Marina Ortiz de Gaete González (c. 1509 – April 1592) was the wife of

Pedro de Valdivia Pedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva (; April 17, 1497 – December 25, 1553) was a Spanish conquistador and the first royal governor of Chile. After serving with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in 1534, whe ...

, and played an important role in the politics of the conquest and early history of the

Kingdom of Chile The Captaincy General of Chile (''Capitanía General de Chile'' ) or Governorate of Chile (known colloquially and unofficially as the Kingdom of Chile), was a territory of the Spanish Empire from 1541 to 1817 that was, for most of its existenc ...

Life

Marina (sometimes ''María'') Ortiz de Gaete was born around 1509, in

Zalamea de la Serena Zalamea de la Serena is a municipality in the province of Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain. According to the 2014 census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given popul ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, the daughter of Francisco Ortiz de Gaete and of Leonor González Gutiérrez. In 1527, she married

, but he departed in 1535 to search for fortune in the new world. They would never meet again, though he always kept in touch and sent her money until the end of his days. Once in Peru, Valdivia became attached to the widow Inés de Suárez, who was to accompany him to Chile as his mistress. Nonetheless, a discontented faction from Chile managed to have him tried in

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

in 1548, accused of tyranny, malfeasance of public funds and public immorality. One of the charges levelled against him was that he, being married, openly lived with Inés de Suárez ''"...in the manner of man and wife and they sleep in one bed and they eat in one dish..."''. In exchange for being freed, and for his confirmation as Royal Governor, he agreed to relinquish Suárez and to bring to Chile his wife. He was also ordered to marry Inés off, which he did upon his return to Chile in 1549, to one of his captains,

Rodrigo de Quiroga Rodrigo de Quiroga López de Ulloa (c. 1512 – February 20, 1580) was a Spanish conquistador of Galician origin. He was twice the Royal Governor of Chile. Early life He was the son of Hernado Camba de Quiroga and of María López de Ulloa. In ...

. As recognition for his services Valdivia was finally appointed as ''

adelantado ''Adelantado'' (, , ; meaning "advanced") was a title held by Spanish nobles in service of their respective kings during the Middle Ages. It was later used as a military title held by some Spain, Spanish ''conquistadores'' of the 15th, 16th and 17 ...

'' and won the royal assent to his coveted title of

Governor of Chile The Royal Governor of Chile ruled over the Spanish colonial administrative district called the Captaincy General of Chile, and as a result the Royal Governor also held the title of a Captain General. There were 66 such governors or captains du ...

, returning to the settlement with his position and prestige considerably strengthened.

In America

Marina was sent for, and left Spain in November, 1553, in the nao of Juan de Mondragón. A large retinue of family travelled with her, including at least a brother and two nieces. As she arrived to Peru in 1554, she discovered that Valdivia had died the previous year after being captured by

Mapuche The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who sha ...

in the

battle of Tucapel The Battle of Tucapel (also known as the Disaster of Tucapel) is the name given to a battle fought between Spanish conquistador forces led by Pedro de Valdivia and Mapuche (Araucanian) Indians under Lautaro that took place at Tucapel, Chile on D ...

. She was also detained in Lima by

Viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning "k ...

Andrés Hurtado de Mendoza, who offered her a large sum in gold in exchange for her not continuing the journey to Chile, agreeing to return to Spain and renouncing all rights to her husband's inheritance. She refused and after further delays, she finally arrived in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

in 1555. She lived the rest of her long life between

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

and Concepción and died at the age of approximately 83; between March 30 and April 12, 1592.

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* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ortiz de Gaete, Marina 1509 births 1592 deaths Captaincy General of Chile 16th-century Spanish people

Life

In America

Additional information

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