![Merida - Casa de Montejo 3 Portal Conquistador](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Merida_-_Casa_de_Montejo_3_Portal_Conquistador.jpg)
Beltrán de Cetina y del Castillo (
Alcalá de Henares
Alcalá de Henares () is a Spanish city in the Community of Madrid. Straddling the Henares River, it is located to the northeast of the centre of Madrid. , it has a population of 193,751, making it the region's third-most populated Municipalities ...
, 1521 –
Mérida de Yucatán, 1600?) was one of the original
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 ...
s and founders of Mérida in the modern Mexican state of
Yucatán
Yucatán (, also , , ; yua, Yúukatan ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán,; yua, link=no, Xóot' Noj Lu'umil Yúukatan. is one of the 31 states which comprise the political divisions of Mexico, federal entities of Mexico. I ...
. His siblings included: Renaissance poet
Gutierre de Cetina
Gutierre de Cetina (1519–1554) was a Spanish poet and soldier.
Biography
Cetina was born at Seville. He was the brother of Beltrán and Gregorio de Cetina, lesser known conquistadors. He served under Charles V in Italy and Germany, but retired ...
; Ana Andrea del Castillo, self-described ''conquistadora'' and wife of
Francisco de Montejo the Younger
Francisco de Montejo y León (; 1508 – 8 February 1565), known as "the Younger" (), was a Spanish conquistador, who in 1542 founded the city of Mérida, capital of State of Yucatán, Mexico. The son of Francisco de Montejo, ca. June 1527 he ...
; and Gregorio de Cetina, also a conqueror of Yucatán.
From Andalusia to Mexico
![La sevilla del sigloXVI](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/La_sevilla_del_sigloXVI.jpg)
His father, Beltrán de
Cetina
Cetina () is a river in southern Croatia. It has a length of and its basin covers an area of . From its source, Cetina descends from an elevation of above sea level to the Adriatic Sea. It is the most water-rich river in Dalmatia.Naklada Naprijed ...
y Alcocer, was born to Gutierre de Cetina y
Hurtado de Mendoza Hurtado de Mendoza may refer to:
* Andrés Hurtado de Mendoza, 3rd Marquis of Cañete (circa 1500-1561), Spanish military officer
* Antonio Hurtado de Mendoza (1586–1644), Spanish dramatist
* Diego Hurtado de Mendoza (multiple)
* García Hurta ...
and Mencía de Alcocer (of partial ''
converso
A ''converso'' (; ; feminine form ''conversa''), "convert", () was a Jew who converted to Catholicism in Spain or Portugal, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries, or one of his or her descendants.
To safeguard the Old Christian po ...
'' ancestry) c. 1498. The parents came, for the most part, from old ''
hidalgo
Hidalgo may refer to:
People
* Hidalgo (nobility), members of the Spanish nobility
* Hidalgo (surname)
Places
Mexico
* Hidalgo (state), in central Mexico
* Hidalgo, Coahuila, a town in the north Mexican state of Coahuila
* Hidalgo, Nuevo Le ...
'' families long resident in Alcalá de Henares, although the
patrilineal
Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...
descent ultimately stemmed from the village of
Cetina
Cetina () is a river in southern Croatia. It has a length of and its basin covers an area of . From its source, Cetina descends from an elevation of above sea level to the Adriatic Sea. It is the most water-rich river in Dalmatia.Naklada Naprijed ...
, in the
Kingdom of Aragon
The Kingdom of Aragon ( an, Reino d'Aragón, ca, Regne d'Aragó, la, Regnum Aragoniae, es, Reino de Aragón) was a medieval and early modern kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day autonomous community of Aragon, ...
. As a youth Beltrán de Cetina y Alcocer moved to
Seville
Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...
, where he met and married Francisca del Castillo y
Zanabria, daughter of García del Castillo and María Mayora, a local of likely
Morisco
Moriscos (, ; pt, mouriscos ; Spanish for "Moorish") were former Muslims and their descendants whom the Roman Catholic church and the Spanish Crown commanded to convert to Christianity or face compulsory exile after Spain outlawed the open p ...
descent. The nuptials were celebrated in 1518 in Seville. In 1519 was born Gutierre, in 1521 Beltrán in Alcalá de Henares, in 1525 Ana Andrea, and in 1527 Gregorio.
![BeltranCetina](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/BeltranCetina.jpg)
The family lived for many years in the parish neighborhood of
Santa María la Blanca
Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnight ...
, within the old ''
aljama
''Aljama'' (, , ) is a term of Arabic origin used in old official documents in Spain and Portugal to designate the self-governing communities of Moors and Jews living under Christian rule in the Iberian Peninsula. In some present-day Spanish citi ...
'' or
Jewish quarter of Seville. The father, possibly owing to family influences, obtained in 1536 the job of ''almoxarife mayor'' (chief tax official and
treasurer
A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance.
Government
The treasury o ...
) for the city and its ports. The Cetina family's comfortable position allowed them to own
slaves
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
(some of them
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
) and to realize the construction of a family tomb in the
Dominican convent
A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...
of
Madre de Dios de la Piedad
Madre means mother in many Romance languages, and it may also refer to:
* Madré, a commune in the Mayenne department of northwestern France
* Mądre, a village in the Greater Poland Voivodeship, in west-central Poland
* Isola Madre, an Italian is ...
, in which would also be laid the remains of
doña
Don (; ; pt, Dom, links=no ; all from Latin ', roughly 'Lord'), abbreviated as D., is an honorific prefix primarily used in Spain and Hispanic America, and with different connotations also in Italy, Portugal and its former colonies, and Croatia ...
Juana de Zúñiga and doña
Catalina Cortés, wife and daughter of
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 ...
, respectively; as well as the great-granddaughters of
Christopher Columbus
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 ...
.
In 1535 occurred the immigration 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 ...
of the siblings: Andrea Cetina, Beltrán Cetina, and García del Castillo, accompanied by their aunt, Antonia del Castillo (wife of Gonzalo López, another notable Sevillian, who five years before had participated in
Nuño de Guzmán
Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán (c. 14901558) was a Spanish conquistador and colonial administrator in New Spain. He was the governor of the province of Pánuco from 1525 to 1533 and of Nueva Galicia from 1529 to 1534, and president of the first Royal ...
's campaign to conquer the lands that later would become
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 ...
).
The lives of Andrea, Beltrán, Gregorio, and Gutierre de Cetina
![Casa-montejo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Casa-montejo.jpg)
In 1539 Andrea del Castillo married Francisco de Montejo y León; the couple would eventually help found and settle the city of Mérida. The marriage produced three children: Beatriz de Montejo (born
ca.
CA or ca may refer to:
Businesses and organizations Companies
* Air China (IATA airline code CA)
* CA Technologies, a U.S. software company
* Cayman Airways, a Cayman Islands airline
* Channel America, a defunct U.S. television network
* Classi ...
1543), Juan de Montejo (born ca. 1544), and Francisca del Castillo (born. ca. 1545). Although the union is mentioned in passing by
Bishop de Landa (who knew the family personally) in his ''Relación'' (ca. 1566), it is
Fray Diego López de Cogolludo
Diego López de Cogolludo (Alcalá de Henares 1613 – New Spain 1665) was a Spanish Franciscan historian of Yucatán (state), Yucatán.
Biography
A native of Alcalá de Henares in Spain, he took the habit of St. Francis at the convent of San ...
who relates in his ''Historia de Yucatán'' (1688) that Montejo y León died insolvent, bequeathing to his son Juan the encumbrance of paying his significant remaining debts, and causing his widow to petition the
King of Spain
, coatofarms = File:Coat_of_Arms_of_Spanish_Monarch.svg
, coatofarms_article = Coat of arms of the King of Spain
, image = Felipe_VI_in_2020_(cropped).jpg
, incumbent = Felipe VI
, incumbentsince = 19 Ju ...
, with both unusual assertiveness and effectiveness, for a pension and the right of retaining ownership of the complex of properties (''solares'') on the ''
plaza mayor'' of Mérida (part of which, the
Casa de Montejo, would continue to be lived in by her descendants into the 19th-century).
In 1541 Beltrán de Cetina y del Castillo was named by his brother-in-law, Montejo "the Younger", as his civil and military
lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations.
The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...
(''capitán y
justicia mayor
Justicia mayor was a title bestowed upon a person in 19th century Spanish Empire which authorized him to perform law enforcement and judicial functions within a town, city of region. It is similar to the position of sheriff in some jurisdictions ...
'') in the garrison of
San Francisco de Campeche
San Francisco de Campeche (; yua, Ahk'ìin Pech, ), 19th c., also known simply as Campeche, is a city in Campeche Municipality in the state of Campeche, Mexico on the shore of the Bay of Campeche of the Gulf of Mexico. Both the seat of the muni ...
. The following January the city of Mérida was founded, inscribed in the roster of first citizens (''
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 ...
s'') appears the name of the aforementioned Beltrán de Zetina (sic). Beltrán's role as a ''conquistador'' is documented in the list of men who conquered the Yucatán with Montejo compiled by chronicler Baltasar Dorantes de Carranza, son of Andrés Dorantes, survivor of the fateful
Narváez expedition
The Narváez expedition was a Spanish journey of exploration and colonization started in 1527 that intended to establish colonial settlements and garrisons in Florida. The expedition was initially led by Pánfilo de Narváez, who died in 1528. M ...
.
In 1547 this same Beltrán was made, along with other close associates, a ''
regidor
A regidor (plural: ''regidores'') is a member of a council of municipalities in Spain and Latin America. Portugal also used to have the same office of ''regedor''.
Mexico
In Mexico, an ayuntamiento (municipal council) is composed of a municipal ...
'' or city councilman by the ''
adelantado
''Adelantado'' (, , ; meaning "advanced") was a title held by Spanish nobles in service of their respective kings during the Middle Ages. It was later used as a military title held by some Spain, Spanish ''conquistadores'' of the 15th, 16th and 17 ...
''
Francisco de Montejo y Álvarez de Tejeda. The following year his father (his mother already having died) named in his ''testamento'' or will as his principal heirs his eight children (all were legitimate, though some did not opt to use the
paternal surname): Gutierre de Cetina, García del Castillo, Beltrán de Cetina, Gregorio de Cetina, Mencía de Santo Domingo Alcocer, Leonor de Cetina, María del Castillo, and Ana Andrea del Castillo.
In 1550 Gregorio de Cetina obtained permission to travel to New Spain, along with his cousins Pedro and Diego López, in order to help in the administration of the properties of his uncle, Gonzalo López. The latter, who had attained the rank of ''
maestre de campo
''Maestre de campo'' was a rank created in 1534 by the Emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Carlos V, inferior in rank only to the ''captain general, capitán general'' and acted as a chief of staff. He was chosen by the monarch in the Council o ...
'' during Cortés's
Conquest of Mexico
The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, also known as the Conquest of Mexico or the Spanish-Aztec War (1519–21), was one of the primary events in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. There are multiple 16th-century narratives of the eve ...
, had previously been accompanied by the eldest of the brothers, Gutierre, during a trip to New Spain in 1546, realized for the purposes of serving as ''procurador general'' (procurator general) of the colony.
In 1553, sons of former Mérida ''regidor'' Beltrán de Cetina and his Sevillian wife Isabel de Velasco, Beltrán and Gregorio de Cetina y Velasco (there was also another, more obscure, brother named Antonio), traveled to New Spain on a ship captained by Juan de Andino, to live as ''
encomenderos
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 ...
'', ultimately leaving multiple descendants in Yucatán,
Tabasco
Tabasco (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tabasco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tabasco), is one of the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa.
It is located in ...
, Campeche, and places further afield.
![Gutierre de Cetina por Pacheco](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Gutierre_de_Cetina_por_Pacheco.jpg)
In 1554, Gutierre returned to Mexico only to die in
Villa del Espíritu Santo as a result of an infected facial-wound received on April 1 of that year while residing in
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 ...
, and which was inflicted by the volatile son of one of
Panfilo de Narváez's followers, Hernando de Nava, who mistook the poet for Francisco de Peralta, rival for the favors and ''amours'' of Leonor de Osma, a lady married to the notable and elderly physician Pedro de la Torre. A portrait, purported to be a true likeness of Gutierre, accompanied by a biographical sketch, is included by
painter
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...
and poet
Francisco Pacheco
Francisco Pacheco del Río (bap. 3 November 1564 – 27 November 1644) was a Spanish painter, best known as the teacher and father-in-law of Diego Velázquez and Alonzo Cano, and for his textbook on painting, entitled ''Art of Painting'', ...
in his 1599 ''Libro de descripción de verdaderos Retratos de Ilustres y memorables varones'' (Book of the Description of the True Portraits of Illustrious and Memorable Men).
García del Castillo, having married Catalina López de Olivares, daughter of the notable Sevillian judge Juan de Olivares and his wife Beatriz López, settled in the
City of Mexico
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 of ...
; numbering among his children the ''bachiller'' and
presbyter
Presbyter () is an honorific title for Christian clergy. The word derives from the Greek ''presbyteros,'' which means elder or senior, although many in the Christian antiquity would understand ''presbyteros'' to refer to the bishop functioning as ...
cleric (''clérigo presbítero'') Beltrán de Cetina (born ca. 1558), a graduate of the
Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico
The Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico (in es, Real y Pontificia Universidad de México) was founded on 21 September 1551 by Royal Decree signed by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles I of Spain, in Valladolid, Spain. It is generally co ...
. María del Castillo (the third sibling so surnamed) married influential ''conquistador'' Francisco Tamayo de Pacheco and settled in Mérida.
Gregorio de Zetina y del Castillo, having settled in Mérida, married Mariana (or María) de Quijada y Contreras, niece of Diego de Quijada, ''
alcalde mayor
An ''alcalde mayor'' was a regional magistrate in Spain and its territories from, at least, the 14th century to the 19th century. These regional officials had judicial, administrative, military and legislative authority. Their judicial and ad ...
'' of Yucatán from 1561 to 1565, and daughter of Cristóbal Gutiérrez (a ''conquistador'' and settler of
Chiapas
Chiapas (; Tzotzil language, Tzotzil and Tzeltal language, Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, ...
) and Ana de Contreras; their numerous children were Francisca del Castillo, Beltrán de Cetina, Gregorio de Cetina, Diego Quijada, Juan Quijada, Gutierre de Cetina, Hernando de Porras, Gabriel de Cetina, Cristóbal Quijada, and Andrés del Castillo (the surnaming custom was not necessarily linear).
[Gutierre de Cetina and Hernando de Porras were twins, the former, and poet's namesake, married Inés de Arbieto, among his issue, another Gregorio de Cetina (born ca. 1612). López de Cogolludo relates that Diego Quijada Cetina became a ]Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...
friar
A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ol ...
and was fluent in Mayan
Mayan most commonly refers to:
* Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America
* Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America
* Mayan languages, language family spoken ...
; one day he suffered an unspecified accident that caused him to become deranged, to the degree that he had to be restrained, but when brought to his sister Francisca's house he fully and "miraculously" recovered. Francisca de Cetina married Francisco de Loaysa, among their issue, the familiarly named Gregorio Loaysa Cetina (born. c. 1600). Gregorio de Cetina was for a time
steward of the
chapel of San Juan Bautista, in Mérida, position from which he profited financially. Many of the brothers, their relatives and dependants, left record of their migratory movements in the
Casa de Contratación de Indias of Seville. The Cetinas were related by blood or marriage to the
Montejos, the Pachecos, the Ortizes de San Pedro, the
Rozas, among others, all of whom are counted as being among the first colonizers of Mexico and other lands.
See also
*
Conquest of Mexico
The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, also known as the Conquest of Mexico or the Spanish-Aztec War (1519–21), was one of the primary events in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. There are multiple 16th-century narratives of the eve ...
*
Inés de Suárez
*
Spanish conquest of Yucatán
The Spanish conquest of Yucatán was the campaign undertaken by the Spanish ''conquistadores'' against the Late Postclassic Maya states and polities in the Yucatán Peninsula, a vast limestone plain covering south-eastern Mexico, northern Gu ...
References
Bibliography
* Barreda y Acedo-Rico, Juan de la (2003) ''Viejas familias de Alcalá de Henares''
* Dorantes de Carranza, Baltasar (1604) ''Sumaria relación de las cosas de la Nueva Espana''
* Landa, Diego de (1566) ''Relación de las cosas de Yucatán''
* López de Cogolludo, Diego (1688) ''Historia de Yucatán''
* Rubio Mañé, D. J. Ignacio (1941; November 1943) ''La casa de Montejo en Mérida de Yucatán''; "Los Primeros Vecinos de la Ciudad de Mérida de Yucatán", ''
Academia Mexicana de la Historia
The Academia Mexicana de la Historia (''Mexican Academy of History'', also known by the acronym AMH) is a national academy in Mexico, whose purpose is to promote and propagate historical studies within Mexico, conduct research into all aspects of t ...
''
* Pike, Ruth (January 1990) ''The Converso Origins of the Sevillian Poet Gutierre de Cetina'', ''Iberoromania''
External links
*
Catalogue of Passengers to the Indies(
N.B. ''link may require refreshing'')
*
Obras de Gutierre de Cetina*
Andrea del Castillo's defense in the original Spanish*
Photo of the sepulchral slab of Beltrán de Cetina y Alcocer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cetina, Beltran de
1521 births
Year of death uncertain
16th-century Spanish people
Spanish conquistadors
Andalusian conquistadors
People from Mérida, Yucatán
People from Seville
Conversos
Encomenderos
Colonial Mexico
1546 in New Spain