Cortes Gave One Of These Women To Each Of
His Captains.
These were the first Christian women in New Spain.
The young native who was baptised by the name of Donna Marina was a woman
of high rank, which she shewed in her and appearance, of a beautiful
person and countenance, a quick genius and high spirit, and rendered very
essential services in the sequel of our expedition. She was a native of
the village of Painalla, in the province of Guacacualca, or
Coatzacualco[10]. Her father was prince or cacique of Painalla and
several other districts, under subjection to the empire of Mexico; but
dying while she was an infant, her mother married another cacique, by whom
she had a son, to whom they wished to give the succession which ought to
have belonged to Marina. For this purpose they gave her away privately to
some merchants of Xicallanco, a place on the borders of Tabasco in
Yucutan, giving out that she was dead, and going into mourning for the
daughter of one of their slaves who died at this time, and was much of the
same age. These merchants sold her to some chief in Tabasco, by whom she
was afterwards presented to Cortes, who presented her to Puertocarrero;
and when that cavalier returned to Spain, Cortes took her to himself, and
had a son by her, named Don Martin Cortes, who became a knight of St Jago.
She afterwards married, during our expedition to Higueras, a cavalier
named Juan Xaramillo.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 741 of 789
Words from 206282 to 206534
of 219607
