, the verses in which Frei Agostinho da Cruz evokes common themes of profane love and the multiple presence of Petrarch in his poetry may lead us to think that the Capuchin poet could have changed his life for this reason. Although this conjecture may make sense on a textual level, we must take into account the context of divine poetry in vogue in the 16th century.