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Antonio de Erauso

Antonio de Erauso, born as Catalina de Erauso (in Spanish; or Katalina Erauso in Basque) (San Sebastián, Spain, 1585 or 1592[1] — Cuetlaxtla near Orizaba, New Spain, 1650),[2] also went by Alonso Díaz and some other masculine names, later taking on the name Antonio de Erauso which he went by for the remainder of his life. He is also known in Spanish as La Monja Alférez (The Ensign Nun or The Nun Lieutenant). de Erauso was originally an unwilling nun, but escaped the convent and travelled around Spain and Spanish America, mostly under male identities, in the first half of the 17th century. Erauso's story has remained alive through historical studies, biographical stories, novels, movies and comics.[3]

Portrait attributed to Juan van der Hamen, c.1626

Early years

Erauso was born in the Basque town of San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa, Spain, in either 1585 (according to some sources including a supposed autobiography of 1626)[4][5] or February 10, 1592 (according to a baptismal certificate).[6][7][8] Erauso's parents were Miguel de Erauso and Maria Pérez de Arce Galarraga,[2] both of whom had been born and lived in San Sebastián.[8] Miguel was a captain[8] and military commander of the Basque province under the orders of King Philip III of Spain. From an early age, Antonio trained with his father and brothers in the arts of warfare.[4]

Life at the convent

Around the year 1589, at age 4, Erauso (together with sisters Isabel and Maria) was taken to the Dominican convent of San Sebastian el Antiguo,[9] where Erauso's mother's cousin, Ursula de Uriza e Sarasti, held the position of prioress.[8] Erauso grew into a strong, stocky, and quick-tempered individual,[8][10] Lacking religious vocation and as a result feeling imprisoned and refusing to take vows, Erauso was detained in a cell and constantly fought with a widowed novice named Catalina de Aliri.[citation needed] At 15, after being beaten by one of the older nuns, Erauso decided to escape.[8][10] On March 18, 1600, the eve of San Jose, Erauso found the keys of the convent hanging in a corner, waited for the other nuns to be at morning prayer, and escaped.[8] Erauso spent a week fashioning boy's clothes, and headed for Vitoria, staying off the main roads.[8] With short hair, Erauso easily passed as a boy there.[8]

Travels around Spain

From this moment on, Erauso began the life of a fugitive, later narrated in the autobiography that gave him great fame. In Vitoria, Erauso met a doctor and professor, Francisco de Cerralta,[11] who was married to Erauso's mother's cousin but took Erauso in without recognizing him.[12][13] Erauso stayed with him for three months, learning some Latin, but when Cerralta became abusive, Erauso left.[8][12][13] Erauso took money from the doctor,[citation needed] met a mule driver and went to Valladolid with him.[8] The court of King Philip III of Spain resided in Valladolid, under the influence of the Duke of Lerma.[14] Disguised as a man by the name of Francisco de Loyola,[15] Erauso served in the court for seven months as a page of the king's secretary, Juan de Idiáquez, until one day Erauso's father came looking for Idiáquez.[16] His father conversed with Idiáquez, asking for information to find his missing child, describing Antonio's physical appearance and the way he escaped from the convent[citation needed], all without recognizing that he had just spoken to that child.[16] Afterwards, Erauso decided to head to Bilbao.[17]

Upon arriving, Erauso was not as lucky as before, and did not find a place to sleep nor a patron. In addition, a group of boys made fun of and attacked him, and when he got into a rock fight and injured one, he was arrested and spent a month in jail.[17][18] Once released from prison, Erauso went to Estella, and found work as a page there too,[17] under an important lord of the town called Alonso de Arellano. Erauso was his servant for two years, always well treated and well dressed. Between 1602 and 1603, after years of service to Arellano, Erauso returned to San Sebastián, his hometown, and lived as a man there, taking care of relatives, whom he saw frequently. He also attended mass in his old convent with former colleagues. It is said that he also served his aunt without ever being recognized. After some time, he came to Pasaia, where he met Captain Miguel de Berróiz, who took him to Seville. They were there for only two days. He later returned to Sanlucar de Barrameda, where he found a job as a cabin boy on a ship. Captain Esteban Eguiño, who was a cousin of Erauso's mother, owned the galleon. According to memoirs, he embarked on Holy Monday, 1603 to America.[19] Erauso felt, like many Basques of his time, inclined to venture to the Indies.[5]

He spent this time as a man, in masculine dress with short hair, using different names such as Pedro de Orive, Francisco de Loyola, Alonso Díaz [Ramirez] de Guzmán, and Antonio de Erauso. Apparently, his physique was not feminine, which helped him pass as a man. Erauso once said he "dried her breasts" with a secret ointment.[20]

Travels to the New World

The first place in the Americas where Erauso landed was Punta de Araya, now part of Venezuela, where he had a confrontation with a Dutch pirate fleet which he defeated. From there they left for Cartagena and Nombre de Dios, where they stayed for nine days. Several sailors died there because of the weather. They boarded the silver and once ready to return to Spain, Erauso shot and killed his uncle and stole 500 pesos. He told the sailors that his uncle had sent him on an errand. An hour later, the ship returned to Spain without him. From there he went with an usher to Panama, where he spent three months. In Panama he started working with Juan de Urquiza, merchant of Trujillo with whom he went to the port of Paita (now Peru), where the trader had a large shipment. In the port of Manta (now Ecuador), a strong wind destroyed the ship and Erauso had to swim to save himself and his master. The rest of the crew perished.

After a brief time in Paita, he went to Zana, a place full of cattle, grains, fruits and tobacco from Peru. There, his master happily accommodated here gave Erauso a home, clothing and a large amount of money, as well as three black slaves. In Saña he had a fight with a young man who threatened him in a comedy theater. He ended up cutting off the face of the boy who challenged him. He was taken to jail again and through efforts of his master, Juan de Urquiza, and the bishop of that place, he was released on the condition that he married Doña Beatriz de Cárdenas, lady of his master and aunt of the man who had his face cut. He refused to marry. Then he went to the city of Trujillo, where his master opened a store.

However, the man who was wounded in the face came to challenge him again accompanied by two friends. Erauso went to the fight with another person, and in the fight the man's friend was killed. He was again imprisoned, and after his master saved him again, he gave Erauso money and a letter of recommendation and sent him to Lima, which was the capital of the Viceroyalty of Peru. He gave the letter of recommendation to Diego de Solarte, a very rich merchant and greater consul of Lima, and after a few days Erauso was given his shop. He was responsible for the business for nine months, but was fired when discovered fondling a woman, the sister of his master's wife.[citation needed] After being dismissed, he found a company recruiting, whose aim was the conquest of Chile and, beset by the need to find a new occupation, he enlisted under the command of Captain Gonzalo Rodriguez. Erauso was accompanied by 1600 men from Lima to the city of Concepción. From 1617-19 he worked as a llama-driver from Chuquisaca to the great mining center of Potosí, and was then recruited as a soldier.[21]

Military exploits

After marching with his company to Chile in 1619, his army swept through the lands and property of the Mapuches; he showed his aggressive side as conqueror, massacring many Indians. In Chile the secretary of the governor was his brother Don Miguel de Erauso; the secretary welcomed him without recognizing him.[22] He remained there for three years and because of a dispute with his brother, possibly because of a woman, was banished to Paicabí, the land of Indians. There, Erauso fought in the service of the crown in the Arauco War against the Mapuches in today's Chile, earning a reputation for being brave and skillful with weapons and without revealing that he was biologically a woman.[19]

In the battle of Valdivia he was promoted to second lieutenant. In the following battle of Puren his captain was killed and he took command, winning the battle. However, due to the many complaints against him for his cruelty to the Indians, Erauso was not further promoted; frustrated, he entered a period devoted to vandalizing, killing people as he met on the road, causing extensive damage and burning crops. In Concepción he assassinated the chief auditor of the city, for which he was locked in a church for six months. After being released, Antonio killed his brother Miguel in a duel, and was again imprisoned for eight months. He later fled to the Governorate of the Río de la Plata (now Argentina) across the Andes, taking a difficult path. At the brink of death he was saved by a villager and taken to Tucumán, where he promised marriage to two young women, the daughter of an Indian widow (who had hosted Erauso on her farm during his convalescence) and the niece of a canon.

He ended up fleeing from there without marrying either of them, but kept the money and fine clothing given by the canon's niece as a sign of love. Then he went to Potosí, where he became the assistant to a sergeant, and returned again to fight against the Indians, participating in mass killings in Chuncos. In La Plata (formerly Chuquisaca, later Sucre) he was accused of a crime he did not commit; he was tortured and finally freed again without his sex being discovered. Once out of prison, he devoted himself to smuggling wheat and cattle on the orders of Juan Lopez de Arquijo. A new lawsuit forced him to take refuge in a church. In Piscobamba he killed a person in a quarrel. This time he was sentenced to death, but was saved at the last minute by the deposition of another prisoner sentenced to death. Then he remained in sanctuary for five months in a church due to a duel with a jealous husband. When he moved to La Paz, he was sentenced again to death for another offense. To escape, he pretended to confess and, after seizing a consecrated host, fled to Cuzco[23] and returned to Peru.

Return to Spain and audience with Pope Urban VIII

 
Monument to Catalina de Erauso in Orizaba, Mexico

In 1623 Erauso was arrested in Huamanga, Peru, because of a dispute. To avoid execution, he begged Bishop Agustín de Carvajal for mercy, and confessed that he was a woman who had been in a convent. Following a review in which a group of matrons determined that Erauso was a woman and a virgin, the bishop protected him and he was sent to Spain.

In 1625–1626, Erauso petitioned the Spanish Crown for financial reward for services as a soldier in the New World, presenting a relación de méritos y servicios (account of merits and services). In addition to seeking reward for time at war, Erauso also sought compensation for money lost while traveling to Rome. This document includes accounts from "witnesses" or others who knew Erauso. However, many of the accounts contradict each other, and some witnesses do not know what to make of Erauso's predicament, for several reasons, most prominently that the witnesses all knew Erauso by different names and for different accomplishments. They may have known "Alonso Díaz de Guzmán", one of the names Erauso used as a man, but they did not know Catalina de Erauso.[24]

Scholars disagree on whether or not Erauso met Pope Urban VIII, but his Account of Merits and Services was filed in 1625 or 1626 in the Archivo General de Indias and the Real Academia de la Historia of Madrid, which would match up with accounts of him being in Rome at that time.[24]

Return to America and death

In 1630 Erauso settled in the New Spain, probably in the city of Orizaba, now in the state of Veracruz, and established a business as a muleteer between Mexico City and Veracruz. Locals state that Erauso died carrying a load on a boat, though some argue his death occurred at the heights of Orizaba, alone; most plausible[citation needed] is that he died in the village of Cotaxtla. According to the historian Joaquín Arróniz, his remains rest in the Church of the Royal Hospital of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception of the Juaninos Brothers, which today is popularly known as the Church of San Juan de Dios, in the city of Orizaba, Veracruz, Mexico. Although there is no solid evidence to support it, some postulate that Bishop Juan de Palafox tried to move the remains to the city of Puebla, home of the bishopric, but failed. Instead, according to other historians, the remains of Erauso rest in the same place where it is believed he died, in the village of Cotaxtla.[25] However, there is no documentation that can demonstrate the exact date and place of death.[26]

Autobiography and controversy over its authorship

Antonio de Erauso (under the name Catalina de Erauso) wrote or dictated the autobiography which remained in manuscript form until it was first published in Paris in 1829 at the request of Joaquín María Ferrer, a second time in Barcelona in 1838, and for the third time in 1894 in Paris, with illustrations by Spanish artist Daniel Vierge. Then his account was translated into several languages and versions of the theme, as idealized by Thomas De Quincey, entitled The Ensign Nun in English.[27]

In addition to these editions, a series of reprints of this autobiography after 1894, and writings about Erauso's return to Spain, a comedy was released by Juan Pérez de Montalbán, Comedia famosa de la Monja Alferez (1625). Currently, there is debate among researchers about the authorship of this autobiography, which some researchers have branded as apocryphal and without any basis for engaging in some chronological inaccuracies and contradictions.[28][29] However, given the existence of baptism certificates and testimonies from others about Erauso's life and works, there is strong evidence for the historical existence of this person.[30]

Some have wanted to see a relationship between Erauso's extraordinary life, and the Baroque taste for portraying marginal and / or deformed or abnormal characters, as the main reason for the fame he gained throughout the Hispanic world on his return from America.[3]

Questions of gender and sexual identity

Modern scholars have debated Erauso's sexual orientation and gender identity. In a memoir, Erauso never mentions being attracted to a man, but details numerous relationships with women. There was an encounter with the sister-in-law of a Lima merchant, a quarrel with Erauso's brother over his mistress and other occasions of Erauso being betrothed to women in the New World.[31] Those betrothals, however, usually ended after Erauso exploited the situation and rode off with gifts and dowry money.[32] Erauso also mentions once being surprised by a hostess "touching between her legs," and also acknowledges having taken advantage twice of being 'disguised' as a man to get gifts from a future fiancée who did not know Erauso's sex.[31]

Other scholars, such as Sherry Velasco, have also written on the subject of gender and sexual identity.[33] Velasco and others argue for viewing Erauso as transgender,[34][35] and Velasco also argues for viewing Erauso as lesbian, saying that, over the years since the first printings of Erauso's memoirs, there have been many different retellings and exaggerations in an effort to "de-lesbianize" Erauso through the invention of different heterosexual relationships as well as downplaying Erauso's relationships and behavior with other women.[32][33] This happened mostly in versions of the story told and published in the nineteenth century. In the twentieth century, Velasco argues there was a "re-lesbianization" of Erauso, initially in heterosexual, femme-fatale narratives in the 1940s to appeal to younger women as glamorous[citation needed]. Then, in the 1980s, Erauso appeared as a "melancholy lesbian whose lover dies and a voyeuristic lesbian whose narrative ends with the optimistic image of the protagonist accompanied by the object of her sexual desire."[33]

Matthew Goldmark, in turn, takes the approach of examining Erauso's Accounts of Merits and Services document, and in particular the "hábitos" or "habits" section of the document, with an eye to Erauso's sexual orientation and identity. This section gives accounts from witnesses or other people who knew Erauso and could speak to his demeanor in petitioning the King and the Pope. This section also was an intersection of not only gender, but also class and profession.[24]

Regardless of how Erauso identified, researchers are still divided as to the reason for Erauso's grand story of adventures. Some argue that Erauso had to pretend to be attracted to women in order to stay disguised and to blend in with fellow Spanish soldiers. Others argue that Erauso was actually a lesbian who used dress as a way to not attract attention from church authorities and to continue to be attracted to women. Still others fall into the third camp that Erauso actually did identify as a man. Those in this school of thought conclude from the evidence given by Erauso that Erauso was merely expressing a gender identity and was transgender.[32][36] Antonio de Erauso refers to himself as a man and chose to live as a man, even after being outed as someone born female.

Legacy

Despite the existence of autobiographical memoirs probably written around 1626, Erauso ended up disappearing from most known historical records, specifically in the period running between returning to Spain in 1624 and returning to the Indies, until the eighteenth century. At the end of the century, states Sonia Pérez-Villanueva, one Domingo de Urbirú had in his possession a manuscript copy of Erauso's memoirs, which was duplicated by a friend, the poet and playwright Cándido Maria Trigueros.

One of the copies made by Trigueros ended up in the hands of the academic Juan Bautista Muñoz, who was writing the History of the New World and included a mention of Erauso in his work. Eventually, the copy was used as a reference by Muñoz finished in the hands of the Royal Academy of History in 1784, and later was rediscovered in the early nineteenth century by the politician Felipe Bauzá, who persuaded his friend, the astronomer and merchant Joaquín María Ferrer for publishing. Finally, the manuscript was published in 1829 in Paris by Jules Didot with the title La historia de la Monja Alférez, escrita por ella misma ("story of The Nun Lieutenant, written by herself"), and a few decades later was republished by Heredia in 1894, making this version of the autobiography the revival of interest and research into Erauso's life.[19][37]

The character of The Nun Lieutenant was, and remains today, a source of inspiration for writers, playwrights, filmmakers and artists (most notably a 1630 portrait, attributed to Juan van der Hamen). In the nineteenth century, the work of Thomas De Quincey stands out, who turns Erauso into a typically romantic character, victim of fate and immersed in a series of adventures.[3] Also in the nineteenth century is the novel by Eduardo Blasco Del claustro al campamento o la Monja Alférez. And similarly it has been a source of inspiration for many analyses and academic papers trying to explain Erauso's complex personality. In the twentieth century the Monja Alférez hit the screens and became more popular through several film versions, as in La Monja Alférez, directed by Mexican Emilio Gómez Muriel (1947). At present, this character is attractive to the poststructuralist critique, as a clear example of instability and relativity of the notion of gender in the construction of the identity of an individual.[citation needed]

In 2019 textual analysis concluded that a 17th-century play called La Monja Alférez whose authorship had not been known had in fact been written by Juan Ruiz de Alarcón.[38]

See also

References

  1. ^ 1592 according to the baptismal record; 1585, according to sources including the supposed autobiography. See Stepto 1996, p. xxvi.
  2. ^ a b Robert Aldrich; Garry Wotherspoon. (Eds.) (2002). Who's who in Gay and Lesbian History: From Antiquity to World War II (2nd ed.). London: Taylor & Francis/Routledge. p. 178. ISBN 978-0-415-15983-8.
  3. ^ a b c Gómez, María Asunción (2009). "El problemático "feminismo" de La Monja Alférez, de Domingo Miras". Espéculo. Universidad Complutense de Madrid (41). from the original on 19 February 2012. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  4. ^ a b de Erauso, Catalina. "Historia de la Monja Alférez" (in Spanish). Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes. from the original on 12 June 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
  5. ^ a b "Catalina de Erauso. El primer aire de libertad". Euskomedia (in Spanish). from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  6. ^ Tellechea Idígoras, José Ignacio (2018). "Catalina de Erauso". Diccionario Biográfico Español. Real Academia de la Historia. from the original on 2018-05-13. Retrieved 2018-05-12.
  7. ^ María Claudia André, Eva Paulino Bueno, Latin American Women Writers: An Encyclopedia (2014, ISBN 1317726340).
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Jerome R. Adams, Notable Latin American Women: Twenty-nine Leaders (1995, ISBN 0786400226), ch. 5, pp. 45-46.
  9. ^ "Catalina de Erauso. La monja". Euskomedia (in Spanish). from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  10. ^ a b Velasco (2000), p. 2.
  11. ^ In Vallbona's edition, the name is spelled Zeralta (Mendieta 2009, p. 86).
  12. ^ a b Eva Mendieta, In search of Catalina de Erauso (2009), p. 86.
  13. ^ a b Pérez-Villanueva, Life (2014), p. 78.
  14. ^ Ilenia Colón Mendoza, The Cristos yacentes of Gregorio Fernández (2017, ISBN 1351545299), p. 3.
  15. ^ Luis de Castresana, Obras selectas de Luis de Castresana: Catalina de Erauso, la monja alférez (1970), p. 68.
  16. ^ a b Pérez-Villanueva, Life (2014), p. 95.
  17. ^ a b c Adams (1995), pp. 46-47.
  18. ^ Mendieta (2009), p. 104.
  19. ^ a b c Hernandez, Isabel (September 16, 2011). "From Spain to the Americas, from the convent to the front: Catalina de Erauso's shifting identities". Eurozine. from the original on October 19, 2020. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
  20. ^ ARTEHISTORIA. "Monja alférez. Catalina de Erauso – Personajes – ARTEHISTORIA V2". ARTEHISTORIA (in Spanish). from the original on 2 March 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  21. ^ Lane, Kris. Potosí:The Silver City that Changed the World. Berkeley: University of California Press 2019, pp. 100-101.
  22. ^ "Catalina de Erauso. Soldado en Chile". Euskomedia (in Spanish). from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  23. ^ "Catalina de Erauso en Bolivia". Euskomedia (in Spanish). from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  24. ^ a b c Goldmark, Matthew (2015-04-03). "Reading Habits: Catalina de Erauso and the Subjects of Early Modern Spanish Gender and Sexuality". Colonial Latin American Review. 24 (2): 215–235. doi:10.1080/10609164.2015.1040278. ISSN 1060-9164. S2CID 161448980.
  25. ^ . Agustín García Márquez. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  26. ^ VILLATORO, MANUEL P. (18 May 2014). "Catalina de Erauso, la monja española que se disfrazó de hombre y combatió como soldado en América". ABC.es. from the original on 27 March 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  27. ^ Erauso, Catalina de; Pérez de Montalván, Juan; Fitzmaurice-Kelly, James (1908). "The nun ensign". Hathi Trust. T. Fisher Unwin. from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  28. ^ Pérez-Villanueva, Life (2014).
  29. ^ "Historia de la Monja Alférez: ¿escrita por ella misma?" (PDF). Sonia Pérez-Villanueva. (PDF) from the original on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  30. ^ Valcárcel, Isabel (2005). Mujeres de armas tomar. EDAF. ISBN 9788496107564.
  31. ^ a b "The Autobiography of doña Catalina de Erauso, by Catalina de Erauso 1592–1650". mith.umd.edu. from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  32. ^ a b c Rapp, Linda. "Erauso, Catalina de (ca 1592- ca1650)" (PDF). www.glbtq.com. (PDF) from the original on 25 February 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  33. ^ a b c Velasco (2000).
  34. ^ Marcia Ochoa, Becoming a Man in Yndias, in Technofuturos: Critical Interventions in Latina/o Studies (2007), edited by Nancy Raquel Mirabal, Agustín Laó-Montes, p. 55.
  35. ^ Leslie Feinberg, Transgender Warriors: Making History from Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman (1996, ISBN 0807079413), p. 33.
  36. ^ Haggerty, George; Zimmerman, Bonnie (2003). Encyclopedia of Lesbian and Gay Histories and Cultures. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-135-57870-1. from the original on 2019-04-26. Retrieved 2016-05-11.
  37. ^ Sánchez Rodríguez, Sandra La historia de la Monja Alférez, escrita por ella misma. (PDF). Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Iztapalapa. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-07. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
  38. ^ Jones, Sam (5 February 2023). "Artificial intelligence uncovers lost work by titan of Spain's 'Golden Age'". The Observer.

Further reading

  • Belén Castro Morales. "Catalina De Erauso, La Monja Amazona." Revista De Crítica Literaria Latinoamericana 26, no. 52 (2000): 227-42. Accessed June 28, 2020. doi:10.2307/4531130.

Bibliography

  • de Erauso, Catalina (1996). Stepto, Michele (ed.). Lieutenant Nun: Memoir of a Basque Transvestite in the New World. Boston: Beacon Press.
  • Velasco, Sherry (2000-01-01). The Lieutenant Nun: Transgenderism, Lesbian Desire, and Catalina de Erauso. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-78746-9.
  • Pérez-Villanueva, Sonia (2014). The Life of Catalina de Erauso, the Lieutenant Nun: An Early Modern Autobiography. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-61147-661-3.
  • (in Spanish) Historia de la monja alférez escrita por ella misma. Presentación y epílogo de Jesús Munárriz. Madrid, Ediciones Hiperión,2000. ISBN 978-84-7517-652-9
  • (in Spanish) Historia de la monja alférez. Amigos del Libro Vasco, Echevarri,1986.
  • (in Spanish) Historia de la monja alférez D.ª Catalina de Erauso. Catalina de Erauso. Barcelona : Imp. de José Tauló, 1838
  • (in Spanish) Miguel de Erauso (senior), el abuelo de la Monja Alférez: una inmersión en la vida donostiarra (1592). José Ignacio Tellechea Idigoras. En: Boletín de estudios históricos sobre San Sebastián. n. 39 (2005), p. 81-154
  • (in Spanish) Doña Catalina de Erauso: la monja alférez: IV centenario de su nacimiento. José Ignacio Tellechea Idígoras. ISBN 84-7173-205-X
  • (in Spanish) Historia del Nuevo Mundo. Juan Bautista Muñoz. Madrid, 1794
  • (in Spanish) La historia de la Monja Alférez, escrita por ella misma. Catalina de Erauso. Comentada y editada por Joaquín María Ferrer. París: Imp. de Julio Didot, 1829
  • (in Spanish) La historia de la monja Alférez, escrita por ella misma. Catalina de Erauso. Traducción de José María de Heredia. París, 1894

antonio, erauso, born, catalina, erauso, spanish, katalina, erauso, basque, sebastián, spain, 1585, 1592, cuetlaxtla, near, orizaba, spain, 1650, also, went, alonso, díaz, some, other, masculine, names, later, taking, name, which, went, remainder, life, also, . Antonio de Erauso born as Catalina de Erauso in Spanish or Katalina Erauso in Basque San Sebastian Spain 1585 or 1592 1 Cuetlaxtla near Orizaba New Spain 1650 2 also went by Alonso Diaz and some other masculine names later taking on the name Antonio de Erauso which he went by for the remainder of his life He is also known in Spanish as La Monja Alferez The Ensign Nun or The Nun Lieutenant de Erauso was originally an unwilling nun but escaped the convent and travelled around Spain and Spanish America mostly under male identities in the first half of the 17th century Erauso s story has remained alive through historical studies biographical stories novels movies and comics 3 Portrait attributed to Juan van der Hamen c 1626 Contents 1 Early years 2 Life at the convent 3 Travels around Spain 4 Travels to the New World 5 Military exploits 6 Return to Spain and audience with Pope Urban VIII 7 Return to America and death 8 Autobiography and controversy over its authorship 9 Questions of gender and sexual identity 10 Legacy 11 See also 12 References 13 Further reading 14 BibliographyEarly years EditErauso was born in the Basque town of San Sebastian Gipuzkoa Spain in either 1585 according to some sources including a supposed autobiography of 1626 4 5 or February 10 1592 according to a baptismal certificate 6 7 8 Erauso s parents were Miguel de Erauso and Maria Perez de Arce Galarraga 2 both of whom had been born and lived in San Sebastian 8 Miguel was a captain 8 and military commander of the Basque province under the orders of King Philip III of Spain From an early age Antonio trained with his father and brothers in the arts of warfare 4 Life at the convent EditAround the year 1589 at age 4 Erauso together with sisters Isabel and Maria was taken to the Dominican convent of San Sebastian el Antiguo 9 where Erauso s mother s cousin Ursula de Uriza e Sarasti held the position of prioress 8 Erauso grew into a strong stocky and quick tempered individual 8 10 Lacking religious vocation and as a result feeling imprisoned and refusing to take vows Erauso was detained in a cell and constantly fought with a widowed novice named Catalina de Aliri citation needed At 15 after being beaten by one of the older nuns Erauso decided to escape 8 10 On March 18 1600 the eve of San Jose Erauso found the keys of the convent hanging in a corner waited for the other nuns to be at morning prayer and escaped 8 Erauso spent a week fashioning boy s clothes and headed for Vitoria staying off the main roads 8 With short hair Erauso easily passed as a boy there 8 Travels around Spain EditFrom this moment on Erauso began the life of a fugitive later narrated in the autobiography that gave him great fame In Vitoria Erauso met a doctor and professor Francisco de Cerralta 11 who was married to Erauso s mother s cousin but took Erauso in without recognizing him 12 13 Erauso stayed with him for three months learning some Latin but when Cerralta became abusive Erauso left 8 12 13 Erauso took money from the doctor citation needed met a mule driver and went to Valladolid with him 8 The court of King Philip III of Spain resided in Valladolid under the influence of the Duke of Lerma 14 Disguised as a man by the name of Francisco de Loyola 15 Erauso served in the court for seven months as a page of the king s secretary Juan de Idiaquez until one day Erauso s father came looking for Idiaquez 16 His father conversed with Idiaquez asking for information to find his missing child describing Antonio s physical appearance and the way he escaped from the convent citation needed all without recognizing that he had just spoken to that child 16 Afterwards Erauso decided to head to Bilbao 17 Upon arriving Erauso was not as lucky as before and did not find a place to sleep nor a patron In addition a group of boys made fun of and attacked him and when he got into a rock fight and injured one he was arrested and spent a month in jail 17 18 Once released from prison Erauso went to Estella and found work as a page there too 17 under an important lord of the town called Alonso de Arellano Erauso was his servant for two years always well treated and well dressed Between 1602 and 1603 after years of service to Arellano Erauso returned to San Sebastian his hometown and lived as a man there taking care of relatives whom he saw frequently He also attended mass in his old convent with former colleagues It is said that he also served his aunt without ever being recognized After some time he came to Pasaia where he met Captain Miguel de Berroiz who took him to Seville They were there for only two days He later returned to Sanlucar de Barrameda where he found a job as a cabin boy on a ship Captain Esteban Eguino who was a cousin of Erauso s mother owned the galleon According to memoirs he embarked on Holy Monday 1603 to America 19 Erauso felt like many Basques of his time inclined to venture to the Indies 5 He spent this time as a man in masculine dress with short hair using different names such as Pedro de Orive Francisco de Loyola Alonso Diaz Ramirez de Guzman and Antonio de Erauso Apparently his physique was not feminine which helped him pass as a man Erauso once said he dried her breasts with a secret ointment 20 Travels to the New World EditThe first place in the Americas where Erauso landed was Punta de Araya now part of Venezuela where he had a confrontation with a Dutch pirate fleet which he defeated From there they left for Cartagena and Nombre de Dios where they stayed for nine days Several sailors died there because of the weather They boarded the silver and once ready to return to Spain Erauso shot and killed his uncle and stole 500 pesos He told the sailors that his uncle had sent him on an errand An hour later the ship returned to Spain without him From there he went with an usher to Panama where he spent three months In Panama he started working with Juan de Urquiza merchant of Trujillo with whom he went to the port of Paita now Peru where the trader had a large shipment In the port of Manta now Ecuador a strong wind destroyed the ship and Erauso had to swim to save himself and his master The rest of the crew perished After a brief time in Paita he went to Zana a place full of cattle grains fruits and tobacco from Peru There his master happily accommodated here gave Erauso a home clothing and a large amount of money as well as three black slaves In Sana he had a fight with a young man who threatened him in a comedy theater He ended up cutting off the face of the boy who challenged him He was taken to jail again and through efforts of his master Juan de Urquiza and the bishop of that place he was released on the condition that he married Dona Beatriz de Cardenas lady of his master and aunt of the man who had his face cut He refused to marry Then he went to the city of Trujillo where his master opened a store However the man who was wounded in the face came to challenge him again accompanied by two friends Erauso went to the fight with another person and in the fight the man s friend was killed He was again imprisoned and after his master saved him again he gave Erauso money and a letter of recommendation and sent him to Lima which was the capital of the Viceroyalty of Peru He gave the letter of recommendation to Diego de Solarte a very rich merchant and greater consul of Lima and after a few days Erauso was given his shop He was responsible for the business for nine months but was fired when discovered fondling a woman the sister of his master s wife citation needed After being dismissed he found a company recruiting whose aim was the conquest of Chile and beset by the need to find a new occupation he enlisted under the command of Captain Gonzalo Rodriguez Erauso was accompanied by 1600 men from Lima to the city of Concepcion From 1617 19 he worked as a llama driver from Chuquisaca to the great mining center of Potosi and was then recruited as a soldier 21 Military exploits EditSee also Defensive War After marching with his company to Chile in 1619 his army swept through the lands and property of the Mapuches he showed his aggressive side as conqueror massacring many Indians In Chile the secretary of the governor was his brother Don Miguel de Erauso the secretary welcomed him without recognizing him 22 He remained there for three years and because of a dispute with his brother possibly because of a woman was banished to Paicabi the land of Indians There Erauso fought in the service of the crown in the Arauco War against the Mapuches in today s Chile earning a reputation for being brave and skillful with weapons and without revealing that he was biologically a woman 19 In the battle of Valdivia he was promoted to second lieutenant In the following battle of Puren his captain was killed and he took command winning the battle However due to the many complaints against him for his cruelty to the Indians Erauso was not further promoted frustrated he entered a period devoted to vandalizing killing people as he met on the road causing extensive damage and burning crops In Concepcion he assassinated the chief auditor of the city for which he was locked in a church for six months After being released Antonio killed his brother Miguel in a duel and was again imprisoned for eight months He later fled to the Governorate of the Rio de la Plata now Argentina across the Andes taking a difficult path At the brink of death he was saved by a villager and taken to Tucuman where he promised marriage to two young women the daughter of an Indian widow who had hosted Erauso on her farm during his convalescence and the niece of a canon He ended up fleeing from there without marrying either of them but kept the money and fine clothing given by the canon s niece as a sign of love Then he went to Potosi where he became the assistant to a sergeant and returned again to fight against the Indians participating in mass killings in Chuncos In La Plata formerly Chuquisaca later Sucre he was accused of a crime he did not commit he was tortured and finally freed again without his sex being discovered Once out of prison he devoted himself to smuggling wheat and cattle on the orders of Juan Lopez de Arquijo A new lawsuit forced him to take refuge in a church In Piscobamba he killed a person in a quarrel This time he was sentenced to death but was saved at the last minute by the deposition of another prisoner sentenced to death Then he remained in sanctuary for five months in a church due to a duel with a jealous husband When he moved to La Paz he was sentenced again to death for another offense To escape he pretended to confess and after seizing a consecrated host fled to Cuzco 23 and returned to Peru Return to Spain and audience with Pope Urban VIII Edit Monument to Catalina de Erauso in Orizaba Mexico In 1623 Erauso was arrested in Huamanga Peru because of a dispute To avoid execution he begged Bishop Agustin de Carvajal for mercy and confessed that he was a woman who had been in a convent Following a review in which a group of matrons determined that Erauso was a woman and a virgin the bishop protected him and he was sent to Spain In 1625 1626 Erauso petitioned the Spanish Crown for financial reward for services as a soldier in the New World presenting a relacion de meritos y servicios account of merits and services In addition to seeking reward for time at war Erauso also sought compensation for money lost while traveling to Rome This document includes accounts from witnesses or others who knew Erauso However many of the accounts contradict each other and some witnesses do not know what to make of Erauso s predicament for several reasons most prominently that the witnesses all knew Erauso by different names and for different accomplishments They may have known Alonso Diaz de Guzman one of the names Erauso used as a man but they did not know Catalina de Erauso 24 Scholars disagree on whether or not Erauso met Pope Urban VIII but his Account of Merits and Services was filed in 1625 or 1626 in the Archivo General de Indias and the Real Academia de la Historia of Madrid which would match up with accounts of him being in Rome at that time 24 Return to America and death EditIn 1630 Erauso settled in the New Spain probably in the city of Orizaba now in the state of Veracruz and established a business as a muleteer between Mexico City and Veracruz Locals state that Erauso died carrying a load on a boat though some argue his death occurred at the heights of Orizaba alone most plausible citation needed is that he died in the village of Cotaxtla According to the historian Joaquin Arroniz his remains rest in the Church of the Royal Hospital of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception of the Juaninos Brothers which today is popularly known as the Church of San Juan de Dios in the city of Orizaba Veracruz Mexico Although there is no solid evidence to support it some postulate that Bishop Juan de Palafox tried to move the remains to the city of Puebla home of the bishopric but failed Instead according to other historians the remains of Erauso rest in the same place where it is believed he died in the village of Cotaxtla 25 However there is no documentation that can demonstrate the exact date and place of death 26 Autobiography and controversy over its authorship EditAntonio de Erauso under the name Catalina de Erauso wrote or dictated the autobiography which remained in manuscript form until it was first published in Paris in 1829 at the request of Joaquin Maria Ferrer a second time in Barcelona in 1838 and for the third time in 1894 in Paris with illustrations by Spanish artist Daniel Vierge Then his account was translated into several languages and versions of the theme as idealized by Thomas De Quincey entitled The Ensign Nun in English 27 In addition to these editions a series of reprints of this autobiography after 1894 and writings about Erauso s return to Spain a comedy was released by Juan Perez de Montalban Comedia famosa de la Monja Alferez 1625 Currently there is debate among researchers about the authorship of this autobiography which some researchers have branded as apocryphal and without any basis for engaging in some chronological inaccuracies and contradictions 28 29 However given the existence of baptism certificates and testimonies from others about Erauso s life and works there is strong evidence for the historical existence of this person 30 Some have wanted to see a relationship between Erauso s extraordinary life and the Baroque taste for portraying marginal and or deformed or abnormal characters as the main reason for the fame he gained throughout the Hispanic world on his return from America 3 Questions of gender and sexual identity EditModern scholars have debated Erauso s sexual orientation and gender identity In a memoir Erauso never mentions being attracted to a man but details numerous relationships with women There was an encounter with the sister in law of a Lima merchant a quarrel with Erauso s brother over his mistress and other occasions of Erauso being betrothed to women in the New World 31 Those betrothals however usually ended after Erauso exploited the situation and rode off with gifts and dowry money 32 Erauso also mentions once being surprised by a hostess touching between her legs and also acknowledges having taken advantage twice of being disguised as a man to get gifts from a future fiancee who did not know Erauso s sex 31 Other scholars such as Sherry Velasco have also written on the subject of gender and sexual identity 33 Velasco and others argue for viewing Erauso as transgender 34 35 and Velasco also argues for viewing Erauso as lesbian saying that over the years since the first printings of Erauso s memoirs there have been many different retellings and exaggerations in an effort to de lesbianize Erauso through the invention of different heterosexual relationships as well as downplaying Erauso s relationships and behavior with other women 32 33 This happened mostly in versions of the story told and published in the nineteenth century In the twentieth century Velasco argues there was a re lesbianization of Erauso initially in heterosexual femme fatale narratives in the 1940s to appeal to younger women as glamorous citation needed Then in the 1980s Erauso appeared as a melancholy lesbian whose lover dies and a voyeuristic lesbian whose narrative ends with the optimistic image of the protagonist accompanied by the object of her sexual desire 33 Matthew Goldmark in turn takes the approach of examining Erauso s Accounts of Merits and Services document and in particular the habitos or habits section of the document with an eye to Erauso s sexual orientation and identity This section gives accounts from witnesses or other people who knew Erauso and could speak to his demeanor in petitioning the King and the Pope This section also was an intersection of not only gender but also class and profession 24 Regardless of how Erauso identified researchers are still divided as to the reason for Erauso s grand story of adventures Some argue that Erauso had to pretend to be attracted to women in order to stay disguised and to blend in with fellow Spanish soldiers Others argue that Erauso was actually a lesbian who used dress as a way to not attract attention from church authorities and to continue to be attracted to women Still others fall into the third camp that Erauso actually did identify as a man Those in this school of thought conclude from the evidence given by Erauso that Erauso was merely expressing a gender identity and was transgender 32 36 Antonio de Erauso refers to himself as a man and chose to live as a man even after being outed as someone born female Legacy EditDespite the existence of autobiographical memoirs probably written around 1626 Erauso ended up disappearing from most known historical records specifically in the period running between returning to Spain in 1624 and returning to the Indies until the eighteenth century At the end of the century states Sonia Perez Villanueva one Domingo de Urbiru had in his possession a manuscript copy of Erauso s memoirs which was duplicated by a friend the poet and playwright Candido Maria Trigueros One of the copies made by Trigueros ended up in the hands of the academic Juan Bautista Munoz who was writing the History of the New World and included a mention of Erauso in his work Eventually the copy was used as a reference by Munoz finished in the hands of the Royal Academy of History in 1784 and later was rediscovered in the early nineteenth century by the politician Felipe Bauza who persuaded his friend the astronomer and merchant Joaquin Maria Ferrer for publishing Finally the manuscript was published in 1829 in Paris by Jules Didot with the title La historia de la Monja Alferez escrita por ella misma story of The Nun Lieutenant written by herself and a few decades later was republished by Heredia in 1894 making this version of the autobiography the revival of interest and research into Erauso s life 19 37 The character of The Nun Lieutenant was and remains today a source of inspiration for writers playwrights filmmakers and artists most notably a 1630 portrait attributed to Juan van der Hamen In the nineteenth century the work of Thomas De Quincey stands out who turns Erauso into a typically romantic character victim of fate and immersed in a series of adventures 3 Also in the nineteenth century is the novel by Eduardo Blasco Del claustro al campamento o la Monja Alferez And similarly it has been a source of inspiration for many analyses and academic papers trying to explain Erauso s complex personality In the twentieth century the Monja Alferez hit the screens and became more popular through several film versions as in La Monja Alferez directed by Mexican Emilio Gomez Muriel 1947 At present this character is attractive to the poststructuralist critique as a clear example of instability and relativity of the notion of gender in the construction of the identity of an individual citation needed In 2019 textual analysis concluded that a 17th century play called La Monja Alferez whose authorship had not been known had in fact been written by Juan Ruiz de Alarcon 38 See also EditEleno de CespedesReferences Edit 1592 according to the baptismal record 1585 according to sources including the supposed autobiography See Stepto 1996 p xxvi a b Robert Aldrich Garry Wotherspoon Eds 2002 Who s who in Gay and Lesbian History From Antiquity to World War II 2nd ed London Taylor amp Francis Routledge p 178 ISBN 978 0 415 15983 8 a b c Gomez Maria Asuncion 2009 El problematico feminismo de La Monja Alferez de Domingo Miras Especulo Universidad Complutense de Madrid 41 Archived from the original on 19 February 2012 Retrieved 18 November 2019 a b de Erauso Catalina Historia de la Monja Alferez in Spanish Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes Archived from the original on 12 June 2016 Retrieved 9 May 2016 a b Catalina de Erauso El primer aire de libertad Euskomedia in Spanish Archived from the original on 3 December 2013 Retrieved 11 July 2013 Tellechea Idigoras Jose Ignacio 2018 Catalina de Erauso Diccionario Biografico Espanol Real Academia de la Historia Archived from the original on 2018 05 13 Retrieved 2018 05 12 Maria Claudia Andre Eva Paulino Bueno Latin American Women Writers An Encyclopedia 2014 ISBN 1317726340 a b c d e f g h i j k Jerome R Adams Notable Latin American Women Twenty nine Leaders 1995 ISBN 0786400226 ch 5 pp 45 46 Catalina de Erauso La monja Euskomedia in Spanish Archived from the original on 3 December 2013 Retrieved 11 July 2013 a b Velasco 2000 p 2 In Vallbona s edition the name is spelled Zeralta Mendieta 2009 p 86 a b Eva Mendieta In search of Catalina de Erauso 2009 p 86 a b Perez Villanueva Life 2014 p 78 Ilenia Colon Mendoza TheCristos yacentesof Gregorio Fernandez 2017 ISBN 1351545299 p 3 Luis de Castresana Obras selectas de Luis de Castresana Catalina de Erauso la monja alferez 1970 p 68 a b Perez Villanueva Life 2014 p 95 a b c Adams 1995 pp 46 47 Mendieta 2009 p 104 a b c Hernandez Isabel September 16 2011 From Spain to the Americas from the convent to the front Catalina de Erauso s shifting identities Eurozine Archived from the original on October 19 2020 Retrieved March 18 2021 ARTEHISTORIA Monja alferez Catalina de Erauso Personajes ARTEHISTORIA V2 ARTEHISTORIA in Spanish Archived from the original on 2 March 2016 Retrieved 19 February 2016 Lane Kris Potosi The Silver City that Changed the World Berkeley University of California Press 2019 pp 100 101 Catalina de Erauso Soldado en Chile Euskomedia in Spanish Archived from the original on 3 December 2013 Retrieved 11 July 2013 Catalina de Erauso en Bolivia Euskomedia in Spanish Archived from the original on 3 December 2013 Retrieved 11 July 2013 a b c Goldmark Matthew 2015 04 03 Reading Habits Catalina de Erauso and the Subjects of Early Modern Spanish Gender and Sexuality Colonial Latin American Review 24 2 215 235 doi 10 1080 10609164 2015 1040278 ISSN 1060 9164 S2CID 161448980 Historia cultura y turismo en Orizaba Agustin Garcia Marquez Archived from the original on 14 July 2014 Retrieved 12 July 2014 VILLATORO MANUEL P 18 May 2014 Catalina de Erauso la monja espanola que se disfrazo de hombre y combatio como soldado en America ABC es Archived from the original on 27 March 2016 Retrieved 19 February 2016 Erauso Catalina de Perez de Montalvan Juan Fitzmaurice Kelly James 1908 The nun ensign Hathi Trust T Fisher Unwin Archived from the original on 26 November 2020 Retrieved 16 November 2019 Perez Villanueva Life 2014 Historia de la Monja Alferez escrita por ella misma PDF Sonia Perez Villanueva Archived PDF from the original on 20 October 2016 Retrieved 17 February 2016 Valcarcel Isabel 2005 Mujeres de armas tomar EDAF ISBN 9788496107564 a b The Autobiography of dona Catalina de Erauso by Catalina de Erauso 1592 1650 mith umd edu Archived from the original on 4 March 2016 Retrieved 17 February 2016 a b c Rapp Linda Erauso Catalina de ca 1592 ca1650 PDF www glbtq com Archived PDF from the original on 25 February 2016 Retrieved 17 February 2016 a b c Velasco 2000 Marcia Ochoa Becoming a Man in Yndias in Technofuturos Critical Interventions in Latina o Studies 2007 edited by Nancy Raquel Mirabal Agustin Lao Montes p 55 Leslie Feinberg Transgender Warriors Making History from Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman 1996 ISBN 0807079413 p 33 Haggerty George Zimmerman Bonnie 2003 Encyclopedia of Lesbian and Gay Histories and Cultures Taylor amp Francis ISBN 978 1 135 57870 1 Archived from the original on 2019 04 26 Retrieved 2016 05 11 Sanchez Rodriguez Sandra La historia de la Monja Alferez escrita por ella misma Analisis historico y literario de Vida i sucesos de la monja alferez dona Catalina de Erauso PDF Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana Iztapalapa Archived from the original PDF on 2016 03 07 Retrieved March 18 2021 Jones Sam 5 February 2023 Artificial intelligence uncovers lost work by titan of Spain s Golden Age The Observer Further reading EditBelen Castro Morales Catalina De Erauso La Monja Amazona Revista De Critica Literaria Latinoamericana 26 no 52 2000 227 42 Accessed June 28 2020 doi 10 2307 4531130 Bibliography Editde Erauso Catalina 1996 Stepto Michele ed Lieutenant Nun Memoir of a Basque Transvestite in the New World Boston Beacon Press Velasco Sherry 2000 01 01 The Lieutenant Nun Transgenderism Lesbian Desire and Catalina de Erauso University of Texas Press ISBN 978 0 292 78746 9 Perez Villanueva Sonia 2014 The Life of Catalina de Erauso the Lieutenant Nun An Early Modern Autobiography Rowman amp Littlefield ISBN 978 1 61147 661 3 in Spanish Historia de la monja alferez escrita por ella misma Presentacion y epilogo de Jesus Munarriz Madrid Ediciones Hiperion 2000 ISBN 978 84 7517 652 9 in Spanish Historia de la monja alferez Amigos del Libro Vasco Echevarri 1986 in Spanish Historia de la monja alferez D ª Catalina de Erauso Catalina de Erauso Barcelona Imp de Jose Taulo 1838 in Spanish Miguel de Erauso senior el abuelo de la Monja Alferez una inmersion en la vida donostiarra 1592 Jose Ignacio Tellechea Idigoras En Boletin de estudios historicos sobre San Sebastian n 39 2005 p 81 154 in Spanish Dona Catalina de Erauso la monja alferez IV centenario de su nacimiento Jose Ignacio Tellechea Idigoras ISBN 84 7173 205 X in Spanish Historia del Nuevo Mundo Juan Bautista Munoz Madrid 1794 in Spanish La historia de la Monja Alferez escrita por ella misma Catalina de Erauso Comentada y editada por Joaquin Maria Ferrer Paris Imp de Julio Didot 1829 in Spanish La historia de la monja Alferez escrita por ella misma Catalina de Erauso Traduccion de Jose Maria de Heredia Paris 1894 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Antonio de Erauso amp oldid 1137612867, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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