Beatriz González

Beatriz González (16th century) was a member of the expedition of Hernán Cortés to Mexico. Born in Spain, her date of birth and of death are unknown, but her name has been preserved due to her exceptional courage while supporting the Spanish conquerors and their allied Native American troops as a nurse.

She was particularly active during the siege of Tenochtitlan, where she arrived following the troops of Pánfilo de Narvaez, and during the conquest of Pánuco. By the end of her life she fell out of luck and needed to ask the Crown of Spain for subsidies. To do so she alleged her services as a nurse and explorer during the conquest of Mexico. Her petition was granted.[1]

Spanish nurses during the Conquest

All women who joined the expedition--and there were many--had to work as battlefield nurses regardless of their race or social position. They treated the wounds with herbs and oil, and when oil was missing they used melted animal fat. This practice was started by Isabel Rodríguez. Thanks to the chronicle of the conquistadors we know the name of some of the bravest female nurses, like Beatriz Palacios, Juana Mansilla, María Estrada and Beatriz Muñoz.[2]

gollark: I fear that having official classes on it would end up dragging all the horrible school baggage along, like having *exams* on it, and going for stuff which is easy to test over good, and such.
gollark: There's nothing stopping people in schools from debating things amongst each other.
gollark: If only they had more text on them, you could do many funlolz.
gollark: Really? Interesting.
gollark: They should connect all the signs to the internet, so people can have more fun with it.

References
  1. Caza FA. Conquistadores y Pobladores de la Nueva España. 1923; Madrid Vol. 1. 154.
  2. Loredo Díaz LP. La historia de la enfenneria en la Nueva España. Temas Médicos de Nueva España. Pag. 259; Domecq: IMSS


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