20/05/2024 08:30 - 12:00

HALL: FATESI - DI GIOVANNI

Proponent: Comella B., Montero M.

Chair: Comella B., Montero M.

Speaker: Alva I., Comella B., Díaz De Terán Velasco M.C., Escrig C., Fuster Cancio M., Montero M., Muñoz M., Ramirez Guerra M.

The Real Asociación de Escuelas Dominicales of Madrid was founded in 1857
to extend education to young girls who, due to their work circumstances, were unable
to attend school during the weekdays. Unlike other educational initiatives aimed at
women, this was the first time that they were directed at working-class women, who
were not necessarily orphans, and their clear objective was to instil religious piety in
their pupils, in addition to the eighteenth-century ideal of love of work. This paper will
describe the context in which it arose, its promoters and the scope achieved by the
association. To this end, it will draw on the documentation produced by the members
themselves and contemporary journalistic sources. As an interpretative reference,
studies on the religious history of contemporary Spain will be taken and, in particular,
those referring to the feminisation of religion, with the aim of evaluating its novelty in
Spanish female Catholic education in the 19th century. In short, this research aims to
show the role of Catholicism in the promotion of women's education.