The Last Will and Testament of María de Huancavelica (c. 1661)

The following source focuses on María de Huancavelica, a free black woman living in
Lima, Peru. Believing her life was coming to an end, she had a public notary draw up a will
specifying how here possessions were to be distributed. Quantitative data has shown that
free black women such as María vastly outnumbered free black men in Lima. As a result of this, women such as María participated in many economic facets of Lima and were able to amass wealth. Documentation such as this will allows historians to gain a glimpse of life, death, and gender in colonial Lima. Consider the following questions as you analyze this source:

  • Does the testament indicate that María de Huancavelica committed to Christianity?
  • How did María de Huancavelica secure her personal wealth?
  • How does María de Huancavelica wish her wealth to be distributed?
  • What insights does this testament give of the lives of free black women in colonial Lima?

    Complete the Primary Source Analysis Form when finished for your records.

    Source: McKnight, Kathryn Joy; Garofalo, Leo J.. Afro-Latino Voices: Narratives from the Early Modern Ibero-Atlantic World, 1550-1812. Hackett Publishing.


    Free Black Woman of the Folupa Nation, Lima, 1666] In the name of God, amen, in whose
    beginning all things have their just, praiseworthy, and fortunate end: Know, those who read this last will and testament, that I, María de Huancavelica, a free black woman of the Folupa nation, native of Ethiopia in Guinea, resident of the City of Kings [Lima] in Peru, daughter of unknown parents, being sick in bed of an illness that Our Lord God has seen fit to give me and believing as I firmly and truly believe in the mystery of the most Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, three distinct persons in one true God, and in all the rest that the Holy Mother Roman Catholic Church believes, confesses, and teaches, under whose faith and belief I have lived and I profess to live and die as a Catholic Christian, and fearful of death, which is consubstantial to all human creatures, I hereby make and declare my last will and testament in the following way and form:

    First of all, I entrust my soul to Our Lord God, who created it and redeemed it with the infinite
    price of his blood, and my body shall return to the dust from which it was formed. Item. I want
    and it is my will that, once Our Lord sees fit to take me from this present life, my body be buried in the Convent of Saint Francis in this city or in the place that my executors deem most appropriate, and that my body be shrouded with the habit of Saint Francis to earn the graces and indulgences that it brings, and a presiding cross, priest, and sacristan from my parish accompany my burial. And with regard to the rest of the retinue and details of my burial, I leave them to the discretion of my executors, and I order that the day of my burial, or if not, the day deemed appropriate by my executors, a funeral Mass be celebrated with my body present that includes offerings of bread and wine, and it must be done as is customary and paid for from my estate. Item. I set aside from my estate two pesos to pay for the customary and obligatory alms. Item. I order ten pesos of eight reales to pay the ransom of captive children in Moorish lands, and it must come from a legitimate part of my estate. Item. I order another ten pesos to be sent to the Holy Sites of Jerusalem where our Holy Redemption took place and to be given to the priest who asks for these alms. Item. I declare that I do not owe anything. I declare it so that there is no doubt. Item. I declare as my assets the following: Item. I declare that the laborer Juan de Villegas Álvarez owes me two thousand pesos of eight reales according to a notarized document that I have among my papers. I declare it so that there may be no doubt. Item. I declare that Antonio Carabalí owes me 350 pesos of eight reales that I lent him for his manumission. I pardon and forgive what I lent him for his freedom so that nothing more is asked of him, and in the same way, I implore my executors not to ask anything more of him because such is my will. Item. I declare that Jacinta of the Folupa nation owes me four hundred pesos of eight reales of the eight hundred pesos that I lent her for her manumission.

    I order that the four hundred still owed be collected, and nothing additional. Item. I declare as my slave María, of the Folupa nation, and I order and it is my will that after my death she be
    manumitted, and she needs only this clause and my death to obtain her freedom, without
    collection of any payment nor the writing of any other document, and this is my will because of how well she has served me. [I declare as my slave] María, of the Mandinga nation, and I order and it is my will that she be freed and my executors give her the deed of manumission upon payment by her or by any other person of three hundred pesos of eight reales, and that she must not be sold for more than the said amount and, in the meantime until she can pay the full amount of three hundred pesos for her freedom, I want her to pay only four pesos of eight reales of wages each month to my executors, and this I order. [I declare as my slave] Ambrosio Folupo, and I order and it is my will that upon his payment of three hundred pesos of eight reales, he be freed and my executors give him the deed of manumission and that he must not be sold for more than the said amount, and, in the meantime, until he can pay the full amount, he will be obligated to pay to my executors four pesos of eight reales of wages each month. [I declare as my slave] Antón Folupo, and I order and it is my will that upon his payment of two hundred fifty pesos of eight reales, he be freed and my executors give him the deed of manumission, and he cannot be sold for an amount above the stated two hundred fifty pesos, and, in the meantime until he can pay the full amount, he will be obligated to pay four pesos of eight reales of wages each month. [I declare as my slave] Susana Folupa, and I order and it is my will that upon her payment of two hundred pesos of eight reales for my burial she be freed and that my executors give her the deed of manumission and that she should not be sold for more. Item. I declare two small double-handled bowls [or cups] of silver, a box from Panamá, a trunk, and the clothing that will be made clear in the inventory. Item. I declare that [I have] a skirt and a shawl of black flannel, a skirt of silk, and a bodice of [illegible] that belongs to Rafaela Zapata and one hundred and five pesos of eight reales that also belong to her. I want my executors to return all these things to her and that she give them either a written receipt or that the transaction be done in front of a notary. Item. I declare that María of the Congo nation is indebted to me in a certain amount of pesos. I order that only fifty pesos of eight reales be collected from her, and I forgive her the rest on the condition that she pray for me to God. Item. I declare that I owe Manuel Espadero, a black man, a total of thirty-five pesos of eight reales, the remainder of some reales that his deceased wife, María Folupa, gave to me. I order that he be paid this amount and also that he be given some bracelets made of coral and a small box, and he must give a receipt for it. And to fulfill and pay for this testament and the bequests and legacies in it, I leave and name as my executors my confessor, the licentiate Juan [Zapata de Henao?], presbyter, and Gracia de la Paz, of the Folupa nation, [and] as the trustee, the said Gracia Folupa. And I grant them power as executors to organize, sell, and resolve my estate at public auction or otherwise, in order to fulfill and pay for this last will and testament and its bequests, and I also grant them all the time they may require to do so even if it exceeds the year that the law concedes. Item. I declare that Miguel Folupo gave to me thirty-three pesos to safeguard. I order that it be paid back to him from my assets. Item. I declare that Simón Folupa gave me twenty pesos to safeguard, and I order that it be paid back to him from my assets. Item. I declare that I bought a black woman, María Folupa, at a price of 350 pesos as certified in writing by Francisco de Acuña, royal notary, from a parda woman named María de Bilbao who assists at the hospital of Saint Bartholomew, and I declare that the said slave belongs to Juliana Folupa, who gave me the money for this transaction, and I declare it for the unburdening of my conscience. Item. I declare that I have in my possession a double-handled bowl [or cup] and a silver spoon belonging to Susana Folupa that she gave me to safeguard. I order that it be returned to her. And I leave and name my soul as heir of whatever assets, debts, rights, and actions might remain from the liquidation of my estate, and it is my wish that this money be used to establish a chaplaincy, which should be founded by the licentiate Juan [Zapata de Henao?], my executor and confessor, whom I leave as its patron and chaplain. And he is allowed to name his successor after he dies, and he can establish the alms to be given for each Mass according to what I have communicated to him, and this chaplaincy must be established after I die, and no judge should interfere because this is my will, and he can establish all the necessary clauses according to his judgment because I do not have any heirs who can inherit my estate. Item. I order that twelve pesos of eight reales be sent to the Hospital of Saint Bartholomew. Item. I order that six pesos of eight reales be sent to the Sweet Name of Jesus against Blasphemies. Item. I order that twelve pesos of eight reales be sent for the rearing of the orphan children on the condition that they accompany my body the day of my burial. Item. I declare that I have in reales a total of nine hundred pesos of eight reales, more or less, and the exact amount will be determined in the inventory. I hereby revoke all former wills and testamentary dispositions of every nature and kind heretofore made by me in word or in writing or in any other way and I do not want them to be valid nor can they be used in or outside court, except for this one that I now declare as my testament, and I want it to be carried out and executed as my last will in the way that best follows the law. And I testify that this testament is done in the City of Kings [Lima] of Peru, the sixth day of the month of January of the year 1666. And the testator, whom, I, the notary, certify that I know, seemed to be in complete possession of her judgment and natural memory, judging from her answer to the questions that I asked her, and this is what she ordered, and she did not sign it because she said that she did not know how to write, and at her request a witness signed it.