Introduction: Translating a trans ancestor: Antonio/Catalina de Erauso

This introduction to the book examines the historical figure of Antonio/Catalina de Erauso and their rendering in literary and archival documents: the seventeenth-century play, The Lieutenant Nun, is explained against the backdrop of Hispanic early modern drama; the Accounts (Relaciones) about Erauso reveal the construction of Erauso by other contemporaries; and Erauso's Petitions give us a glimpse into the construction of their bureaucratic persona. The introduction also provides historical, theoretical and cultural appraisal of Spanish colonial military life, the Viceroyalty of Perú and the Arauco War, and the role of Basque individuals in the Americas. It concludes with a section about the performance history of the figure of Erauso and with an explanation about how texts have been translated in the book.