María Pacheco

María Pacheco receives notice of the death of her husband at Villalar. The painting is a 19th-century work by Vicente Borrás.

María López de Mendoza y Pacheco, commonly known as María Pacheco, (c. 1496 – March 1531) was a leader in the Revolt of the Comuneros in Spain, an uprising of the citizens against the monarchy.

She was born in Granada, the daughter of Íñigo López de Mendoza y Quiñones and Francisca Pacheco and a member of the House of Mendoza.

When her husband, the chief of the Comuneros Juan López de Padilla, was captured and killed in the battle of Villalar in 1521, she took command in his name and successfully led the defence of the city of Toledo against the royalist forces until the arrangement of a peaceful surrender of the city six months later.

Pacheco managed to escape to Portugal, and lived in Oporto till her death, in March 1531, aged about 35. She was buried in Oporto Cathedral.

References

• Martínez Gil, Fernando (2005). María Pacheco: la mujer valerosa, historia de doña María Pacheco, comunera de Castilla (1497-1531). Volumen 3 de Biografías Castilla-La Mancha. Almud / Centro de Estudios de Castilla-La Mancha, D.L. (Ciudad Real). ISBN 84-934140-1-8.