Paula de Odivelas
The passion that inspired to the king during their long love affair turned her into a controversial figure in contemporary Portugal because of the luxury in which she lived thanks to the Brazilian gold provided by the sovereign.
According to the records of the Monastery of Saint Denis of Odivelas, Maria Micaela da Luz became a novice on 15 August 1704, and professed on 4 October of that year, remaining in this institution until her death in September 1768, two months after Paula's demise.
Her religious life seems to have been decided by her father since her early infancy; the difficult financial situation of Adrião de Almeida Paulo would justify his desire to ensure the support of his daughters through their entrance in that institution in the environs of Lisbon.
On 23 October, with the presence of the court, a commemorative bullfight to celebrate the wedding of Brás Baltasar da Silveira and Joana de Meneses, a daughter of the Counts of Santiago, took place in Odivelas.
César de Saussure contributes to the idea of Paula's luxury with his description of a "solid silver bathtub, gilded inside and outside", that he saw in London (which have been commissioned in 1724 by King John V).
Built exclusively for the lover of the Portuguese monarch, "a religious of an unknown convent", the bathtub would weigh 3580 ounces, causing, for his beauty, the admiration of the British court.
Possibly the manuscript describing the nun's residence, erroneously called "Paula Maria" in the title, can't deserve full confidence, falling into exaggeration.
It will have arisen as a result of the interest in the extramarital relationship of King John V, and of the fame that at the time was created about the ostentation that was an essential aspect of the image of the monarch and the nun.
Mother Paula lived sumptuously, even after the death of King John V. She died at the age of 67, being buried in the House of the Chapter of the Monastery of Saint Denis of Odivelas.
In the novel Baltasar and Blimunda of the Nobel Prize-winning Portuguese author José Saramago, Mother Paula is described by the king as a "cloister flower with fragrance of incense, glorious meat" (Editorial Caminho, p. 158).
