Ana Maldonado de Mendoza y Olaya

Ana Maldonado de Mendoza y Olaya=== by Viviana Ferreira Prada (8th cousin 11 times removed)

Ana Maldonado de Mendoza y Olaya lived in the colonial period of the Nueva Granada. Taking into account that women could vote in Colombia until 1957, and in the 60’s few managed to graduate from High School as they were supposed to know arithmetics, how to read and write, knit, sew, embroider and all necessary things to be good wives and housekeepers, things must have been even tougher in colonial times. And they were.

It is likely Ana Maldonado had had a prearranged marriage. Women got married at a very age; by fifteen, most had already wed and many had been mothers. Probably one of the most significant differences between colonial society and modern societies was that the three decisive events in each individual's life occurred at home, surrounded by relatives and friends. They were born in the mother's bed, assisted by a midwife and to the expectation of the relatives. The pregnant mother did not have the resource of a doctor or a literature to instruct her. An understanding of her condition and the care she had to take was given to her by the older women. The midwives passed on advice, recipes, and also prejudices. Pregnant women were mainly advised to exercise caution in their movements, avoid draughts, and refuse all sexual intercourse with their husbands. On the other hand, an obligatory piece of advice even for slaves was to enrich their diet in the last 3 months.

As a result of insufficient medical knowledge and the lack of asepsis in childbirth, infant mortality was one of the most dramatic events in the Colony. Birth was a triumph of life, understood as a gift from the Lord. The death of infants was so common that in many cases the parents were not present at their burials. The Catholic Church, foreseeing complications in childhood, recommended that parents hasten to baptize the newborn, which occurred within two or three days of the birth, in the font that each parish had for this purpose.

Colonial given names reveal the religious and devotional accent. The names of the sixteenth century were associated with the ancient Christian saints. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the names of some saints or hierarchs sponsored by religious communities became familiar. Among the women, the Marian cult decisively determined their names and, in order of custom, they were called Maria, Josefa, Gertrude, Ana, Ignacia, Catarina, Manuela, Juana and Antonia. Among the men, Joseph, Ignatius, Francis, Anthony, Mariano, and Vincent. The names Jesus and Jesusa only became popular in the 19th century.

Information taken from:

https://www.banrepcultural.org/biblioteca-virtual/credencial-histor...