María Pacheco

María Pacheco was born {{circa|1496}},{{Sfnm|1a1=Fink De Backer|1y=2004|1p=72|2a1=Pérez|2y=2018}} in the palace of the Alhambra, in the Kingdom of Granada.{{Sfnm|1a1=Fink De Backer|1y=2004|1p=72|2a1=Kaplan|2y=2015|2p=24|3a1=Pérez|3y=2018}} She was the daughter of Íñigo López de Mendoza, the Count of Tendilla,{{Sfnm|1a1=Fink De Backer|1y=2004|1p=72|2a1=Fleming|2y=2018|2p=270|3a1=Pérez|3y=2018}} and Francisca Pacheco.{{Sfnm|1a1=Fink De Backer|1y=2004|1p=72|2a1=Pérez|2y=2018}} Her mother died in 1507, while María was still a child.{{Sfn|Fink De Backer|2004|p=72}} She was raised by her father, an intellectual of the Spanish Renaissance,{{Sfnm|1a1=Fink De Backer|1y=2004|1p=72|2a1=Pérez|2y=2018}} who provided his daughter with an education.{{Sfnm|1a1=Fink De Backer|1y=2004|1p=72|2a1=Kaplan|2y=2015|2p=24|3a1=Pérez|3y=2018}} Taught by Hernán Núñez and Peter Martyr d'Anghiera, she was educated in the Latin and Greek languages, as well as mathematics, history, poetry and Christian scripture.{{Sfnm|1a1=Fink De Backer|1y=2004|1p=72|2a1=Pérez|2y=2018}} She also studied the classical politics.{{Sfn|Kaplan|2015|p=24}}

By the time María entered her adolescence, the House of Mendoza was already losing its political and economic influence in Granada, in part as Mendoza was an opponent of the Spanish Inquisition. Despite their loyalty to Fernando V, which had cost them land holdings and significant military expenses, the Mendozas were largely snubbed by the monarch. Mendoza thus sought an alliance with the Padilla family, which commanded the Order of Calatrava and presided over the {{ill|Council of Orders|es|Consejo de las Órdenes}}, and which had declared its loyalty to Juana of Castile.{{Sfn|Fink De Backer|2004|pp=72-73}}

Although López de Mendoza still considered himself loyal to Fernando, he shared the Padillas' fidelity to the House of Trastámara against the rising House of Habsburg and a desire to protect the autonomy of the Kingdom of Toledo from the Crown of Castile. Pacheco herself took up this anti-Habsburg sentiment, as she considered the legitimacy of the Spanish monarchy to be based in its attention to the welfare of the country, and particularly the Spanish nobility.{{Sfn|Fink De Backer|2004|p=73}}

By 1509, Mendoza was already considering the formalisation of his alliance with the Padillas by marrying his daughter off to the family. As he had a tender love for María, and wanted to spare her the effects of her older sister's unhappy marriage, he wanted to ensure she was set up with a suitable partner.{{Sfn|Fink De Backer|2004|pp=73-74}} He found his desired match in Juan de Padilla.{{Sfnm|1a1=Fink De Backer|1y=2004|1pp=73-74|2a1=Kaplan|2y=2015|2p=24|3a1=Pérez|3y=2018}} In November 1510, a dowry was finally agreed,{{Sfn|Fink De Backer|2004|p=74}} on the condition that Pacheco renounce her inheritance to her husband.{{Sfnm|1a1=Fink De Backer|1y=2004|1p=74|2a1=Kaplan|2y=2015|2p=24|3a1=Pérez|3y=2018}} When López de Padilla finally arrived in Granada on 14 August 1511, Pacheco had not yet met her betrothed{{sfn|Fink De Backer|2004|pp=74-75}} and was apparently apprehensive about the arranged marriage.{{sfnm|1a1=Fink De Backer|1y=2004|1pp=74-75|2a1=Kaplan|2y=2015|2p=24}} The couple were officially engaged the following day, in a ceremony attended by the Padillas and Mendozas, as well as the royal treasurer.{{Sfn|Fink De Backer|2004|p=75}}

As all this came at a great expense to him, Mendoza requested that Fernando appoint him as tax administrator for the Kingdom of Granada, which would provide him with the means he thought necessary to provide his daughter with a good wedding, but the King rejected his request.{{Sfn|Fink De Backer|2004|pp=75-76}} In 1514, they began making preparations for the wedding; the expenses of the event weighed heavily on Mendoza, who increasingly resented Fernando for his lack of support. He was unable to provide his daughter with a silk wedding dress or gold jewellery, and requested that his guests dress modestly.{{Sfn|Fink De Backer|2004|p=76}} He continued to request that Fernando help finance the event, but was repeatedly rebuffed, causing him great anxiety and financial stress, as he was forced to sell his jewellery and go into debt to "everyone in the city" in order to pay for the wedding.{{Sfn|Fink De Backer|2004|pp=76-77}}

The wedding was finally held on 18 January 1515, in the middle of the winter. The wedding was attended by 150 people and Pacheco's fiancé was greeted by "everyone in the city who could ride a horse".{{Sfn|Fink De Backer|2004|p=77}} Morisco officials from Albaicín also blessed the event, as a sign of respect that the citizens of Granada had for Mendoza. He was keen to report this to Fernando, in a display of the success of his religious tolerance against Fernando's policy of religious persecution.{{Sfn|Fink De Backer|2004|pp=77-78}} After the wedding, Pacheco and her new husband left for Porcuna, in the Kingdom of Toledo. Although saddened by his daughter leaving, Mendoza was satisfied that she would be treated well by the Padillas.{{Sfn|Fink De Backer|2004|p=78}}

Not long after arriving in Porcuna, Padilla left to attend to business, leaving Pacheco in charge of the local commandery. Already experienced in management, having run the affairs at the Alhambra after her mother's death, Pacheco took over the Padilla family's enterprises. She also kept her father informed of his enemies' activities at King Fernando's court, and acted as an intermediary between the Mendozas and Padillas, placing her at the centre of the two families' plans and aspirations.{{Sfn|Fink De Backer|2004|pp=78-79}} Little documentary information of her activities exist in the years following her father's death in July 1515; during this time, she cultivated her influence in the Kingdom of Toledo, rising to a prominent position that eventually saw her in command of the city of Toledo.{{Sfn|Fink De Backer|2004|p=79}}

File:Doña María Pacheco después de Villalar (Museo del Prado).jpg

File:1853, Los mártires de la libertad española, vol I, El obispo Acuña y la viuda de Padilla arengan al pueblo de Toledo después de la batalla de Villalar.jpg in Toledo, rallying the city to her banner after her husband's execution, depicted in an 1853 lithograph by Julio Donón]]

Following the coronation of Carlos I as King of Castile, the Flemish Jean Sauvage was appointed as the country's chancellor.{{Sfn|Fink De Backer|2004|pp=79-80}} The Padillas, who advocated for Toledan autonomy and were opponents of foreign rule, resisted the new administration.{{Sfnm|1a1=Fink De Backer|1y=2004|1pp=79-80|2a1=Kaplan|2y=2015|2pp=24-25}} Juan de Padilla defended the rites of the hidalgos (petty nobility) and the urban poor against the monarchy and the barons, gaining him substantial support in Toledo, where he led the Revolt of the Comuneros against the Crown.{{Sfn|Kaplan|2015|pp=24-25}}

In January 1521, after the death of the Flemish William de Croÿ, the Archbishop of Toledo, Pacheco seized the opportunity to promote a member of her own family to the position.{{Sfnm|1a1=Fink De Backer|1y=2004|1pp=79-80|2a1=Haliczer|2y=1981|2p=198}} Pacheco's own father had advocated for a strong secular authority over the Church and had advised his daughter on how to pursue this policy.{{Sfn|Fink De Backer|2004|pp=79-80}} She actively campaigned for the election of her brother {{ill|Francisco de Mendoza y Pacheco{{!}}Francisco de Mendoza|es|Francisco de Mendoza y Pacheco}},{{Sfnm|1a1=Fink De Backer|1y=2004|1pp=79-80|2a1=Pérez|2y=2018}} attempting to garner support before Carlos I was able to act against her.{{Sfn|Fink De Backer|2004|pp=79-80}} But a different faction of the comuneros opposed her moves and invited Antonio Osorio de Acuña, the Bishop of Zamora, to contest the election and limit Pacheco's power in Toledo.{{Sfnm|1a1=Fink De Backer|1y=2004|1pp=79-80|2a1=Haliczer|2y=1981|2p=198}} Although she feared Acuña's arrival would challenge her "uncontested authority",{{Sfn|Fink De Backer|2004|p=80}} the Bishop offered an exchange, in which she would support his election bid in return for her husband being appointed as commander of the Order of Santiago.{{Sfnm|1a1=Fink De Backer|1y=2004|1pp=79-80|2a1=Haliczer|2y=1981|2p=198}} Despite their agreement, Acuña was ultimately unable to consolidate clerical power in the city.{{Sfnm|1a1=Fink De Backer|1y=2004|1pp=79-80|2a1=Haliczer|2y=1981|2pp=198-199}} Meanwhile, Pacheco continued her movements to advance her family's interests in Toledo.{{Sfn|Fink De Backer|2004|p=80}}

After the defeat of the comuneros at the Battle of Villalar in April 1521, Pacheco's husband Juan de Padilla was executed by the royalist forces.{{Sfnm|1a1=Fink De Backer|1y=2004|1p=80|2a1=Kaplan|2y=2015|2p=25}} Pacheco immediately began crafting her public appearances in order to sway Toledan public opinion further in her favour: she kept herself clothed in mourning dress, brought her son with her and carried a painting of her late husband as she passed through the city's streets. Her denunciation of her husband's execution for his defence of the city won her popular support, which secured her position as the city's leader.{{Sfn|Fink De Backer|2004|p=79}} She seized the alcázar of Toledo, from which she appointed new officials, imposed taxes and oversaw the city's defences, ordering that church bells be melted down in order to make cannons.{{Sfn|Fleming|2018|p=270}} Unable to lead the revolt and raise her son at the same time, she sent him out of the city to be cared for by his uncle; he died two years later.{{Sfn|Fink De Backer|2004|p=80}}

Pacheco's leading role on the side of the comuneros contrasts with that of her brothers Antonio and Luis, who both fought on the side of the royalists in the Kingdom of Granada.{{Sfn|Fink De Backer|2004|pp=80-81}} Pacheco herself adhered to her family's legacy of resistance to foreign monarchs and maintained an intransigent commitment to the comunero cause, the latter of which saw her dubbed "La Valerosa" ({{langx|en|The Courageous}}) by the historian Prudencio de Sandoval. Pacheco held the monarchy to be dependent on the support of the Castilian nobility and needed to maintain its patronage, or risk losing their support. She thus believed that Carlos ought to be compelled to uphold Castilian noble rites by armed resistance.{{Sfn|Fink De Backer|2004|p=81}}

File:Huye_disfrazada_a_Portugal_Doña_Maria_de_Pacheco,_año_1522_(F._Blanch,_pint.).png

As Carlos brought more aristocrats over to the royalist side, the comuneros faced increasing demoralisation. Despite the tide of the conflict changing in favour of the royalists, Pacheco managed to rally Toledo into maintaining its resistance, even after the rest of Castile was pacified. From May 1521 to February 1522, she was the unquestioned leader of the city and was seen to have embodied the spirit of the comuneros. In October 1521, the French invasion of Navarre forced the royalists to the negotiating table.{{Sfn|Fink De Backer|2004|pp=81-82}} Pacheco secured advantageous terms for Toledo's surrender,{{Sfnm|1a1=Fink De Backer|1y=2004|1pp=81-82|2a1=Fleming|2y=2018|2pp=270-271}} including the return of the Padillas' sequestered property and a royal allowance, the latter of which was petitioned for by her brother Luis.{{Sfn|Fink De Backer|2004|pp=81-82}}

After the Navarre conflict ended, the comuneros feared that the royalists would go back on the terms won in October.{{Sfn|Fink De Backer|2004|p=82}} By the beginning of 1522, royalists were calling for the terms to be renegotiated and for the "authority of His Majesty" to be preserved.{{Sfn|Fleming|2018|p=270}} Pacheco re-fortified Toledo, pledging not to disarm until Carlos himself ratified the original treaty.{{Sfn|Fink De Backer|2004|p=82}} On Candlemas, the night of 2 February 1522, riots broke out after news broke that the Dutch Adriaan Florensz Boeyens had been elected as pope.{{Sfn|Fleming|2018|pp=270-271}} Pacheco gave one final speech to the city from her balcony,{{Sfnm|1a1=Fink De Backer|1y=2004|1p=82|2a1=Fleming|2y=2018|2pp=270-271}} proclaiming that the promised pardon had been rescinded by the royalists.{{Sfn|Fleming|2018|pp=270-271}}

After royalists began to call for Pacheco's head,{{Sfnm|1a1=Fink De Backer|1y=2004|1p=82|2a1=Fleming|2y=2018|2pp=270-271}} the comuneros committed themselves to a last stand against the royalists.{{Sfn|Fink De Backer|2004|p=82}} Pacheco herself fled the city,{{Sfnm|1a1=Fink De Backer|1y=2004|1p=82|2a1=Fleming|2y=2018|2pp=270-271}} disguised as a peasant.{{Sfn|Fleming|2018|pp=270-271}} Pacheco's sister and brother-in-law secured her escape to Portugal, where she fell into poverty and social isolation. While she earned a meager living as a Latin teacher, she repeatedly appealed to Carlos for amnesty, but was denied each time.{{Sfn|Fink De Backer|2004|p=82}} María Pacheco ultimately died in her Portuguese exile,{{Sfnm|1a1=Fink De Backer|1y=2004|1p=82|2a1=Fleming|2y=2018|2p=271}} in 1531.{{Sfnm|1a1=Fink De Backer|1y=2004|1p=82|2a1=Pérez|2y=2018}} Her body was buried in the Porto Cathedral.{{Sfn|Pérez|2018}}

File:Villadiego-mural-dedicado-a-maria-pacheco-diciembre-2021-a.jpg (2021)]]

Following the defeat of the Revolt of the Comuneros, Habsburg rule was cemented in Castile. In Toledo, the comuneros headquarters were demolished, a monument condemning Pacheco's revolt was raised in the city centre, and salt was ploughed into the earth,{{Sfnm|1a1=Fink De Backer|1y=2004|1p=82|2a1=Fleming|2y=2018|2pp=270-271}} preventing plants from growing in the Plaza de Padilla up into the 21st century.{{Sfn|Fink De Backer|2004|p=82}} Pacheco has variously been depicted throughout history as either a hero and a villain.{{Sfn|Fink De Backer|2004|p=83}} She was strongly disliked by contemporary chroniclers, due to her transgressions of traditional gender roles by taking up political and military command.{{Sfnm|1a1=Fink De Backer|1y=2004|1p=83|2a1=Fleming|2y=2018|2p=270}} Peter Martyr d'Anghiera described her the "husband of her husband" and depicted her as insane, while Alonzo de Santa Cruz alleged her to have been a practicioner of witchcraft; both of these interpretations were taken up by Antonio de Guevara.{{Sfn|Fleming|2018|p=270}}

Historian Stephanie Fink De Backer highlighted her among other Castilian rebel women, such as {{ill|Juana Pimentel|es}}, as well as the Castilian queens Isabel and Juana, as examples of exceptional women leaders of the medieval period.{{Sfn|Fink De Backer|2004|p=83}} Historian Temma Kaplan compared Pacheco and her husband to the Sikh leader Guru Nanak, and English levellers John Lilburne and Elizabeth Lilburne, as examples of advocates of social equality and human rights during the early modern period.{{Sfn|Kaplan|2015|pp=26, 30}}

{{reflist|2}}

{{refbegin|2}}

• {{cite book|last=Fink De Backer|first=Stephanie|chapter=Rebel with a Cause: The Marriage of María Pacheco and the Formation of Mendoza Identity| editor-last=Nader|editor-first=Helen|year=2004|title=Power and Gender in Renaissance Spain: Eight Women of the Mendoza Family, 1450-1650|url=https://archive.org/details/powergenderinren0000unse|publisher=University of Illinois Press|isbn=0-252-02868-6|pages=71–92}}
• {{Cite book|last=Fleming|first=Gillian B.|year=2018|chapter=Vengeance (1520-1522)|title=Juana I: Legitimacy and Conflict in Sixteenth-Century Castile|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-3-319-74346-2|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-74347-9|pages=257–277}}
• {{cite book|last=Haliczer|first=Stephen|year=1981|chapter=The Royalist Revival and the Collapse of the Revolution|title=The Comuneros of Castile: the Forging of a Revolution, 1475-1521|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press|isbn=0-299-08500-7|pages=180–206}}
• {{Cite book|last=Kaplan|first=Temma|year=2015|chapter=Prophetic Movements and Cities of Promise|title=Democracy: A World History|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=18–30|isbn=978-0-19-517676-6}}
• {{cite web|last=Pérez|first=Joseph|year=2018|title=María Pacheco|url=https://dbe.rah.es/biografias/7698/maria-pacheco|website=Real Academia de la Historia|language=es}}

{{refend}}

{{refbegin|2}}

• {{cite book|last=Álvarez|first=María Teresa|year=2007|title=La Comunera de Castilla|location=Madrid|publisher=La Esfera de los Libros|isbn=|language=es}}
• {{cite journal|last=Connell|first=Abigail|year=2018|title=Juana I of Castile and Maria Pacheco: Leadership and Power in Early Modern Spain|journal=Student Symposium|url=https://digitalcommons.owu.edu/studentsymposium/2018/poster_session/4}}
• {{cite book|last=Martínez de Lezea|first=Toti|year=2003|title=La Comunera|location=Madrid|publisher=Maeva|isbn=84-96748-05-7|language=es}}
• {{Cite book|last=Martínez Gil|first=Fernando|year=2005|title=María Pacheco: la mujer valerosa, historia de doña María Pacheco, comunera de Castilla (1497-1531)|location=Ciudad Real|publisher=Centro de Estudios de Castilla-La Mancha, D.L.|isbn=84-934140-1-8|language=es}}
• {{cite book|last=Martínez Gil|first=Fernando|chapter=María Pacheco (Granada, 14 de marzo de 1497 – Oporto, 1531)|editor-last=Alegre Carvajal|editor-first=Esther|title=Damas de la Casa de Mendoza: Historias, leyendas y olvidos|year=2014|pages=355–382|publisher=Polifemo|location=Madrid|isbn=978-84-16335-00-8|language=es}}
• {{cite journal|last=Rostworowski|first=Marek|year=1993|title=El Greco's 'Laocoön': An Epitaph for Toledo's 'Comuneros'?|journal=Artibus et Historiae|volume=14|issue=28|pages=77–83|doi=10.2307/1483509|jstor=1483509}}
• {{cite journal|last=Szászdi|first=István|year=2014|title=The Castilian Resistance to the Imperial Ideal (1520-1522). Factum and Iure in the first Globalization|journal=Journal on European History of Law|volume=5|issue=2|pages=56–66}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Pacheco, Maria}}

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Category:16th-century rebels

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Category:Castilian nobility

Category:Female military leaders

Category:Female revolutionaries

Category:House of Mendoza

Category:People from Granada

Category:People of the Revolt of the Comuneros

Category:Spanish female military personnel

Category:Spanish Renaissance people

Category:Women in 16th-century warfare

Category:Women in war in Spain