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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.
She lived and traveled as a man under many names, most notably that of Antonio de Erauso, and had a special dispensation from Pope Urban VIII which allowed her to wear male clothing
Catalina de Erauso in 1632[]
In spring of 1633, Catalina de Erauso was living under the identity of Antonio de Erauso, and was visiting San Sebastian. While she had a certain notoriety in San Sebastian, it appears that she was generally accepted as Antonio. While in San Sebastian, she met her cousin, Esteban Eguiño, who was involved in a cryolite mining plan backed by Louis de Geer and Dutch banker Balthasar Coymans. After she admitted to having been the cabin boy who had stolen from Esteban's father and jumped ship in 1603, Esteban used her guilt over this old theft to rope her into the plan. The two played a pelota match, with the stakes being that, if Catalina lost, she would go on the trip to Greenland. The match came down to the last point, but she did lose.