María Mayor Fernández de Cámara y Pita (Sigrás, 1565 – 1643), known as María Pita, was a Spanish heroine of the defense of Corunna in 1589 against the English Armada.[1]
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María Pita was married four times and had two children. Her heroic deeds were honoured and rewarded by Philip II of Spain, who granted her the pension of a military officer with a bonus, which she received following the death of her fourth husband[2], and the right to engage in the mule trade with Portugal.
On the 4th of May 1589, English forces, already in control of the lower city, breached the defences of the old city. She was assisting her husband, an army captain, man the defences, when he was killed by a crossbow bolt that struck him in the head. An English soldier with a banner, who was making his way to the highest part of the wall, was killed by Pita. She appeared on the heights of the wall herself, shouting: Quien tenga honra, que me siga ("Whoever has honour, follow me!") whereupon the English incursion was driven back by the defenders. The English later gave up the assault and retreated to their ships. Other women also participated directly in the defence of Corunna; a surviving record tells of one Inés de Ben receiving treatment for two shots received in the siege.