Maria Flores () was an enslaved

Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...

n woman who campaigned for her liberation from slavery during the

Trienio Liberal The , () or Three Liberal Years, was a period of three years in Spain between 1820 and 1823 when a liberal government ruled Spain after a military uprising in January 1820 by the lieutenant-colonel Rafael del Riego against the absolutist rule ...

Biography

Maria was born in 1775, the daughter of the Muslim slave Roc Sentí Martí, and was baptised with only a

mononym A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. A mononym may be the person's only name, given to them at birth. This was routine in most ancient societies, and remains ...

ic first name. Her parents had been captured in

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

and sold into slavery in Ibiza. In 1785, she was made the slave of the

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

Joan Gota-redona Tur, who gave her the surname "

Meca ''mecA'' is a gene found in bacterial cells which allows them to be resistant to antibiotics such as methicillin, penicillin and other penicillin-like antibiotics. The bacteria strain most commonly known to carry ''mecA'' is methicillin-resistan ...

". In 1792, Gota-redona died and Maria was made the property of Bernat Guasc Prats. By 1801, she had changed her name to Maria Flores. While enslaved by Guasc, she had three children to an unknown father. Her two sons, Manuel () and Roc (), died at a young age. Her daughter, Rita (), was also enslaved by Guasc. By the end of the 18th century, Maria was one of thirteen enslaved people (of which five were women) in Ibiza. At this time, slaves were seen as a

status symbol A status symbol is a visible, external symbol of one's social position, an indicator of Wealth, economic or social status. Many luxury goods are often considered status symbols. ''Status symbol'' is also a Sociology, sociological term – as part ...

by members of the Ibizan aristocracy. At the beginning of the

in 1820, the enslaved Ibizan women began campaigning for their freedom, receiving attention from the Spanish press. That year, Maria herself filed a lawsuit against Guasc. On 28 March 1821, the

Cortes Generales The (; ) are the Bicameralism, bicameral legislative chambers of Spain, consisting of the Congress of Deputies (the lower house) and the Senate of Spain, Senate (the upper house). The Congress of Deputies meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, ...

opened a debate on Maria's case; during the session, she requested that her and her daughter be given police protection. Some in the Cortes argued for the complete abolition of slavery, while others cautioned that it should be done within the bounds of the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

. Maria argued that Guasc could already consider himself "reimbursed" for her purchase and requested that she herself be reimbursed a salary for 32 years of forced labour. The liberal Cortes ultimately failed to resolve her case before the restoration of absolute monarchy in 1823. On 24 November 1824,

Ferdinand VII of Spain Ferdinand VII (; 14 October 1784 – 29 September 1833) was Monarchy of Spain, King of Spain during the early 19th century. He reigned briefly in 1808 and then again from 1813 to his death in 1833. Before 1813 he was known as ''el Deseado'' (t ...

decreed the release of Maria and her daughter from slavery. The word "slave" was struck from her birth certificate by the church. Maria Flores was one of the last people to be enslaved in Ibiza.

Slavery in Spain Slavery in Spain began in the 15th century and reached its peak in the 16th century. The history of Spanish enslavement of Africans began with Portuguese captains Antão Gonçalves and Nuno Tristão in 1441. The first large group of African s ...

was finally abolished in 1837.

Legacy

The story of Maria Flores was rediscovered by the magazine ''Estampa'' in 1928. In the 21st century, the Ibiza City Council named a street after Maria Flores.

References

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Biography

Legacy

References

Bibliography

Further reading