It was ultimately her job working on her uncle Esteban Eguiños’ galleon (of course, he had no idea that Pedro, or Alonso, or Antonio was actually his niece Catalina) that brought her to the Americas, and according to legend, she shot old tío Esteban dead and ran off to Panama with 500 pesos before the ship set sail back to Spain from the port of Cartagena. After escaping from a convent at the age of 15, Erauso cut her hair and bummed her way around Spain working odd jobs and using pseudonyms like Pedro de Orive, Alonso Díaz and Antonio de Erauso. Be that as it may, Catalina de Erauso was born in the late 16th century to a comfortable family in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country. In fact, while a fair amount of historical record exists, some of the more risqué details of Erauso’s life come from an autobiography of rather questionable origin. So, to continue Remezcla’s celebration of Women’s History Month, we dedicate this week’s Throwback Thursday to that, by all accounts, ferocious, larger-than-life conquistadora/adventurer who swept through the New World like an early-modern category 5 hurricane.īefore we go into the details of her life, lets just say that the story of the Lieutenant Nun is another one of those situations where fact has seamlessly blended with fiction to create a sort of popular myth.
I admit, a transgender soldier being invited to the Papal Court seems a little far fetched - especially in the seventeenth century when all this actually happened - but the fact is that the “Lieutenant Nun,” Catalina de Erauso, was something like an international celebrity back in the days of the Spanish Empire, and her legacy has been so enduring that she has inspired countless monographs, video games, works of fiction, and films over the years.
Remember that Spanish nun who dressed like a man, called herself Antonio, messed around with women, killed her uncle, killed her brother, killed a few dozen people in between, and was lauded by the King of Spain and the Pope alike? No?
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