Catalina de Erauso Catalina de Erauso or Katalina Erauso , also known in Spanish as La Monja Alférez ( English , " The Nun Lieutenant " ) ( 1592 , San Sebastián , Spain — 1650 , Cuetlaxtla ( near Orizaba ) , New Spain ) , was a semi - legendary personality of the Basque Country , Spain and Spanish America in the first half of the 17th century . Life . Catalina de Erauso was daughter and sister of soldiers from the city of San Sebastián in Spain . Her father was Miguel de Erauso and her mother María Pérez de Gallárraga y Arce . She was expected to become a nun but abandoned the nunnery after a beating at the age of fifteen , just before she was to take her vows . She had not ever seen a street , having entered the convent at the age of four . She dressed as a man , calling herself " Francisco de Loyola " , and left on a long journey from San Sebastian to Valladolid . From there she visited Bilbao , where she signed up on a ship with the assistance of other Basques . She reached Spanish America and enlisted as a soldier in Chile under the name " Alonso Díaz Ramírez de Guzmán " . She served under several captains in the Arauco War , including her own brother , who never recognized her . After one fight in which she killed a man and was wounded seriously , she revealed her sex in a deathbed confession . She however survived after four months of convalescence and left for Guamanga . To escape yet another incident , she confessed her sex to the bishop , Fray Agustín de Carvajal . Induced by him she entered a convent and her story spread across the ocean . In 1620 , the archbishop of Lima called her . In 1624 , she arrived in Spain , having changed ship after another fight . She went to Rome and toured Italy , where she eventually achieved such a level of fame that she was granted a special dispensation by Pope Urban VIII to wear men ' s clothing . Her portrait by Francesco Crescenzio is lost . Back in Spain , Francisco Pacheco ( Velázquez ' s father - in - law ) painted her in 1630 . She again left Spain in 1645 , this time for New Spain in the fleet of Pedro de Ursua , where she became a mule driver on the road from Veracruz . In New Spain she used the name " Antonio de Erauso " . She died in Cuetlaxtla , New Spain in 1650 . Appearance . Pietro Della Valle described her in a 1626 letter sent from Rome to Mario Schipano as fond of conversation , tall and strong with masculine looks and childlike breasts after the application of an Italian remedy . Her face is not ugly but worn by age , looking more like a eunuch than a woman . She dressed as a Spanish man , with a sword , more as a soldier than a courtier . In media . In 1625 , Juan Pérez de Montalván ' s play " Comedia famosa de la monja Alférez " appeared , profiting from her fame . In that same year , a " True narration of the great feats . . . " was published in Seville , followed by a " Second narration . . . " and a " Last and third narration . . . " from Mexico . An alleged autobiography from 1626 exists , the earliest manuscript of which dates from 1794 and which was first published in 1829 . Her life was also the theme of various novels and of a study by Dr . Nicolás León . In 1943 , Emilio Gómez Muriel made a film of her life , with María Félix playing Erauso . A further movie , starring Esperanza Roy , was released in Spain in 1987 . The character of Catalina Erantzo in the video game was named for and somewhat influenced by her , being a female Spanish commodore .