Career
Carvajal y Mendoza"s parents died when she was young. By 1598, her desires to die for God inspired her to take a vow of martyrdom, and as a consequence of this vow she was granted permission to journey to England, where she joined the Catholic underground. Carvajal worked in London and its environs as a teacher, missionary, and leader in charitable service to the poor.
Imprisoned twice, once for public proselytizing and once for founding a secret community of Catholic women in London, she engaged in a wide range of subversive activities that eventually led both James of England and the Spanish Council of State to mandate her return to Spain.
Her actions were considered disruptive and traitorous. To strike at her would be an embarrassment to the new ambassador, Diego Sarmiento de Acuña, soon to be conde de Gondomar.
Sarmiento was unable to procure her release more discreetly through orders in Council and was forced to lodge a protest with James I. Refusing the offer to free her if she promised to leave the country immediately, with the threat that he would leave with her, the Ambassador eventually procured her unconditional release through James"s Council. After a second imprisonment she fell mortally ill from a bronchial infection.
King Philip III arranged for her body to be shipped back to Spain, where she was revered at first as a putative saint.
Her canonization proceedings, however, did not even result in her beatification. Carvajal left autobiographical writings and a brief collection of religious poetry. Her unusual decision to travel to England as a missionary has attracted the attention of feminist scholars.
Carvajal y Mendoza"s legacy in Spain was evidenced during the 1990s, when Spain"s airline, Iberia, named an Airbus A340 jet airliner after her.