Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca was born in 1490 of Spanish nobility. His ancestors had been warriors for generations. Vaca's name translates into "Head of a Cow," a title bestowed upon an ancestor by Spain's King who was victorious in battle after following a difficult trail carefully marked with cow skulls. Vaca distinguished himself as a fine officer in battles against the French, Jews and Moors. He was merciless to the infidel; human suffering, to his way of thinking, was the fate of all good Catholics.