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Catalina de Erauso’s memoir “Lieutenant Nun” is an exciting tale of adventure and tragedy. Catalina escapes her life in a Dominican convent to start a new life travelling as a soldier and conquistador, then presenting herself as a man under various names including Francisco Loyola The most exciting part of the memoir, for me, was the […] read full post >>

After reading Lieutenant Nun, for the first time in my life I found myself almost rooting for a colonialist. I could not help but be utterly impressed by the success of her transformation into a soldier and conquistador and must admit that as I read this story  my mind was tempted to see Catalina de Erauso as … read full post >>

It’s crazy to think that she went through this at all, but even more so in a time filled with... read full post >>

The Lieutenant Nun is the story of the fascinating life of ‘The Lieutenant Nun’,  Catalina de Erauso who traveled through Spain and later Chile. This was done after running away from her life as a juvenile nun and assuming the identity of a male. Reading this I found many aspects very interesting;  the fact that she managed to … Continue reading "Blog Post 3 – Lieutenant Nun" read full post >>

The “Lieutenant Nun” reading was an interesting diary to read, written about adventures before, after and while experiencing the newly colonized world of Latin America. I really appreciated reading an excerpt from a woman, as I imagine female memoirs are hard to come by from that period… And in history in general… And actually, now […] read full post >>

After reading the story of Lieutenant Nun, I feel like I have some mixed feelings about this character. While admiring her courage of escpaing the identity given to her in order to become someone who she wants to be, I do not think I respect the person that she had become, and would even consider… read full post >>

Reading about Catalina de Erauso, the “Lieutenant Nun,” was an interesting task, mainly because I found it difficult to wrap my mind around any of the events that occurred. It was like a Hollywood account of some forgotten tale. Once I put that aside, it was a captivating read, especially in comparison to last week’s […] read full post >>

Lieutenant Nun was a story that to me did not fit into my image of colonial Latin America. Her story started as a tradition child given to the cloth, but ended in a way that intrigued me. I think this story illustrated the options that were available to women in the 15th century in a new light. The story of how people dedicate themselves to religion out of choice was not held up here, also the fact that women wanted to do nothing than take care of men for the...read more read full post >>

My very first thought after reading about Catalina de Erauso is that she reminded me of Mulan. The reason being that like the fictional character of Mulan she takes off and impersonates herself as a man. However, I still wonder if Catalina was simply doing this as an act of rebellion seeing how she was raised in […] read full post >>

It strains my credulity to believe that the memoir is an autobiography rather than a work of fiction.  The coincidences, like meeting relatives all over the place and sailing to the New World to be a soldier under her brother whom she eventually kills unknowingly, strains the imagination.  One reviewer pointed out, “Catalina’s memoir is […] read full post >>