María Fernández Coronel

Maria Coronel and violence against women
If there is one thing that makes Seville even more mysterious, then it is the legends. There are many stories around the Andalusian city, and one of the most shocking is Maria Coronel's. The United Nations has already chosen as the International Day for the Elimination of violence against Women in 1999, 25 November. Spain adopted a law against gender violence as one of the first countries in 2004. For many women this came too late and especially for María Coronel, who was forced into an abominable act of self-mutilation as a result of aggressive stalking.

María Fernández Coronel
María Fernández Coronel was born in 1334 (Sevilla) in an aristocratic family. Her father was a nobleman who had a very close bond with King Alfonso XI and his mistress Leonor. Leonor donated the king five illegal children. The children would fight for the throne with the rightful son, Pedro, which led to one of the most strange conflicts in the Spanish monarchy. María married Juan Alfonso de la Cerda, who, like her father, was also against Pedro and for his half brother Enrique. When Pedro was crowned king, María's husband and her father had great problems. María's father was beheaded and also her husband after charges of betrayal to the crown. María had himself started talking to the king to beg for mercy, but that should not be of benefit.

Pedro the despicable in love with Maria Coronel
But King Pedro (also called Pedro the despicable or the cruel one) fell like a block for María's beauty and he tried to seduce her without success. He started stalking her, as we call it now. He continued to follow her in Seville and even tried to kidnap her. To escape the murderer of her father and her husband, María found refuge in the monastery of Santa Clara. The nuns, who knew how cruel the king was, tried to hide her from Pedro the cruel. The king heard that María lived in the monastery and went there. The first time he didn't see her. But what the nuns didn't expect was that Pedro only came back one day later and everyone was shocked. Maria had come out of her shelter and Pedro pursued her through the rooms and courtyards of the monastery to the kitchen, where she couldn't go further. There she had no chance to escape and she desperately poured a pot of boiling oil over her face, which was immediately deformed. The king, totally shocked, ran away and that was the last time María ever saw him.

Honor recovery Maria Coronel
Years later, Pedro's regime came to an end when his half-brother Enrique murdered him. Enrique was crowned king of Castile. Because María's family had always shown their sympathy for Enrique, he gave her the money picked up. María invested the money in the creation of a new monastery.

Visit the monastery of Santa Inés
Today, María’s real body is shown to the public on two December. The locals visit Maria to show their respect. The monastery of Santa Inés, located on the street María Coronel, is still an active nunnery. The monastery is also known for its delicious biscuits and marmalades. But if you go to the monastery and visit the tomb of Maria Coronel on two December and the tomb of Maria Coronel, take a look at the many women, known as Maria Coronel and millions of anonymous, who have been mutilated or killed by male violence. Let us hope that such laws will be passed around the world, as in Spain, and that this appalling violence will disappear, all the more so because it is still a very topical issue.