Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar

From Hispanopedia
Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar
1st Adelantado of Yucatán
In office
1518 – June 12, 1524
MonarchCharles I of Spain
Succeeded byFrancisco de Montejo
1st Lieutenant Governor of Cuba
In office
1511 – June 12, 1524
MonarchsJoanna I of Castile and Charles I of Spain
GovernorDiego Columbus (Viceroy and Governor General of the Indies in Hispaniola)
Succeeded byManuel de Rojas y Córdova
Personal details
Born1465 (1465)
Cuéllar, Crown of Castile
DiedJune 12, 1524(1524-06-12) (aged 58–59)
Santiago de Cuba, Lieutenant Governorship of Cuba, Columbian Viceroyalty, Spanish Empire
Cause of deathFever
SpouseMaría de Cuéllar
ProfessionMilitary, conquistador and colonial ruler

Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar (Cuéllar, 1465 – Santiago de Cuba, June 12, 1524) was an adelantado, Spanish conquistador, first ruler of Cuba—from 1511 until his death in 1524—and founder of the first seven cities of Cuba.

Biography

House of Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar in Santiago de Cuba.

He belonged to an important noble family that played a prominent role in Cuéllar during the Middle Ages. He is described as being of strong build and red-haired.[1]

He was a captain of the Spanish army in Naples and later settled in Seville, where he befriended Bartholomew Columbus.[2]

He took part in the second voyage of Christopher Columbus in 1493.[1] He afterwards collaborated with Governor Nicolás de Ovando (1501–1509) in the pacification of the island of Hispaniola, where he became one of the leading men.[1]

The new Governor, Diego Columbus (1509–1515), placed him at the head of an expedition to conquer and settle Cuba in 1511. Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar obtained the title of Lieutenant Governor of the island.[3]

He enjoyed the favor of Bishop Juan Rodríguez de Fonseca.[4]

In Hispaniola, Velázquez founded the settlements of Santa María de la Vera Paz, Villanueva de Yáquino, San Juan de la Maguana, Nuestra Señora de los Remedios de Azua, Salvatierra de la Sabana[5] and Bánica;[6] and in Cuba the cities of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Baracoa, San Salvador de Bayamo, Santiago de Cuba, Santísima Trinidad, Santa María del Puerto del Príncipe, Sancti Spíritus, San Cristóbal de La Habana[1] and San Juan de los Remedios.[7]

He sponsored the expedition of Francisco Hernández de Córdoba to Yucatán in early 1517.[8] In 1518 he sent an expedition under the command of Juan de Grijalva, which included Captain Pedro de Alvarado, to the coasts of Mexico.[9]

On November 13, 1518, in Zaragoza, following the efforts of his emissaries Gonzalo de Guzmán and Pánfilo de Narváez, these obtained from the King the grant of the title of Adelantado, Governor and Captain General of the lands of Yucatán and Cozumel that Francisco Hernández and Juan de Grijalva had discovered.[1]

Hernán Cortés and Andrés del Duero were secretaries of Velázquez.[10]

At the end of 1518 he formed a new venture with Hernán Cortés to organize an expedition to Culúa. On February 18, 1519, Hernán Cortés set out for Mexico from Havana. The first thing Cortés did upon reaching the mainland was to found a new city, Veracruz. This involved creating a town council and distributing its offices. In this way, Cortés acted without regard to Velázquez and would answer only to the King.[11]

Velázquez sent an expedition under the command of Pánfilo de Narváez to stop him,[1] but it failed after Cortés's victory at Cempoala and the imprisonment of Narváez in 1520.[12]

Later, in 1524, he incited one of Cortés's lieutenants, Cristóbal de Olid, to rebel against him[1] in Honduras, which he achieved and which cost Olid his life.[13]

He was married to María de Cuéllar, daughter of the accountant Cristóbal de Cuéllar. The marriage was short-lived, as she died one week after the wedding.[1]

Velázquez died between June 11 and 12, 1524, in his mansion in Santiago de Cuba, which still stands and is the Museum of Cuban Historical Environment (Museo de Ambiente Histórico Cubano).[14]

Family of conquistadors

Following their relative Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, various relatives of the Governor came to America, employed in different tasks and always under the protection of the Adelantado. Notable among them are:

  • Juan Velázquez de León, conquistador, Captain of Hernán Cortés.[15]
  • Francisco Velázquez, conquistador of Mexico and Nueva Galicia.[16][17]
  • Antonio Velázquez de Narváez, conquistador of Mexico, Nueva Galicia and other provinces.[18]
  • Diego Velázquez the Younger, nephew of the Governor.[19]
  • Jorge Velázquez was chief town crier of Santo Domingo, later going to Cuba, where he served as mayor of Sancti Spíritus in 1521.[17]
  • Alonso Velázquez, who, after serving the King for ten years in Italy in the company of Martín de Ratia, set out with Hernando de Soto in 1538 to discover the provinces of Florida, where he endured untold hardships. In 1543 he was a resident of Mexico and was preparing to take part in the fleet that was to be sent to pacify Peru, but the rebellion ended and he married. He was still living in Mexico in 1547.[20]
  • Francisco Velázquez el Corcovado ("the Hunchback"), a relative of the Governor of Cuba, where he was in 1518. The following year he went with Hernán Cortés to Mexico and later returned to Cuba with other captains of the fleet of Pánfilo de Narváez, since Cortés gave them leave and one of the best ships so that they could return.[19]
  • Pedro Velázquez, nephew of the Governor, was a resident of Havana in 1519, from where he set out with Pánfilo de Narváez the following year. He returned to Cuba and during 1546–1555 was a resident and Lieutenant Governor of Havana.[17]
  • Iseo Velázquez de Cuéllar, niece of the Governor, was in Cuba in 1519 together with her husband Baltasar Bermúdez, later moving to Mexico.[19]
  • Antonio Velázquez, a relative of the Governor, who died in a campaign under the command of Hernando de Soto in Florida around 1539.
  • Francisco and Bernaldino Velázquez, sons of Violante Velázquez and relatives of the Governor. They died returning from the Indies, both having made wills in which they left their mother as universal heir, one of them charging her with bringing to Spain two natural children he had, together with all his property.
  • Diego Velázquez, who embarked with Hernando de Soto in 1538 bound for Florida. His great services are recorded by the chronicler Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas, who, recounting the Florida campaigns of 1541, says: «in them was a brave soldier, named Diego Velázquez, from Cuéllar».[21]
  • Bernardino Velázquez, a relative of the Governor, was one of the men he considered when designating the leader of the expedition to New Spain, which he ultimately entrusted to Hernán Cortés.[17]
  • Antonio Velázquez Borrego was another of the men whom Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar proposed to captain the fleet bound for Yucatán, as he also did with Francisco Verdugo, another relative.[22]
  • Francisco Verdugo, brother-in-law of the Governor, who took part in the conquests of Mexico and Nueva Galicia.[23]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Luis Arranz Márquez. "Diego de Velázquez de Cuellar" (in español). Real Academia de la Historia. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  2. ↑ José Luis Prieto Benavent (2001). "Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar (1465-1524)" (PDF). Revista hispano cubana (in español) (9): 89–97.
  3. ↑ Miralles 2004, p. 22.
  4. ↑ Miralles 2004, p. 24.
  5. ↑ Enrique Hurtado de Mendoza (2000). "La sangre de los conquistadores". Hidalguía: la revista de genealogía, nobleza y armas (in español) (280–281): 613–623. ISSN 0018-1285.
  6. ↑ Méndez 2013, p. 32.
  7. ↑ "Cuadro estadístico de la siempre fiel isla de Cuba, correspondiente al año 1846" (in español). La Habana. 1847. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. ↑ José María González Ochoa. "Francisco Hernández de Córdoba" (in español). Real Academia de la Historia. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  9. ↑ Isabelo Macías Domínguez. "Juan de Grijalba" (in español). Real Academia de la Historia. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  10. ↑ Miralles 2004, p. 61.
  11. ↑ Francisco Martínez Hoyos (February 18, 2019). "Hernán Cortés y la toma de México" (in español). La Vanguardia.
  12. ↑ Emelina Martín Acosta. "Pánfilo de Narváez" (in español). Real Academia de la Historia. Archived from the original on October 7, 2019. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  13. ↑ "Cristóbal de Olid" (in español). Real Academia de la Historia. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  14. ↑ "Testamento de Diego Velázquez, otorgado en Santiago de Cuba el dia 11 de Junio de 1524, donde falleció tal día o el siguiente" (in español). Revistas culturales 2.0. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  15. ↑ Cristina González Hernández. "Juan Velázquez de León" (in español). Real Academia de la Historia. Retrieved April 21, 2020.
  16. ↑ Rocío Casas de Bustos. "Francisco Velázquez" (in español). Real Academia de la Historia. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 Fuentenebro Zamarro 1991, p. 220.
  18. ↑ Fuentenebro Zamarro 1991, p. 222.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Fuentenebro Zamarro 1991, p. 221.
  20. ↑ Fuentenebro Zamarro 1991, p. 228.
  21. ↑ Fuentenebro Zamarro 1991, pp. 228–229.
  22. ↑ Fuentenebro Zamarro 1991, pp. 220–221.
  23. ↑ Fuentenebro Zamarro 1991, pp. 222–224.

Bibliography

  • Méndez Matos, Natanael (2013). Proyecto político la Sexta República (in español). Vol. 2. Windmills International Edition. ISBN 978-1-304-48279-2.
  • Miralles, Juan (2004) [2001]. Hernán Cortés, inventor de México (in español). ABC. D. L. B. 51.276-2003
  • Fuentenebro Zamarro, Francisco (1991). Segovianos en el descubrimiento de América (in español). Madrid: Fareso. ISBN 84-604-0591-5.
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