Beatriz de Palacios was a Spanish woman soldier,

nurse Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

and

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

of African and Spanish descent who took part in the

Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire was a pivotal event in the history of the Americas, marked by the collision of the Aztec Triple Alliance and the Spanish Empire. Taking place between 1519 and 1521, this event saw the Spanish conquistad ...

. She is widely considered to be one of the first people of African ancestry to set foot in the new world.Pereyra CC. Hernán Cortes. Ed. Porrúa Col. Sepan Cuantos 1971 México (165), 165.

Biography

Nicknamed "La Parda" due to the tone of her skin (''

Pardo In the former Portuguese and Spanish colonies in the Americas, ''pardos'' (feminine ''pardas'') are triracial descendants of Europeans, Indigenous Americans and Africans. History In some places they were defined as neither exclusively ...

'' being a term for someone of mixed ancestry), she arrived to the new world with the expedition of

Pánfilo de Narváez Pánfilo de Narváez (; born 1470 or 1478, died 1528) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' and soldier in the Americas. Born in Spain, he first sailed to the island of Jamaica (then Santiago) in 1510 as a soldier. Pánfilo participated in the conque ...

along with her husband, a Spaniard named Pedro de Escobar, and her father, Cristobal Palacios. She is mentioned by Francisco Cervantes de Salazar and

Bernal Díaz del Castillo Bernal Díaz del Castillo ( 1492 – 3 February 1584) was a Spanish conquistador who participated as a soldier in the conquest of the Aztec Empire under Hernán Cortés and late in his life wrote an account of the events. As an experienced ...

among other famous conquerors who often express admiration towards her. Her date of birth is not clear. She served as a nurse under the command of Isabel Rodríguez, but also fought at the front lines in battle, often taking over the guard duties in place of her husband whenever he was too tired. She tended to his wounds and the wounds of others, saddled the horses, took care of the weapons, and did everything just like any other soldier. Palacios served with honor during

La Noche Triste La Noche Triste ("The Night of Sorrows", literally "The Sad Night"), was an important event during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, wherein Hernán Cortés, his army of Spanish conquistadors, and their native allies were driven out of th ...

, helping the Spanish troops evacuate

Tenochtitlan , also known as Mexico-Tenochtitlan, was a large Mexican in what is now the historic center of Mexico City. The exact date of the founding of the city is unclear, but the date 13 March 1325 was chosen in 1925 to celebrate the 600th annivers ...

, and later took part in the retaking of the city. Both she and her husband survived the conquest and established a family in Cuba.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palacios, Beatriz Spanish explorers 16th-century Spanish women Spanish conquistadoras Conquistadors of African descent Women in the Conquest of Mexico Spanish emigrants to Cuba Spanish people of African descent

Biography

See also

References