Diego de Velasco (?? - 1575) was a career soldier who served as

interim An interim is a period of temporary pause or change in a sequence of events, or a temporary state, and is often applied to transitional political entities. Interim may also refer to: Temporary organizational arrangements (general concept) *Provis ...

Lieutenant Governor of Spanish Florida between 1574 and 1576. His administration ended with his and his treasurer Bertolomeo Martinez's imprisonment by his successor as governor, Hernando de Miranda, following investigations of corruption in his administration, as well as crimes committed against Native Americans and the Spanish settlers of Florida.

Biography

De Velasco was the son-in-law of the first governor of Florida, Pedro Menéndez de Aviles. He joined the Spanish army in his youth, achieving the rank of

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 ...

.Reid Badger, John; Scudder, Jr., Lawrence Clayton (1985)
Alabama and the Borderlands: From Prehistory To Statehood
The University of Alabama Press. Page 159. In 1571, Velasco oversaw the construction of Fort San Felipe on what is now Parris Island, South Carolina, a defensive structure built to protect the Spanish settlers of ''La Florida'' after a raid by French settlers and Native Americans allied with them.Charlesfort-Santa Elena. Port Royal, South Carolina
"Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary: American Latino Heritage".

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

. U.S. Department of Interior. On September 17, 1574, after his father had become a general in the ''Nueva Armada Real'' (New Royal Army), Velasco was appointed temporary Governor of Florida,Worth, John
- Spanish Florida - Governors
. University of West Florida. although this was an interim appointment made upon the death of Menéndez.Lewis, J. D

2007. The colony's capital was the recently founded settlement of Santa Elena in what is now South Carolina. The cacique of

Guale Guale was a historic Native American chiefdom of Mississippian culture peoples located along the coast of present-day Georgia and the Sea Islands. Spanish Florida established its Roman Catholic missionary system in the chiefdom in the late 16t ...

told Alonso de Olmos that the Spaniards "had made him a Christian", but only to enslave him and steal his property. Apparently Velasco and Captain Alonso de Solis had taken several ''brazas'' (a ''braza'' was a Spanish unit of length equal to the reach of outspread arms) of pearls, the native medium of exchange, worth two gold

ducats The ducat () coin was used as a trade coin in Europe from the later Middle Ages from the 13th to 19th centuries. Its most familiar version, the gold ducat or sequin containing around of 98.6% fine gold, originated in Venice in 1284 and gained ...

each, as well as several canoes, from the Indians without payment. Velasco denied he had forced the Indians to pay him personal tribute, and said that in fact, he and the Indians had exchanged gifts, and that the Indians had thus obtained Spanish products such as iron farming implements, blankets and clothes. Velasco said that he had established a friendship with the cacique, who had fallen ill on a visit to Santa Elena, and treated him with costly medicines until he recovered. Velasco also maintained that he had given the chief and his wife other gifts, such as clothes, and that in appreciation, they had given him a ''braza'' of black pearls, but of low value. According to the written testimony of Father Oré in 1576, Velasco, after asking the caciques of Guale to gather in Santa Elena, and indicating that he would not do them any harm, hanged one of them (the nephew of a cacique) as punishment for killing a Christian Indian chieftain, to fulfill a promise he had made to the wife of another chief who had converted to Christianity, she seeking vengeance for the murder of her husband, and demanding retribution. These events led to a widespread Guale rebellion and violence against the Spanish of ''La Florida''.Cecelia Borgen, Linda Suzanne (2007)
PRELUDE TO REBELLION: DIEGO DE REBOLLEDO VS. LÚCAS MENÉNDEZ IN MID-17TH. CENTURY SPANISH FLORIDA
The University of West Florida. Consulted in 2011. Page 39. Thirty soldiers who fought against the natives in defense of Santa Elena were killed, causing the town to be temporarily abandoned in the late summer of 1576 and then to be burned later by the Indians, in full view of the soldiers and settlers as they were about to sail away from Port Royal Sound. Velasco was also accused of mishandling the provincial soldiers' pay, and consequently was replaced by Hernando de Miranda as governor of ''La Florida'' in 1575.

Last years

When Miranda came to ''La Florida'' in 1575, before assuming his position as governor, he began working to abolish corruption in the Spanish province, and found that Velasco had appropriated large sums of money from Menéndez, with the excuse that the money officially belonged to him after 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 Spanish ''conquistadores'' of the 15th, 16th and 17th cen ...

's death.Rowland, Lawrence Sanders; Moore, Alexander; and Rogers, Jr.,George C. (1996)
The History of Beaufort County, South Carolina: 1514-1861
University of South Carolina Press. Page 36. Miranda imprisoned him and replaced him with one of his

s, Alonso de Solis, at Santa Elena. Velasco and his treasurer, Bertolomeo Martinez, were briefly imprisoned for their suspected complicity in governmental misfeasance and the misappropriation of Menéndez's funds. On February 24, 1576, Hernando de Miranda began his term as governor of ''La Florida''. Diego de Velasco died in 1575.

Personal life

Velasco married Menéndez's younger daughter, Maria Menéndez de Avilés.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Velasco, Diego de Royal Governors of La Florida 1575 deaths Year of birth unknown 1500s births