Battles: The English, The Dutch, and the Discalced Hierarchy
During the Anglo-Dutch War, María’s convent was constantly in danger of attack. In 1588, Ángelo de San Paulo, a Discalced Carmelite friar who was aboard one of the ships of the Spanish Armada, wrote to María with an account of the Spanish defeat. María was also dealing with the hostility of Doria, who believed that prioresses wielded too much power, and took steps to alter the Constitutions. María fought back with a barrage of letters. The dispute culminated in the “nuns’ revolt”, an appeal to Pope Sixtus V by María and Ana de Jesús to preserve the Order’s Constitutions. In the end, María de San José was deprived of voice and vote and placed under house arrest.