Antonio
Who was Antonio?
Basque explorer, adventurer, soldier, explorer, memorialist, authorized by Pope Urban VIII to dress like a man
Biographical data adapted from Wikipedia’s article on Antonio (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Biography
Antonio de Erauso, born Catalina de Erauso in San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain, around 1585 or 1592, lived one of the most unusual lives of the early modern period. Born female, Erauso was placed in a Dominican convent as a child, where he stayed until escaping at fifteen in 1600, just before taking religious vows. From then on, Erauso dressed as a man and took on male identities, traveling through Spain before heading to Spanish America in 1603.
In the Americas, Erauso joined the Spanish colonial military and served as a soldier in several campaigns across South America, including present-day Chile and Peru. He fought under different names, mainly Alonso Díaz Ramírez de Guzmán, before finally using Antonio de Erauso. His service was extensive and often violent, with duels, clashes with colonial authorities, and times on the run. He was a skilled and brave soldier, gaining recognition from military leaders during his active service.
When his birth identity was discovered, he was handed to church authorities. Instead of harsh punishment, he received leniency. He traveled to Spain and Rome, where in 1626, Pope Urban VIII allowed him to keep wearing male clothing, a rare papal approval for that time. King Philip IV of Spain also gave him a pension for his military service, acknowledging his years as a soldier in the colonies.
After returning to the Americas, Erauso settled in New Spain, working as a muleteer under the name Antonio de Erauso. He spent his later years in the area around Veracruz and Orizaba, in what is now Mexico. He died in Cotaxtla Municipality, near Orizaba, in 1650. During his life, Erauso wrote a memoir about his remarkable life, which was circulated as a manuscript and published after his death. The text, known as the Historia de la Monja Alférez, gave a firsthand account of his adventures and military exploits across two continents.
Erauso became known in the Spanish-speaking world as La Monja Alférez, meaning The Ensign Nun or The Nun Lieutenant, a title that highlighted the contrast of his life as someone raised in a convent but also a military officer. His story caught attention during his lifetime and continues to spark interest in various academic, literary, and cultural circles since his death.
Before Fame
Antonio de Erauso was born into a Basque family in San Sebastián, a northern Spanish port city known for its maritime and trade traditions. Like many daughters of modest families in Counter-Reformation Spain, he was sent to a religious house at a young age. He entered the Dominican convent of San Sebastián el Antiguo as a child, where he received a basic education but never formally became a nun.
Around 1600, when he was about fifteen, Erauso ran away from the convent before taking his vows. He made men's clothes from his habit and started traveling through northern Spain using masculine names, taking various jobs. This time spent wandering the Iberian Peninsula allowed him to learn how to navigate Spanish society as a young man. In 1603, he decided to move to the Indies, a decision that shaped the rest of his life.
Key Achievements
- Served as an enlisted soldier and officer in Spanish colonial military campaigns across South America, including in Chile and Peru
- Received a papal dispensation from Pope Urban VIII to legally wear male clothing, one of the very few such grants in Catholic Church history
- Authored a memoir, the Historia de la Monja Alférez, a significant early autobiographical text in Spanish literature
- Was awarded a royal pension by King Philip IV of Spain for military service in the Americas
- Escaped religious confinement and successfully maintained a male identity across two continents for decades
Did You Know?
- 01.Pope Urban VIII issued Erauso a personal dispensation in 1626 allowing him to legally wear male clothing for the rest of his life, an exceptionally rare papal accommodation.
- 02.Erauso served as a soldier in the Arauco War in Chile, one of the longest and most costly conflicts in Spanish colonial history, fought against the Mapuche people.
- 03.He worked as a mule driver in Mexico in his final years, going by the name Antonio de Erauso and living openly as a man without incident.
- 04.King Philip IV of Spain granted Erauso a military pension in recognition of his service in the colonial armies of South America, treating his record as equivalent to that of any male soldier.
- 05.Erauso's memoir was not published until 1829, nearly two centuries after his death, yet it had circulated in manuscript and inspired plays and retellings during his own lifetime.