Antigua Guatemala, ruinas de la catedral 07

Pedro de Portocarrero (c. 1504Lenkersdorf 1993, p. 51. – c. 1539) was a Spanish conquistador who was active in the early 16th century in Guatemala, and Chiapas in southern Mexico.Lenkersdorf 2004, p. 78. He was one of the few Spanish noblemen that took part in the early stages of the Spanish conquest of the Americas, and was distantly related to prominent conquistador Pedro de Alvarado, who appointed him as an official in early colonial Guatemala.

Family and background

Pedro de Portocarrero was a nobleman who was distantly related to prominent conquistador Pedro de Alvarado. Pedro de Portocarrero was the son of Juan Portocarrero.Lenkersdorf 1993, p. 44.Some sources claim Pedro de Portocarrero's father was also named Pedro de Portocarrero, and was married to Inés de Alvarado, who was the paternal aunt of Pedro de Alvarado; see for example Vega 2003, p. 188. Portocarrero's paternal grandfather was the ''comendador'' Rodrigo Portocarrero, a knight of the Order of Santiago. His mother was Beatriz Pacheco, daughter of Juan Pacheco, Marquess of Villena, a powerful nobleman in the court of King Henry IV of Castile. One of Portocarrero's grandfathers was the paternal uncle of Pedro de Alvarado. Portocarrero was one of the few members of the Spanish aristocracy that took part in the early stages of the Spanish conquest of the Americas; his father was the second count of Medellín, Spain, Medellín. He was of Portuguese ancestry, from a family that became prominent in the borderlands between Spain and Portugal. As a younger son of the Count of Medellín, Pedro served in a minor role in the court of the future Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor in Flanders, since the Portocarreros preferred to have their sons educated as Page (servant), pages before progressing into military or ecclesiastical roles. Various branches of the family became involved in both sides of the political disputes that engulfed their territory, which may have been why Pedro de Portocarrero left Spain. He arrived in Mexico in late 1521 or early 1522.

Spanish conquest

Pedro de Portocarrero arrived in Mexico a short time after the fall of Tenochtitlan, and thus did not take part in the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. He was placed under the command of Pedro de Alvarado and took part in the campaigns of conquest in Oaxaca, Pánuco (province), Pánuco (Veracruz), and Central America. In July 1524, Pedro de Alvarado appointed Pedro de Portocarrero as a ''regidor'' (councillor) of the newly founded Spanish settlement of Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala, at that time located at the Kaqchikel people, Kaqchikel Maya city of Iximche. Soon afterwards, Portocarrero accompanied Alvarado on his Spanish conquest of El Salvador, expedition to Cuzcatlan (in modern El Salvador). In August 1526, Alvarado named Portocarrero as one of two ''alcaldes'' (magistrates) of Guatemala. In the late 1520s Portocarrero was successful in putting down a Kaqchikel rebellion. Shortly after the initial Spanish conquest of Guatemala, Spanish invasion of Guatemala, Alvarado granted Portocarrero the extensive ''encomienda'' of San Pedro Sacatepéquez, San Marcos, Sacatepéquez and San Juan Ostuncalco, Ostuncalco, the largest and most valuable ''encomienda'' in Guatemala, which incorporated the entire southern Mam people, Mam Maya region. In late 1527, Portocarrero led an expedition into Chiapas and, in January 1528,Gómez Coutiño 2014, p. 57. successfully established the first Spanish town there, within the territory of the Tojolabal people, Tojolabal Maya. The new town was called San Cristóbal de los Llanos, and was located in the Comitán valley. Portocarrero's expedition penetrated Chiapas as far as the Tzotzil people, Tzotzil town of Huixtán, Huixtan. At Huixtan, Portocarrero met a rival Spanish expedition headed by Diego de Mazariegos, and after protracted negotiations Portocarrero retreated back to Guatemala.

Marriage and death

Pedro de Portocarrero married Alvarado's daughter Leanor, probably in early 1536. In 1536, Portocarrero accompanied Alvarado to Honduras and fought against the Chontal Maya people, Chontal Maya of the Naco, Honduras, Naco valley, where an uprising against the Spanish was underway. Portocarrero died "of old age" before 1539. At the time of his death, he still held Sacatepéquez and Ostuncalco in ''encomienda''.Recinos 1952, 1986, p. 224.

Footnotes

Citations

References

*Gómez Coutiño, José Francisco (2014).
Los dominicos en Chiapas y la construcción de la catedral de San Cristóbal de las Casas
' (in Spanish). Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, Mexico: Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas (UNACH). . Archived fro
the original
on 2014-11-17. Retrieved 2014-11-05. *Kramer, Wendy (1994)
Encomienda Politics in Early Colonial Guatemala, 1524–1544: Dividing the Spoils
'' Boulder, Colorado, US: Westview Press. . *Lenkersdorf, Gudrun (1993). ''Génesis histórica de Chiapas, 1522–1532: el conflicto entre Portocarrero y Mazariegos'' (in Spanish). Mexico City, Mexico: Instituto de Investigaciones Filológicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). . . *Lenkersdorf, Gudrun (2004) [1995]. "La resistencia a la conquista española en Los Altos de Chiapas". In Juan Pedro Viqueira and Mario Humberto Ruz (eds.).
Chiapas: los rumbos de otra historia
' (PDF) (in Spanish). Mexico City, Mexico: Centro de Investigaciones Filológicas with Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social (CIESAS). pp. 71–85. . . Archived fro
the original
(PDF) on 2014-11-13. *Lovell, W. George; Christopher H. Lutz; Wendy Kramer; William R. Swezey (2013).
Strange Lands and Different Peoples: Spaniards and Indians in Colonial Guatemala
'. Civilization of the American Indian. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. . . *Polo Sifontes, Francis (1986). ''Los Cakchiqueles en la Conquista de Guatemala'' (in Spanish). Guatemala: CENALTEX. . *Recinos, Adrian (1986) [1952]. ''Pedro de Alvarado: Conquistador de México y Guatemala'' (in Spanish) (2nd ed.). Guatemala City, Guatemala: CENALTEX Centro Nacional de Libros de Texto y Material Didáctico "José de Pineda Ibarra". . *Reeves, René (2006)
Ladinos with Ladinos, Indians with Indians: Land, Labor, and Regional Ethnic Conflict in the Making of Guatemala
'' Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. . *Sherman, William L. (1979).
Forced Native Labor in Sixteenth-Century Central America
' Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. . *Vega, Carlos B. (2003).
Conquistadoras: Mujeres Heroicas de la Conquista de America
' (in Spanish). Jefferson, North Carolina and London: McFarland. . . {{DEFAULTSORT:Portocarrero, Pedro de Spanish conquistadors 16th century in Central America 16th century in Guatemala 16th century in Mexico 16th-century Spanish people 16th-century explorers People of New Spain Colonial Central America Colonial Guatemala Colonial Mexico Spanish colonial officials 1500s births 1530s deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain