Antonio de Mendoza, 1st Viceroy of all New Spain & 3rd Viceroy of Peru

Antonio de Mendoza y Pacheco (/mɛnˈdoʊzə/, Spanish: [an%CB%88tonjo ðe menˈdosa]; 1495 – July 21, 1552) was the first Viceroy of New Spain, serving from November 14, 1535 to November 25, 1550, and the third Viceroy of Peru, from September 23, 1551, until his death on July 21, 1552.

Mendoza was born at Alcalá la Real (Jaén, Spain), the son of the 2nd Count of Tendilla, Íñigo López de Mendoza y Quiñones, and Francisca Pacheco. He was married to María Ana de Trujillo de Mendoza.

Mendoza became Viceroy of New Spain in 1535 and governed for 15 years, longer than any subsequent viceroy. On his arrival in New Spain, he found a recently conquered territory beset with Indigenous unrest and rivalry among the Spanish conquerors and Spanish settlers. His difficult assignment was to govern in the king's name without making an enemy of Hernán Cortés. Cortés himself had expected to be made the permanent ruling crown official of New Spain, since he had led the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. The Emperor Charles V (King Charles I of Spain) and the Council of the Indies judged Cortés too independent of crown authority to be made viceroy and had created a high court (audiencia) in New Spain in 1528, appointing Nuño de Guzmán, a rival of Cortés as its president to counter Cortés's power.[1] In 1530 the crown granted Cortés the title of the Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca with multiple encomiendas. With the arrival of Viceroy Mendoza in 1535, Cortés pursued his own economic interests from his palace in Cuernavaca.[2]

Although the Spanish had occupied and expanded explorations, conquest, and settlement in the Caribbean, it was not until the conquest of central Mexico that the crown appointed a viceroy (vice king), who would be the king's living image in Mexico and envisioned to effectively assert royal authority in the Kingdom of New Spain. To further cement his authority and establish a solid society he established marital alliances with powerful settlers committed to the development of New Spain, such as Marina de la Caballería.[3] Mendoza's status as a noble and his family's loyalty to the Spanish crown made him a suitable candidate for appointment.[4]

Don Antonio and Bishop Juan de Zumárraga were key in the formation of two institutions of Mexico: the Colegio de Santa Cruz at Tlatelolco (1536), where the sons of Aztec nobles studied Latin, rhetoric, philosophy and music, and the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico (1552), modeled on the University of Salamanca, which trained young men for the Catholic Church. These institutions were the first and second universities respectively to be established in the mainland of the Americas. In 1536 he began the minting of silver and copper coins, known as macuquinas. Also under his instructions, the first printing press in the New World was brought to Mexico in 1539, by printer Juan Pablos (Giovanni Paoli). The first book printed in Mexico: La Escala Espiritual de San Juan Clímaco. On May 18, 1541 don Antonio founded the city of Valladolid (now Morelia, Michoacán).

When the Spanish crown issued the New Laws that put restrictions on the grants of elite conquerors awarded grants of labor encomenderos, the viceroy prudently refrained from implementing the most draconian aspects of the edicts, which no longer permitted an encomendero family holding the grant in perpetuity. In Peru, the implementation of the New Laws resulted in outright rebellion and the assassination of the viceroy.[5] In reaction to the crisis caused by the New Laws, Mendoza introduced the policy of obedezco pero no cumplo ("I obey but do not comply"), which means "I respect the authority of the crown, but in my judgment I do not implement particular legislation." He tried to not implement the New Laws, and therefore stabilized the region.[6]

In 1542 an insurrection of the Indians, called the Mixtón Rebellion threatened to push the Spaniards out of northwestern Mexico, bringing the area under indigenous control. The Viceroy himself had to take the field and bring all disposable manpower. The rebellion was quashed and the surviving Indians were harshly punished. By the viceroy's order men, women and children were seized and executed, some by cannon fire, some torn apart by dogs, and others stabbed.[7] In 1548 he suppressed an uprising of the Zapotecs.

As viceroy, Mendoza commissioned the expedition of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado to explore and establish settlements in the northern lands of New Spain in 1540-42, the expedition of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo to explore the western coastline of Alta California in 1542-43, and the expedition of Ruy López de Villalobos to the Philippines in 1542-43. The Codex Mendoza created by the order of Mendoza,[8] and subsequently named for him.

During his term of office, Mendoza is credited with consolidating the sovereignty of the Crown throughout the Spanish conquests in New Spain and limiting the power and ambition of the first conquistadors. Many of the political and economic policies he established endured throughout the entire colonial period. He promoted the construction of hospitals and schools and encouraged improvements in agriculture, ranching and mining. His administration did much to bring stability and peace to New Spain.

He was succeeded as viceroy of New Spain by Don Luís de Velasco. It is reported that his advice to his successor was: "Do little and do that slowly."

On July 4, 1549 in Brussels, Emperor Charles V named Mendoza viceroy of Peru. He traveled overland from Mexico to Panama, and then by boat to Peru. He arrived and took up his new office on November 25, 1550. However, he soon became ill, and died in 1552. His tomb is in the Cathedral of Lima, along with that of the Spanish conqueror of Peru, Francisco Pizarro.

Cape Mendocino in Humboldt County, California was named in his honor in 1565. From the cape, Mendocino County, the town of Mendocino, and Mendocino National Forest were named in the 19th and 20th centuries.

REFERENCES:
1) Ida Altman, The War for Mexico's West. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press 2010, p. 21-22.
2) Ida Altman, et al. The Early History of Greater Mexico. Pearson 2003, 69.
3) Alejandro Cañeque, The King's Living Image: The Culture and Politics of Viceregal Power in Colonial Mexico, New York: Routledge 2004.
4) Altman et al, Early History of Greater Mexico, p. 69.
5) James Lockhart and Stuart B. Schwartz, Early Latin America. New York: Cambridge University Press 1983, pp. 94-95.
6) John H. Parry and Robert G. Keith, eds. New Iberian World: A Documentary History of the Discovery and Settlement of Latin American to the Early 17th Century. vol. 1. The Conquerors and the Conquered, pp. 348-359.
7) Juan Comas, "Historical Reality and the Detractors of Father las Casas". In Juan Friede and Benjamin Keen (eds.), Bartolomé de las Casas in History: Toward an Understanding of the Man and his Work. Collection spéciale: CER. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, p. 493.
8) "Codice Mendoza". https://codicemendoza.inah.gob.mx/html/acerca.php?lang=english

Additional References:
Aiton, Arthur Scott (1927). Antonio de Mendoza, first viceroy of New Spain. Internet Archive. Duke University Press. https://archive.org/details/antoniodemendoza0000aito
(in Spanish) "Mendoza, Antonio de," Enciclopedia de México, v. 9. Mexico City, 1988.
(in Spanish) "Mendoza, Antonio de," Encyclopædia Britannica, v. 6. Chicago, 1983.
(in Spanish) García Puron, Manuel, México y sus gobernantes, v. 1. Mexico City: Joaquín Porrua, 1984.
(in Spanish) Orozco Linares, Fernando, Gobernantes de México. Mexico City: Panorama Editorial, 1985, ISBN 968-38-0260-5.

Antonio de Mendoza y Pacheco Militar , Diplomático y Primer Virrey en América Española . ; n. el 1490 en Móndejar, España. Lugar largamente discutido por los historiadores. Ahí en Granada tuvo el cargo de Regidor de cabildo, tesorero de la Casa de la Moneda y las dificultades de gobierno de una población étnica y confesionalmente morisca. Participó en las escaramuzas de Agreda - Soria donde desalojó a Juan Garcés. Ante la fiereza y crueldad que hizo en el sitio, Antonio de Mendoza fue condenado a un año de destierro por proceso ilegal, en el Convento de Uclés- Cuenca.

El Rey  Carlos I de España casó con Isabel de Portugal y decide viajar por Andalucía revisando sus posesiones . Resultado  del cual, premia  a la Familia Mendoza y por ende a Don Antonio de Mendoza,concediéndole ese mismo año el Cargo de Embajador en Hungría. El 1527  viaja  a  Italia y Alemania como Diplomático, participando en la Coronación Imperial de  Carlos V . El 1528  siendo Caballero de  Santiago es nombrado Gobernador de la  Provincia de León, a fin terminar con los asedios de los moriscos de Hornachos (Badajoz)  '''El 1535 es nombrado Capitán General, Gobernador,Presidente de  la Real Audiencia. y Virrey de Nueva España (Méjico)''' Fundó la  Casa Moneda  el 1536 en Ciudad de Méjico, acuñando monedas de cobre y plata llamada  ''macuquinas'' e impulso la minería (Zacatecas) .Fundó la  primera imprenta editando ''Breves Compendios a Doctrina Christiana'' del Obispo .Juan de Zumárraga. Apoyo  la exploración de la Baja California y del territorio de Texas. Expediciones por el Océano Pacifico a las Filipinas. Fundó un Colegio para educar a los Indios Nobles.( Colegio Imperial de  Sta. Cruz).Dictó ordenanzas para dar buen trato a los nativos. Inició las gestiones para crear una Universidad en Méjico. Estimando la dilatada experiencia de Don Antonio, para refrenar los ímpetus sediciosos y dirigir sagazmente la vida peruana, la corte le asignó los cargos de '''2do Virrey,''' Gobernador y Capitán general del Perú el 8 de Junio del 1549. Se embarcó en Acapulco , haciendo escala en El Realejo ( Nicaragua), Panamá , llegando finalmente a Tumbes en Mayo del 1551, para tomar posesión del Cargo. Debido a su precaria salud y  sus  secuelas,  de la Hemiplejía. Delegó  el cargo a su hijo, Francisco de Mendoza el cual evaluó los ricos  yacimientos de plata y diversos minerales en el Alto Perú. Recibió las Cédulas Reales  para la fundación de la Universidad de San Marcos. Ya debilitado de salud y administrando la crisis que le  produjo  los Encomenderos (Gobernó sólo 6 meses)  Falleció el 21 de Agosto del 1552 en  Lima, Perú. Sus restos se encuentran sepultados en  la Catedral de Lima. 

Árboles de Costados de Gran Parte de Las Primeras Casas de Estos Reynos: Cuyos Dueños Vivian en El Año De 1683 Find A Grave 24713078https://old.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=24713078