, d. 1533, Granada) was a judge of the first Audiencia of New Spain

New Spain

New Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...

, which governed the colony from December 9, 1528 to January 9, 1531.

Delgadillo was a native of Granada. He graduated as a lawyer from the University of Alcalá

University of Alcalá

The University of Alcalá is a public university located in Alcalá de Henares, a city 35 km northeast of Madrid in Spain. Founded in 1499, it was moved in 1836 to Madrid. In 1977, the University was reopened in its same historical buildings...

.

The first Audiencia

Ever since the conquest by Hernán Cortés

Hernán Cortés

Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca was a Spanish Conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century...

, New Spain had been governed by a military government

Military government

Military government can refer to conditions under either Military occupation, or Military dictatorship.-Military Government:Military government is the form of administration by which an occupying power exercises governmental authority over occupied territory.The Hague Conventions of 1907 specify...

, generally violent, arbitrary and exploitative of the Indigenous

Indigenous peoples of Mexico

Mexico, in the second article of its Constitution, is defined as a "pluricultural" nation in recognition of the diverse ethnic groups that constitute it, and in which the indigenous peoples are the original foundation...

. Hoping to establish a more orderly and just government (and perhaps also to reduce the authority of Cortés), on December 13, 1527 the metropolitan government of Charles V

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...

 in Burgos

Burgos

Burgos is a city of northern Spain, historic capital of Castile. It is situated at the edge of the central plateau, with about 178,966 inhabitants in the city proper and another 20,000 in its suburbs. It is the capital of the province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León...

 named a Real Audiencia to take over the government of the colony. This consisted of a president and four oidores (judges). The president was Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán

Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán

Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán or sometimes Nuño de Guzmán was a Spanish conquistador and colonial administrator in New Spain. He was Governor of the province of Pánuco from 1525–1533, and of Nueva Galicia from 1529–1534, President of the first Audiencia from 1528-30. He founded several cities in...

 and the oidores were Juan Ortiz de Matienzo

Juan Ortiz de Matienzo

Juan Ortiz de Matienzo was a Spanish colonial judge and a member of the first Real Audiencia in the New World, that of Santo Domingo, in 1511...

, Delgadillo, Diego Maldonado and Alonso de Parada. Delgadillo left Spain for the Indies in August 1528.

At the time Beltrán de Guzmán was already in New Spain, at Pánuco, so Charles ordered the judges to assemble in Veracruz and from there make a joint entrance into the capital. However, Beltrán de Guzmán was delayed. The oidores from Spain did not wait for his arrival, but proceeded directly to the capital. They arrived there on December 8, 1528, taking over the government on the following day. They were given a splendid reception by the city government. Beltrán arrived a little after the others. Two of them (Maldonado and Parada) were sick on their arrival and soon died. They did not take part in the government.

The Audiencia was instructed to improve the treatment of the Indigenous and to conclude the juicios de residencia

Juicio de residencia

A juicio de residencia was a judicial procedure of Castilian law and the Laws of the Indies. It consisted of this: at the termination of a public functionary's term, his performance in office was subject to review, and those with grievances against him were entitled to a hearing...

into the conduct of Cortés and his associates Pedro de Alvarado

Pedro de Alvarado

Pedro de Alvarado y Contreras was a Spanish conquistador and governor of Guatemala. He participated in the conquest of Cuba, in Juan de Grijalva's exploration of the coasts of Yucatan and the Gulf of Mexico, and in the conquest of Mexico led by Hernan Cortes...

, Alonso de Estrada

Alonso de Estrada

Alonso de Estrada was a colonial official in New Spain during the period of Hernán Cortés's government, and before the appointment of the first viceroy...

, Rodrigo de Albornoz

Rodrigo de Albornoz

Rodrigo de Albornoz was an auditor and colonial official in New Spain during the period of Hernán Cortés's government, and before the appointment of the first viceroy...

, Gonzalo de Salazar

Gonzalo de Salazar

Gonzalo de Salazar was an aristocrat, and leader of several councils that governed New Spain while Hernán Cortés was traveling to Honduras, in 1525-26.- Early life :...

 and Pedro Almíndez Chirino

Pedro Almíndez Chirino

Pedro Almíndez Chirino was a conquistador and member of several councils that governed New Spain while Hernán Cortés was traveling to Honduras, in 1525-26...

 within 90 days. Most of these associates had participated in the government in the proceeding few years while Cortés was in Honduras or Spain, with a lot of in-fighting among themselves and injustices to the population, both Indigenous and Spanish.

Cortés himself was still in Spain, where he was defending his conduct and appealing to Charles concerning his loss of authority. Cortés had some success with his appeal, being named Marqués del Valle de Oaxaca and receiving some other honors.

Government of the first Audiencia

This Audiencia was very corrupt, and Delgadillo participated in the corruption, accumulating a large sum of money. He received a grant of land from the municipal council, which was illegal for the judges, and he had his brother appointed governor of the Zapoteca province. He soon entered into open opposition to Cortés, the bishops and the missionaries.

The Audiencia banned direct communication with the Court in Spain. This was so effective that Bishop Juan de Zumárraga

Juan de Zumárraga

Juan de Zumárraga was a Spanish Basque Franciscan prelate and first bishop of Mexico.-Origins and arrival in New Spain:...

 felt the necessity of hiding a letter sealed in wax in a cask, to be smuggled to the Spanish authorities by a confederate sailor.

Delgadillo founded the Spanish settlement of Antequera (now Oaxaca

Oaxaca, Oaxaca

The city and municipality of Oaxaca de Juárez, or simply Oaxaca, is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of the same name . It is located in the Centro District in the Central Valleys region of the state, in the foothills of the Sierra Madre at the base of the Cerro del Fortín...

) and suppressed a revolt of the Indigenous nearby. He imported the mulberry

Mulberry

Morus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae. The 10–16 species of deciduous trees it contains are commonly known as Mulberries....

 tree and the silkworm

Bombyx mori

The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of the domesticated silkmoth, Bombyx mori . It is an economically important insect, being a primary producer of silk...

 into the colony in 1530, becoming the first to begin sericulture

Sericulture

Sericulture, or silk farming, is the rearing of silkworms for the production of raw silk.Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, Bombyx mori is the most widely used and intensively studied. According to Confucian texts, the discovery of silk production by B...

 in the New World. He imported the olive

Olive

The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...

 tree the following year.

The maladministration of the first Audiencia continued until the return of Cortés in July 1530. The members of the Audiencia intended to depose Cortés, but were prevented by the actions of Bishop Zumárraga. Shortly thereafter, the members of the second Audiencia arrived, taking power in January 1531. The second Audiencia was much different from the first, honest, capable and dedicated to good government and fair treatment of the Indigenous.

Consequences

The members of the first Audiencia were called to answer before other courts. One hundred twenty-five lawsuits were begun. In one of the suits, Cortés accused Beltrán de Guzmán, Ortiz de Matienzo and Delgadillo of attempting to usurp his property and powers in New Spain during his absence in Spain in 1528. Delgadillo, like the others, was sentenced to lose all his repartimientos and to pay a large fine.

Thereafter Delgadillo returned to Spain, retiring to his native City. There a severe illness brought about by his troubles caused his death.

External links

• Description of some documents at the U.S. Library of Congress
  Library of Congress
  The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
  
  Some information on the First Audiencia