Lieutenant Nun: Memoir of a Basque Transvestite in the New World

Whatever De Erauso's gender identity and sexuality was, and however they might have understood it, there's no denying they understood how to perform contemporary male braggadocio. Imagine if Lord Flashheart from Blackadder had a backstory as a Basque nun.

A brief and fascinating account, via court ordered autobiography (One of the earliest known by a woman) of Catalina de Erauso. This early 17th Century Basque adventurer and free spirit escaped from a convent dressed as a man and went on to live as a New World soldier in the Spanish army, gambler, and mistakenly killed her brother in a duel. After her truth being discovered, she became famous in Spanish-speaking world. This very natural translation of her audacious escapades includes a helpful, context-setting foreword by Marjorie Garber that compares the transvestism and passing of adventurous women to tales of Shakespeare and other historical cases.

My Spanish bil confirmed for me that de Erauso is indeed a Spanish (folk)hero. Reading of his exploits & adventures provided a fascinating glimpse into his life in the new world, outlining his exploits as a gambler, soldier, and adventurer. De Erauso got into enough scrapes that he often relied on the sanctuary of the Church for protection; later in his life, after confessing his born identity, the Church accepted him & the pope gave him a special dispensation to continue dressing as a man. A unique view of a Spanish hero. Worth a read, especially for the historical value.

FYI, here is a different translation than the one I read, freely available online:
show more target="_top">http://mith.umd.edu//eada/html/display.php?docs=erauso_autobiography.xml&act.... show less

In explaining some of his more outlandish exploits; Sherlock Holmes was fond of saying that after eliminating all other possibilities, whatever remains, not matter how improbable, is the answer. Applying this logic to the equally outlandish and seemingly impossible life of Catalina de Erauso one can only assume that if everything in her autobiography is true; then she was gifted with miraculous good luck. Her autobiography, outlining her life-long masquerade, as man is either an amazing example of a woman's ability to stretch the limits of her social status, or one of history's great practical jokes.

Prime among her accomplishments are her ability in not arousing suspicion of her true gender; even when fully exposed. Erauso cites a show more number of specific moments where in her own words she states she was naked. Whether or not Erauso is being honest is a question that cannot be answered; but if we take this to be true then we must assume that her definition of nudity referred to her being only bare above the waist. In a moment of dry humor, following an arrest in the city of La Plata wherein she was stripped on a rack, instead of the expected discovery of her gender, Erauso writes that a lawyer instead pointed out that she is a Basquero. Her obvious delight in pointing out the various instance where no one guesses her gender disguise makes the case that perhaps some exaggeration exists, if only to make the story more exciting. As such is the case, if some exaggeration is to be expected form the original source, the retelling of her story must certainly be seen as somewhat suspect. The sources of this story come from two basic texts, that of Spanish royal historian Juan Bautista Munoz and Joaquin de Ferrer. In both these cases its argued that some embellishment could have been made in their setting down the story to print, if not purposely, then unwittingly. Stephanie Merrim's review of the story believes Erauso's story to be historically accurate, but states, "…that Erauso herself probably told her story to another writer who then added to what she had related." Although history does correlate the existence of Erauso and the basic tent poles of her life story with documents and witness affidavits, the authenticity of the details remain a matter of personal judgment. show less

My goodness, what an interesting life! I suppose my only frustration is that De Erauso was writing a confession, not a memoir, and so I was left very hungry for more. Just how she was able to get through situations such as being stripped and nearly racked without being revealed as a woman is something I'd really like to know. This is very much a "Perils of Pauline" story, and quite an interesting look at 16th-century Latin America and the Spaniards who settled there.

This book is a treasure! Throughout history women have gone underground to pursue their chosen professions, and Catalina de Erauso wanted to be a soldier. She got to be one, and wasn't the only military "maid" in the early seventeenth century. The life had its problems as well as its liberations. the tone of the translation is a masterly choice.

Catalina de Erauso’s journal tells the fascinating story of her life as a nun turned military and her incredible adventures in South America during colonial times. The single fact that she lived as a man among soldiers in those times is in itself an amazing story.

The foreword by Marjorie Garber gives interesting details about those colonial times when royalty and the priesthood ruled. Garber ponder’s about Catalina de Erauso’s psyche and sexual identity, being careful not to interpret the lieutenant nun’s life solely by today’s cultural Western values.

The book includes interesting notes on the translation. One difficulty was bringing to life a Spanish picaresque style that those who read “El Lazarillo de Tormes” in show more school might recognize. The translators, Michele and Gabriel Stepto, also faced other difficulties that they discuss. Chief among them, was the inability to translate gender (adjectives ending in O or A), as those gender endings bring into focus her identity.

There is a recent version of Catalina de Erauso’s text in the original Spanish, which I hope to read soon. show less