Diego Carrillo de Mendoza, 1st Marquess of Gelves facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Most Excellent The Marquess of Gélves KOS
Viceroy of New Spain
In office September 21, 1621 – November 1, 1624
Monarch	Philip IV
Prime Minister	Count-Duke of Olivares
Preceded by	Diego Fernández de Córdoba
Succeeded by	Rodrigo Pacheco
Personal details
Born	c. 1570 Valladolid, Spain
Died	c. 1631 Madrid, Spain

Diego Carrillo de Mendoza y Pimentel, 1st Marquess of Gélves was an important Spanish leader. He was a skilled cavalry general and served as a viceroy in two places. First, he was the viceroy of Aragon. Later, he became the Viceroy of New Spain. This was a very important job in what is now Mexico. He held this position from September 1621 to November 1624.

Early Life and Career

Diego Carrillo de Mendoza was born in Valladolid, a city in Spain. He joined the army when he was quite young. He quickly became known for his energy, bravery, and smart thinking. He moved up in the army ranks and became a cavalry general. This meant he was in charge of soldiers who rode horses. He also served the king directly as a lord of the bedchamber. Before going to the Americas, he was the viceroy of Aragon, a region in Spain.

Viceroy of New Spain: Making Changes

When Diego Carrillo de Mendoza arrived in New Spain in 1621, he found many problems. The government was not working well. He immediately started to make things better. He wanted to make sure that government officials were honest.

One big problem was crime. There were many robberies on the main roads. To stop this, he created groups of armed guards. These guards patrolled the highways. He gave them permission to quickly punish robbers they caught.

There was also a severe drought and a lack of food. He bought grain and gave it to poor people in the capital city. He did not like that some merchants were hoarding grain. They were doing this to make prices go up. This made some powerful people angry with him.

In his first year, he also helped start a new class at the University. This class was for surgery, which is a type of medicine. A Mexican doctor named Cristóbal Hidalgo y Bandabal was the first teacher.

Dealing with Floods

The Valley of Mexico, where Mexico City is located, often had floods. There was a big project to drain water away from the city. On March 7, 1623, the viceroy stopped this project. He thought it was too expensive and would not work well. He also ordered a wall to be destroyed. This wall helped keep the Río Cuautitlán river from flowing into the lakes around Mexico City.

However, the next rainy season brought huge floods again. Many people lost their lives, and there was a lot of damage. This made many people lose trust in the viceroy.

Trouble with the Archbishop

Viceroy Carrillo de Mendoza also had a big disagreement with the archbishop of Mexico, Juan Pérez de la Serna. The viceroy heard many complaints that the archbishop was unfair and took bribes. The viceroy told the archbishop to stop granting divorces so easily. He also told him not to accept gifts and not to charge high prices at his butcher shop.

This made the two leaders dislike each other. The biggest fight happened because of a court case. The case was against Melchor Pérez de Veraiz. He was the corregidor (a local official) of Mexico City. He was accused of unfairly controlling the maize (corn) supply. He also had illegal storage places for grain.

To avoid arrest, Pérez de Veraiz ran to a church building. The judges sent guards to surround the building. But the archbishop said that the church was a special place. He then kicked the judges, their helpers, and the soldiers out of the church. This was called excommunication.

The Audiencia (a high court) asked another bishop for help. This bishop said that the excommunication should be removed. But Archbishop Pérez de la Serna responded by closing all the churches in the capital for several days. This was called an interdict.

The Riot of 1624

On January 11, 1624, the archbishop went to the viceroy's palace. A large, angry crowd was there. The viceroy and the Audiencia had decided to remove the archbishop from his position. The archbishop then excommunicated the viceroy and the Audiencia members. He again ordered all churches to close. He also told priests on horseback to ride through the streets. They shouted, "¡Viva Cristo!" (Long live Christ!) and "¡Muera el mal gobierno!" (Death to bad government!).

After this, the viceroy arrested the archbishop. He ordered him to be sent back to Spain. However, some members of the Audiencia changed their minds. They said the order to remove the archbishop was wrong. The viceroy then arrested them too.

All of this led to a big riot on January 15, 1624. A crowd gathered in front of the viceroy's palace. They demanded that the viceroy resign. The rioters broke into the palace and set parts of it on fire. That afternoon, Archbishop Pérez, who had escaped, declared that Carrillo de Mendoza was no longer viceroy. He named someone else to take charge. That night, the viceroy dressed up as a servant to escape the angry crowd. He hid in a church, surrounded by guards. He was the first viceroy in Mexico to be removed by a popular uprising.

In 1625, Carrillo de Mendoza went back to Spain. He met with King Philip IV. He tried to explain why he made his decisions as viceroy. The king agreed with some of his actions against the archbishop but not all of them.

Archbishop Pérez de la Serna continued his role until the next viceroy arrived in November 1624. Then, he was sent to a different church area in Spain. Melchor Pérez de Veraiz, the official accused of controlling maize, was later found innocent. Diego Carrillo de Mendoza died in 1631 in Madrid, Spain.

See also

In Spanish: Diego Carrillo de Mendoza y Pimentel para niños