Maria de Estrada

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María de Estrada was a native of Spain who, armed and fighting, took part in the conquest of Mexico and Tenochtitlán in the early 16th century . Her date of birth is not known, but she was probably born in Seville after 1475 ; her brother Francisco is said to have taken part in an expedition of Christopher Columbus as a cabin boy .

She herself reached the New World in 1509 and is said to have lived among locals in Cuba for a few years after a shipwreck . Almost all male castaways are said to have been subsequently murdered after an initial friendly reception. In 1513 it was tracked down and liberated by conquistadors attempting to conquer Cuba . Presumably, María de Estrada was one of the first Europeans to acculturate in the New World . She is said to have married one of her liberators, Pedro Sánchez Farfán . It should be noted in this context that an Alonso de Estrada was in the expeditionary force of Hernán Cortés and held a higher rank there. It is unclear whether there were family ties (possibly husband).

Pedro Sánchez Farfán also accompanied Cortés to Mexico in 1519. María de Estrada probably did not reach the Aztec Empire until April 1520 with the expedition of Pánfilo de Narváez and on July 1, 1520 survived the flight from Tenochtitlan, known as Noche Triste , fighting on the dams . María de Estrada also took part in the battle of Otumba that followed this flight, fighting with a sword. The fully armed woman must have made a big impression on the Aztecs , who gave her the nickname Mother of God .

Chroniclers like Bernal Díaz del Castillo mention that she was the only Spanish woman to take part in the conquest. She and her husband are said to have been assigned larger property near Hueyapan .

Bibliography

  • Hugh Thomas: The Conquest of Mexico, Cortes and Montezuma , Fischer Taschenbuchverlag GmbH, Frankfurt am Main 2000 ISBN 3-596-14969-X
  • Bernal Díaz del Castillo, Georg Adolf Narziss (ed.): History of the conquest of Mexico , Insel-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1988, ISBN 3-458-32767-3 .
  • Gloria Duran: Maria Estrada , ISBN 1-891270-01-X (historical novel, Mexican author)
personal data
SURNAME Estrada, María de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish female soldier
DATE OF BIRTH 15th century
DATE OF DEATH 16th Century