Manuela "Emanuela" Desvalls Vergós (died 1743), was a Spanish nun and spy. Desvalls Vergós was the daughter of Antoni Desvalls i de Castellbell and d’Agnès de Vergós i de Bellafilla, and the sister of Antonio Desvalls y de Vergós and Manuel Desvalls i de Vergós, governor of Cardona. Her brothers were the favorites of

John of Austria the Younger John Joseph of Austria or John of Austria (the Younger) (; 7 April 1629 – 17 September 1679) was a Spanish general and Politician, political figure. He was the only illegitimate son of Philip IV of Spain to be acknowledged by the King and tr ...

, and participated on the Austrian side of

Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI (; ; 1 October 1685 – 20 October 1740) was Holy Roman Emperor and ruler of the Austrian Habsburg monarchy from 1711 until his death, succeeding his elder brother, Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, Joseph I. He unsuccessfully War of ...

, during the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

and were favored by Charles during his reign in Catalonia. Emanuela Desvalls Vergós was placed in the convent Santa Maria de Vallbona in 1696 and took her final vows in 1707. Until 1714, she was involved in the military activity of her brothers during the war in

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, and acted as their agent. During the Siege of Barcelona, Manuela was given the task to write and copy messages to boost morale in favor of the Austrian cause, and enroll agents willing to smuggle weapons and supplies to the besieged city. After the defeat at Barcelona in 1714, her brothers left Spain for Vienna. Emanuela continued to write and secretly publish anti-Bourbon and pro-Austrian papers, refusing the Treaty of Utrecht and describing and challenging the repression under the Bourbon dynasty. In 1718, her pro-Austrian writings were found after the arrest of the pro-Austrian

Francisco de Castellvi Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Meaning of the name Francisco In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Commu ...

. There does not seem to have been any prosecutions against her. Her texts were published anonymously and are therefore difficult to verify.

References

* Diccionari biogràfic de dones Consultes * Balaguer, V. (1863). Historia de Cataluña y de la Corona de Aragón escrita para darla a conocer al pueblo, recordándole los grandes hechos de sus ascendentes en virtud, patriotismo y armas y para difundir entre todas las clases el amor al país y la meoria de las glorias pasadas. Barcelona, volum V, p. 216- 218, 242-243 i 247-248. * Castellví, F. De (2002). Narraciones históricas. Edició de Josep M. Mundet i Gifre i José M. Alsina Roca. Madrid, volum IV, anys 1714-1724, p. 63-83, 271-273, 652-653. * Piquer i Jover, J. J. (1978). Abaciologi de Vallbona (1153-1977). Santes Creus: Fundació Roger de Belfort. * Piquer i Jover, J. J. (1978). Les exploracions de la voluntat a Vallbona durant els segles XVII i XVIII. Barcelona: Publicacions de l'Abadia de Montserrat. * Sanpere i Miquel, Salvador (1905). Fin de la Nación Catalana. Barcelona: L’Avenç, p. 430, 450-457, 470-477, 499, 543-547, 646 i 650. {{DEFAULTSORT:Desvalls Vergos, Manuela 1743 deaths 18th-century Spanish nuns Spanish spies 18th-century spies People of the War of the Spanish Succession 18th-century Spanish writers