Tomás Bernaldo de Quirós, also known as Thomas Bernaldo de Quiros, was a

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...

who served as governor of

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

between 1578 and 1579. He was also acting governor of Santa Elena from 1577 to November 1580, at least.

Biography

Quirós was a sailor in several fleets traveling to

Spanish America Spanish America refers to the Spanish territories in the Americas during the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The term "Spanish America" was specifically used during the territories' Spanish Empire, imperial era between 15th and 19th centur ...

over many years. In 1577, Quirós was appointed

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

of Santa Elena by

Pedro Menéndez de Márquez Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for '' Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meani ...

, governor of Florida. He arrived at the city on September 4, 1578, and he ruled it in an interim way, in service to Menéndez de Márquez. He ruled Santa Elena with Captain Vicente González. According to an account of the achievements of Quirós, while he worked as lieutenant governor, he signed peace treaties with the leaders of the indigenous people of the city and he tried to create a "pueblo formado" (formed town) there.Witness to Empire and the Tightening of Military Control: Santa Elena's Second Spanish Occupation, 1577-1587
Retrieved in July 20, 2014, to 01:47pm. During his administration, he also built a church in Saint Elena. Marquez initially sent Quirós north of Florida to establish friendship with the

caciques A cacique, sometimes spelled as cazique (; ; feminine form: ), was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, who were the Indigenous inhabitants of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles at the time of European cont ...

of the indigenous peoples of the area, as well as to ransom a Frenchman and a Black man (both of them captured by the

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 16th ...

people). To do this, he was asked to negotiate with the chief Cazacolo and convince four of the most important Guales to visit

Saint Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman province), Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced th ...

, the Florida capital. In Saint Augustine, Quirós would make them prisoners and give them gifts and then be asked to surrender the Frenchman. In addition, Quirós was asked to find a half dozen Native American women in Saint Augustine who gathered oysters. Between December 1579 and July 1580, he negotiated peace treaties with 15 caciques of different Native American peoples, achieving peace with many tribes. The "formed town" construction was revered by Menéndez de Márquez who, on March 25, 1580, indicated that these villages were being well built and the houses of the indigenous seemed fortified, being constructed of mud and wood. More than sixty houses were built, whereas prior to the arrival of Quirós, the town only had a fort and one house, as a notary told Marquez, so most of Santa Elena's inhabitants likely lived in temporary dwellings, such as tents. During his administration, he also built a new church in Santa Elena. In addition, Quirós, Menendez de Marquez, and the Governor of

Castillo de San Marcos The Castillo de San Marcos ( Spanish for “ St. Mark’s Castle”) is the oldest masonry fort in the continental United States; it is located on the western shore of Matanzas Bay in St. Augustine, Florida. It was designed by the Spanish en ...

Gutierre de Miranda Gutierre de Miranda was interim governor of Spanish Florida in the late 16th century. He was a brother of the previous governor of Spanish Florida, Hernando de Miranda, and brother-in-law of the next governor, Pedro Menéndez Márquez Pedro Men� ...

, attacked and defeated several indigenous people who had participated in the destruction of Santa Elena. Quirós left his position of lieutenant of Santa Elena in November 1580. On November 22, 1578, Quirós was appointed governor of

, holding this office until 1579.Spain's support system. Page 212.

References

Citations

Sources

* Sanders Rowland, Lawrence; Moore, Alexander; C. Rogers, George
The History of Beaufort County, South Carolina: 1514-1861
Volume 1. 1996, University of South Carolina Press. Page 47.

Retrieved on July 20, 2014, to 01:47pm. * . American Museum of Natural History, Anthropological papers, number 74. {{DEFAULTSORT:Quiros, Tomas Bernardo Royal governors of La Florida 16th-century births Year of death unknown