- Juana de Aza
Juana de Aza is the name gradually developed in hagiographical tradition for the mother of
Saint Dominic . In the final form of this tradition she is said to have been born in 1135 inCastilla la Vieja and to have died atCaleruega (Dominic's birthplace) on2 August 1205 . Juana de Aza was beatified in 1828.In the earliest biography of Dominic, by
Jordan of Saxony , Dominic's parents are not named, but the story is told that before his birth his mother dreamed that a dog leapt from her womb carrying a torch in its mouth. Jordan adds that Dominic was brought up by his parents and a maternal uncle who was an "archpriest". [Jordan of Saxony , "Libellus de principiis " 4.] A later source, still of the 13th century, gives the names of Dominic's mother and father as Juana and Felix. [Pedro Ferrando , "Legenda Sancti Dominici " 4.] Nearly a century after Dominic's birth, a local author asserts that Dominic's father was "vir venerabilis et dives in populo suo" ("an honoured and wealthy man in his village"); [Rodrigo de Cerrato, "Vita S. Dominici".] later hagiographers, elaborating on this, gradually developed identities for his father, said to be a member of the local noble familyGuzmán and for his mother, who was eventually attached to the neighbouring noble family Aza.Notes
External links
* [http://www.mercaba.org/SANTORAL/Vida/08/08-08_B_juana_de_aza.htm Hagiographical life of Juana de Aza] (in Spanish)
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