Last Will and Testament of Leonor Díaz de Benavides, 1531

Coat of Arms of the Counts of Santisteban (House of Benavides)

Leonor Díaz de Benavides was the mother of Alonso de Benavides, conquistador of Mexico City, and Cristóbal de Benavente, fiscal of the royal audiencia of Mexico (see this blog post). She made her last will and testament in the town of Benavente, Zamora, Spain on 1 June 1531. The will contains fascinating details about the family as well as one clue about her husband’s lineage.

One of the witnesses to her will was Rodrigo Ruiz, advisor to the Count of Benavente. He was the witness who signed the will on Leonor’s behalf, as she did not know how to sign her name. The fact that the count’s advisor was present and took responsibility for signing the will is evidence of a very close relationship. We know from the genealogical investigation completed prior to her great-grandson’s induction into Spain’s royal peerage as the first Count of Fontanar that Leonor’s husband Pedro de Benavente was a descendant of the Counts of Benavente and she was a descendant of the Counts of Santisteban. But how were they related to these royal lines, exactly?

The Count of Benavente in the year 1531 was Antonio Bernardino Alonso Pimentel y Herrera de Velasco, only sixteen years old at the time. His father, Alonso Pimentel y Pacheco, had just passed away the prior year in 1530. Therefore, I suspect that the elder Alonso Pimentel and Pedro de Benavente were half-brothers and that Pedro was an illegitimate son of Count Rodrigo Alonso Pimental (born circa 1441, died on 4 September 1499). Unfortunately, Count Rodrigo Alonso Pimental’s will did not acknowledge any illegitimate children. I have not yet located a will for Pedro de Benavente, but if it’s like Leonor’s, it probably did not name his parents. Perhaps additional records will be found in the future that shed light on this relationship.

Given that Leonor did not name her parents in her will, I suspect that she was an illegitimate child of the Counts of Santisteban. I have a hypothesis as to who her father might be, but no proof yet. Dating back to medieval times, it was very common in Spain for a child’s last name to be their father’s first name. So, for example, the last name Rodríguez meant child of Rodrigo and the last name Sánchez meant child of Sancho, etc. Leonor’s last name was Díaz de Benavides. As it turns out, the Count of Benavides who lived at the right time period to be her father was named Día Sánchez de Benavides (he died in 1478).[i] Additional research is needed to confirm this relationship. The last names of her children may also provide clues as to their maternal ancestry (i.e., Melgar, Coco).

I transcribed Leonor’s will into modern Spanish and then translated it into English. Words that I was not able to decipher are marked with [?]. The original manuscript of the will is located here:

Portal de los Archivos Españoles (PARES)

Archivo Histórico de la Nobleza

Testamento otorgado por Leonor Díez de Benavides, mujer de Pedro de Benavente

Osuna, C. 68, D.1-2

https://pares.mcu.es/ParesBusquedas20/catalogo/description/3932651?nm

[i] Jacinto Mercado Pérez, “Casa de Santisteban del Puerto (Benavides-Biedma), Patrimonio Humano en la Historia de España,” XLI Congreso de la Real Asociación Española de Cronistas Oficiales, Jaén, 2-5 Oct 2015.

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In Dei Nomine, Amen. Let all who see this testamentary letter know that I, Leonor Díaz, wife of Pedro de Benavente, deceased, may he be in glory, a resident of the town of Benavente, being in poor condition, bed-ridden with illness and natural infirmity, such as it has pleased my Lord God to give me, yet being in full and complete use of my sound mind and understanding, and fearful of death, to which I am naturally destined, and desiring to go to the glory of Paradise, which is prepared for those who believe and obey in the holy Catholic faith, I make and order this my testament for the sake of God and my soul, that for the remission and pardon of my sins:

First, I commend my soul to my Lord Jesus Christ, who bought and redeemed it with His precious blood, and I ask and beg for mercy from our Lady the Virgin Saint Mary, His precious mother, that she may be my intercessor and advocate before her precious Son,  and to Lord Saint Michael the Archangel, with the whole heavenly court, that they may present my soul before my Lord God, that He may place it in His holy glory of Paradise, for which it was made, amen, etc.

Item, I order that when it pleases God to take me from this present life, my body be buried in the church of San Nicolás of this town, where Pedro de Benavente, my husband, is buried, etc.

Item, I order that on the day of my burial, my funeral rites be held in the said church, and that on that day a sung mass and five said masses of the Passion be said for me, and that for the five days following, five said masses of the Passion be said each day, with forty roses and four arras that accompany the cross, with their vigils, with bread and wine, and all done according to custom. And I order that the confraternities of the Hospital of Our Lady of Mercy, the Confraternity of God, and the Confraternity of Our Lady of the Rosary of this town, of which I am a member, be called, and that they do what they are obliged to do. And that the Confraternity of Our Lady of the Rosary be paid three reales, and the Confraternity of God the fees customarily paid by members, and that they come in full with their house, etc.

Item, I order that my funeral honors be held in the said church on the third day after my burial, and at the end of the year, each time in the same manner as on the first day of my burial, etc.

Item, I order that offerings be made for me on the Sundays of the year and day [the annual commemoration of death] in the said church, over my tomb, with half a dozen roses and six candles of [?], with wine, etc.

Item, I order half a real to the Crusade [a religious indulgence fund], and to the five mendicant orders, to each one, four maravedís, etc.

Item, I order that three reales be given to the Hospital of Our Lady of Mercy of this town, etc.

Item, I order that the thirty-day Mass (treintanario) of Saint Amador be said in the said church for the sake of my soul and that of Pedro de Benavente, my late husband.

Item, whereas I owe Francisco de Benavente, my son, forty-three reales, which he lent me, secured by a gold rosary he holds as collateral, I order that the said forty-three reales be paid to him and that the said gold rosary be returned.

Item, whereas I gave Antonio de Benavides, my son, power-of-attorney to collect the rents and fueros [dues/obligations/rights] that were owed, and he has collected them for the past two years, and he has not given any accounting or payment from them, I order that this be requested and collected from him, and that his inheritance not be given to him until he renders that account, etc.

Item, whereas Licenciado de Benavente, my son, after the death of Pedro de Benavente, my husband, may he be in glory, has, from the time of his passing until the time he left for the Indies, collected rents from fueros and received certain of our fueros that remained in the care of Chamorro of Valderas, and collected twelve thousand maravedís from four loads of fueros which he took, and from Pedro de Asmora of Valderas, and from a place in San Miguel del Valle, and from other provinces that relinquished their fueros and paid him money and rents, and he collected fueros owed—and because he has given no account or explanation of any of this, and because it is just that he should do so, since it pertains to his siblings, my children, I order that the said Licenciado provide a full account and payment to the others, his said siblings, and that his rightful share of the inheritance, due from me and his father, not be delivered to him until he fully gives said account and payment in full, etc.

Item, whereas at the time when Pedro de Benavente, my husband, may he be in glory, passed away, the said Pedro de Benavente left up to three hundred ducats in gold and in reales, all of which came into the possession of the said Licenciado de Benavente, my son. He took and removed them from a [?] where the said money was kept. Later, the said Licenciado, in order that his siblings would not know about these maravedís, secretly conspired with me and asked me to draw up a notarial document for one hundred ducats of gold, claiming that he was lending them to me to pay debts. However, he never gave me any part of those hundred ducats, and they remained in his possession. This document was crafted deceptively, so that the said Licenciado could keep the said ducats and that his siblings would receive no part of them. The said Licenciado knows very well that all of this happened just as I have said, in truth and reality. This is also known to Pedro de Benavides, my son, who is with him in the Indies. Therefore, for the sake of clearing my conscience, and because this concerns all my children, I order that a full account and explanation be given of all this and that the said maravedís be returned to the estate, so that each may receive their share. And I affirm that all this is true, just as I have said, etc.

Item, whereas the said Licenciado de Benavente, my son, when he left for the Indies, took with him a silver jug of two silver marks, and also took a brown and white mule that Sebastián de Benavente, son of García de Benavente, had valued at six thousand maravedís at the time he took it, and a Black slave valued by Hernando de Cisneros, a resident of this town, at thirty-four ducats.

He also took his entire library, which he purchased from this estate for himself, and also took two mattresses, sheets, blankets, and [?], and other household items—tables, chairs, candlesticks, and many other things. All of this is known by Francisco de Benavente, and I order that the said Licenciado give account and payment for all of it to his siblings, and that they recover it from him. This includes certain maravedís that he took and collected from the sale of wine, from the time Pedro de Benavente, his father, died, until the time he left for the Indies, etc.

Item, I declare that it is my will to bestow, and I do bestow, an inheritance improvement (mejora) from the third part of my estate to my daughter Catalina de Melgar and my son Juan Coco, in equal shares, under the following condition:

Whichever of them dies before the other— if it is before Catalina de Melgar marries or becomes a nun, or before Juan Coco marries—the surviving one shall receive the entirety of the said inheritance improvement from the said third. And if the one who survives then dies before marrying (in the case of Juan Coco) or before becoming a nun or marrying (in the case of Catalina de Melgar), then the said inheritance improvement shall pass to Francisco de Benavente and María Coca, my son and daughter, in equal shares and in full.

And I desire and it is my will that the said inheritance improvement consist of the houses I own in this town, in the parish of San Nicolás, on the Calle de las Armas, which border the houses of Francisco de Burgos and those of Diego de Salamanca. Also included is the property I have in Matilla, part of the domain of this town, which borders the vineyard and orchard of Pedro de Benavides, the blacksmith, and the vineyard of the beatas [pious women or nuns].

Provided that, if the said Catalina de Melgar enters a convent as a nun, the inheritance improvement due to her shall be valued for two persons, with an oath made to that effect, and the monastery receiving the money shall not receive the houses and vineyards. Instead, Francisco de Benavente and María Coco shall receive the houses and vineyards or the corresponding part, paying at once the amount assessed for the said improvement to the said monastery. And I desire and it is my will that the said houses and vineyard, which I thus grant to them as an inheritance improvement, not be sold or alienated by the said Catalina de Melgar and Juan Coco, my daughter and son, until each of them reaches the age of twenty-five. After reaching that age, even if they do not marry, they may dispose of the property as they see fit. Thus, I grant them this inheritance improvement under these terms and conditions, etc.

Item, whereas Alonso de Benavides, my son, at the time he returned from the Indies, the first time he came back to this town of Benavente, he left certain amounts of maravedís with Pedro de Benavente, his father, so that he might purchase lands, grain rents, and fueros as he saw fit, and the said Pedro de Benavente purchased certain fueros and grain rents, and the deeds were made in the name of Pedro de Benavente, his father. Later, Pedro de Benavente, by rightful authority and in due time, transferred all the said fueros and grain rents to his said son, Alonso de Benavides, which had been acquired using the money he had left. From that point forward, they were to belong to the said Alonso de Benavides, according to the transfer made before Carvajal, notary of this town.

And because Licenciado de Benavente, my son, has since taken charge of this estate and made certain deeds and removed some encumbrances, in which he has also placed his name, I order that until the will of the said Alonso de Benavides, my son, becomes known, all these lands, grain rents, and fueros shall be held in the custody of Francisco de Benavente, my son, in deposit, for him to manage and collect from, until the said Alonso de Benavides, my son, sends instructions regarding who he wishes to have this property.

And I request and entrust to the said Alonso de Benavides, my son, that since Catalina de Melgar and Juan Coco, his siblings, are still young and orphaned, that he might, in his generosity, grant and donate this estate to them, for which he would bring me great joy. And I order that from the income collected, the said Francisco de Benavente shall provide food and clothing, and furnish whatever is necessary and fitting for the said Catalina de Melgar and Juan Coco, until the said Alonso de Benavides sends his decision on this estate to Francisco de Benavente, for him to settle it entirely, etc.

Item, whereas the said Alonso de Benavides, my son, at the time he was returning by sea to these parts, found himself in danger and entrusted himself to Our Lady of la Vega, to whom he promised to give a load of wheat to the said church and its maintenance fund (fábrica) each year, and since, by his order, I have already given the said load of wheat to the said church, and because from now on I do not know the will of the said Alonso de Benavides, my son—whether he wishes this to be given perpetually and forever—I further order that a letter be written to my said son to ask what he orders be done in regard to this vow; and until his instructions arrive, the said load of wheat is to continue being given to the said church. This shall be the responsibility of Francisco de Benavente, my son, from the said deposit, etc.

Item, because it has been my devotion to hold, in the church of Señor San Nicolás of this town of Benavente, on the eve of Our Lady of the Conception, a vigil with a collation [light meal] of wine and [?], and on the following day, a sung mass with a certain offering of bread, and likewise, the same observance on the eve and day of Saint Catherine, which I have maintained from a certain time to the present, it is my will that these commemorations be carried out and fulfilled perpetually and forever.

Furthermore, I order that for this purpose, the [fuero?] be taken, which I possess and purchased on the houses of Hernán de Castro, tailor and resident of this town, located in this town in the parish of San Nicolás, bordering the houses and stable that belonged to Pedro Sánchez de Toro, now inhabited by Juan de Alicante, bathkeeper. The rent is nine and a half reales of silver and one hen, and if more is needed, let it be taken from the remaining rents, so that these commemorations may be fulfilled perpetually.

And I order my children, under penalty of my blessing, that they uphold this fuero and also a load of wheat from a permanent fuero in a designated place, leaving the responsibility for this to Francisco de Benavente, my son, and after him, to his children and closest relatives. And in the absence of them, or if they should be unwilling to do so, I leave this obligation to our [??] or to whoever may be associated with San Nicolás of this town, so that they may carry out these commemorations and enjoy the benefit of the fuero and the load of wheat as annual income, as stated.

Item, since I owe some debts and likewise some debts are owed to me, I refer to a memorial [written record] that may appear signed by Francisco de Benavente, my son, and I order that it be fulfilled as if it were written here in this will, etc.

Item, I order that Francisco de Benavente, my son, not be asked to pay any rent for the houses in which he lives up until the day of my death, because of certain vineyards that the said Francisco de Benavente gave to Pedro de Benavente, his father, and were further compensated, amounting to forty vineyards, etc.

Item, I declare that since Alonso de Benavides, my son, stated by letter that he was sending me two hundred castellanos, which never came into my possession, nor do I know who received them, I order that someone let me know, etc.

Item, I take the fifth of my estate and I order that from it, this my will be fulfilled, and from what remains, let there be given: a mantle and a nun’s robe of twenty and a dozen [a type of fine cloth] to María Coco; to Francisco de Benavente, a cloak (loba) with its hood; and to Juan Coco, a tunic (sayo) and a cloak, both of twenty and a dozen [fine cloth]; and if anything is left from this fifth, let it be spent on masses in the said church of San Nicolás for the souls of myself and of Pedro de Benavente, my husband, etc.

Item, I order that from the share belonging to Isabel Díaz, my daughter, there be taken eight ducats to be given to María Coco for a camel hair (chamelote) dress (saya) with velvet (terciopelo) trims? (tizas?), which the said María Coco gave to me to give to my said daughter when she went to the Indies, etc.

Item, I name as executors of this my will and the orders contained in it: Diego Sánchez and Santiago Platero, residents of this town, and as a third with them, the said Francisco de Benavente, my son. To them and to each of them, jointly with the third, I give full power with free and general authority to enter and take from my property what they see fit, to sell and settle it, and to fulfill and pay this my will and the legacies contained in it, within a year and a day, or sooner if possible.

As for the remainder of my estate, I name as my legitimate universal heirs: The Licenciado [full name missing but must be Cristóbal de Benavente], Alonso de Benavente, Francisco de Benavente, María Díaz, wife of Cosme de Covarrubias, Antonio de Benavides, María Coco, Isabel de Benavides, Catalina de Melgar, Juan Coco, and Pedro de Benavides, my sons and daughters, so that they may inherit with the blessing of God and my own.

I revoke and annul and declare to be null and void or effect any other will or wills or codicils that I may have made up to this day, whether spoken or written, and I order that they have no validity, whether they appear in court or elsewhere, except for this my will, which I now make and order to be valid as my will, and if it should not be valid as a will, then let it be valid as my final and last will and testament, which this is.

And so that this be confirmed, I granted this document before the public notary and the witnesses below [?], and it was made and granted in the said town of Benavente on the first day of the month of June in the year of the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ, fifteen hundred and thirty-one.

Witnesses who were present: Rodrigo Ruiz, advisor to the Lord Count of Benavente, Juan de Mateos, advisor, and Pedro de Cisneros, tailor, residents of this town. And the said Rodrigo Ruiz signed it in the registry of this [?] at the request of the said grantor, because she stated that she did not know how to sign her name, and let it be recorded that I know the above-named witnesses, Rodrigo Ruiz, etc.... [the rest is difficult to make out].