Bartolomé Romero, II

Bartolomé Romero, II christened April 5, 1557 at the church of Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion, Corral de Almaguer, Castille La Mancha, España deid 1632 Nuevo México

Married:

1. Lucia Lopez Robledo born about 1573 in España died about 1625. Lucia was the daughter of Pedro Robledo and Catalina Lopez.

Children of Bartolomé and Lucia Lopez Robledo

1. Bartolome lll
2. Matias
3. Agustin
4. Ana, who married Francisco Gomez
5. Maria, who married Gaspar Perez.

Bartolomé and his wife were members of the Oñate expedition to New Mexico in 1598. Bartolomé was Oñate’s Captain of Artillery. At this time he is described as "having a good stature, dark and black-bearded." He was quickly promoted to captain after their arrival in New Mexico. He was 35 in 1598.

Strong evidence from archives of the inquisition indicate that the Romero's who came to New Mexico were Jewish coversos,who continued to live under church suspicions of Jewish practices.

In his book "To the End of the Earth," Stanley Hordes speculates that Bartolome Romero, one of Juan de Onate's officers, was a New Christian and possibly a crypto-Jew. Romero was from the small La Mancha farming community of Corral de Almaguer. This village apparently had a large Jewish community including a number of Romeros who in church records were described as New Christians. In addition, Romero's mother Maria de Adeva may have been related to a promintent Jewish family known as the (Ben)adevas. Hordes also believes that Romero's father in law Pedro Robledo may have also been a crypto-Jew based on his family history.