Nuño de Guzmán facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Nuño de Guzmán
Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán as depicted in the Codex Telleriano-Remensis
President of the Real Audiencia of Mexico
In office 9 December 1528 – 9 January 1531
Preceded by	Alonso de Estrada & Luis de la Torre as Governor of New Spain
Succeeded by	Sebastián Ramírez de Fuenleal of the second Audiencia
Governor of Pánuco
In office May 1527 – 1533
Governor of Nueva Galicia
In office 1529–1534
Personal details
Born	1490 Guadalajara, Castile
Died	1558 (aged 67–68) Valladolid
Parents	Hernán Beltrán de Guzmán and Doña Magdalena de Guzmán
Occupation	Conquistador, colonial administrator

Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán (born around 1490, died 1558) was a Spanish conquistador and a leader in the early days of New Spain (which is now Mexico). He was a governor of two important areas: Pánuco (from 1525 to 1533) and Nueva Galicia (from 1529 to 1534). He also led the first Royal Audiencia of Mexico, which was like a high court that helped govern New Spain. Guzmán is known for founding several cities in what is now northwestern Mexico, including Guadalajara.

Guzmán was originally a bodyguard for King Charles I of Spain. He was sent to Mexico to balance the power of Hernán Cortés, who had led the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. The King worried Cortés was becoming too strong. As governor, Guzmán was very strict with Cortés's supporters. He took away their land and rights. He also led many expeditions to conquer new lands in Mexico, taking thousands of native people as slaves and sending them to the Caribbean islands. Because of his actions, he made many powerful enemies, including important church leaders.

In 1537, Guzmán was arrested for misusing his power and treating the native people unfairly. He was sent back to Spain in chains. History often remembers him as a very harsh and unfair leader. However, it's worth noting that many historical accounts were written by his rivals, like Hernán Cortés.

Early Life and Royal Service

Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán was born around 1485 in Guadalajara, Spain. His family was old and noble. His father, Hernán Beltrán de Guzmán, was a rich merchant and a high official in the Spanish Inquisition. The Guzmán family supported Prince Charles, who later became Emperor. Nuño de Guzmán studied law but did not finish his degree.

For a time, he and his younger brother were bodyguards for King Charles V. He even traveled with the Emperor to Flanders in 1522 and handled important diplomatic tasks.

Governor of Pánuco

In 1525, the Spanish King made Guzmán governor of Pánuco, a territory on the Gulf Coast in what is now northeast Mexico. He arrived in May 1527 to start his job. Hernán Cortés had already claimed some parts of Pánuco, so Guzmán's appointment was a direct challenge to Cortés's power.

Many people who supported Cortés did not like Guzmán's appointment. They saw him as an outsider with no military experience. However, the King and the Council of Indies supported Guzmán. They wanted him to balance Cortés's growing influence in New Spain. Guzmán's arrival also gave hope to other Spanish conquerors who felt Cortés had not rewarded them enough.

Guzmán's time as governor of Pánuco was very harsh. He was strict with Spanish rivals and cruel to the native people. He punished Cortés's supporters in Pánuco, accusing them of not being loyal to the King. Some lost their property, and others were put on trial and executed. He also added land from nearby areas to Pánuco. These actions almost led to a civil war between Guzmán and Cortés's supporters.

Guzmán also started a system of trading native people as slaves in Pánuco. In 1528, he allowed his soldiers to take many native people as slaves. Later, he gave out over 1,500 special permits for people to take more slaves. These slaves were often branded on their faces. Even though the King started to control slave trading more strictly in 1528, it was not completely outlawed yet. The King began an investigation into Guzmán's slave trade in 1529.

Despite his difficulties as governor, Guzmán was later chosen to lead the first Royal Audiencia of Mexico. This was a new government body created by the King to control powerful individuals like Cortés.

Leading the Royal Audiencia

After the Spanish conquered Central Mexico, New Spain was governed by military leaders. These leaders often focused on making themselves rich. To create a more organized government and reduce Cortés's power, King Charles V created the Real Audiencia de México on December 13, 1527. This Audiencia was made up of a president and four judges. Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán was named president.

Guzmán was still governor of Pánuco at the time. The judges arrived in Mexico City on December 8, 1528, and took over the government the next day. Guzmán arrived a few days later.

The first bishop of Mexico, Juan de Zumárraga, also arrived around the same time. The Audiencia was told to treat the native people well. They were also ordered to investigate Cortés and his friends for their actions. Many of Cortés's friends had caused problems and treated people unfairly while Cortés was away.

Cortés himself was in Spain, trying to get his authority back from the King. He did get some honors, but Guzmán was now in charge in New Spain. Guzmán showed that the King was in charge, not Cortés, by putting royal symbols on important buildings. He even had Pedro de Alvarado, one of Cortés's allies, arrested.

The Audiencia also tried to stop people from sending letters directly to the King in Spain. Bishop Zumárraga had to hide a letter in a barrel to get it to the Spanish authorities.

In 1530, when Hernán Cortés returned to New Spain, Guzmán was removed from his position as president of the Audiencia. He was then made governor of Nueva Galicia. As governor there, he continued his harsh methods against the native people. This led to more conflicts with church leaders like Bishop Juan de Zumárraga and Bishop Vasco de Quiroga, who were protectors of the native people.

Guzmán also founded several cities that still exist today, such as Zacatecas, Querétaro, and Guadalajara. In 1531, Bishop Zumárraga wrote a paper criticizing Guzmán's actions. Guzmán had made many enemies and lost favor with the authorities. In 1533, he was removed from being governor of Pánuco, and in 1534, from Nueva Galicia. In 1537, he was accused of serious crimes, put in jail, and later sent away from New Spain.

Exploring Western Mexico

In 1529, Guzmán left Juan Ortiz de Matienzo in charge of the Audiencia. He then gathered a military force of 300 to 400 Spanish soldiers and 5,000 to 8,000 native allies. On December 21, 1529, Guzmán set out to conquer lands and peoples in western Mexico who had not yet been taken over by the Spanish.

His campaign began with the harsh treatment of Tangáxuan II, the leader of the Purépecha (also called Tarascans). Tangáxuan was an important ally of the Spanish King. Guzmán then led a fierce campaign into the lands of the Chichimec people, which later became known as Nueva Galicia. He traveled as far as Culiacán. One goal of his trip was to find the legendary Seven Cities of Gold.

This expedition was known for its harshness. The Spanish soldiers often attacked native villages, stole food, burned homes, and pressured native leaders to reveal where riches might be hidden. Most of the time, these riches did not exist.

For example, in Tzintzuntzan, the capital of the Tarascan state, the Spanish were welcomed peacefully by Tangáxuan II. He gave Guzmán gifts of gold and silver and provided soldiers and supplies. However, Guzmán had him arrested and pressured him to reveal hidden gold. Since there was no more gold, Tangáxuan could not reveal it. Guzmán had him dragged by a horse and then burned alive on February 14, 1530.

Meanwhile, in Mexico City, the Audiencia's actions caught the attention of Bishop Juan de Zumárraga. He placed a ban on the Audiencia's activities because they had taken a servant of Cortés from a church, which was against the rules.

Guzmán continued his harsh actions against the people in the areas that are now Jalisco, Zacatecas, Nayarit, and Sinaloa. In Sinaloa, he founded the city of San Miguel de Culiacán on September 29, 1531. He returned to Tepic, where he set up his base and sent out new expeditions. One of these founded the cities of Santiago de Galicia de Compostela and Purificación. Another group traveled as far as the modern Mexican state of Sonora. Guzmán's harsh expeditions into Chichimec lands were a major cause of the Mixtón rebellion, a large uprising by native people.

Founding Guadalajara in New Spain

In 1531, one of Guzmán's captains, Cristóbal de Oñate, founded a small town near Nochistlán and named it "Guadalajara". Two years later, Guzmán visited the town. Because the people were worried about attacks from native groups and didn't have enough water, he ordered the town to be moved to Tonalá on May 24, 1533.

Later, after Guzmán had returned to Spain, the city was moved again to a place near Tlacotan. This happened between October 1541 and February 1542. The settlers later complained to Antonio de Mendoza, who was the viceroy of New Spain, about the frequent moves and Guzmán's harshness.

Kingdom of New Galicia

Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán called the lands he explored and conquered "Conquista del Espíritu Santo de la Mayor España." However, the Queen of Spain, Joanna of Castile, did not approve of this name. By a royal order on January 25, 1531, she named the territory Reino de Nueva Galicia (Kingdom of New Galicia).

This new territory stretched from the Rio Lerma to Sonora, with its capital at Compostela. New Galicia was a separate area and was not under the direct control of the Audiencia of Mexico City, though it was still part of New Spain.

Some historians from the 1800s described Guzmán as "the terrible governor of Pánuco and perhaps the most wicked man ever to set foot in New Spain."

Final Years in Spain

Reports of Guzmán's harsh treatment of the native people reached Mexico City and Spain. At the request of Bishop Zumárraga, the King sent Diego Pérez de la Torre to investigate. Guzmán was arrested in 1536. He was held prisoner for over a year and then sent to Spain in chains. He was released from prison in 1538.

In 1539, he returned to his job as a royal bodyguard. In 1552, he wrote his own account of the events that led to his downfall. In his story, he tried to explain why he had executed the Purépecha leader, saying it was necessary to bring Christian law to the area. He claimed that "no execution more just has been carried out in all of New Spain."

In 1558, he wrote his last will. It showed that he was very poor and struggling with debts. He had even pawned his family treasures to pay for medicine. In his will, he asked for some of his confiscated property to be returned to his family. He also asked for wages he was still owed from his time as governor and president to be paid to his family. He left most of his belongings to a woman named Sabina de Guzmán, who had cared for him when he was sick. He also left some things to the Franciscan Order, even though he had conflicts with them in New Spain. He likely died in Valladolid, Spain, in 1558.

Images for kids

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  Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán as depicted in the Codex Telleriano-Remensis

See also

In Spanish: Nuño de Guzmán para niños