Lucía Miranda: 1860

Publisher description. A study (with accompanying text) of the 1860 edition of Eduarda Mansilla's "Lucía Miranda." The early history of America has few romantic tales of love and devotion, but this is one deeply woven in with the history of the settlement of Argentina, which is told by all the historians of the time, and which exists as the one striking love romance of the Spanish conquest. Two indigenous tribal leaders are captivated by Lucía Miranda's presence. She is wife of a Spanish soldier, Sebastian Hurtado, who is part of the 1500's settlement of Argentina by the Spanish in the Rio de la Plata region. She is captured. She is not attracted to her captors, to their profound chagrin. She remains loyal to her husband. The husband is captured, tortured, and killed. Still, Lucía will not acquiesce. She dies a fiery death. Lucía Miranda appears for the first time in "La Argentina manuscrita" (1612) of Ruy Diaz de Guzmán. But, the legend is often retold in Argentine fiction, drama, and poetry.