Catalina Suárez
(b. c. 1498?; d. 1522)
BIRTH
Around 1498 (?)
PLACE
Spain
NAME
Catalina Suárez Marcaida
DEATH
November 1, 1522
PLACE
Coyoacán, Mexico
FAMILY
HUSBAND
Hernán Cortés
(1485-1547)
HOMES
RELIGIOUS VIEWS
RELIGION NOT DOCUMENTED
DENOMINATION NOT DOCUMENTED
MEMBERSHIPS
AWARDS
Catalina Suárez was Hernán Cortés’s first wife, whom he married in Cuba before his expedition to Mexico. She later joined him in Coyoacán, where her household reflected her husband’s leading position. She died suddenly in 1522, generating rumors that Cortés had killed her. Surviving testimony describes both illness and suspicion, leaving responsibility unresolved. Her mother pursued property claims after the death. A birth around 1498 remains an estimate.
EARLY LIFE
Catalina Suárez Marcaida was probably born around 1498 in Spain; her approximate birth year and possible Seville birthplace are not firmly documented. With her mother and siblings she sailed to the Caribbean, where the family settled in Cuba. There she met Hernán Cortés, then an official serving Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar. Their courtship and eventual marriage, around 1515–1516, are described in accounts of Cortés’s early career.
In 1519 Cortés left Cuba on his expedition to Mexico, and Catalina remained behind. After the fall of Tenochtitlan in 1521, she sailed to join him.
She arrived in 1522 and lived with Cortés at Coyoacán, near the ruins of the Aztec capital. On the night of November 1, 1522, after a quarrel at a gathering in their house, she died suddenly.
Catalina bore Cortés no children. Her family accused Cortés of strangling her, and the charge was raised again in the official inquiry into his conduct, though he was never convicted.
CAREER
DEATH
In 1519 Cortés left Cuba on his expedition to Mexico, and Catalina remained behind. She arrived in 1522 and lived with Cortés at Coyoacán, near the ruins of the Aztec capital. After the fall of Tenochtitlan in 1521, she sailed to join him. Catalina Suárez was Hernán Cortés’s first wife, whom he married in Cuba before his expedition to Mexico. She later joined him in Coyoacán, where her household reflected her husband’s leading position. She died suddenly in 1522, generating rumors that Cortés had killed her. Surviving testimony describes both illness and suspicion, leaving responsibility unresolved. Her mother pursued property claims after the death. A birth around 1498 remains an estimate. The main event and its setting are better documented than the precise final moments. Exact last words and private exchanges are not consistently preserved, so those details remain uncertain.
POPULAR BIOGRAPHIES
Catalina Suárez, Hernán Cortés’s first wife. These are related biographies and conquest studies; the circumstances of her death remain disputed. Editorial selections prioritize biographical coverage; five standalone biographies were not established. Collective biography, family reference, primary writings and related studies are labelled individually. Multi-volume works and series are counted as one selection.
1. Hernán Cortés: Conqueror of Mexico — Salvador de Madariaga. [Related biography of her husband] Find on Amazon
2. Cortés: The Great Adventurer and the Fate of Aztec Mexico — Richard Lee Marks. [Related biography of her husband] Find on Amazon
3. Conquest: Montezuma, Cortés, and the Fall of Old Mexico — Hugh Thomas. [Related conquest and biographical history] Find on Amazon
4. Conquistador: Hernán Cortés, King Montezuma, and the Last Stand of the Aztecs — Buddy Levy. [Related conquest and biographical history] Find on Amazon
5. Malintzin’s Choices: An Indian Woman in the Conquest of Mexico — Camilla Townsend. [Related biography and study of Cortés’s household] Find on Amazon
103470