Beginnings. Teresa Sanchez Cepeda Davila y Ahumada was the daughter of a wealthy merchant of Avila west of Madrid, who was descended from converts from Judaism, and his second wife, a woman from an Old Christian family. Teresa was one of ten children in the family. Her mother died when she was thirteen, and without maternal supervision she engaged in less-than-saintly behavior for three years until her father, worried about her reputation (and his), sent her to a convent school. After reading the letters of St. Jerome, Teresa decided to enter religious life. In 1536 at age twenty-one, against her father's wishes, she joined a convent of Carmelite nuns in her hometown, taking the name of Teresa of Jesus. The convent was quite lax in its discipline, allowing the nuns plenty of opportunity to entertain guests and acquire luxuries. Teresa at first indulged...