The conspiracy of 1566 in New Spain (Part 3)
- Steven Perez
- Nov 26
- 5 min read
Updated: Dec 10
The audiencia intended to proceed with the trials of Don Martin Cortés and his brothers but the new viceroy, Gastón de Peralta, Marqués de Falces, wrote asking them to suspend their deliberations to await his arrival. He arrived in Mexico City on 19 October 1566 and began his own inquiry into the conspiracy. Much to the chagrin of the oidores, he appeared to favor the side of the marqués, relaxing the conditions of his imprisonment and even allowing him to receive visitors and observe festivals.
Baltazar de Aguilar, the key informant who had been the first to denounce the marqués, had begun to fear that the tides were turning in favor of the marqués—and what that would mean for his own welfare. Rumors had already begun to circulate that investigators from Spain would soon arrive to act on behalf of the marqués. Summoned to testify before Peralta, Baltazar gave a new statement that recanted his first testimony and exonerated the marqués.
Then on November 29th, Antonio de Carvajal II (the younger) was summoned to give a statement to the viceroy about the conspiracy. Unlike his previous testimony, which had dealt largely with the overall character of the marqués and the backstory to his rivalry with the former viceroy Luis de Velasco, Antonio was questioned directly about his knowledge of the conspiracy to rebel against the king.
Antonio stated that he had learned of the conspiracy when he was present in the casas reales at the time the marqués was taken into custody. About a week later, when he was at home, Baltazar de Aguilar happened to be passing along the street and stopped to talk with him. The conversation naturally touched on the imprisonment of the marqués and the other conspirators. Antonio marveled that such a thing could possibly happen in a land that was so peaceful and loyal to its king and had never suspected anything. Baltazar indicated that he wished to discuss certain things with him about this matter, so he suggested that the two go out to the countryside to watch his horses run.
The next day, the two, accompanied by Juan de Valdivieso went out of the city. Baltazar de Aguilar asked Antonio and Juan if they were interested in buying his horses and harnesses as he was determined to go to Spain to give an account to the king of all he knew about the affair, as he understood the spite with which the charges had been brought against the marqués by his enemies. He had been forced to denounce the marqués by his relatives and he felt that he was unable to tell the truth to the oidores since they were also hostile to the marqués. The men who had encouraged the charges were Luis de Velasco (the former viceroy), Juan Sámano, Agustín de Villanueva and Alonso de Cervantes. He felt that he could only give a faithful account to the new viceroy who was due to arrive in the next flotilla. However, if the viceroy did not arrive, then he would go to Spain.
A few weeks later, the three men gathered again to speak about the same subject. Antonio and Juan expressed their incredulity that the marqués could possibly have been involved in such a plan. Baltazar responded that the marqués had remarked that Alonso de Ávila’s plan was a fantasy and that if he had any indication that it was even a remote possibility, he would have reported it to the audiencia himself. Baltazar had understood the marqués to be very loyal to the king.
The viceroy Luis de Velasco had threatened Baltazar to testify against the marqués and had provided him with specific instructions to make four accusations: 1) the marqués had corresponded with the King of France; 2) agreements had already been made regarding the distribution of land to encomenderos; 3) he was to name those involved in the conspiracy; and 4) the plan was to make the marqués king of New Spain.
Antonio also related how one night at the home of his cousin Juan de Valdivieso, Agustín de Villanueva had told them how he had been at his ranch in the Valley of Toluca when word had arrived from the oidores summoning him to the audiencia and how afterwards Agustín had gone as their secret informant to discover the details of the plot and provide evidence against the marqués.
Antonio once again expressed his surprise and confoundment at such a conspiracy taking place. He stated that while he found Alonso de Ávila to be a rather vain person, he could not have imagined him knowing about or participating in any rebellion against the king. The marqués was a loyal servant of the king and on numerous occasions had remarked that he would do anything required of him in the service of His Majesty. Antonio ended his statement by saying that although the citizens of New Spain had been displeased at seeing such prominent individuals imprisoned and put to death, at present, after the arrival of the viceroy, the land was entirely calm and peaceful.
The king had received conflicting reports from New Spain regarding the progress of the trial of the marqués and how his new viceroy was handling the situation, so he sent two officials from the Council of Indies—Luis Carrillo and Alonso Muñoz—to Mexico City with broad authority to oversee the process. In Madrid, Muñoz had already ordered the torture of Cristóbal de Oñate (first cousin of Juan de Oñate, who would later become the founder and first governor of New Mexico). Cristóbal had already confessed and named several others as co-conspirators, so was sent back to Mexico City to serve as a witness and to stand trial. Prior to their arrival, the new judges had ordered a prison to be built to house all of those they were instructed to apprehend. They finally arrived in Mexico City in early November 1567, nearly a year after Antonio de Carvajal had testified before Viceroy Peralta.
The new judges proceeded with alacrity to arrest and try all of the alleged conspirators. In their zealousness, no family was spared, regardless of their status, and defendants were allowed very little time to present evidence of their innocence. Baltazar de Aguilar, the Bocanegra brothers, Juan de Valdivieso, Antonio de Carvajal and dozens of others were arrested and imprisoned. On November 6th, the oidores of the audiencia ordered a number of prisoners to be released on bail but it appears that they were countermanded by Carrillo and Muñoz.
On November 12th, a number of those charged granted a power-of-attorney to Juan Caro, lawyer of the audiencia, to represent them in their trials. The names recorded were:
Antonio de Carvajal
Diego Rodríguez Orozco
Francisco Rodríguez Magarino
Pedro Gómez de Cáceres
Balthazar de Sotelo
Hernando de Bacán
Juan de Valdivieso
Francisco de Reynoso
Gonzalo Nuñez
Bernardino Pacheco de Bocanegra
On November 14th, Juan Caro petitioned the judges to release Antonio on bail but was denied.
The trial of Antonio de Carvajal is continued in Part 4. Subscribe to the blog to receive email updates.
Sources:
Juan Suárez de Peralta, Tratado del descubrimiento de las Yndias y su conquista, Transcription of manuscript from 1589 by Giorgio Perissinotto, (Madrid: Alianza Editorial, 1990).
Hubert Howe Bancroft, History of Mexico, vol. 2 (San Francisco: A. L. Bancroft & Company, 1883).
Archivo General de Indias
Relación sobre la rebelión en Nueva España
Patronato, 203, R. 4
(Antonio de Carvajal’s testimony from 29 November 1566 begins on Image 65)
Proceso contra Antonio de Carvajal: rebelión Nueva España
Patronato, 220, R. 1
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