Lesbianism (female homosexuality) in pre-modern Spain (1200–1813) was largely not tolerated and considered illegal, with a possible death punishment. During this period, Spain's legal and religious justice systems were at times one and the same, with female homosexuals being persecuted by both civil and religious authorities. In 1497, Spain's Catholic monarchs Isabel and Fernando said anyone who engaged in unnatural sex should be given the death penalty. Spanish lesbians were caught up in the Inquisition, with documented cases of some of them having been burned at the stake. During confessions, priests were often interested in women's sex acts.
Medical texts began to develop in this period to try to explain female sexual desire for other women. One explanation was that these women should have been born men, but the mother did something wrong and their sex changed while they were in the womb. Women in this period who expressed desire for other women were most often found in convents or working as prostitutes. Some women in Spanish prisons engaged in sodomy, but this was allegedly because they lacked male sexual partners.
Prominent female homosexuals of the period included Katalin Erauso, Isabel de Borbón-Parma, and Elena/o de Céspedes. Notable literary works depicting female homoeroticism include Tirant lo Blanc, originally published around 1490 and written by Joanot Martorell and Martí Joan de Galba, and La Celestina is a Spanish novel attributed to Fernando de Rojas. A number of modern words associated with lesbianism in Spain originate from this time period including tortillera, desviada, marimacho, tríbada and virago.
Words to describe lesbians Any description of women as lesbians before the 19th century when the term was first used by Michel Foucault can be problematic. Lesbianism, as an identity based on exclusive romantic or sexual desire of women by women, did not yet exist. This makes some scholars and historians hesitant to describe women from earlier periods as Lesbians. Many prefer instead to use the phrase "female homosexuals" as it relates more to sexual acts and is less about complicated identities around orientation. Others freely use the word lesbian as a convenient short hand. Still other historians and scholars use Sapphic love or refer to Lesbos to talk about women who had intimate relationships with women in this period. It remains problematic to talk about lesbians in this period as it relates to a specific lesbian identity rather than sexual practices.This article uses lesbians as a shorthand for female homosexuals, referring to sexual practices and female-female homoeroticism in line with scholars who also use this type of shorthand and are cited in this article. At the same time that problems around scholarly treatment of lesbians exist, female homosexuality in this period of Spanish history is rarely discussed.
In official Spanish, terms to describe female homosexuals were often scarce when compared to men in dictionaries like Diccionario de autoridades . The first word, machorra, would not appear until 1734. Lesbio does not appear in the Diccionario de la lengua española until 1884 where it is defined as "homosexual woman". Lesbiana does not appear with its own definition until 1984.
The slang word tortillera, similar to the English word dyke, used in Spain and Latin America to describe lesbians, likely originated in this period as a derivative of the word tortus, which means twisted or one-eyed. As it was used more widely, this Latin word began to be consistently and erroneously pronounced as tortillera. Its origins are likely intertwined with homophobia, and would later become similar to the English language word queer in its popular usage in the Spanish speaking LGB community. The first known written usage pre-dates 1831. It does not appear in the Diccionario de la lengua española until 1927.
Desviada was in use by the end of the 19th century in Spain. It rise in usage coincided a societal process of pathologizing homosexuality as a disease. Invertida was use in use by 1897, being borrowed from the English word invert. Its usage also coincided with continued pathologization of homosexuality as a unnatural and sexually deviant.
Marimacho, a derogatory term for masculine looking women, was first used around 1611 in a handwritten supplement of the Sebastián Covarrubias' Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española. It defined marimacho as "This name has been the vulgar one to the spirited and developed women that seems to have wanted the nature to make them men, but in the sex, at least in the facility". () Women were not like men because of their looks according to this early definition but because of their interests, abilities and activities that were generally the exclusive domain of men. The word first appeared in the Diccionario de autoridades in 1734. It was defined at that time as "A woman, which in her corpulence and actions looks like a man." This definition would remain unchanged until 1884. machorra, also appeared in the 1734 edition of the Diccionario de autoridades with the same definition as marimacho.
tríbada, a poetic form of lesbian, has its origins in the Greek word tríbein. While it has recorded usage in Italy in 1538, its first usage in Spain dates to 1611 in the Supplement to Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, where it was defined as tomboy (). Its more current usage in Spain dates to the 19th century, where it began to be used to mean lesbians in a more modern sense.
Virago entered the Spanish vocabulary by 1160, derived from a Latin word meaning heroine. In 1607, the word was defined in a Spanish-French dictionary as meaning, "virtuous woman who does man's things". Society by that point associated courage with masculinity. As time progressed, the word began to be more associated with women who had masculine traits, which then implied she might be a lesbian.
Prominent lesbians
Katalin Erauso was born in Donosti in 1592. After her parents forced her to join a convent, Erauso eloped and then posed as a man in order to be able to board a ship to head to the Spanish American colonies. Once there, she joined the Spanish army, where she became an ensign. When not in active service, she spent her free time in the colonies romancing local women around South America. She was involved in a battle in 1620 in Guamanga, Peru. As a result of this battle, she needed to seek the protection of a local bishop to whom she confessed that she was really a woman. The bishop agreed to protect her only after having her prove she was still a virgin. Within six years, her story had spread across the Christian world. Her story eventually made its way to Pope Urban VIII, who granted her an audience and subsequently gave her permission to wear men's clothing. She was also given a pension in recognition of her military service by King Philip II. Around 1653, her autobiography that may actually have been written by someone else was published in Mexico, making it one of the first Hispano-American novels to be published.
Isabel de Borbón-Parma, born the Infanta of Spain in 1741, was a lesbian. After marry Joseph II of Austria when she was 17 years old, Isabel fell in love with his sister María Cristina. The pair wrote over 200 love letters to each other. Isabel died when she was 22 years old. Elana/o de Céspedes was a multiethnic, multiracial and possibly intersexed woman who was well known for her skills as a healer. During the Spanish Inquisition, she found herself charged with female sodomy. She was found guilt of bigamy and collusion with the devil.
Culture and sexuality To the extent that it may have existed, lesbian culture in this period was often understood by outsiders as ambiguous. In 1584, French historian Pierre Brantôme wrote, "two ladies that be in love with one with the other ... sleeping in one bed ... such is the character of the Lesbian women." He went to specify that this especially occurred in Spain, Italy, Turkey and France.
Some lesbians in this period voluntarily or by force joined convents, where they had elicit relationships with other nuns. Around 1610, a pair of nuns at a Carmelite convent in Spain engaged in nocturnal trysts. They were discovered when allegedly a crucifix lent by prioress Ana de San Agustín to one of the sisters saw Jesus leap from the cross and fly to prioress Ana. Some lesbians were forced to become prostitutes in order to avoid the pressure to marry or in some cases out of a desire to try to maintain their autonomy. Becoming a prostitute could allow some female homosexuals the ability to have some limited power over their romantic and sexual relationships.
Women in Spanish prisons in the late 1500s often mimicked the behavior of male prisoners, including sodomy. Some of these women would use items like modern day strap-on dildos to have sex with other women, including those women who missed the sexual companionship of men.
Literature María de Zayas often explored sapphic love in many of her works. Amar sólo por vencer and La burlada Aminta y venganza del honor both featured lesbian desire. They approach the topic though from a patriarchal perspective, not one a transgressive proto-feminist perspective where women get to define their own sexual desires. 17th century Spanish novelist María de Zayas condemned male homosexuality and homoerotic desire in her works but also wrote highly suggestive pieces about female-female intimacy.
Saint Teresa de Avila is considered one of the most important woman writers of this period, writing on gay and lesbian themes. Teresa of Avila used sensual language when describing women's religious experiences, both in body and in spirit. Romantic period women poets of 1840s Spain were sometimes inspired by the writings of her writings and those of Sappho and because of their ability to use sensual and erotic language when describing women for writings aimed at men. Teresa of Avila's work also inspired other Spanish sapphic writers including 19th century poet Carolina Coronado.
In Tirant lo Blanc, originally published around 1490 and written by Joanot Martorell and Martí Joan de Galba, a pair of women engage in genital contact with each other. La Celestina is a Spanish novel attributed to Fernando de Rojas originally published sometime around 1499. There is a scene between old bawd Celestina and a much younger prostitute that suggests they had a sexual relationship. La Diana originally first published around 1559, was the third most popular book of its period. It has a scene describing two women having a night of passion, where they engaged in romantic flirting and hugging.
Societal attitudes and legal status
Homosexuality was generally more tolerated in Europe's pre-modern era than it had been during the Roman Empire, with the exception of Visigoth Spain. This area encompassed most of Spain, with the exception of areas of the Mediterranean coast from the area near modern day Gibraltar to modern day Alicante and the Balearic Islands. Secular law in Europe as a whole loud largely ignore the issue until the mid-13th century. The major forces in Medieval Spain opposing homosexuality were Christian theologians, who did so on the ground that such sexual relationships had no procreative purpose.