María de Estrada was a Spanish woman who was part of the expedition of Hernán Cortés to Mexico in 1519–24. She traveled as a conquistador and fought there. There is also some evidence that she had previously spent several years as a castaway among the native inhabitants of pre-colonial Cuba.

Conquistadors or conquistadores was a term used to refer to Spanish and Portuguese colonialists of the early modern period. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond the Iberian Peninsula to the Americas, Oceania, Africa and Asia, establishing new colonies and trade routes. They brought much of the "New World" under the dominion of Spain and Portugal.