Luis de Rosas (died January 25, 1642) was a soldier who served as the ninth Spanish Governor of New Mexico from 1637 until 1641, when he was then imprisoned and assassinated. During his administration, de Rosas clashed with the

Franciscans , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

, mainly because of his handling of the indigenous Americans, whom he forced to work for him or sold them as slaves. The Franciscans promoted a revolt of the citizens of

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

against him. De Rosas was imprisoned after an investigation relating to his position as governor. He was killed by soldiers while in prison.

Early years

In his youth, De Rosas joined the

Spanish Army The Spanish Army ( es, Ejército de Tierra, lit=Land Army) is the terrestrial army of the Spanish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is one of the oldest active armies — dating back to the late 15th century. The ...

, where he excelled and reached higher ranks. He served the Spanish Army in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

for fifteen years.Kessell, John L. (1987)
Kiva, Cross & Crown: The Pecos Indians and New Mexico, 1540-1840
The University of New Mexico Press. Page 164.

Government in New Mexico

Politics in New Mexico

The

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 ...

, Díez de Armendáriz, appointed de Rosas as governor of New Mexico in 1636. Initially, De Rosas opposed the appointment due to the unpopularity of the New Mexico government and the impact of the appointment on his reputation. This was because mutinies against governors were frequent in New Mexico, as well as by the "seizure" of the governments of the province. However, his role had been decided in advance and he was forced to accept it. De Rosas arrived 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 ...

with the virrey in this year and, probably, moved from

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 ...

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label=Tiwa language, Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. ...

in the caravan of the supply mission.New Mexico History. org: Biography of Don Luis de Rosas
Published by Grace Meredith. Retrieved May 01, 2013, to 20:10 pm. A De Rosas troop established a fortification around Santo Domingo to protect Santa Fe from the external attacks. De Rosas headed an expedition to Ipotlapiguas village in 1638. The expedition had been planned by a priest named SalasSanchez, Joseph P. (2008)
Between Two Rivers: The Atrisco Land Grant in Albuquerque History, 1692-1968
The University of Oklahoma Press. Page 18. and composed of a group of five Franciscans and forty soldiers.Weber, David J. (Third edition, 1982)
The Taos Trappers: The Fur Trade in the Far Southwest, 1540-1846
The University of Oklahoma Press. Page 19. The expedition traveled to northern

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is d ...

, southwest of the Zuni lands, and aimed to convert the indigenous population to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. De Rosas led slave raids against several Native American peoples, particularly

Apaches The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño and ...

and Utes.Sturtevant, William C. (1978)
Handbook of North American Indians: History of Indian-White relations
Smithsonian. Page 411. In the

Plains In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands. In ...

, he attacked the Apaches during an expedition to

Quivira Quivira is a place named by Spanish conquistador Francisco Vásquez de Coronado in 1541, for the mythical Seven Cities of Gold that he never found. Quivira was a province of the ancestral Wichita people, located near the Great Bend of the Arkans ...

and later, in the north of

Santa Fe de Nuevo Mexico 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 ...

, attacked the Utes. In both cases he captured slaves to sell or use in his workshops. In addition, De Rosas sacked ranches of Gira in Zuni lands. He also promoted trade with Native tribes in the Plains (although this trade was considered illegal) and he let that the Native Americans of the village of Pecos practice their religion on the condition they paid double the price of 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 ...

's tribute that the Spaniard authorities demanded of them, contributing to his personal enrichment. De Rosas employed Native American labor to manufacture products to sell, both prisoners captured from enemy tribes and the inhabitants of several Amerindian villages. The first ones worked in his

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal th ...

workshop in Santa Fe, while the second ones were employed in their own villages. He also forced Native Americans to work on

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

s. In addition, he traded with the Apache.John, Elizabeth Ann Harper (Second edition, 1996)
Storms Brewed in Other Men's Worlds: The Confrontation of Indians, Spanish, and French in the Southwest, 1540-1795
University of Oklahoma Press. Pages 84 - 85.

Confrontations with the Franciscans

After De Rosas took office in New Mexico, many Spanish residents rebelled against him because of the confrontation between De Rosas and the

. The Franciscans were the main religious group in the Spanish colonies of Americas, aiming to evangelize the

natives Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

; they and de Rosas issued complaints and accusations against each other, causing political instability in the colony. Revolts and riots spread across New Mexico. De Rosas accused the friars of not granting the

sacraments A sacrament is a Christian rite that is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol of the real ...

and confessions to parishioners, even if they asked for it, and to

excommunicate Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

some of them. The Franciscans accused De Rosas of having accepted the capture of Apaches, some of whom were enslaved and traded in other places of New Spain, while others were taken to his own workshop, in the capital of New Mexico, to work for him. According to the Franciscans, De Rosas introduced both Christians and non-Christian Native Americans to a situation of near–slavery, forcing them to work long hours. He gave the Native Americans permission to exercise some of the rites of their particular religions if they allowed him to sell some of his property.Roberts, Calvin Alexander; Roberts, Susan A. (2006)
New Mexico
University of New Mexico Press. Chapter Three, page 48. In addition, De Rosas was upset when he learned that the Indigenous did not have the required hides for exchange them for his knives in the

Pecos Pueblo Pecos National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park in San Miguel and Santa Fe Counties, New Mexico. The park, operated by the National Park Service, encompasses thousands of acres of landscape infused with historical ...

lands. He accused the Franciscans for this fact, and jailed one. The Franciscans complained about the fact that De Rosas had been bribed by his predecessor,

Francisco Martínez de Baeza Francisco Martínez de Baeza was the colonial governor of New Mexico from November 1634 to 18 April 1637. He was heavily criticized for rejecting the participation of Franciscan missions in the territory, for impeding the conversion of indigenous ...

. However, De Rosas dismissed this, arguing that the Franciscans' objections to him began when he ordered the closure of an illegal sweatshop in a mission. The workshop exploited child Amerindian labor, but the Franciscans had since tried to provoke revolts against De Rosas in the province. So, after the imprisonment of a delinquent by De Rosas, two Franciscans promoted the prisoner's release sending a crowd to the

Palace of the Governors The Palace of the Governors ( es, Palacio de los Gobernadores) is an adobe structure built in the Territorial Style of Pueblo architecture on Palace Avenue in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Located within the Santa Fe Historic District along the Santa Fe ...

gates to demand his release. Many citizens of the province participated in that revolt, among them 73 of the 120 soldiers New Mexico employed. The Franciscans "withheld the Sacrament" from De Rosas and "threatened his life". In the spring of 1638, Father Perea, who investigated the allegations about De Rosas, decided to leave the Inquisition. In January 1640, De Rosas forced all the ecclesiastics of Santa Fe to left the city, and when two of them, particularly two priests, returned the city three months later, De Rosas hit them with a stick, causing them significant injuries.

Revolt and imprisonment of De Rosas

With the goal of promoting a revolt against De Rosas and expelling him from the government of New Mexico, the Franciscans issued a letter through the province. It claimed De Rosas was a follower of the

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

and

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

doctrines, that he exercised an "idolatry with a goal" and that the Santa Fe residents rejected

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

, whose image they whipped. A revolt broke out against de Rosas. De Rosas finished his term in spring 1641. The

viceroy of New Spain The following is a list of Viceroys of New Spain. In addition to viceroys, the following lists the highest Spanish governors of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, before the appointment of the first viceroy or when the office of viceroy was vacant. M ...

Diego López Pacheco Diego is a Spanish masculine given name. The Portuguese equivalent is Diogo. The name also has several patronymic derivations, listed below. The etymology of Diego is disputed, with two major origin hypotheses: ''Tiago'' and ''Didacus''. Et ...

, ordered an investigation of the De Rosas administration and the new governor, General Juan Flores Sierra y Valdes, led the investigation.Gutiérrez, Ramón A. (1991)
When Jesus Came, the corn mothers went away
Stanford University Press. Pages 116-117. De Rosas was excommunicated and imprisoned. That caused the Pueblo Native Americans, who placed much importance on religion, to begin to underestimate the power the Spanish government and Church. They deemed some priests liars, refused to obey the excommunicated governors and rejected the disunity between churchmen and governors. A few months later, on January 25, 1642, when De Rosas was in his cell, he was killed by the soldier Nicolás Ortiz, a native of

Zacatecas , image_map = Zacatecas in Mexico (location map scheme).svg , map_caption = State of Zacatecas within Mexico , coordinates = , coor_pinpoint = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type ...

(modern Mexico), who stabbed him. The soldier alleged, in the trial held against him, that De Rosas was adulterous with his wife, Maria de Bustillas.Craddock, Jerry R. (July 4, 2008)
The Trial of Nicolás Ortiz, accused of the murder of Don Luis de Rosas Governor of New Mexico in 1641
University of California. Several months later, however, eight other soldiers were found guilty of killing de Rosas and were beheaded.

References

External links

The trial de Juan Ortiz, accused of murder of Luis de Rosas

Dossier concerning the abuses of Luis de Rosas, governor of New Mexico (1637-1641), his murder in 1641, and the extrajudicial execution of the alleged conspirators in the murder by Alonso Pacheco de Heredia, governor of New Mexico (1642-1644)

Biography of Don Luis de Rosas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosas, Luis de 17th-century Spanish people Colonial governors of Santa Fe de Nuevo México Neomexicano slave owners