María Gertrudis Bocanegra de Mendoza de Lazo de la Vega (April 11, 1765, Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, New Spain—October 11, 1817, Pátzcuaro) was a woman who fought in the Mexican War of Independence. Events 491 - Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine Emperor, with the name of Anastasius I. Year 1765 ( MDCCLXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Pátzcuaro, which means "city of stones" in the Purepecha language is a city and its surrounding municipality in the central part of the Mexican Michoacán formally Michoacán de Ocampo (from Nahuatl Michhuacān "place of the fishermen" is one of the 31 constituent states The Viceroyalty of New Spain (Virreinato de Nueva España was a name given to the Viceroy -ruled territories of the Spanish Empire in North America, Events 1138 - A massive earthquake struck Aleppo, Syria. 1531 - Huldrych Zwingli is killed Year 1817 ( MDCCCXVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The Mexican War of Independence (1810 - 1821 was an armed conflict between the people of Mexico and Spanish colonial authorities which started on September 16 1810 She was arrested, tortured and executed in 1817.
Bocanegra was born in 1765 to prosperous Spanish parents in what is now the Mexican state of Michoacán. Year 1765 ( MDCCLXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a She married Lieutenant Pedro Advícula de la Vega, a soldier in the Spanish provincial forces of Michoacán. Unusually for a woman of her time, Bocanegra had read the principal authors of the Age of Enlightenment. The Age of Enlightenment or The Enlightenment is a term used to describe a phase in Western philosophy and cultural life centered upon the eighteenth century When Mexico's War of Independence began, she was quick to take sides. She served as a messenger for the insurgents in the region of Pátzcuaro and Tacámbaro, helping to form a communications network between the principal locations of the rebellion. Her husband and one of her sons joined the forces of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla when the insurgents passed through Valladolid (now Morelia) in October 1810. Miguel Gregorio Antonio Ignacio Hidalgo y Costilla Gallaga Mondarte Villaseñor ( May 8 1753 &ndash July 30 1811) also known as Miguel Morelia is the capital of the Mexican state of Michoacán de Ocampo. Both of them died in the war.
During the guerrilla war, she was sent to Pátzcuaro to aid the rebels in the capture of the city. However, she was betrayed and taken prisoner by the royal army in 1817. She was subjected to torture to get her to reveal the names of other rebels, but she refused to give information to the Spaniards. Finally she was tried and found guilty of treason.
She was sentenced to death, and the sentence was carried out October 11, 1817 in Pátzcuaro, where she had been born 52 years before. Events 1138 - A massive earthquake struck Aleppo, Syria. 1531 - Huldrych Zwingli is killed Year 1817 ( MDCCCXVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Facing the firing squad, she harangued her executioners before she was shot.
She is known in Mexico as La Heroína de Pátzcuaro. A plaza was named in her honor in that city, and a bronze statute was erected of her. A 1992 Mexican movie was made about her life (Gertrudis Bocanegra at the Internet Movie Database).
References
- This article is a loose translation of the Spanish Wikipedia article
- Salmonson, Jessica Amanda (1991). The Encyclopedia of Amazons. Paragon House. page 35. ISBN 1-55778-420-5
- (Spanish) "Bocanegra de Lazo de la Vega, Gertrudis," Enciclopedia de México, v. 2. Mexico City, 1988.
External links
- (Spanish) Brief biography
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