Alonso Valiente (1482? in
Medina de las Torres
Medina de las Torres is a municipality located in the province of Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain. According to the 2005 census (INE
INE, Ine or ine may refer to:
Institutions
* Institut für Nukleare Entsorgung, a German nuclear research center
* ...
– 1564? in
New Spain
New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...
) was a Spanish
conquistador
Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, O ...
. He was
Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquess of the Valley of Oaxaca (; ; 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of w ...
'
cousin
Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, " ...
and
secretary
A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...
. He was one of the first governors (
Alguacil Mayor) of
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
. He was also the first
encomendero
The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish labour system that rewarded conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. The labourers, in theory, were provided with benefits by the conquerors for whom they laboured, including military ...
of
Tecamachalco, and he contributed to found
Puebla de los Ángeles
Puebla de Zaragoza (; nah, Cuetlaxcoapan), formally Heroica Puebla de Zaragoza, formerly Puebla de los Ángeles during colonial times, or known in English simply as Puebla, is the seat of Puebla Municipality. It is the capital and largest city ...
, where he also served as
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
.
Conqueror
Alonso Valiente first traveled to the
New World
The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...
with
Cristóbal Colón
Christopher Columbus
* lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo
* es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón
* pt, Cristóvão Colombo
* ca, Cristòfor (or )
* la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...
's (Christopher Columbus') last expedition to the continent. He arrived in
Santo Domingo
, total_type = Total
, population_density_km2 = auto
, timezone = AST (UTC −4)
, area_code_type = Area codes
, area_code = 809, 829, 849
, postal_code_type = Postal codes
, postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional)
, websi ...
in 1508 with Don
Diego Colón
Diego Columbus ( pt, Diogo Colombo; es, Diego Colón; it, Diego Colombo; 1479/1480 – February 23, 1526) was a navigator and explorer under the Kings of Castile and Aragón. He served as the 2nd Admiral of the Indies, 2nd Viceroy of the Indie ...
. Valiente was one of the conquerors of
Higüey
Higüey (), or in full Salvaleón de Higüey, is the capital city of the eastern La Altagracia Province, in the Dominican Republic, and the eighth largest city of that country. The Yuma River (Dominican Republic), Yuma River flows through the urb ...
in today's
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...
and
Borinquen
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
(named by Cristóbal Colón San Juan Bautista) in what is now known as
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
[
] He remained there from 1509 to 1521. He, his household, and sixty Spaniards he provisioned, arrived in Mexico City, only four months after the Spanish capture of the city. Valiente participated in the conquest of
Michoacán
Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo (; Purépecha: ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of ...
and
Pánuco. In 1524 he was also a part of Cortés' expedition to
Las Hibueras in today's
Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
. This is evident in the appointment of
Bernal Díaz Bernal is a Spanish given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Bernard.
Bernal may refer to:
People with the name Given name
*Bernal de Bonaval, 13th century Galician troubadour
* Bernal de Foix, 1st Count of Medinaceli, Spanish milit ...
as a
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
, a document that was signed by Alonso Valiente. There, Valiente helped to conquer the three islands of
Guanaja
Guanaja is one of the Bay Islands of Honduras and is in the Caribbean. It is about off the north coast of Honduras, and from the island of Roatan. One of the cays off Guanaja, also called Guanaja or Bonacca or Low Cay (or just simply, The Ca ...
, in the coast of North Honduras. The inhabitants of these islands told that the crew of a vessel coming from today's
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
had captured and enslaved more than sixty people. Probably being faithful to the
Laws of Burgos
The Laws of Burgos ( es, Leyes de Burgos), promulgated on 27 December 1512 in Burgos, Crown of Castile (Spain), was the first codified set of laws governing the behavior of Spaniards in the Americas, particularly with regard to the Indigenous pe ...
, Cortés then ordered Valiente and others to go and rescue these people. He gave him a
brigantine
A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully square-rigged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square topsail and a gaff sail mainsail (behind the mast). The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts.
Older ...
and the best artillery that was available. Valiente's expedition did not manage to capture the slavers. However they learned that the ship was originally sent from
Santo Domingo
, total_type = Total
, population_density_km2 = auto
, timezone = AST (UTC −4)
, area_code_type = Area codes
, area_code = 809, 829, 849
, postal_code_type = Postal codes
, postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional)
, websi ...
with other purposes, but the captain changed plans during the mission, realizing that he could capture slaves and make a profit. Alonso
Valiente is also one of the discoverers of the
Old Bahama Channel
The Old Bahama Channel ( es, Canal Viejo de Bahama) is a strait of the Caribbean region, between Cuba and the Bahamas.
Geography
The strait/channel is located off the Atlantic coast of north-central and northeastern mainland and the Sabana-Camagü ...
.
[ Valiente also participated in the conquest of Chametla in ]Nueva Galicia
Nuevo Reino de Galicia (''New Kingdom of Galicia'', gl, Reino de Nova Galicia) or simply Nueva Galicia (''New Galicia'', ''Nova Galicia'') was an autonomous kingdom of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. It was named after Galicia in Spain. Nueva ...
.[
Valiente held a number of appointive offices in addition to acting as secretary to his relative ]Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquess of the Valley of Oaxaca (; ; 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of w ...
. His service is recounted in his coat of arms citation of 26 November 1547. In the 1520s Valiente was considered a vecino
'Vecino' means either "neighbour" or resident in modern Spanish. Historically in the Spanish Empire it referred instead to a householder of considerable social position in a town or a city, and was similar to "freeman" or "freeholder."
Historic ...
of both Medellin (Spain), Veracruz
Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...
and Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
simultaneously. By 1547 he was a citizen of both Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
and Puebla
Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...
, which he contributed to found.
Family and life in the New World
Valiente arrived in Mexico with his first wife, Juana de Mancilla. Sources indicate that Valiente did not get a new wife until around 1555. However, there is no record about Mancilla's death or any other form of dissolution of the marriage. She is thought to have died during the 1550s.
Juana de Mancilla is remembered from accounts of her punishment in Mexico city, when she was suspected of sorcery. This suspicion arose when she was urged to marry another man by the colonial factor, fearing that Valiente and all of the participants in one of Cortés' expeditions had died. But Mancilla claimed to be certain that Valiente and everyone in the expedition were alive. Therefore, she remained faithful to Valiente. Because of that, the factor ordered to whip her, having interpreted her faith as sorcery. Later, the colonial factor got news which certified that Valiente and all of the other conquerors were indeed alive. When the factor understood that he had made a mistake, he issued an apology and decided to ask every gentleman in the colony to ride their horses in the streets, to honor Juana de Mancilla. From then on, she was known as Doña Señora Juana de Mancilla.[
Cortés granted Valiente the ]encomienda
The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish labour system that rewarded conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. The labourers, in theory, were provided with benefits by the conquerors for whom they laboured, including military ...
of Tecamachalco in 1523. This property was valued in 3.300 peso
The peso is the monetary unit of several countries in the Americas, and the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries the peso uses the Dollar sign, same sign, "$", as many currencies na ...
s in 1560. Valiente lived in Mexico City from 1526 to 1542. In 1527 he was also registered as a resident of Medellin (Spain). He was the attorney of the conquerors Luis Ponce the León and Alonso de Ávila
Alonso is a Spanish name of Germanic origin that is a Castilian variant of ''Adalfuns''.
Geographical distribution
As of 2014, 36.6% of all known bearers of the surname ''Alonso'' were residents of Spain (frequency 1:222), 26.1% of Mexico (1:83 ...
. He was also a resident and the mayor of Puebla
Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...
from 1542 to 1555. He is also known to have owned land in Oaxtepec
Oaxtepec is a town within the municipality of Yautepec and the Cuautla metropolitan area in the eastern part of the Mexican state of Morelos. Its main industry is tourism, mostly aimed at the inhabitants of nearby Mexico City, and the town posses ...
.
Valiente built houses near the Concepción Convent in New Spain. These houses were owned by Francisco de Peralta in 1558. This year, Alonso Valiente was also referred to the Holy Inquisition
The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat Christian heresy, heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consi ...
for having said that mere fornication was not a mortal sin.
He was present in the marriage of Juan Jaramillo
''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...
and Doña Marina, and was a witness in the marriage of María Jaramillo and Luis de Quesada in 1546.
Together with Juan Altamirano, Alonso Valiente stayed in Mexico during Cortés' first trip to Spain. Both Altamirano and Valiente functioned as Hernán Cortés' legal representatives during his absence from Mexico.[
Alonso Valiente had a second wife named Melchora de Aberrucia, with whom he had no children. He lived with her in what is now the city of ]Puebla
Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...
, becoming one of the city's founders and first governors.
Popular culture
Alonso Valiente is also known to have purchased a slave, who was baptized and received the Christian name
A Christian name, sometimes referred to as a baptismal name, is a religious personal name given on the occasion of a Christian baptism, though now most often assigned by parents at birth. In English-speaking cultures, a person's Christian name ...
of Juan Valiente
Juan Valiente (1505? - † 1553, Tucapel) was a Spanish black conquistador who participated in the expeditions of Pedro de Almagro in present-day Guatemala and Chile. Taken into captivity as a slave in Africa, he was transported to Mexico, where ...
. The slave had originally been acquired by the Portuguese in Northwestern Africa. Alonso took Juan to Spain and eventually allowed him to travel to South America, so that he could also try his chances as a conqueror. Juan Valiente first travelled to Perú from Guatemala, with Pedro de Alvarado
Pedro de Alvarado (; c. 1485 – 4 July 1541) was a Spanish conquistador and governor of Guatemala.Lovell, Lutz and Swezey 1984, p. 461. He participated in the conquest of Cuba, in Juan de Grijalva's exploration of the coasts of the Yucatá ...
. He then joined Pedro de Almagro's company and finally Pedro de Valdivia
Pedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva (; April 17, 1497 – December 25, 1553) was a Spanish conquistador and the first royal governor of Chile. After serving with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in 1534, whe ...
. Juan Valiente contributed to establish Santiago, Chile
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital (political), capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated Regions of Chile, region, t ...
. He is thus known in popular culture as one of the few African-conquerors in the New World. Juan Valiente lived as a free man in Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
. He never got to pay for his freedom, although he tried to do so. Alonso Valiente insisted in recovering the money, but it became virtually impossible for Juan Valiente
Juan Valiente (1505? - † 1553, Tucapel) was a Spanish black conquistador who participated in the expeditions of Pedro de Almagro in present-day Guatemala and Chile. Taken into captivity as a slave in Africa, he was transported to Mexico, where ...
to dispatch the payments to New Spain
New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...
. Juan Valiente finally died in Tucapel
Tucapel is a List of towns in Chile, town and Communes of Chile, commune in the Bío Bío Province, Bío Bío Region, Chile. It was once a region of Araucanía (historic region), Araucanía named for the Tucapel River. The name of the region deri ...
, Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
in 1553.
Alonso Valiente is also known for having been the first owner of La Casa del Conde (the count's house) in one of his encomienda
The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish labour system that rewarded conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. The labourers, in theory, were provided with benefits by the conquerors for whom they laboured, including military ...
s in Tecamachalco. Upon Alonso Valiente's death, the house was taken over by Valiente's widow and second wife, Melchora de Aberrucia. She remarried with Rodrigo de Vivero y Velasco Rodrigo de Vivero y Velasco was a Spanish colonial officer from New Spain. His parents were Don Rodrigo de Vivero and Doña Antonia de Velasco, the sister of Luís de Velasco, second Viceroy of New Spain. In 1563 he married Alonso Valiente's widow, ...
, a relative of Luís de Velasco
Luis de Velasco y Ruiz de Alarcón (1511 – July 31, 1564) was the second viceroy of New Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the mid-sixteenth century.
Biography
Velasco was born in the town of Carrión de los Cond ...
, the second Viceroy
A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning "k ...
of New Spain. Their son, Rodrigo de Vivero y Aberrucia
Rodrigo de Vivero y Aberrucia, 1st Count of Valle de Orizaba ( es, Rodrigo de Vivero y Aberrucia, primer conde del valle de Orizaba) ( Tecamachalco?, New Spain, 1564–1636) was a Spanish noble who served as the 13th governor and captain-gener ...
, became the first Count of the Valley of Orizaba
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
. Since then, the house has been popularly known as La Casa del Conde (the count's house).
The Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
series of 1957 Capitán Valiente (the brave captain), illustrated by Manuel Gago García, with dialogues by Pedro Quesada, was loosely based on Alonso Valiente's character.
Sources
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valiente, Alonso
People from Zafra-Río Bodión
Extremaduran conquistadors
People from New Spain
Spanish city founders
Encomenderos
1482 births
1564 deaths
16th-century Spanish people