Isabel Moctezuma

Doña Isabel Moctezuma (d. 1550 or 1551) was a daughter of the Aztec ruler Moctezuma II. After the Spanish conquest, doña Isabel was recognized as Moctezuma's legitimate heir, and became one of only three Indians granted an "encomienda" (the others being her sister Leonor Moctezuma, and Juan Sánchez). [Himmerich y Valencia [1991] : p. 27.]

Conversion to Christianity

Named Tecuichpo(ch)tzin ("lord's daughter") in Nahuatl, doña Isabel was baptized with her Spanish name after converting to Catholicism. Doña Isabel gave generously in alms to the Augustinians, to the point that she was asked to stop. [Gibson [1964] : p. 124.]

Marriages and children

As a young girl, Doña Isabel had been betrothed to her uncle Cuitlahuac and later her cousin Cuauhtemoc. After the death of the former from smallpox and the execution of the latter by Hernán Cortés in 1525, she was briefly married to a member of Cortes' original expeditionary force, Alonso de Grado, who died in 1528. Cortés granted Isabel the "encomienda" of Tacuba on the occasion of this marriage. She subsequently married Pedro Gallego, by whom she had a son, Juan de Andrade Moctezuma. Gallego died circa 1531, and she then married Juan Cano, by whom she had three sons and two daughters. She also had one daughter named Leonor, out of wedlock, by Cortés. [Gibson [1964] : p. 423.] According to Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Isabel was "a fairly attractive woman for an Indian."

Death

Doña Isabel died in 1550 or 1551. The inheritance of her "encomienda" was disputed between her widower, Juan Cano; Juan de Andrade, her eldest son from her previous marriage; and Diego Arias de Sotelo, son-in-law of doña Leonor Moctezuma, whom he claimed was Moctezuma's true heir. The result was that Arias de Sotelo's claim was dismissed, and Tacuba divided between Cano and Andrade. [Gibson [1964] : pp. 423–424.]

Notes

References

:cite book |author=aut|Chipman, Donald E. |year=1981 |chapter=Isabel Moctezuma: Pioneer of "Mestizaje" |editor=David G. Sweet & Gary B. Nash |title=Struggle and Survival in Colonial America |location=Berkeley |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=0-520-04110-0 |oclc=6250866:cite book |author=aut|Chipman, Donald E. |year=2005 |title=Moctezuma's Children: Aztec Royalty Under Spanish Rule, 1520–1700 |location=Austin |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=0-292-70628-6 |oclc=57134288:cite book |author=aut|García Granados, Rafael |authorlink=Rafael García Granados |year=1995 |origyear=1952 |chapter=4744 Moctezuma, doña Isabel |title=Diccionario biográfico de historia antigua de Méjico |location=México |publisher=UNAM |pages=vol. 3, pp. 148–150 |isbn=968-36-4291-8 |oclc=33992435:cite book |author=aut|Gibson, Charles |authorlink=Charles Gibson |year=1983 |origyear=1964 |title=The Aztecs Under Spanish Rule: A History of the Indians of the Valley of Mexico, 1519–1810 |location=Stanford |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=0-8047-0912-2:cite book |author=aut|Himmerich y Valencia, Robert |year=1996 |origyear=1991 |title=The Encomenderos of New Spain, 1521–1555 |location=Austin |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=0-292-73108-6 |oclc=36279278