Antonio de Carvajal: Conquistador, Procurador and Regidor of México (Part 2 of 4)
- Steven Perez
- Jul 11
- 6 min read
Updated: Aug 30
After completing his visit of Michoacán, Antonio de Carvajal resided in Mexico City during the turbulent government of the four royal officials sent by the king to “assist” Cortés with the administration of the colony. These four officials were Alonso de Estrada, treasurer; Gonzalo de Salazar (factor, overseer of royal properties); Rodrigo de Albornoz, contador (accountant); and Pedro Almíndez de Chirino (veedor, overseer of the king’s share of precious metals). The king used this strategy to keep Cortés’ power in check but the scheming among the parties destabilized the governance of the new colony. Donald Chipman’s account of this period in his book Moctezuma’s Children: Aztec Royalty Under Spanish Rule, 1520-1700 describes Estrada and Albornoz as the pro-Cortés faction and Salazar and Chirino as the anti-Cortés faction, but other historical accounts and Carvajal’s testimony paint a more nuanced picture. All four were in fact scheming against each other and against Cortés at one time or another.
Carvajal was the alcalde of Mexico City’s fort and arsenal (atarazana) at this time and a regidor (city council member). Though he clearly enjoyed the confidence of Cortés early on, the two had a falling out and Carvajal later became a critic. I speculate that this rift happened sometime during this chaotic period of government. Cortés departed Mexico on 12 October 1524 to put down a mutiny in Honduras, leaving Estrada and Albornoz in charge, and taking Salazar and Chirino with him. He had earlier sent a trusted relative, Francisco de las Casas, to deal with the rebellion in Honduras, but later decided to go himself to ensure the situation was under control. When word of disputes between Estrada and Albornoz reached Cortés during the march to Honduras, he sent Salazar and Chirino back to Mexico City with a commission for all four to rule jointly. However, he gave Salazar and Chirino a secret authorization to suspend the other two if they continued to create trouble. Salazar and Chirino deceptively showed only the secret commission when they arrived in Mexico City and assumed control of the government.
Word then reached Estrada and Albornoz that Francisco de las Casas had already been successful on his mission to Honduras and was returning to Mexico City. They intended to win Casas over to their side and remove Salazar and Chirino from power. Since they could not leave the city without permission, they departed under the pretext that they were going to the port of Medellín to load a shipment of gold for the king, but in reality, they were headed for a rendezvous with Casas. When Salazar and Chirino learned of this scheme, Chirino, Carvajal and a squad of men left in pursuit, catching up with them when they were ten leagues from the city. Carvajal testified that Chirino demanded to see the gold they were transporting, saying they would be free to proceed if they could show it. Estrada and Albornoz showed him about 200 pesos worth of gold and jewels (a paltry sum not worth shipping to the king which proved they were lying), so he forced them to return to Mexico City and placed them under house arrest.
Several days later when Casas arrived in the city, he and some of his men went to see Estrada in his home. Carvajal stated that Rodrigo de Paz (alguacil mayor and Cortés’ cousin) told him that they were conspiring to depose Salazar and Chirino and take control of the government. Carvajal went to Estrada’s home to see for himself what was transpiring, finding there was indeed a large gathering of men there. He immediately went to inform Salazar, who proceeded to Estrada’s home with a squad of well-armed men and surrounded it. Salazar ordered the gates of the compound opened and arrested many of the men in attendance. He later had them flogged and publicly shamed for having been found in Estrada’s home. When rumors spread that Cortés and his followers had perished on the march to Honduras, Salazar and Chirino declared Cortés deceased and began reassigning encomiendas and seizing his property. They also imprisoned, tortured and then executed his cousin Rodrigo de Paz for not telling them the location of Cortés’ treasure.
The political tides turned dramatically when news reached the city that Cortés was in fact alive. A messenger arrived on 28 January 1526 with new orders directly from Cortés. Carvajal went immediately to see Salazar (thus indicating where his loyalties lay). When he arrived, Salazar instructed him to go to see Albornoz to find out what was happening and to ask him what he planned to do. Carvajal relayed this message to Albornoz. “What do you think should be done?” asked Albornoz. “Whatever serves God Our Lord and His Majesty,” Carvajal replied. “I will go immediately to see Salazar,” Albornoz confided. Carvajal then went to the arsenal to arm himself and called upon his friends to be ready to serve His Majesty.
An emergency meeting of the city council was convened at the house of Luis de la Torre, one of the regidores. Carvajal initially refused to go (understandably fearing what would transpire there since he had aligned himself with Salazar), but Salazar ordered him to attend. When Carvajal arrived, he observed that there were many armed people inside the house and in the street—so many that the street was completely filled. Estrada and Albornoz urged the council to act immediately on the orders that Cortés had sent. Carvajal stood up and told Estrada to be patient, as the council needed time to review the orders. Estrada then seized Carvajal and declared him to be under arrest. He drew Carvajal’s sword from its sheath, threw it on the ground, and handed him over to his associates, who removed him (and several of Salazar’s allies) from the proceedings. “Now that the troublemakers are gone from this council meeting, let us proceed,” Estrada ordered.
The city council issued public proclamations declaring Estrada and Albornoz as the rightful justices. Salazar and Chirino were arrested and placed in wooden cages, where they were subjected to public ridicule and abuse. After Cortés returned to Mexico City, he declined to prosecute his enemies himself or order them executed, hesitant to act directly against royal officials who had powerful allies in the king’s court. During this time, Carvajal took refuge in the convent of San Francisco to avoid further persecution by the new government.
Alarming reports describing the anarchy within the colony had by then reached the king. They included allegations that Cortés was defrauding the royal treasury and preparing to establish his own independent kingdom in New Spain. Therefore, in November 1525, the king appointed Luis Ponce de León to replace Cortés as governor. His instructions were to remove Cortés from power and conduct his residencia (trial of his conduct as governor). At the same time, the king appointed Nuño de Guzmán to govern a separate jurisdiction of New Spain in the province of Pánuco.
Ponce de León died within weeks of his arrival, transferring power to an infirm old man before he died, who in turn also died within months. The reins of government then passed to Alonso de Estrada, the royal treasurer. After each of these deaths, Carvajal alleged that Cortés attempted to assume control of the government but was thwarted. During his last attempt, Carvajal said that Cortés told a gathering of his associates that he was going to arrest Estrada. He convened the city council with the aim of taking the staff of office from Estrada and giving it to his ally Diego de Ocampo, but the council did not do what he wanted. The friars who were consulted about this plan warned Estrada, who posted guards at his house, one of who was Carvajal (for this to be true, we have to assume Estrada and Carvajal had reconciled after he had thrown him out of the earlier council meeting).
According to Carvajal, the foiled plot led Cortés to decide to go at once to Spain. Other historians show that there were several other factors involved, including: the release of Salazar and Chirinos by lobbying from Albornoz at court (he had switched his alliance), which shattered Cortés’ hopes for justice; the impending residencia against him, which was still on hold; and a summons from the king to present himself at court. Cortés departed for Spain hoping to make his case directly to the king and clear up any misunderstanding about his actions and loyalty.
Sources:
Hubert Howe Bancroft, History of Mexico, vol. 2 (San Francisco: A. L. Bancroft & Company, 1883).
Donald E. Chipman, Moctezuma’s Children: Aztec Royalty Under Spanish Rule, 1520-1700. (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2005).
Ignacio López Rayón, “Sumario de la residencia tomada a Don Fernando Cortés,” Archivo Mexicano, Documentos para la historia de México (México: Tipografía de Vicente García Torres, 1852)
Guillermo Porras Muñoz, El gobierno de la ciudad de México en el siglo XVI, "Los alcaldes ordinarios," UNAM, 1982.
Manuscripts from the Portal de los Archivos Españoles
Archivo General de Indias
Méritos y servicios: Antonio de Carvajal, Juan de Cervantes
Patronato, 62, R.1
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