LA MARISCALA: BIOGRAPHY OF A PERUVIAN FIGHTER - HISTORY - 2024

Francisca Zubiaga y Bernales (1803-1835), known as "La Mariscala", was the wife of Agustín Gamarra, who assumed the post of President in the Peruvian Government on two occasions. Her nickname was due to the position of marshal held by her husband.

Her title, her history and her fame go beyond being the wife of someone important. Her support for her husband was demonstrated more than words, as she had no problem getting on a horse and going into battle. Today she could be defined as a woman with guts.

Unidentified painter

Francisca Zubiaga was one of the few women of the time who made history by being willing to break the mold, be different and intrepid. She is defined as ambitious, classy and a lover of power. Her life was short, but the mark she left on history was deep and unforgettable.

Biography

Francisca Zubiaga y Bernales was the daughter of Antonio de Zubiaga, an accountant of Spanish origin, and Antonia Bernales, from the Cusco region in Peru. Antonia became pregnant while they lived on the Peruvian coast, so her husband decided to take a trip on horseback to Cuzco so that their daughter would be born in her mother's native land.

However, they did not get there and Francisca was born in Anchibamba, in the district of Lucre. This was the beginning that seemed to presage the hectic life of this woman with mettle.

From an early age, he showed his predisposition to achieve his goals tenaciously. For example, at the age of twelve she expressed to her parents her desire to enter a convent and become a nun.

Monastery of Santa Teresa

Although this idea was not to the liking of his parents, the strong religious influence that reigned at the time and the insistence of his daughter, managed to make them change their opinion.

The passion that she showed in her new life in the Monastery of Santa Teresa, extreme penances, made her fall ill, so her parents decided to remove her from the convent five years after she entered.

Shortly after, for unknown reasons, her father Antonio de Zubiaga decided to return to Spain, abandoning his daughters at the Monastery of the Incarnation. It was precisely at this time that in most of Latin America, also in Peru, the phenomenon known as the Liberation Fever was taking place, a struggle that aimed to gain independence from the European colonies.

Your marriage

Abandoned by her father and living in a time when hardly a woman could survive alone, Francisca was forced to find a way out. Partly out of love, partly out of lust for power, she married Agustín Gamarra in 1825, who held the post of prefect of Peru.

It was in that same year when Simón Bolívar succeeded José de San Martín and arrived in Cuzco. Agustín Gamarra, eager to show his support, sent his beautiful wife to put a crown of gold and diamonds on her temples.

Bolívar took it out of his own head to put it in Francisca's, with whom he danced all night. It is said that since then they have had a romance, of which Gamarra was not aware, or of which he did not want to be aware.

However, Francisca became a staunch follower of Bolívar and from that night she began to practice horseback riding, handle the foil and the pistol. Her lust for power continued to grow.

It becomes La Mariscala

If something was clear to Francisca Zubiaga y Bernales, it was that she was not going to be a traditional wife. When her husband made the expedition to Bolivia in 1828, she accompanied him and attended all the meetings he had with the Bolivian leaders. She was mounted on horseback and dressed like a military woman, in order for the soldiers to give her the respect she deserved in the army.

She also earned the respect of her husband, who trusted her to remain in charge during his absences from the country. On these occasions she exercised absolute dominance, arrogant and demanded that the soldiers have good manners, neatness and elegance in their uniforms.

It was then that they began to call her La Mariscala, a title that demonstrated the respect that her subordinates had for her.

His achievements

The title was not great at all, because she participated in the battles that her husband led as one more. On one occasion when her husband was absent, she left Antonio Gutiérrez de la Fuente in charge.

La Mariscala discovered that she was conspiring against her husband and began a persecution against her until he was forced to flee the country.

On another occasion, a group of infantry rose up, neither short nor lazy, they donned a cape and entered the barracks shouting:

- Cholos! You against me?

Scared and confused, they couldn't help but reply:

- Long live our employer!

She had no shame in making herself respected by others, not only as a powerful character but also as a woman. For example, during a celebration at the Government Palace, she personally whipped an officer who boasted of having had sexual relations with her. Whether it was true or not will never be known.

During the self-proclamation as Supreme Chief of Peru of Pedro Pablo Bermúdez, which was backed by Gamarra, a stir was generated that put Bermúdez in trouble. Thanks to the troops led by La Mariscala she was able to be rescued and taken refuge in the mountains.

His defeat and death

This latest event sparked a civil war in Peru that forced the couple to flee. Gamarra made it to Bolivia, while Francisca managed to escape disguised as a clergyman to Callao, a city in the center-west of Peru.

Later he moved to Valparaíso, a small city in Chile. It was on the boat that was taking her there that she met Flora Tristán, a Peruvian writer who included descriptions of her encounter with La Mariscala in her book Peregrinaciones de una paria.

In them it can be seen that despite having lost everything, Francisca retained her temperance, her self-confidence and her self-esteem during these difficult years of her life. Even so, she wept over and over again at being forced to leave her country. She died in Valparaíso, preyed upon by tuberculosis on May 8, 1835.

After analyzing her life, it is not surprising that several historians said of her: "This woman has been a lot of man."

References

1. Cemhal.org. 2019.
2. Francisca Zubiaga and Bernales. (2018, October 30). Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
3. First government of Agustín Gamarra. Es.wikipedia.org. 2019.
4. Tobón, A., Tobón, A., & Perfil, V. (2019). BOLÍVAR AND MARISCALA FRANCISCA ZUBIAGA.
5. La Mariscala - The Generalissimo. (2019).