Antonio de Erauso, born as Catalina de Erauso (San Sebastián, Spain, 1585 or 15921592 according to the baptismal record; 1585, according to sources including the supposed autobiography. See . — Cotaxtla near Orizaba, New Spain, 1650), was best known as a Basque explorer. Although born female, from the age of 15 the youth dressed and lived as a boy. He went by Alonso Díaz and some other masculine names, later taking on the name Antonio de Erauso, which he used for the remainder of his life. He is also known in Spanish as La Monja Alférez (The Ensign Nun or The Nun Lieutenant).
Sent to a convent as a young child, Erauso never took vows, and escaped the convent in 1600 at age 15. From then on, using mostly male identities, he travelled around Spain. In 1603, he migrated to Spanish America, where he lived and fought in the first half of the century. Erauso's life was the subject of his own autobiography, as well as historical studies, biographies, novels, movies and comics.
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) or February 10, 1592 (according to a baptismal certificate).María Claudia André, Eva Paulino Bueno, Latin American Women Writers: An Encyclopedia (2014, ).Jerome R. Adams, Notable Latin American Women: Twenty-nine Leaders (1995, ), ch. 5, pp. 45-46. Erauso's parents were Miguel de Erauso and Maria Pérez de Arce Galarraga, both of whom had been born and lived in San Sebastián. Miguel was a captain 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.
Life at the convent Around the year 1589, at age 4, Erauso (together with sisters Isabel and Maria) was placed in the Dominican convent of San Sebastián el Antiguo, where Erauso's mother's cousin, Ursula de Uriza e Sarasti, held the position of prioress. Erauso grew into a strong, stocky, and quick-tempered individual.Velasco (2000), p. 2. Lacking religious vocation, feeling imprisoned, and refusing to take vows, Erauso was detained in a cell because of violence.
At 15, after being beaten by one of the older nuns, Erauso decided to escape. On March 18, 1600, Erauso found the keys of the convent hanging, waited for the other nuns to be at morning prayer, and escaped. Erauso spent a week fashioning boy's clothes, and headed for Vitoria, staying off the main roads. With short hair, Erauso easily passed as a boy there.
Travels around Spain
From this moment, Erauso began the life of a fugitive, which he later narrated in the autobiography that brought him great fame. In Vitoria, Erauso met a doctor and professor, Francisco de Cerralta.In Vallbona's edition, the name is spelled Zeralta (Mendieta 2009, p. 86). He was married to a cousin of Erauso's mother, but took the youth in without recognition.Eva Mendieta, In search of Catalina de Erauso (2009), p. 86.Pérez-Villanueva, Life (2014), p. 78. Erauso stayed with him for three months, learning some Latin, but when Cerralta became abusive, Erauso left.
Erauso took money from the doctor, met a mule driver and travelled to Valladolid with him. The court of King Philip III of Spain resided in Valladolid, under the influence of the Duke of Lerma.Ilenia Colón Mendoza, The Cristos yacentes of Gregorio Fernández (2017, ), p. 3. Disguised as a man named Francisco de Loyola,Luis de Castresana, Obras selectas de Luis de Castresana: Catalina de Erauso, la monja alférez (1970), p. 68. Erauso served in the court for seven months as a page of the king's secretary, Juan de Idiáquez. One day Erauso's father came to speak to Idiáquez.Pérez-Villanueva, Life (2014), p. 95. His father talked to Idiáquez, , all without recognizing that he had just spoken to that youth.
Afterwards, Erauso decided to head to Bilbao.Adams (1995), pp. 46-47. Upon arriving, Erauso was unable to 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.Mendieta (2009), p. 104. Upon release from prison, Erauso went to Estella, and found work as a page there, under an important lord of the town called Alonso de Arellano. Erauso was his servant for two years, where he was 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 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, Erauso embarked on Holy Monday, 1603 to America. Like many Basques of his time, Erauso wanted to venture to the Indies.
Erauso lived as a man, in masculine dress with short hair; he used a variety of names: 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" his breasts with a secret ointment.
Travels in the New World
Erauso's ship first landed at Punta de Araya, now part of Venezuela, where the Spanish had a confrontation with a Dutch pirate fleet, which they 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 brought the silver shipment on board. When the ship was ready to depart for Spain, Erauso shot and killed his uncle (mother's cousin) and stole 500 pesos. He told the sailors that his uncle had sent him on an errand and left the ship. An hour later, he watched it depart for Spain without him.
He traveled with an usher to Panama, where he started working with Juan de Urquiza, merchant of Trujillo. He went with Urquiza 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 died.
After a brief time in Paita, he went to Zana, a place full of cattle, grains, fruits and tobacco from Peru. There, his master gave Erauso a home, clothing and a large amount of money, as well as three black slaves. In Saña he fought with a young man who threatened him in a comedy theater. He severely cut the man's face. He was taken to jail again. But through efforts of his master, de Urquiza, and the bishop, Erauso was released on a condition: that he marry Doña Beatriz de Cárdenas, lady of his master and aunt of the man whose face he cut. He refused to marry.
He left and went to Trujillo, where his master opened a store. The man he had cut so badly came after him with two friends. Erauso also had a companion in the ensuing fight; one of his challenger's friends was killed, and Erauso was blamed and imprisoned. Although his master saved him again, he gave Erauso money and a letter of recommendation and sent him away to Lima, capital of the Viceroyalty of Peru.
Erauso gave the letter to Diego de Solarte, a very rich merchant and greater consul of Lima. After a few days Erauso was given a shop to manage. He was responsible for the business for nine months, but was fired when discovered fondling a woman, the sister of his master's wife.
He next found a company recruiting to conquer Chile. Erauso enlisted under the command of Captain Gonzalo Rodriguez. Erauso was part of a force of 1600 men traveling from Lima to Concepción. From 1617 to 1619 he worked as a llama-driver for transport of goods between Chuquisaca and the great silver mining center of Potosí. There he was recruited as a soldier.Lane, Kris. Potosí:The Silver City that Changed the World. Berkeley: University of California Press 2019, pp. 100-101.
Military exploits
After the company reached Chile in 1619, the army swept through the lands and property of the Mapuche people. Erauso acted as a conqueror, massacring many Indians. In Chile the secretary of the governor was his brother Don Miguel de Erauso; Miguel welcomed him without recognizing him. Erauso lived there for three years but because of a dispute with his brother, possibly because of a woman, he was banished to Paicabí, territory of Indians.
There, Erauso fought in the service of the crown in the Arauco War against the Mapuche in today's Chile. He earned a reputation for bravery and skill with weapons, without revealing that he was biologically a woman.
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. Many complaints were made against him for his cruelty to the Indians, and Erauso did not receive more promotions.
He reacted with more violence: killing people he met on the road, and causing extensive damage and burning crops. In Concepción, he assassinated the chief auditor of the city. He was locked in a church for six months, but after release, killed his brother Miguel in a duel. He was 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. There he promised marriage to two young women: the daughter of an Indian widow (who hosted Erauso on her farm during his convalescence) and the niece of a canon.
Erauso fled without marrying either woman, but kept the money and fine clothing given by the canon's niece as a sign of love. He went to the silver city of Potosí, where he became the assistant to a sergeant. He returned to fight against the Indians, participating in mass killings in Chuncos.
But in La Plata (formerly Chuquisaca, later Sucre, now in Bolivia) he was accused of a crime he did not commit. He was tortured during interrogation and finally freed again without his biological sex being discovered.
Once free, he smuggled 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. He took sanctuary for five months in a church after a duel with a jealous husband.
After moving to La Paz, he was sentenced again to death for another offense. To escape, he pretended to confess. After seizing a consecrated host, he fled to Cuzco and returned to Peru.
Return to Spain and audience with Pope Urban VIII
In 1623 Erauso was arrested in Huamanga, Peru, because of a dispute. To avoid execution, he begged Bishop Agustín de Carvajal for mercy, confessing that he was actually a woman and had been in a convent in early life. Following a review in which a group of matrons determined that Erauso was a woman and a virgin, the bishop protected him, sending him 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.