An exploration of women's involvement in the Latin American Wars of Independence

Francisca Villanova y Marco

Gender:Female

Ethnic origen: White

Events:

Connections:

Biography:
From Bogotá, she married Viceroy Amar y Borbon. On 11 September 1808 she attended a banquet to show loyalty to Fernando VII. (Monsalve, 29-30)

On 13 August 1810, after Independence was declared, she and the Viceroy were defended from an angry crowd by Magdalena Ortega, wife of Nariño. The crowd wanted to punish the former Viceroy for the mistakes of the administration. (Knaster, 484, Forero, 118-128.)

On 20 July 1810 she and the Viceroy were imprisoned by after a group of creoles stormed the palace. She was held in a convent and on 13 August taken to the Cárcel del Divorcio, a place for lost women. Some 600 women wearing sayas and mantles lined the streets as she was taken from the convent to the prison. It was said to be a miracle that Villanova reached the prison alive. On 14 August the nobility of the town insisted the Viceroys should be released from prison and returned to the palace. The plaza was sealed off to protect them from the crowd. Ortega was among several named by Monsalve who achieved their safe transfer. (Monsalve, 92-94)

References:

Forero, Manuel José (1970) Grandes heroinas de Colombia, Doña Magdalena Ortega de Nariño, La Precursora
Knaster, Meri (1977) Women in Spanish America: An Annotated Bibliography from Pre-Conquest to Contemporary Times
Monsalve, José D (1926) Mujeres de la independencia