This passage really spoke with me as well and I was in shock at the monumental role that Dona Maria played in this important part of history. Without her, Cortes may have not been able to establish such a foothold in South America. Because of her extreme level of involvement she was apart of everything and knew everything that was occurring. She was respected by many for her talents in linguistics and being at Cortes's side for such a long period of time. It is really interesting to look back and reflect that we all have heard of Cortes but not as much about Dona Maria who was arguably just as monumental to the whole chain of events.
