Alonso Hernández Puertocarrero (before 1495–1523) was a Spanish conquistador who was part of Hernán Cortés's expedition of conquest of what is today

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Biography

Conquest of Mexico

According to Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Puertocarrero was one of only 14 Spanish horseman in the

Battle of Centla A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force c ...

, the first military engagement of the

Spanish conquest of Mexico The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire was a pivotal event in the history of the Americas, marked by the collision of the Aztec Triple Alliance and the Spanish Empire. Taking place between 1519 and 1521, this event saw the Spanish conquistad ...

. Soon after arriving on the eastern shore of Mexico with a gift of a grey mare from Cortés, Hernández was elected '' alcayde'' along with

Francisco de Montejo Francisco de Montejo (; 1479 – 1553) was a Spanish conquistador in Mexico and Central America. Early years Francisco de Montejo was born about 1473 to a family of lesser Spanish nobility in Salamanca, Spain. He never documented his parentag ...

of Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz. After the

Potonchán Potonchán, was a Chontal Maya city, capital of the minor kingdom known as ''Tavasco'' or ''Tabasco''. It occupied the left bank of the Tabasco River, which the Spanish renamed the Grijalva River, in the current Mexican state of Tabasco. Juan d ...

, Cortés awarded Hernandez with Malinche for use as a

slave Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

who was one of 20 slave girls given to the Spaniards as part of a peace treaty with the defeated city. However, Cortés later took Malinche back for himself after discovering she could speak

Nahuatl Nahuatl ( ; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller popul ...

along with Chontal Mayan thus making her indispensable as a translator and as a cultural interpreter. Later, Hernandez received the daughter of

Totonac The Totonac are an Indigenous people of Mexico who reside in the states of Veracruz, Puebla, and Hidalgo. They are one of the possible builders of the pre-Columbian city of El Tajín, and further maintained quarters in Teotihuacán (a cit ...

Chief Cuesco as a gift and baptized her Doña Francisca.Diaz, B., 1963, The Conquest of New Spain, London: Penguin Books, Cortés also sent Hernandez, along with de Montejo, back to Spain to provide King Charles with details of the expedition.

Emissary to the court

In 1519. Puertocarrero was sent from the newly formed colony of

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

together with

and Anton de Alaminos to Spain in order to present the king with his share of gold from the Cortés's expedition, as well to defend Cortes before the

Council of Indies A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nation ...

from the accusations levied by Diego Velasquez, governor of Cuba, who has declared Cortes and his men as rebels and outlaws for defying his orders. The emissaries defended themselves from the accusations proclaiming their obedience to the supreme justice of the king, as well as pointing out that they have fitted out the expedition to Mexico at their own expense, while the governor Velasquez had sold them everything they needed at the extreme price. To bolster their legal arguments with some bribe, they have brought rich gifts, among them two massive hand-mills, one made of gold and the other of silver, the golden one worth some 3,800 ''castellanos'' (about 126 pounds of gold). As Velasquez was asking for them to be punished with death, and they were asking to be rewarded for their efforts in expanding the Spanish Empire (and bringing gold and silver), the Council of Indies decided to postpone both punishment and reward until proper investigation. That was precisely the outcome that Cortes was hoping for. During his visit to the Spanish court, Puertocarrero was questioned by

Peter Martyr d'Anghiera Peter Martyr d'Anghiera ( or ''ab Angleria''; ; ; 2 February 1457 – October 1526), formerly known in English as Peter Martyr of Angleria,D'Anghiera, Peter Martyr. ''De Orbe Novo'' . Trans. Richard Eden a''The decades of the newe wo ...

, a member of the

, together with

and Anton de Alaminos about the conquest of Mexico. He is mentioned by name in the Martyr's history De orbo novo (published in 1521) as the primary source for information on the early part of Hernán Cortés's expedition (conquest of

Cozumel Cozumel (; ) is an island and municipality in the Caribbean Sea off the eastern coast of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, opposite Playa del Carmen. It is separated from the mainland by the Cozumel Channel and is close to the Yucatán Channel. The ...

and Potonchan and

), which form The Fourth Decade of the book.

Death

According to Bernal Diaz del Castillo, he was thrown into prison by the bishop of Burgos, where he ended his days shortly after.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hernandez Puertocarrero, Alonso Spanish conquistadors Spanish city founders 1490s births Year of birth uncertain 1523 deaths People from Las Vegas Altas People from New Spain 16th-century Spanish people Founders of cities in New Spain