Ana María Lorenza García Sayri Túpac de Loyola

A life between two worlds

Doña Ana María, born in 1593, was a noble mestiza of Hispano-Incan descent. Her parents were the governor Martín García de Loyola and the Incan princess Beatriz Clara Coya. After becoming orphaned by both of her parents, the Viceroy of Peru carried out their will by sending her to the Iberian Peninsula, where she arrived in 1603. She settled in Valladolid, where Philip III placed her under the care of the Count of Mayalde. Upon turning 18, she married a nobleman, Juan Enríquez de Borja. The couple decided to live in Madrid, which allowed Ana María to initiate a lawsuit against the Crown, claiming the income from her Cuzco properties. A pension of 10,000 ducats was eventually agreed upon, along with the creation of a semi-autonomous fiefdom in her Yucay estates and the title of I Marquesa de Santiago de Oropesa in 1614. Shortly after, she decided to travel to Peru with her husband, as part of the Viceroy’s entourage, the Prince of Esquilache, a cousin of the couple.

Initially settled in Lima, where their children were born, they moved around 1620 to the Yucay Valley (now the Urubamba Province) to directly administer their estate. After seven years there, they decided to return to Madrid, where the marquise passed away and was buried in the Church of San Juan Bautista, in front of her house.”

Francisca Pizarro Yupanqui

First Mestiza Girl of Peru

She is considered the first mestiza of Peru. Her mother was Quispe Sisa, sister, wife (or perhaps both) of the last Inca emperor Atahualpa Yupanqui. Her father was the legendary Francisco Pizarro. She was born in Jauja in 1534, and after her father’s assassination, Francisca was likely saved from the same fate by Inés Muñoz, the conquistador’s sister-in-law, who took her and her brother Gonzalo to safety out of the turbulent Lima. She was then seven years old and the most renowned and refined mestiza girl in Peru, having received a thorough education in letters, music, and art.

The court decided that, for her safety, she should be sent to Spain, and in 1549, she was embarked on the ships of the Carrera to Spain. Once in the Iberian Peninsula, they were placed under the care of her uncle Hernando Pizarro, who soon saw in her an opportunity to increase his already substantial fortune and perpetuate the Pizarro lineage.

They married when she was 20 and he was nearly 50. Neither the age difference nor the kinship was uncommon in Europe at that time for arranged marriages. They married at the Castle of La Mota in Medina del Campo, where he was imprisoned for the murder of Diego de Almagro in Peru and for fraud against the Royal Treasury. Curiously, she remained in the castle with her imprisoned husband, from where they jointly litigated against the Crown to recover part of the fortune confiscated from the Pizarros. From there, through a large amount of correspondence, they gave instructions to their agents in Peru (and also in Spain) to make the most of their many lands, encomiendas, and various possessions.

Finally, in May 1561, Hernando was released, and the family moved to the Palace of La Zarza in Extremadura. From there, they commissioned the famous Palace of the Conquest, located in the Plaza Mayor of Trujillo, where the couple lived for several years. In 1578, Hernando died, and she became one of the wealthiest widows in the world. For the first time in her life, she could choose what to do. She wanted to be among the most notable in court, and so, she arranged two marriages: her son Francisco would marry the daughter of the Count of Puñonrostro, and she herself, in a decision that was highly controversial at the time, would marry the older brother of her daughter-in-law, Pedro Arias Portocarrero, in 1581.

Together with her new husband, she led an intense social life at court, enjoying her immense fortune and living in the greatest luxuries of Madrid, becoming the leading example of the rising mestizo nobility that was settling in Spain. She passed away in Trujillo in 1598 at the age of 63

Ysabel de Bobadilla

The Governor and Captain General of Cuba

Daughter of the fierce, controversial, and novelistic Pedrarias Dávila, she was a Castilian woman of remarkable strength. One had to possess impressive fortitude and willpower to embark on the ships of the time and journey to the Indies.She married the conquistador Hernando de Soto. The chronicles describe her as a discreet, intelligent woman with strong connections. During the two years her husband was governor of the island of Cuba, she was always his best adviser… until he left the island to explore Florida. She remained as governor and also as captain general. She held these positions for almost five years, being the only woman to do so on the island throughout the entire viceroyalty period.She spent those five years waiting for Hernando to return. Meanwhile, he explored much of the southern United States and was the first European to behold the Mississippi River. While there, he heard of the Fountain of Youth and set out to find it, but what he found was his death.Legend has it that Doña Ysabel de Bobadilla, forever waiting, gazed every day from the tower of the Castillo de la Real Fuerza and died of sorrow upon hearing the news.The truth is that the works on the castle were not completed when de Soto died, although she and her husband were the ones who began building what would become one of the main fortresses of Havana. And probably, Doña Ysabel did not die in Havana.As legends often go, a statue of this Segovian woman was placed atop the Castillo de la Real Fuerza, known there as “la Giraldilla,” which became one of the city’s symbols. From there, she continues to look out to sea, awaiting the return of her beloved.

María Álvarez de Toledo y Rojas

The Courageous Viceroy

No images of her have survived. She was born in 1490 into a powerful Castilian family and received an exquisite education. She married Diego Colón, son of the discoverer. They set sail from Cádiz in 1509 bound for Santo Domingo. There, Don Diego replaced Governor Nicolás de Ovando, who did not take kindly to this and began legal battles against the new governor.

Influenced by Doña María and her extensive humanistic training, Don Diego radically changed the previous governing methods, attempting to create a more egalitarian society. Instantly, two irreconcilable factions emerged: one of the hidalgos and their descendants, who believed they had more rights than anyone else to the encomiendas and holdings of the indigenous people, and on the other hand, the viceroys, who defended a society without privileges based on birth or arrival. Seeing how the situation was unfolding, Don Diego was called to Spain. This is where the overwhelming personality of Doña María emerged, as between 1515 and 1520, she took charge of everything, becoming the first vicereine of the new territories and fighting against everyone, even enduring the scorn directed at her. The controversial friar Bartolomé de las Casas said of her:

“Diego Colón left the port of Santo Domingo, leaving his wife Doña María de Toledo, a matron of great merit, with two daughters on this island. Meanwhile, the judges and officials were at their leisure, commanding and enjoying the island and causing some inconveniences and shameful acts to the house of the Admiral, showing no regard for many things concerning the dignity of the person and lineage of the said lady Doña María.”

During the five years of Don Diego’s absence, she could not escape the prejudices of the time, and from those who thought that, as a woman, she would not be up to the task. They were wrong. Furthermore, this determined lady sent a series of letters to her powerful and influential family, asking them to support her husband. The viceroy returned with the lawsuit won in 1520, but the situation in the governorship was not improving. In 1523, Charles I suspended him from his duties and forced him to return to Spain, where he continued fighting for his rights, but he died in 1526. Once again, from the other side of the world, the combative figure of Doña María emerged, this time fighting for the rights of her firstborn, Luis Colón y Álvarez de Toledo.

Back in Seville, using her great influence, personal skills, and robust education, she wrote letters to Emperor Charles and his wife, this time fighting for the rights of her children. After achieving this, the brave Doña María returned to the Indies. She passed away in the Alcázar of Santo Domingo in 1549. She was one of the highest-ranking women ever to pass through and step foot in the Indies.

Inés Muñoz de Ribera

The Peasant Who Built an Empire

She was a peasant who married Francisco Martín, the half-brother of Pizarro. Together, they set sail from Seville in 1530. They faced the most terrifying aspects of the Carrera de Indias, suffering the death of their two daughters. Upon arriving in Panama, she stayed there while her husband marched on the expedition to the Inca Empire.Two years later, he returned for reinforcements, and she, refusing to stay again in Panama, joined him. They arrived in Jauja, becoming the first Spanish woman married to set foot in Peru, showing unstoppable energy as chronicler Bernabé Cobo depicts in Chapter XVI of his Historia de Lima:“She was present in all the hardships and dangers they faced during the conquest of this kingdom, with such a manly heart and spirit, that she not only endured them without showing any weakness but also encouraged and strengthened her brother-in-law and companions not to give up on the enterprise, despite the difficulties they encountered, so much so that we can say this great matron had no less part in the conquest of this kingdom than Pizarro himself.”She was one of the founders of the City of the Kings, now Lima, on January 18, 1535. Soon, she realised that essential foodstuffs were needed in the new lands, which were not available in Peru. She ordered animals and plants to be brought from the peninsula to introduce and acclimatise them. She is thus considered the first woman to plant wheat in Peru. She also introduced olive trees, orange trees, peaches, melons, pears, apples, figs, and other previously unknown fruits, as well as pigs, cows, goats, sheep, chickens, and more.However, the war between the Almagristas and Pizarristas arrived, in which, among others, her husband and Pizarro were killed. After the massacre, she collected the bodies of her husband and the conquistador, washed them, dressed them, and, defying the new Almagrista power, took them to be buried in the cathedral of Lima. At the same time, she hid Don Gonzalo and Doña Francisca Pizarro Yupanqui, the mixed-race children of her brother-in-law. The brave woman was the only person in all of Lima to protest and demand justice for the deaths before the fearful mayor and council of the city. With great determination, she wielded Pizarro’s will and demanded that it be fulfilled so that all his titles and possessions would pass to Don Gonzalo Pizarro. The notable figures, terrified by the Almagristas, dismissed her request, and she, facing the great danger, left the city.She married for the second time to Don Antonio de Ribera, with whom she had a son. Unfortunately, she was widowed again, and shortly after, her son also passed away. After this new blow, she decided to build a convent in Lima, investing her vast fortune in it: the Convent of Our Lady of the Conception.The convent has disappeared, but its church still stands today, bearing witness to the legacy of this brave, energetic, and vital woman, who, by her own merits, rose from being a peasant to one of the most powerful, influential, and decisive women in the kingdom of Peru.She died at around 85 years old, serving as abbess of her own convent.

Catalina Suárez de Marcayda

Detective Fiction in Mexico

In 1511, she married Hernán Cortés in Cuba, who soon embarked on the expedition that would lead him to immortality, leaving his wife behind on the island.

Once Tenochtitlan was conquered, the man from Extremadura sent for her. The reason why Doña Catalina did not accompany her husband on this perilous venture remains unknown, as there were indeed Castilian women present during the conquest of Tenochtitlan. Was he protecting her because he loved her? Or did he not love her and found her a hindrance? Did she suffer from an illness that prevented her from undertaking such a terrifying journey? The chronicles suggest the latter, but we will never know for certain. The book Noticias históricas de la Nueva España, contemporary to the events, states the following:

“Once Don Hernando Cortés was in his quietude… he awaited for hours his wife, Doña Catalina Suárez, whom he had sent for; and after many days of waiting with this hope, news arrived to the Marquis that his wife was at the Port… He sent some captains with gifts to receive her and bring her to Mexico… and they gave her a grand reception with many festivities… There she stayed with her husband, the Marquis of the Valley, and after many days… (she was very ill with the mal de la madre)… one night, after being very joyful… and going to bed happily together, in the middle of the night, she suffered a cruel stomach pain, followed by the mal de la madre, and when they tried to find a remedy, it was too late, and so her soul departed to God

The “mal de madre” mentioned here refers to what, in Spanish medieval or Golden Age literature, was called any illness related to the pain of the uterus or ovaries. It even appears in a famous text like La Celestina. The story continues as follows:

“Since in this miserable world there are always new things to discuss and ways to show ill intentions, on this occasion, some allegations were made against the Marquis, saying that that night… husband and wife had argued, and that he had killed her… This was a great evil, raised by wicked men, who have paid or are paying for it in the next world… She died as I have said, and the Marquis was not to blame, and he made amends for it with the sorrow he showed, for he loved her very dearly…

The late woman’s mother legally accused Cortés of strangling her and demanded compensation. In the trial, one of the deceased’s attendants testified that, alerted by some noises, she entered the room and saw her mistress lifeless on Cortés’ arm. The bed was wet, she had marks on her neck, and a broken necklace. Another witness stated that the corpse’s eyes were wide open, “stiff and bulging out, like someone who had drowned.”

Was it a dispute? A natural death? Was it jealousy from Doña Marina, the legendary Malinche, who was already expecting a child from Cortés? We will never know.

Inés Escobar

The first "resort" in the Caribbean

In 1512, Inés de Escobar was the only known Castilian in Santa María la Antigua del Darién (in the north of present-day Colombia), where she managed a rudimentary inn. Not only was she the first known European to set foot on the isthmus, but without a doubt, she was also the first innkeeper between Central America and Tierra del Fuego. Her husband, Juan de Caicedo, was a royal official who returned to the Peninsula to protest before the king after the execution of Balboa by Pedrarias Dávila, the new governor of those lands known as Castilla del Oro. He never returned, as he fell ill and died in Seville. When King Ferdinand learned of his official’s death, he sought to reward his service. He advised Pedrarias to always protect Inés de Escobar, his widow, and decreed that “Indians should be entrusted to her just as if he (Caicedo) were alive.”

Doña Inés remarried Cristóbal Serrano, one of the captains of the new governor. After a harrowing journey, her new husband wrote her the following letter on August 1, 1524: “To my lady Inés de Escobar, I beg for her forgiveness for not writing and for not sending her any items from that land, because on another ship, as we passed the coast, I lost everything I was carrying, and God granted me the grace to escape with my life. After that, we never left the village of the chief where we were, so instead of going to a virgin land, where they could bring some things, I came back empty-handed.”

Upon her husband’s return from the exploration of the new lands of Castilla del Oro, they decided to leave the small and unhealthy Santa María la Antigua del Darién and start a new life in the recently founded Nombre de Dios, on the current Caribbean coast of Panama. However, by the late 1520s, they moved with Pedrarias to the city of Granada, where the rich and powerful settled. She survived her husband, inheriting all his property as they had no children. She then became known as the “widow of gold in Granada,” where a servant of her late husband proposed marriage to her. There, Inés Escobar spent her final days as the first “innkeeper” of South America, encomendera, traveler, and one of the first to fulfill the American dream centuries before the term was coined

Marina Gutiérrez Flores de la Caballería

"Coloniser of Mexico-Tenochtitlán."

She was born in Almagro around 1489. A strong and determined woman, she was a distant relative of Queen Isabella I of Castile and received the finest education her parents could afford. In the mindset of the time, women were expected to marry “the best possible match,” and she did so with a nobleman like herself, Alonso de Estrada. Soon, Doña Marina began managing the possessions and assets of the marriage, especially when her husband was appointed treasurer of the Kingdom of New Spain, leaving her to administer their affairs in Castile. Later, around 1523, she set out to join her husband and embarked on the perilous route of the Carrera de Indias, accompanied by no less than seven children—two sons and five daughters.

Upon arriving in the recently conquered Tenochtitlán, the energetic Doña Marina adapted quickly, surrounding her house with native women. Most of them were from the allied nations of Cortés, and from them, she learned the basics of their language, Nahuatl.

Soon, she worked hand-in-hand with her husband to manage all financial matters. Her education, character, and energy were pivotal in restoring order to the devastated city of Tenochtitlán and transforming it into Mexico City, as well as other emerging towns in New Spain. Much like during the Reconquista, it was the women and the establishment of families that turned military victories into viable settlements. Doña Marina was a pioneer in this regard, doing in the Indies what women did in Castile—laying the foundations for social life, customs, organizing the struggling trade, and setting an example by creating a new, more egalitarian society between the natives and settlers.

After her husband’s death, she inherited all his wealth, adding it to what she had already possessed.

As a widow, she had to answer to the authorities of the House of Trade and the Crown, who audited her husband’s account books, where some funds were missing. She successfully litigated with knowledge and competence for three long years. Upon her death, she owned valuable and well-managed encomiendas. A life of success, based on education, skill, sacrifice, and the powerful character of a pioneering and exemplary woman.

Beatriz Estrada y Gutierrez Flores de la Caballería

The connection with the Grand Canyon.

Daughter of Marina Gutiérrez Flores de la Caballería, from whom she inherited fortune and position, she was born in Salamanca around 1500.

Known for her virtues and exemplary nature, she was referred to as “the Saint.” It must have been an emotional shock for young Beatriz to leave behind her comfortable and privileged life in the city of Tormes and embark on the uncertain and perilous journey across the terrifying ocean with her mother and sisters. Aboard, she would face experiences utterly new to her: extreme fatigue, fear, hunger, impatience, cold, boredom, thirst, pain, poor hygiene, sadness, unbearable heat, frustration, nightmares, indignation, anger, anxiety…

Perhaps all of this disappeared upon reaching the Indies, or perhaps only part of it. She married the legendary explorer Francisco Vázquez de Coronado. At the time of their marriage, she was the owner of the second-largest encomienda in New Spain, located in Tlapa, now in the state of Guerrero. With the profits and money she earned from her lands, she financed her husband’s ambitious expedition in search of the mythical Seven Cities of Cíbola. Of course, he never found them, but thanks to the money and trust his wife placed in him, Coronado explored northern Mexico and the southern United States in one of the most legendary expeditions ever remembered. Among the places they discovered is the world-famous Grand Canyon.

As was to be expected, a woman, Francisca de Hoces, a shoemaker from Mexico City, also joined the expedition along with her husband, who was also a shoemaker.

Two years after setting out, Coronado returned with his wife, who passed away in 1553 in Mexico City, a city that she and her mother had helped to revive.

Mencía de Calderón

Caravan of women crossing the seas and the Amazon jungle.

Her husband, Don Juan de Sanabria, was appointed adelantado of the Río de la Plata, and he was to embark on a mission to repopulate two settlements with women of high rank: one on the island of Santa Catalina and the other in Asunción, on the Río de la Plata. To help her husband with this mission, she sold all her belongings and even chartered her own ship. The expedition was nearly ready to depart when her husband passed away. However, she decided to proceed. They left on January 10, 1550. Her three daughters, María, Mencía, and Francisca, were also travelling. A storm scattered the three ships. Doña Mencía, aboard her ship, where most of the women were, decided to wait for the other two, but they did not appear. She decided to continue and move forward without the rest of the expedition.

During the journey, they encountered some corsairs, with whom they negotiated, managing to have them take part of the cargo while respecting the honour of the women. After this ordeal, with the usual lack of food, water, storms, and casualties on board (including her beloved daughter Francisca), they arrived battered at the Island of Santa Catalina, where they unfortunately shipwrecked. After a year of endless hardships, they managed to build a new ship and made it to the continent, but in Portuguese possessions, where they were detained, and their ship was seized. After negotiations between Doña Mencía and the governor, they were freed. Once again, using the remnants of the previous ship, they built another, but it was too small, and not everyone could fit. Then, she made an astonishing decision: part of the expedition, with her leading the way, would depart on foot.

In May 1556, more than 5 years after leaving Spain, and driven by the powerful personality of our protagonist, a group of 21 women, 22 men, and some children born during those years, managed to reach the lands of the Río de la Plata, about 50 km from Asunción, after more than 1,600 km on foot, crossing jungles filled with animals, insects, and dangers of all kinds, lands never touched by any European, rivers, mountains, and enduring daily hardships and unimaginable sacrifices.

The governor of those territories granted privileges and encomiendas to Doña Mencía and almost all the members of that epic expedition. Among them, her daughters María and Mencía, who married and settled there. However, her mother did not. There is a document that proves that the brave and courageous woman died of old age in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, in present-day Bolivia, more than 1,500 km from Asunción. It seems this woman never stopped.

No portrait of her has been preserved, nor is there any monument in Asunción or Spain to commemorate her glorious feat. This is the misfortune of being born in our land, so beautiful and magical, yet so ungrateful and forgetful.

Beatriz de la Cueva

The Governor of Guatemala.

She married Pedro de Alvarado, her native Úbeda, and after her husband was appointed adelantado of Guatemala, they both moved to the Indies. It was written of her that she possessed “a striking beauty, and adored her husband with frenzy.” Her expedition was accompanied by a large entourage of 250 men and 20 noble maidens to marry off in the new lands and contribute to the new vice-regal aristocracy. On September 15, they arrived at the city of Santiago de Guatemala. Less than two years later, on July 4, 1541, her husband died in battle in Nueva Galicia. Following this, due to her powerful personality, the Guatemalan council elected her as governor on September 9. Deeply sorrowed by the loss of her husband, she accepted the position, and her first measure was to appoint Licenciado Francisco de la Cueva as her lieutenant governor, reserving for herself the “provision of natives.” The governor signed that act with the epithet “la Sin Ventura.” Prophetic words, as misfortune struck, and on the night of September 10-11, an apocalyptic storm occurred. A massive flood of mud and stones from the nearby Agua Volcano destroyed Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala. The governor died while praying with her ladies-in-waiting in a chapel adjacent to the governor’s palace. The city, now known as Antigua Guatemala, was completely devastated. Around 600 inhabitants perished in that catastrophe.

Ana de Ayala

...In wealth and in poverty, in health and in sickness...

Her origin is a mystery. Some say she came from humble beginnings, others claim she was of noble descent, while some suggest she was a prostitute living in a common-law relationship in Seville with Francisco de Orellana, the discoverer of the Amazon, as he prepared for his second expedition to the river. They both married in the Andalusian city, and she accompanied him in pursuit of his dream. The expedition set sail in 1545 with a fleet carrying over 400 men, and according to chronicles, quite a number of women. Fray Pablo de Torres, royal inspector of the fleet, wrote: ‘…the stern of the flagship, where the adelantado was, was filled with women, and a guard was already posted to prevent the passengers from crossing to the stern.

During Christmas of that same year, they embarked on the enterprise dreamed of by Orellana and ventured into the vast delta of the longest and most powerful river on the planet. They navigated and explored it for 11 harrowing months. The expedition was divided into different barges, which became lost from one another. Exhausted and ill from the fierce climate, starving, devoured by mosquitoes, and attacked by the fierce indigenous people who inhabited the riverbanks, the expedition members succumbed one by one, including Orellana himself, who fell victim to the poisoned arrows of the natives. The Extremaduran, it seems, was buried by his own wife on the riverbank. Perhaps, drowned in tears, the words she would later dedicate to her dreamer and hopeful husband in a Seville church came to her mind: ‘…I promise to be faithful to you, to love you, care for you, and respect you, in good times and in bad, in wealth and in poverty, in health and in sickness. All the days of my life…’

There were 44 survivors out of the total who left Seville. Among them was Ana de Ayala herself. Another, Francisco de Guzmán, recounted the following: ‘…we sailed down the river until we came to Margarita, where we found Orellana’s wife, who told us that her husband had not succeeded in taking the main arm of the river he was seeking, and thus, being ill, he had decided to come to Christian lands. During this time, while searching for food for the journey, the Indians shot seventeen men with arrows; with this distress and illness, Orellana died in the river… Orellana’s wife stayed with her husband throughout the journey until he died.’

After finding the main channel of the immense river, they managed to reach open sea, where, providentially, they were rescued by a Spanish ship that took them to Isla Margarita. There, Ana de Ayala told the chroniclers: ‘…hunger reached such a point that they ate the horses they carried and the dogs during the eleven months they wandered lost in the river, during which most of the people died, including her husband. This witness knows that only forty-four men survived, one of whom was Captain Juan de Peñalosa, and this witness knows that all of them were lost.’

Ana de Ayala had the courage to reproach the king for the lack of resources that had led them to failure.

Lady María de Estrada

Conqueror and founder of Mexico

She sailed to the Indies in 1509. During the exploration of Cuba, her ship was wrecked. They were attacked by the natives, and she was taken prisoner by a chief for five years, until she was rescued by the Spanish. She then went to Cuba, where she married Pedro Sánchez de Farfán. Together, in 1520, they joined Hernán Cortés’ expedition against the Mexica Empire. She would witness the splendour of great Tenochtitlan, with its dazzling colours and fierce soldiers dressed in magnificent war attire. She would gaze in awe at the women’s garments, the markets with endless and unknown goods, the exotic pomp of the Mexica court, and feel terror as she witnessed the savage religious ceremonies. When everything exploded and peace seemed impossible, she revealed herself as one of the protagonists of the critical moments of the famous Noche Triste. Fighting for her life, sword in hand, she battled alongside the rest of the Castilians and indigenous allies. Bernal Díaz del Castillo wrote about her: ‘…And also a woman named María de Estrada.’Another chronicler of the time, Diego Muñoz Camargo, wrote about her: ‘…There was also a lady named María de Estrada, who showed extraordinary courage, performing heroic deeds with a sword and a buckler in hand, fighting valiantly with such fury and spirit that she surpassed the strength of any man, no matter how brave, and even frightened our own men.’After the massacre, Cortés wanted to send her, along with the other women, to the uncertain safety of the Tlaxcala domain. According to the chronicler Francisco Cervantes de Salazar, she responded: ‘It is not right, Captain, for women to abandon their husbands when they go to war; where they died, we will die. It is only right that the Indians understand that we Spaniards are so brave that even the women know how to fight.’ Her request was granted, and a few days later, she took up arms again alongside her husband in the Battle of Otumba. The same chronicler highlights her role and tremendous bravery in this battle: ‘In the same way, she did this on the day of the memorable Battle of Otumba, mounted on horseback with a spear in hand, an act incredible in its manly courage, truly deserving of eternal fame and immortal memory.’After the fall of Tenochtitlan, after so many wars, bloodshed, hardships, and sacrifices, Doña María was rewarded with encomiendas. Hers were very close to the city of Puebla de los Ángeles. After the death of her husband, with whom she had lived a thousand and one adventures, she remarried Alonso Martín. With him and other colonists, she founded the aforementioned city. There, she achieved what she had never dreamed of in her past life: fortune, position, jewels, and finally, peace. She lived in Puebla until her death, caused by a cholera epidemic.

Luisa de Abrego

The Soap Opera of the Sevillana Who Married in the Indies. Once Again…

On 8th September 1565, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés founded the oldest city in present-day USA: St. Augustine. The Asturian celebrated the first Thanksgiving with the indigenous people of the land. He was accompanied by nearly a thousand Spaniards. Among them was Luisa de Abrego, a free woman of African descent from Jerez de la Frontera, who later went to Seville — we will see why. There, she met an adventurer heading to the Indies, a man from Segovia named Miguel Rodríguez. They likely met at the embarkation ports of the Carrera and, during the voyage, amidst dangers, storms, fears, and hardships, a romance blossomed between them. Once the new city of St. Augustine was founded, they decided to marry. The wedding took place in the autumn of 1565. It was the first wedding celebrated in those lands and, at the same time, the first interracial marriage in what is now the USA. It is important to remember here that in the ‘dark and backward’ 16th-century Spain, interracial marriages were absolutely permitted and normal, whereas in the advanced and ultra-modern American society, interracial marriages were illegal until 1969. Not to mention the South African apartheid, which remained in force until 1992.

Ten years later, they moved to Mexico, the capital of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. There, Luisa, a devout Christian, heard of a case of bigamy involving a woman married twice, once in Spain and once in the Indies, and according to her own testimony, ‘her heart was scandalized.’ She then confessed to her confessor a secret that even her husband did not know. She had been married in Jerez de la Frontera to another man, also of African descent and free, named Jordán. The confessor deemed it beyond his competence and handed the matter over to the Holy Office.

The file of this testimony, dated 28th February 1575 in Mexico City, has been preserved. It states that Luisa believed in good faith that her marriage to Jordán had not been valid because it had not been consummated. She had fallen ill for months, and Jordán had married another. One can imagine that this young woman, barely 17 years old, newly married and in love, was abandoned at the first opportunity by the man she loved. It is very logical to think that, once recovered from her illness, she would want to escape from all of that and start a new life as far away as possible. The Holy Office decreed that bigamy had indeed occurred and, therefore, ruled that after 10 years of living together, the marriage between our protagonist and her Segovian husband was no longer valid.

From then on, we lose track of the couple, and nothing more is known about them. But both were adventurers, brave and weathered by countless difficulties. There were no IDs, no borders, the Indies were infinite, and they already knew what it was like to start anew in a distant place. They had not defied the ocean and overcome the perilous Carrera de Indias to be unhappy.

What would you have done?

Francisca Enríquez de Ribera

The Powder of the Countess

In 1628, her husband, Luis Jerónimo Fernández de Cabrera y Bobadilla, 4th Count of Chinchón, was appointed Viceroy of Peru. The couple and their entourage would sail to the Indies with the fleet of the Galeones de Tierra Firme, destined for Portobelo. There, after enduring the hardships of the Carrera de Indias, they would disembark with their servants, luggage, crates, trunks, and more, but their journey was far from over.In a smaller vessel, they would sail along the coast of Panama to reach the Fort of San Lorenzo, at the mouth of the Chagres River. From there, through one of the most dreadful jungles on the planet, they would take one of the routes of the Royal Road of Cruces, navigating the river for days, scorched by the exhausting heat, unbearable humidity, and plagued by the mosquitoes that swarmed the banks. The fashion for ladies of the time did little to alleviate the heat and humidity. Once in the small village of Las Cruces, they would continue on muleback to Panama City… But they still had nearly 4,000 km to go to Lima, the City of the Kings.

In Panama, they would wait for weeks, hoping for a ship to depart for El Callao. After another long journey across the South Sea, they would finally reach their destination. Shortly after, the Countess fell ill. She suffered from a virtually incurable disease called tertian fevers. In fact, she had contracted malaria. Then, one of the Indian women serving in the palace offered her an ancestral remedy that the natives used. Slowly, Doña Francisca, attended by the wise native woman, regained her health until she was fully healed. Grateful, she ensured that the miraculous product reached all those in the City of Kings or its vicinity suffering from the same illness she had endured. The remedy began to be called ‘the Countess’s powder,’ and she became a beloved woman.The magical medicine was none other than the legendary quinine, the panacea that revolutionised medicine from the 16th century onwards, saving hundreds of thousands of lives.This entire tale rides the line between reality and myth, as the viceroy’s secretary wrote that it was his lordship who suffered from the illness. Regardless, within a few years, the Jesuits were already aware of the magical remedy and began not only distributing it across all their missions in the Indies but also loading quinine onto the ships of the Carrera de Indias to distribute it throughout Europe, where the miraculous remedy fetched a higher price than gold.In any case, the renowned Swedish naturalist and father of species classification, Carl Linnaeus, named the scientific name of the cinchona tree ‘cinchona officinalis’ in honour of the Countess of Chinchón.

Catalina de Erauso

The Legendary Nun-Ensign

Catalina de Erauso, portrait attributed to Juan van der Hamnen. Kutxa Foundation

She was born in 1592 in San Sebastián. At the age of 4, she was placed in a convent, but at 15, she shaved her head and escaped disguised as a man. She roamed half of Castile getting into trouble until she was imprisoned. After serving her sentence, she boarded a ship bound for Sanlúcar, where she joined as a cabin boy to sail to the Indies. All this under a false name and disguised as a man.

Once on the other side of the world, her courage and quarrelsome character became evident throughout the Kingdom of Peru. In Panama, she killed and robbed a captain from the Indies fleet. She crossed the isthmus and boarded a ship to El Callao, but halfway there, it ran aground, and she had to swim to shore. She continued to Lima, but in Paita, she had a fight with a young man in a playhouse, which ended with him with a cut face and her in jail for it. After being released, she settled in Trujillo, where she opened a shop. Later, under the name Alonso Díaz Ramírez, she enlisted in an expedition to fight against the irreducible Araucanian Indians in Chile. In battle, she stood out for her fierceness, courage, and skill with weapons. She gained fame, wealth, and the rank of ensign, which was granted to her in the Battle of Valdivia due to the risky rescue of the Castilian standard.

Between present-day Chile and Argentina, she fought in numerous combats, but also killed several people outside the battlefield in duels, fights, and especially, card games. As things weren’t looking good for her in the southern cone, accused of several murders, she returned to Lima. However, before that, she got involved in another brawl and was arrested in the town of Huamanga, where Ensign Díaz was sentenced to death. This was supposed to be her last adventure. Or not…

A woman of many resources, she played her final card by revealing her true identity to a bishop. That tough soldier, gambler, brawler, and infamous figure, was not a man, but had once been a nun in Guipúzcoa. Due to the unusual and exceptional nature of the situation, she was sent back to the Peninsula, where her fame preceded her. So much so, that even King Philip IV received her in an audience, granted her a pension of 800 escudos, and reaffirmed her rank as ensign. Later, Pope Urban VIII received her in Rome and authorised her to continue dressing as a man.

Her adventures in Europe were coming to an end, and America called her once again. In 1630, under the name Antonio de Erauso, she embarked once again on the Carrera de Indias. In the Viceroyalty of Peru, she was too well-known… or rather, known as too many deaths, gambling debts, quarrels, and too many people who knew that brawling and troublesome ensign. Perhaps thinking that, “We are muleteers, and we will meet again on the road,” she decided to change her surroundings and settled in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, where she ran a muleteer business along the frequently-travelled road between the port of Veracruz and Mexico. Fully dedicated to her new occupation, she is said to have died while working in a place called Cotaxtla, near Veracruz, in 1650. The chronicles tell that “the news of her death reached Orizaba, where the most distinguished people of the city attended her funeral, as she was loved by all the muleteers.

Other Giants

Petronila Ponce de León

Ysabel Barreto

Beatriz Hernández

Petronila Ponce de León

Ysabel Barreto

Beatriz Hernández

"Unfold the other cards to discover more Giants."

Bárbara de Vargas

Attorney in Seville

During the three centuries of the Carrera de Indias, men occupied the most prominent roles, and women’s involvement in economic, mercantile, or governmental spheres was exceptional. Queen Isabel of Castile herself stands out as the most notable example.

There is documentation of women who bought, sold, or rented all kinds of properties and fought fiercely for what was theirs, regardless of the ocean and legal bureaucracy that separated them from their assets. They asserted their rights, often supported by female procurators who were experts in the law. One such case is detailed below:

Diego de Valdés, a velvet weaver and resident of the San Vicente district in Seville, appointed a woman, Bárbara de Vargas from the Santa María district in Seville, as procurator to claim 11,500 maravedís owed to his mother-in-law, Doña Constanza García Corredera, also a resident of Seville. The debt was owed by Juan Ortiz, a hatmaker, and his wife, Luisa de Vargas, who were residing on the other side of the world, on the Hispaniola Island.

Maria Bejarano

María Bejarano appears in the records as a co-owner of a ship in 1536, called Santa María de la Antigua. The term “nao” does not necessarily refer to a specific type of ship; it could have been a caravel, hulk, patache, flibote, or galleon. In those days, a “nao” or any type of ship was a huge handcrafted work. There were no blueprints for building them, and the knowledge of how to construct them was passed down from father to son.

The high cost of a ship was within the reach of very few, so there weren’t many of them. Even the kings themselves competed for the use of these ships to the point that, by royal decree of March 20, 1498, a sum of 100,000 maravedíes was offered to the owners of ships weighing between 600 and 1,000 tons. This sum would be paid annually to the owner of the ship for each year it was ready for royal service. 100,000 maravedíes was a fortune, and that was just for renting it.

In fact, Doña María Bejarano co-owned one of these technical marvels with a man named Hernando Rodríguez. The case is that, in the year 1536, this ship owner received a power of attorney from a certain Pedro Ginovés, authorising her to collect from her partner, Don Hernando Rodríguez, a sum of money he owed her for having served as the storekeeper during the journey back and forth from Seville to the port of Santo Domingo.

Francisca de Albarracín

The historical significance of women like Doña Francisca in the context of the Carrera de Indias reveals a deep involvement in the maritime economy, with women playing key roles in the ownership, management, and commercial aspects of the fleet. The example of Doña Francisca, who, as a widow, acted in the interests of her daughter, María Ochoa, by selling half of a ship, highlights the strategic and business decisions these women had to make. While the value of the ships could vary, the prices are notable, reflecting the immense financial commitment required for such ventures.

Ana López

As we have seen, women from all walks of life made the journey to the Indies. But all were necessary, all were indispensable, from those of the highest status to those of the lowest birth. This is the case we are now discussing.

We could say that Doña Ana López was a “normal” woman, but that would be a mistake. Those brave women who crossed the ocean were anything but ordinary. She carried out one of the most common jobs for women of her time: Seamstress.

This woman from Seville, who introduced “haute couture” and Castilian fashion to the New World, was also generous, altruistic, and concerned with helping other women, including, of course, the indigenous women of those lands. She defined herself, as chronicler Icaza records in the book by Eloísa Gómez-Lucena:

“The first woman who taught and showed the Indians how to embroider, and has always lived by the work of her hands, with the needle honorably, and she has five orphans in her house whom she has raised and taught the trade to marry…

Francisca Ponce de León

This enterprising and combative woman from Seville carried her father’s warrior blood in her veins.She was the daughter of Rodrigo Ponce de León, the conqueror of Málaga and one of the principal captains of the Catholic Monarchs in the War of Granada. Upon her father’s death, she inherited his immense fortune and lands. However, she had to litigate fiercely with the kings to retain the titles and estates granted to her father by them. A hardworking and industrious woman, she became a shipowner and chartered a ship, the San Telmo, destined for the island of Santo Domingo, 17 years after the discovery. In a document from 1509, we read:“Diego Vicent, a resident of Cádiz, master of the San Telmo ship, docked at the Mulas port in this city of Seville, on behalf of the most magnificent lady Doña Francisca Ponce de León, the owner of said ship, in virtue of the power she holds, receives from Juan Pérez, a resident of Seville in the Salvador parish, 220 gold ducats for the dispatch of the aforementioned ship destined for the port of Santo Domingo, on the island of Española.

"The world's oldest profession"

On the ships of the Carrera, where the majority of the crew was male, sex was almost an impossible activity. First, because due to the lack of space, finding a “quiet place” was, in itself, a fantasy. On the other hand, public sexuality was harshly punished. Moreover, the women who boarded were few and were well protected and watched over by their families.

However, 300 years and tens of thousands of ships make for many stories, and cases have been found aboard what we would now call prostitutes. Some were mulattos, but also white women who, according to Friar Antonio de Guevara, “were more friends of charity than of honesty.”

Due to the lack of women, some chose to have homosexual relationships. As Pérez-Mallaína has written, the fact that most were men and spent long weeks in the middle of the ocean favoured homosexuality, becoming one of the best-kept secrets of some men of the sea. But it doesn’t appear to have been a common practice, and if discovered, they risked the death penalty for sodomy.

There are also some, fortunately rare, cases of rapes aboard or attempts at them, such as the trial for the attempted rape of María García, the maid of Licenciado Lebrón, the judge of the Santo Domingo court, aboard the Santa Ana ship. The latter had entrusted her protection to him, but she resisted and managed to avoid it.

A few young single women, almost always from low Andalucía due to their proximity to the embarkation ports, traveled as “maids,” a term that may have concealed a “different profession,” which is none other than prostitution. By royal decree, made in Granada in 1526, Bartolomé Conejo was authorised to establish the first brothel in Puerto Rico: “For the honour of the city and its married women, and to prevent other damages and inconveniences, there is a need to establish a house of public women there.”

In the same year, another licence was granted to Juan Sánchez Sarmiento for the same purpose in Santo Domingo.

The Giants: Women in the Carrera de Indias.