Inés Suárez

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Inés de Suárez defending the city of Santiago (history painting, 1897, oil on canvas, José Mercedes Ortega , collection of the Museo Histórico Nacional)

Inés de Suárez or Inés Suárez (* 1507 in Plasencia , Extremadura in Spain , † 1580 in Chile ) was a Spanish conquistador and the lover of Pedro de Valdivias . She was one of the few women whose name became known during the Conquista in South America. In 1541 she took an active part in the defense of Santiago de Chile against an attack by the Mapuche .

Arrival in South America

She reached South America around 1537 at the age of around 30. She was probably looking for her husband, who had already come to Peru from Spain with Francisco Pizarro . Unfortunately, after a few months of searching, she discovered that her husband had died.

As the widow of a Spanish soldier, she was given a piece of land near Cusco as an encomienda . The land was within the range of Pedro de Valdivia's estate. Inés de Suárez worked as a nurse and pharmacist on the land assigned to her. During this time, Inés de Suárez and Pedro de Valdivia formed a friendship that later turned into a long romance.

Conquest of Chile

In 1539 Valdivia decided to undertake an expedition to Chile, where Inés de Suárez accompanied him as a nurse. The area had already been explored by Diego de Almagro in 1536 .

In the meantime there had been protests from the church about his relationship with Inés. Valdivia therefore obtained permission from Pizarro to take Inés with him to Chile. In order not to come into conflict with the church, Inés had to pretend to be a member of the Spanish expedition.

On the long way south, Inés became an indispensable member of the expedition. She treated the wounded, looked for water sources and looked out for the Indian porters. In the Atacama Desert there were conflicts with Pedro Sánchez de la Hoz and others, but she was able to avoid bloodshed.

During the eleven-month journey she enjoyed extraordinary respect among the conquistadors . The historian Tomás Thayer Ojeda describes her at the beginning of the 20th century as "a strong personality with a high degree of loyalty , discreet, friendly and reasonable."

Origin of Santiago

In December 1540 they reached the fertile valley of the Río Mapocho . Valdivia wanted to settle on an island in the river because it was easy to defend. Valdivia sent gifts to the local Kaziken , which were also accepted, and founded the city of Santiago del Nuevo Extremo on February 12, 1541 .

Again and again the occupiers were exposed to the resistance of the Mapuche, who did not want to give Valdívia the field voluntarily. In August 1541 Inés uncovered an Indian plan of attack against Valdivia. The Mapuche had gathered up to 20,000 men (according to other sources 6-8,000) in the forests around Santiago. As a precaution, Valdivia captured seven caciks . The city was then massively attacked with burning arrows in September. The Spaniards already saw their end near.

On September 11th, the Mapuche almost managed to overwhelm Santiago with an attack. During the attack, Inés took care of the injured and bandaged their wounds. She encouraged the weakened soldiers. Nobody believed in a victory anymore, so Inés suggested beheading the seven captured caciques and throwing their heads in front of the attackers. The men did not believe that this cruelty would be of any use, but Inés carried out her plan. Inés himself personally beheaded the first Kaziken with the sword. The Spaniards then threw their heads between the attackers. Inés put on armor and a helmet, then put on a coat and mounted a white horse. With imploring words, she rode at the head of the soldiers. The Indians, who saw the heads of the caciques and Inés, fled in a panic . The sight of the white horse frightened the Indians so much that they left. However, the city largely burned down.

End of relationship and late years

The relationship between Pedro de Valdivia and Inés de Suárez lasted for more than 10 years. Inés received an encomienda from him for care. In 1548 Valdivia returned to Peru to support the viceroy against the rebellious Gonzalo Pizarro . There he received the order to end his relationship with Inés de Suárez and to marry her off to a man of his choice, otherwise he would be excommunicated . He was also supposed to bring his Spanish wife Marina Ortíz de Gaete from Spain to South America.

Eventually he married Inés de Suárez to his confidante Rodrigo de Quiroga .

Inés de Suárez lived quietly near Santiago and laid the foundation stone for the Iglesia de San Francisco in Santiago in 1572 .

They had no children, just an illegitimate step-daughter of Rodrigo de Quiroga.

Valdivia himself did not see his Spanish wife anymore, he died in 1553 at the Battle of Tucapel . The wife only reached South America three years later.

Inés de Suárez died at the beginning of 1580 and was buried in the Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes monastery. Shortly thereafter, her husband Rodrigo de Quiroga died on February 25, 1580.

A monastery in Plasencia was named after Inés, as was a station on line 6 of the metro from Santiago de Chile in 2014.

Web links

Commons : Inés Suárez  - collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

biography

Fictional works

  • Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga : La Araucana ( Versepos , 1578)
  • Pedro de Oña : Arauco domado (Versepos, 1596, based on the work of A. de Ercilla y Zúñiga)
  • Giuseppe Guerra: Inés de Suárez: acción dramático histórica en cuatro episodios y romance heróico. Padre las Casas (Chile): Impr. San Francisco, 1941.
  • Isabel Allende : Inés of my heart (original title: Inés del alma mía ), Suhrkamp, ​​2007. ISBN 978-3-518-41930-4 (novel)
  • Jorge Guzmán : Ay mamá Inés: Crónica Testimonial. Santiago de Chile 1993. ISBN 956-13-1125-9 .
  • Josefina Cruz de Caprile: La Condoresa. 1968 (biography in novel form)
Movie
  • La Araucana (1971) based on the poem of the same name by A. de Ercilla y Zúñiga
Opera
  • José Guerra: Inés de Suárez (1941)

Studies on the literary representation of the historical Inés Suárez

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Jennifer S. Uglow , Maggy Hendry: The Northeastern Dictionary of Women's Biography , UPNE, 1999, p. 165, ISBN 978-1-55553-421-9 .
  2. ↑ He is said to have perished in the battle of Las Salinas . [1]
  3. ↑ Quotation: ... "una mujer de extraordinario arrojo y lealtad, discreta, sensata y bondadosa, y disfrutaba de una gran estima entre los conquistadores".
  4. ^ Crónica del Reino de Chile escrita por el capitán Pedro Mariño de Lobera .... reducido a nuevo método y estilo por el Padre Bartolomé de Escobar , Book VIII ff. In: Cervantes virtual [2] . There she is referred to as Inés Juarez. Both forms of name have been handed down.
  5. ^ A b Ann Keith Nauman: The Career of Dona Ines De Suarez, the First European Woman in Chile: The First European Woman in Chile, p. 139 [3]
  6. ^ Memoria chilena
  7. ↑ Cinechile
personal data
SURNAME Suarez, Inés
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Suarez, Inés de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Conquistador
DATE OF BIRTH 1507
PLACE OF BIRTH Plasencia , Extremadura, Spain
DATE OF DEATH 1580
Place of death Chile