Juan Cerón 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 ...
and the second and fourth governor (1509–1513) of
Puerto Rico when the island was still called San Juan. He was born in
Écija,
Spain.
Biography
Cerón's legacy in the history of the island is tainted by the rivalries between
Nicolas de Ovando and
Christopher Columbus' son,
Diego Colón. When Colón retook possession of his father's title of "Admiral of the Seas" and the governorship of
Hispaniola
Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...
in 1509, he dispatched Cerón to Puerto Rico with the title of ''
Alcalde
Alcalde (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor, the presiding officer of the Castilian '' cabildo'' (the municipal council) a ...
Mayor'' to replace Ovando's favorite,
Juan Ponce de León
Juan Ponce de León (, , , ; 1474 – July 1521) was a Spanish explorer and '' conquistador'' known for leading the first official European expedition to Florida and for serving as the first governor of Puerto Rico. He was born in Santervá ...
.
Ponce de León had just begun the conquest of Puerto Rico the previous year, and his replacement produced much dissension among the few settlers. Ovando advocated for Ponce de León in Madrid, and the Crown conferred on him the title of
Captain General and Governor of San Juan Bautista. In 1511, however, under pressure by Colón, Cerón was posted as governor and Ponce de León left for his first adventure in
Florida.
Cerón's governorship did not end well; complaints about his handling of the Repartimiento of Indians prompted the Crown to remove him and reinstall Ponce de León as governor in 1513.
References
Governors of Puerto Rico
Spanish Empire
16th-century Spanish people
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