Luis de Velasco
Encyclopedia
Luís de Velasco was the second viceroy
Viceroy
A viceroy is a royal official who runs a country, colony, or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in the place of" and the French word roi, meaning king. A viceroy's province or larger territory is called a viceroyalty...

 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...

 during the Spanish colonization of the Americas
Spanish colonization of the Americas
Colonial expansion under the Spanish Empire was initiated by the Spanish conquistadores and developed by the Monarchy of Spain through its administrators and missionaries. The motivations for colonial expansion were trade and the spread of the Christian faith through indigenous conversions...

 in the mid-sixteenth century.

Velasco was born in the town of Carrión de los Condes
Carrión de los Condes
Carrión de los Condes is a municipality in the province of Palencia, part of the Autonomous Community of Castile and León, Spain.It is 40 kilometers from Palencia, on the Way of Saint James.-History:...

, in the province of Palencia
Palencia
Palencia is a city south of Tierra de Campos, in north-northwest Spain, the capital of the province of Palencia in the autonomous community of Castile-Leon...

, in 1511. The son of a wealthy nobleman, Velasco received formal education at a young age. By 1547, he had become viceroy and leader of Spain's armed forces in the Kingdom of Navarre
Kingdom of Navarre
The Kingdom of Navarre , originally the Kingdom of Pamplona, was a European kingdom which occupied lands on either side of the Pyrenees alongside the Atlantic Ocean....

.

Impressed with Velasco's achievements and loyalty to the Spanish crown, Emperor 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...

 (King Charles I of Spain) sent him to New Spain, in 1550, to deal with problems in the Spanish colonies, among them slavery and the encomienda
Encomienda
The encomienda was a system that was employed mainly by the Spanish crown during the colonization of the Americas to regulate Native American labor....

 system. He was accompanied by his son, Luis de Velasco, marqués de Salinas
Luis de Velasco, marqués de Salinas
Luis de Velasco, marqués de Salinas , Spanish nobleman, son of the second viceroy of New Spain, and himself the eighth viceroy. He governed from January 27, 1590 to November 4, 1595, and again from July 2, 1607 to June 10, 1611...

, himself a future viceroy of New Spain. Velasco replaced the previous viceroy, Antonio de Mendoza
Antonio de Mendoza
Antonio de Mendoza y Pacheco, Marquis of Mondéjar, Count of Tendilla , was the first viceroy of New Spain, serving from April 17, 1535 to November 25, 1550, and the second viceroy of Peru, from September 23, 1551 to July 21, 1552...

.

Mendoza had been given his choice of the Viceroyalty of Mexico or of Peru, with Velasco to fill the other office. Velasco arrived at San Juan de Ulúa
San Juan de Ulúa
San Juan de Ulúa, also known as Castle of San Juan de Ulúa is a large complex of fortresses, prisons and one former palace on an island overlooking the seaport of Veracruz, Mexico.-History:...

, New Spain on August 23, 1550. He spent the month of September in Puebla
Puebla
Puebla officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 217 municipalities and its capital city is Puebla....

, while Mendoza was making his choice. Finally the two men decided to meet in Cholula, and there Mendoza chose Peru. On November 25, 1550, Velasco made his official entry into Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

, thus becoming Viceroy of New Spain. He served until his death there on July 31, 1564.

Velasco helped the natives defend themselves against the abuses of gold-mining slave owners, and released 15,000 Indian slaves . On January 25, 1553, Velasco inaugurated the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico
National Autonomous University of Mexico
The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México is a university in Mexico. UNAM was founded on 22 September 1910 by Justo Sierra as a liberal alternative to the Roman Catholic-sponsored Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) (National Autonomous...

. He commissioned the founding of the towns of San Miguel el Grande (now San Miguel de Allende
San Miguel de Allende
San Miguel de Allende is a city and municipality located in the far eastern part of the state of Guanajuato in central Mexico. It is 274 km from Mexico City and 97 km from the state capital of Guanajuato...

), Durango
Durango
Durango officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is located in Northwest Mexico. With a population of 1,632,934, it has Mexico's second-lowest population density, after Baja...

 (1563), San Felipe de Ixtlahuaca, and Nombre de Dios. He also instituted public services such as hospitals and law enforcement for the natives.

In 1558, Mexico experienced its first large flood of the Spanish era, and afterwards an epidemic. The Viceroy did everything in his power to aid the many victims.

Up to 1560, Velasco governed with unlimited authority. Although he had committed no abuses, in that year the Audiencia and other powerful Spaniards attempted to influence the emperor to limit the authority of the Viceroy by requiring prior authorization of his actions by the Audiencia.

In his final years, Velasco focused his efforts on establishing settlements in Florida, exploring the Pacific Ocean and searching for more riches for the Empire. In 1559, Velasco sent a fleet of 13 ships under the command of Tristán de Luna y Arellano
Tristán de Luna y Arellano
Tristán de Luna y Arellano was a Spanish Conquistador of the 16th century. Born in Borobia, Spain, he came to New Spain in about 1530, and was sent on an expedition to conquer Florida in 1559...

 to establish settlements on the eastern coast of Florida. The expedition failed when the settlements were struck by hunger and quarrels with hostile native warriors. The Spaniards were forced to abandon them.

In early 1564, Velasco commissioned Miguel López de Legazpi
Miguel López de Legazpi
Miguel López de Legazpi , also known as El Adelantado and El Viejo , was a Spanish conquistador who established one of the first European settlements in the East Indies and the Pacific Islands in 1565. He is the first Governor-General in the Philippines...

 and Andrés de Urdaneta
Andrés de Urdaneta
Friar Andrés de Urdaneta, O.S.A., was a circumnavigator, explorer and Augustinian friar. As a navigator he achieved in 1536 the "second" world circumnavigation after first one led by Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Sebastián Elcano in 1522...

 to lead an expedition across the Pacific to the Spice Islands, where Ferdinand Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer. He was born in Sabrosa, in northern Portugal, and served King Charles I of Spain in search of a westward route to the "Spice Islands" ....

 and Ruy López de Villalobos
Ruy López de Villalobos
Ruy López de Villalobos was a Spanish explorer who sailed the Pacific from Mexico to establish a permanent foothold for Spain in the East Indies, which was near the Line of Demarcation between Spain and Portugal according to the Treaty of Saragossa in 1529...

 had landed in 1521 and 1543. Velasco died in 1564. At his death, it was found that instead of enriching himself in office, he had gone into debt out of his concern for the poor and the Indians. He was succeeded by Francisco Ceinos
Francisco Ceinos
Francisco Ceinos was one of five oidores of the second Audiencia of New Spain. This group governed the colony from January 10, 1531 to April 16, 1535. Ceinos was also in the Audiencias that served as interim governments of New Spain from 1564 to 1566 and from approximately July 1568 to November...

 as interim viceroy in 1564, and by Gastón de Peralta, marqués de Falces
Gastón de Peralta, marqués de Falces
Gastón Carrillo de Peralta y Bosquete, 3rd Marquis of Falces was a Spanish nobleman who was viceroy of New Spain from October 16, 1566 to March 10, 1568.-Biography:...

as permanent viceroy in 1566.
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