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Isabel Barreto de Castro (Pontevedra,Galicia,Spain), (c. 1567 – 1612) was a Spanish sailor and traveler, one of the earliest known woman to hold the office ofadmiral in the history.[1] She was purportedly the granddaughter ofFrancisco Barreto,governor of Portuguese India.[2] Isabel Barreto marriedAlvaro de Mendaña,[3] Spanish navigator, patron of several expeditions to thePacific Ocean, and European discoverer of theSolomon Islands and theMarquesas Islands.
Isabel accompanied her spouse on his last expedition fromPeru to thePacific. In theSanta Cruz Islands, she replaced Mendaña and her brother, Lorenzo Barreto, asAdelantada and Governor after their death. She and the main pilotPedro Fernández de Quirós arrived atManila, in thePhilippines, with the 100 survivors of the expedition in the only remaining ship (at the beginning 378 men and women in four ships), after a terrible voyage of twelve weeks from the settlement of Santa Cruz (Nendö).
Doña Isabel was honoured in Manila, and Quirós was commended for his service; with both absolved of any responsibility for the results of the expedition. Isabel, accused of cruelty by the crew, demonstrated a strong personality with great leadership and great determination. She had an uncompromising attitude and managed to maintain severe discipline of the crew of tough and adventurous men, always willing to conspire and mutiny.
She remarried to general Fernando de Castro, again crossing the Pacific Ocean toMexico, and then settled inBuenos Aires, where they lived for several years, before returning toPeru.
It is said that Isabel crossed the Atlantic Ocean for the last time to Spain to defend her rights over theSolomon Islands, because theKing had granted the right to colonize the islands toPedro Fernández de Quirós. She may be buried inCastrovirreyna (Peru) or inGalicia (Spain), in 1612.
Route of Mendaña/Barreto/Quirós 1595 expedition:
The voyage's story is told inThe Islands of Unwisdom, anhistorical novel byRobert Graves.
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