Juan Montes Vigil III made another will in Zacatecas on 25 April 1683, just over six months after his previous one . The second will is shorter and less detailed because Juan’s circumstances had changed. His son Francisco Montes Vigil was now married, so Juan no longer needed to name a guardian for him and could entrust him and María de Cantillana, Juan’s sister, as co-executors. In addition, Juan prepared the second will because he was getting ready to depart for a trip, not

There are two known wills of Juan Montes Vigil III, native of Mexico City, the son of Juan Montes Vigil II and Catalina de Herrera Cantillana. He made the first one on 1 October 1682 in Zacatecas. In it, he named his parents, both natives of Spain (Castile), his sister María de Herrera Cantillana, and his “natural” son (born out of wedlock), Francisco Montes Vigil. He also named Carlos Vigil, a two-year-old orphan child who he and his sister cared for and raised in their hous

In 1611, Juan Montes Vigil applied for a license of passage to go to Peru, via New Spain, as an “aide” ( criado ) in the service of don Jacinto de Olmos. One might be tempted to assume that don Jacinto was a man of considerable wealth and status to employ Juan, who himself was an hijo d’algo  (a member of the privileged class). But Jacinto’s own license of passage reveals that he was not a man of such stature. Rather, he was only 14 years old and a native of Cusco, Peru! Not

Recently a user posted on the FamilySearch profile for Juan Montes Vigil II questioning his estimated year of birth. I know of only two primary sources that provide his age. One is the license of passage from 1611, which states that he was 25 years old that year. The other is the license of passage, also from 1611, for don Jacinto de Olmos . Juan Montes Vigil was going to Peru, by way of New Spain, as his aide. In that document, he was recorded as  being 24 years old. Therefo

When Gonzalo Gomez de Cervantes testified in the criminal trial of his future brother-in-law Antonio de Carvajal

On 9 January 1568 (the same day the Quesada brothers were executed), the prosecutor Francisco de Sande presented the summary of his evidence against Antonio de Carvajal to Muñoz and Carrillo. He argued that Antonio was an active and knowing participant in the conspiracy—not based on any explicit actions or evidence of rebellion—but on his pattern of conduct during the investigation: concealment, coordination with other suspects, manipulation of testimony, and deliberate effor

On 4 December 1567, Alonso Muñoz and Luis Carrillo—the two officials from the Council of Indies who had been sent to Mexico City to oversee the criminal trials of those accused in the rebellion—summoned Antonio de Carvajal to appear before them.  Antonio was sworn in as a regidor (city council member)   and resident of Mexico City, about 30 years old, more or less. He stated he was the son of Antonio de Carvajal and Catalina de Tapia and that he was married to María de Sosa,