Exploring the Legacy and Lineage of Conquistador Alonso de Benavides (Part 3 of 3)
- Steven Perez
- May 16
- 7 min read
Updated: Jul 26
Antonia de Benavides represented the branch of the Benavides family that remained in Mexico. She and her husband Antonio Ruiz de Castañeda sought to maintain control of the family’s encomiendas, but over time, as the native populations moved away from their ancestral homes, the tribute from them declined. For example, Mexicaltzingo, which initially supplied an annual income of 3,900 pesos had dwindled to 200 pesos by 1547 when Antonia sought a suitable marriage. When her step-father Andrés Dorantes de Carranza died (probably sometime in the latter 1550s), the encomiendas of Asala and Jalazintgo, which he had controlled by virtue of his marriage to her mother María de la Torre, were assigned to Antonia by the Royal Council of the Indies. Antonia held these two encomiendas until her death.
On 13 January 1571, Antonio petitioned the royal authorities for their consideration given his difficulty in sustaining his family with the reduced encomienda income. He presented the statements of five living conquistadors as proof of his and his wife’s lineage, the services rendered by their conquistador fathers, and their dire need. The witnesses were: Juan de Vera, Francisco Montaño, Juan de Najera, Gonzalo Hernández Mosquera and Diego Balades. The document confirms Antonia’s lineage, naming her as hija d'algo, daughter and principal heir of Alonso de Benavides. The document also states that the couple had three children.
Portion of questions from Informaciones: Antonio Ruiz de Castañeda
13 January 1571
Archivo General de Indias, México, 211, N. 27, fol. 2r
Ítem, si saben, etc. que el dicho Antonio Ruiz de Castañeda
es casado con Doña Antonia de Benavides mujer hija d’al-
go y principal hija de Alonso de Benavides uno de los pri-
meros conquistadores y descubridores de esta Nueva
España digan lo que saben.
Item, if they know, etc., that the said Antonio Ruiz de Castañeda
is married to Doña Antonia de Benavides, woman hija d’al-
go and principal daughter of Alonso de Benavides, one of the first
conquerors and discoverers of this New
Spain, tell us what they know.
Perhaps the royal audiencia did not respond favorably to the initial petition, as on 13 February 1571, Antonio presented another petition with the same request, naming additional witnesses. They were: Francisco de Valdenebro, Martín López, Francisco Granado and Francisco de Olmos, all conquistadors and residents of Mexico City. Three additional witnesses who were not conquistadors also testified: Bernardino de Albornoz, Treasurer of New Spain; Blas de Bustamante, a lawyer of the royal audiencia; and Leonor Orduña, widow of the late Pedro de Solís, a conquistador. All the witnesses confirmed the family’s lineage and Alonso de Benavides’ status as a conquistador of Mexico City who had come with Cortés. The only witness whose impartiality could be questioned was Bernardino de Albornoz. He stated that Antonio Ruiz de Castañeda was the godfather for his sister Catalina de Albornoz, but nonetheless, he would tell the truth. The outcome of the petition is unknown.
In 1573, Antonio, Antonia and María filed a petition related to Mexicaltzingo (the document has not been digitized so is not available to examine), and Antonio’s encomienda of half of the pueblo of Tehuacán was reassigned to the Spanish Crown. In 1575, the tribute from Mexicaltzingo appeared to be under embargo and the case was still pending in 1590. Despite these setbacks, their son Luis de la Torre found a means of building a life for himself without any encomienda income. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in canonical and civil law from the Royal University of Mexico City and became a lawyer for the royal audiencia as well as a lecturer at the university. Even so, the family continued to engage in litigation to restore its share of the Tehuacán encomienda. On 11 May 1594, Luis de la Torre presented another petition to the royal audiencia referencing a lawsuit that had already been filed by his brother Alonso de Benavides. It does not appear that the audiencia returned Tehuacán to the family, as Luis’s son Agustín de la Torre Altamirano filed another petition with the royal audiencia in 1615 stating that the encomienda was still in the hands of the Spanish Crown.
The branch of the Benavides family that returned to Spain was even more successful in terms of power and prestige. Antonia’s cousin, Bartolomé de Benavente, son of her uncle Cristóbal, served in several important government positions, including as fiscal of the Council of Navarre (1574), oidor of the royal audiencia of Granada (1584), alcalde of His Majesty’s Casa y Corte (1600) and member of the Royal Council of the Indies (1601). He married Ana de la Cerda, who was a descendent of the dukes of Medinaceli. As previously mentioned, their son Cristóbal became the first Count of Fontanar.
Here is the genealogy of the family (based on all sources listed in this blog series):
Generation I
Pedro de Benavente “El Rico,” descendent of the Counts of Benavente
(b. Benavente, Zamora, Spain)
(m. unknown)
(d. unknown, but before 1531)
(i. Church of San Nicolás, Benavente, Zamora, Spain)
Leonor Díaz de Benavides, descendent of the Counts of Santisteban
(b. Benavente, Zamora, Spain)
(d. about 1531, Benavente, Zamora, Spain)
(i. about 1531, Church of San Nicolás, Benavente, Zamora, Spain)
Generation II
A. Licenciado Cristóbal de Benavente, fiscal of the royal audiencia of Mexico
(b. about 1485-1490, Benavente, Zamora, Spain)
(m1. about 1530)
(m2. September 1553, Valladolid, Spain)
(d. after 13 September 1557, Valladolid, Spain)
(1) Isabel del Rincón
(b. about 1514)
(d. after 24 October 1550, Havana, Cuba)
(2) María de Guzmán
(b. unknown)
(d. unknown)
B. Alonso de Benavides, Conquistador of Mexico City
(b. about 1485-1490, Benavente, Zamora, Spain)
(m. about 1525-1529, Mexico City)
(d. about 1536-1537, Mexico City)
María de la Torre
(b. unknown)
(m2. about 1537-1538, Mexico City)
(d. unknown)
Andrés Dorantes de Carranza, Conquistador of Mexico City
(b. unknown)
(d. about late 1550’s)
C. Francisco de Benavente
(b. about 1487-1492)
(d. unknown)
D. María Díaz
(b. about 1487-1492)
(m. unknown)
(d. unknown)
Cosme de Covarrubias
(b. unknown)
(d. unknown)
E. Antonio de Benavides
(b. about 1489-1494)
(d. unknown)
F. María Coco
(b. about 1489-1494)
(d. unknown)
G. Isabel de Benavides
(b. about 1491-1496)
(d. unknown)
H. Catalina de Melgar
(b. about 1491-1496)
(d. unknown)
I. Juan Coco
(b. about 1493-1499)
(d. unknown)
J. Pedro de Benavides, member of Coronado Expedition
(b. about 1493-1499)
(d. unknown)
Generation III
A(1)1. Antonio Ruiz de Medina
(b. about 1530-1535)
(d. unknown, but before 1550)
A(1)2. Catalina del Rincón
(b. about 1530-1535)
(d. unknown, but before 1550)
A(1)3. Petronila del Rincón
(b. about 1532-1537)
(d. 1550, Seville, Spain)
(i. 1550, Monastery of San Francisco, Seville, Spain)
A(1)4. Leonor de Benavides
(d. unknown) *returned to Spain with her father
A(1)5. Isabel del Rincón (aka de Benavides)
(b. about 1540-1545, Mexico City)
(d. unknown) *her father left her with her aunt, Francisca del Rincón, in Mexico City
A(1)6. Bartolomé Augusto de Benavente y Benavides (aka del Rincón aka Benaventano)
(c. 30 August 1544, Mexico City) *two records, one year apart
(m. about 1580, Valladolid, Spain)
(d. 1604, Valladolid, Spain)
Ana de la Cerda
(c. 28 February 1559, Valladolid, Spain)
(d. unknown)
A(1)7. Nicolás Augusto de Benavente (aka Benaventano)
(b. about 1545-1550, Mexico City)
(d. unknown)
A(1)8. Cristóbal Marín Benaventano (aka de Benavente)
(b. 1550, Havana, Cuba) *his mother died during childbirth
(d. 1556, Seville, Spain)
(i. Monastery of San Pablo, Seville, Spain)
B1. Antonia de Benavides
(b. about 1530-1535, Mexico City)
(m. about 1550, Mexico City)
(d. unknown)
Antonio Ruiz de Castañeda
(b. about 1530, Mexico City)
(d. unknown)
Generation IV
A(1)6a. Cristóbal de Benavente y Benavides, Conde de Fontanar
(b. 29 December 1582, Valladolid, Spain)
(m1. 28 February 1612, Valladolid, Spain)
(m2. 30 June 1640, Ocaña, Spain)
(d. 18 November 1649, Valladolid, Spain)
(1) Leonor Nelli y Rivadeneira
(b. about 1595)
(d. after 31 August 1637)
(2) Mariana de Córdoba Carrillo
(b. unknown)
(d. unknown)
B1a. Juan Ruiz de Castañeda Benavides
(d. unknown)
B1b. Alonso de Benavides
(b. unknown)
(d. unknown)
B1c. Luis de la Torre
(m. about 1580-90)
(d. about November 1601, Mexico City)
Juana Altamirano
(b. about 1560-1565, Mexico City)
(d. unknown)
B1d. Cristóbal Ruiz de Castañeda
(b. unknown)
(d. unknown)
Sources
Baltazar Dorantes de Carranza, Sumaria relación de las cosas de la Nueva España, (Mexico City: Museo Nacional de México, 1902).
Juan Manuel Tieso de Andrés, “Un Ilustre Diplomático en Tiempos de Felipe IV:
Don Cristóbal de Benavente y Benavides, Conde de Fontanar,” Historia de la Villa de Fontanar, (Madrid: Bornova ATC, 2011).
Real Academia de la Historia
Biography of Juan Benavente de Benavides y la Cerda
Catálogo de Protocolos del Archivo General de Notarias de la Ciuded de México, “Obligación de Pago,” Notaría 374, Volumen 2463, Legajo 3, Ficha 315, fol. 113v, 7 September 1594. Names Antonia de Benavides as mother of Cristóbal Ruiz de Castaneda (Castañeda).
Catálogo de Protocolos del Archivo General de Notarias de la Ciuded de México, “Finiquito,” Notaría 497, Volumen 3357, Ficha 248, fol. 285/286v, 19 November 1601. Names Juana de Altamirano as widow of Luis de la Torre.
Manuscripts from the Portal de los Archivos Españoles
Archivo General de Indias
Real cédula a la Audiencia de México y oficiales reales para que incorporen a la corona la mitad del pueblo de Tehuacán
Mexico,1090, L. 7, F. 190R-191V
Informaciones: Antonio Ruiz de Castañeda
Mexico, 211, N. 27
Pleitos de la Audiencia de México
Escribanía,166A
Pleitos del distrito de la Audiencia de México
Escribanía,160A
Méritos y servicios: Juan Ruiz de Alanís: Nueva España
Patronato, 88, N. 4, R. 2
Thank you!