Legends of An Island of Women Warriors
De Montalvo's description of Calafia, her people and her country was based upon many centuries of stories of Amazons, groups of woman warriors who fought like men. As well, the story of an island paradise filled with gold and pearls was a recurring theme that de Montalvo was familiar with. In seeking new land, Spanish explorers were often led onward after hearing about a land of gold, or a land ruled by women. California historian Lynn Townsend White, Jr wrote that they considered the as-yet undiscovered California "a land of Orient with fantastic attributes". The novel about Esplandián and Calafia's domain had a strong influence on the searching Conquistadors, who believed they might find a nation of women and riches somewhere at the edge of the known world.
In Greek mythology, Amazons are described as a nation of female warriors who live in kingdoms outside of recognized civilization, women who fight with Greek warriors. They appear in many Greek tales including those by Homer, and they are usually killed or otherwise subdued by male warriors. Male hostility to the woman warriors is expressed by Dictys of Crete who wrote that an Amazon queen "transgressed the boundaries of nature and of her sex." Niketas Choniates, a medieval Greek historian, wrote about women warriors who fought alongside men in the Second Crusade, riding horses "unashamedly astride" (rather than modestly sidesaddle), dressed as men and maintaining a very warlike appearance. Jacques de Vitry, a bishop of Acre, Israel, and a historian of the Crusades, wrote about Amazons who fought who were stronger than men because their vitality was not "consumed in frequent copulation." In some stories, women warriors fought alongside Moslem men and in others they allied themselves to Christian armies.
Some of the tales of Amazons describe them as having dark skin. In Africa, King Musa I of Mali was protected by black female royal guards on his famous and influential hajj to Mecca in 1332. Johann Schiltberger wrote in 1440 about a group of non-Caucasian Tatar Amazons, Mongol giantesses led by a vengeful princess. Columbus returned to Spain with the story of an island in the Lesser Antilles called "Matinino" (perhaps modern Martinique) that was inhabited only by women, a tale told to him by many of the natives of the West Indies. Columbus did not call the Matinino women "Amazons", but the comparison was drawn by his contemporaries.
When encountering natives in the New World, Spanish explorers were occasionally told of a tribe composed entirely of women. One such tale was related to Cortés about a group of Amazons supposedly living in a province called Ciguatán. Juan de Grijalva was told of Amazons during his 1518 expedition through the Tabasco region of Mexico. Nuño de Guzmán followed tales of a nation of women who lived in riches on or near the sea, women with whiter skin who were accounted goddesses by the natives. He described how they used bows and arrows, and lived in many towns. Polk characterized Guzmán as driven by lust for sex and riches—his greed and sadism were well known.
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