Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean by Edward Kritzler Read Free Book Online Page B

captain wound up gathering pearls off the Venezuela coast, only to be poisoned by rivals in 1532. 21 Although much is written about him, nowhere is it mentioned that he was a converso, much less a secret Jew. Like most conversos, Diego passed himself off as an Old Christian, and went to his grave with his masquerade intact.
             
    Señoritas were a rarity throughout the New World. With fewer than one Spanish woman for every ten men, to marry one was considered a feather in the cap for the mostly poor, aspiring hidalgos. After Mexico’s conquest, some ladies felt the same about them. Most were servant girls who journeyed to New Spain to find themselves a newly rich husband. Exceptions were the four daughters of the royal treasurer Alonso Estrada, the natural son, or so he claimed, of King Ferdinand. Few women were as desirable as the Estrada sisters, who could choose from among many suitors, and it is therefore not surprising that they all married well. What is surprising is that their mother was from a well-known Jewish family and that their husbands would have known of their wives’ blemished ancestry. That their progeny would also be stigmatized seems not to have mattered. Despite the aggressiveness of the Holy Fathers, and repeated decrees against conversos, they were able to keep their wives’ and children’s Jewish heritage secret. The same held true of Beatriz and Diego Ordaz’s surviving sister. Only now is their story being told.
    FRANCISCA ORDAZ
    As Beatriz, the wife of the heretic Jewish conquistador, lay dying during the siege of Mexico, her sister, Francisca, was by her side. The two were among only six Spanish women known to have accompanied the conquistadors during the fighting in Mexico. After the final victory, Francisca was observed enjoying a wild night of celebration. According to an eyewitness, Francisca and three other “adventurous women went gaily to dance with men still in their quilted armor.” It may well have been that night that she danced with her future husband, the son of Ponce de León, one of the legendary figures of the New World. 22
    After Alonso’s undoing, Diego Ordaz was not about to fix Francisca up with another Judaizer. Instead he found Juan González Ponce de León, a valiant suitor of noble, unblemished credentials. His father, the conqueror and governor of Puerto Rico and discoverer of Florida, is forever known for his quixotic search for the fountain of youth. His son was distinguished in his own right. Serving as a soldier under Ordaz’s command, Juan was the first man to reach the top of the main temple of Tenochtitlán and, despite being badly wounded, led a vanguard force that captured Montezuma. When Cortés asked him why, considering his injury, he had not withdrawn, but instead led the fight up the steps to Montezuma’s quarters, Juan answered: “Señor, this is not the time for men to be in bed.” 23
    Juan was aware of Francisca’s lineage even before Alonso’s trial had exposed her sister as a Judaizer. For years he and Alonso were friends, and up until Alonso’s flaming death the two men were partners. 24 They shared a royal land grant, an
encomienda,
in Actopan in the modern state of Hidalgo, about sixty miles north of Mexico City, where Alonso had his farm. 25
    ALONSO ESTRADA’S WIFE AND DAUGHTERS
    In 1522, King Charles V appointed his alleged uncle Alonso Estrada as Mexico’s royal treasurer, perhaps the most important position in the rich territory. In Cortés’s absence, Estrada served as acting governor and for a year (1529) was governor. It was a common belief that he was the bastard son of King Ferdinand, the result of a liaison with Doña Luisa de Estrada, the daughter of Don Fernan, Duke of Aragon, when both were teenagers.
    Raised in Ferdinand’s court, Alonso inherited the title Duke of Aragon and sided with Charles V when he was contending for the throne. While some speculate that Alonso himself had Jewish ancestors, his wife