Luis de la Torre was one of the Spanish conquistadors who governed

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

while

Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca (December 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions o ...

was absent from the capital.

History

There was much infighting during this period (1524-28). Nine men were involved in the government, not including Cortés himself, who made a very brief return in 1526. They usually formed a governing council of three, never more than five, and occasionally only one or two. This interval began with Cortés's expedition to

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

and ended with the arrival of the first

Audiencia Real A ''Real Audiencia'' (), or simply an ''Audiencia'' (), was an appellate court in Spain and its empire. The name of the institution literally translates as Royal Audience. The additional designation ''chancillería'' (or ''cancillería'', Catala ...

. Not much is known about la Torre. He was in the government of the

Viceroyalty of New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

from March 2, 1527, to December 8, 1528, or about 1 year and 9 months. Alonso de Estrada was also in the government for this period, and for the early part (until August 22, 1527), so was Gonzalo de Sandoval. La Torre and Estrada were cousins. On the latter date, a royal decree was received in Mexico City, ratifying the transfer of powers granted by Luis Ponce de León to

Marcos de Aguilar Marcos de Aguilar (died March 1, 1527) was briefly royal governor of New Spain (from July 16, 1526 to March 1, 1527). Marcos de Aguilar was born in Seville, Spain, and was a . He served in various judicial capacities in Seville. Before his arriva ...

, but Aguilar had died on March 1. Before he died, Aguilar had named Estrada governor, and this decree from Spain solidified Estrada's position. Since Cortés was suspected of poisoning both Luis Ponce de León and Aguilar, he was not in a position to challenge Alonso de Estrada and Luis de la Torre. A person named Luis de la Torre accompanied

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

to the New World on one of his voyages, and is credited with being the co-discoverer (among Europeans) of tobacco. However, that may have been the uncle of this man.

References

Spanish conquistadors Spanish colonial governors and administrators Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 1520s in Mexico 1527 in New Spain 1528 in New Spain Colonial Mexico 16th-century Mexican people 16th-century Spanish people {{Spain-bio-stub

History

See also

References