Maria Ursula d'Abreu e Lencastro

Maria Ursula d'Abreu e Lencastro (born in Rio de Janeiro, Portuguese colony of Brazil, 1682 – fl. 1714) was a Portuguese corporal.

In 1700, the year in which she completed eighteen years old, she left the house of her father and headed to Lisbon, the capital of the Portuguese Empire. Her idea was to live the adventures of Cavalry and Crusades that she had read from books, adventures that were forbidden to the women of her time. When she arrived at Lisbon, she enlisted herself as a soldier, with the false name of Baltasar do Couto Cardoso.

She served in the Portuguese army in Portuguese India dressed as a man in 1700-1712. She participated in the conquest of the fortress at Amboina and was decorated for her service by the king John V of Portugal in 1714.

Sources

MACEDO, Joaquim Manuel de. Anno biographico brazileiro (v. 1). Rio de Janeiro, Typographia e Litographia do Imperial Instituto Artístico, 1876.
DAEHNHARDT, Rainier. Homens, Espadas e Tomates. Ed. Zéfiro, 2005.

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