Alvarado, Pedro de (redirected from Pedro de Alvarado)

Alvarado, Pedro de (pā`thrō dā älvärä`thō), 1486–1541, Spanish conquistador. He went to Hispaniola (1510), sailed in the expedition (1518) of Juan de Grijalva, and was the chief lieutenant of Hernán Cortés in the conquest of Mexico. He commanded at Tenochtitlán in the absence of Cortés, and his brutality provoked a brief native rebellion. Sent out by Cortés in 1523, he conquered Guatemala and Salvador. He was governor of Guatemala until his death. He met with much opposition from the audiencia in Mexico, but strengthening his power on two voyages to Spain (1527–28, 1536–39), he exercised absolute control. He founded many cities and developed the colony. An expedition to Ecuador (1534–35), made in an attempt to share in the booty Francisco Pizarro was taking from the Incan empire, ended in defeat. In 1540, Alvarado, sailing for the Moluccas, stopped in Mexico. While there he was influenced by the viceroy Antonio de Mendoza and by the tales of Marcos de Niza to begin a search for the fabled Cibola. When the indigenous people of Nueva Galicia unexpectedly revolted in 1541, Alvarado took part against them in the Mixtón War. He led a foolhardy attack and was accidentally killed in the subsequent retreat. Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo took command of the maritime expedition. Alvarado's wife, Doña Beatriz de la Cueva, succeeded him as governor of Guatemala. His letters concerning the conquest of Guatemala have been published.

Bibliography

See J. E. Kelly, Pedro de Alvarado (1932).

---

Alvarado, Pedro de

(born c. 1485, Badajoz, Castile—died 1541, in or near Guadalajara, New Spain) Spanish soldier and colonial administrator. In 1519 he accompanied the army led by Hernán Cortés that conquered Mexico. In 1522 he became the first mayor of Tenochtitlán (Mexico City). In 1523 he conquered the native peoples of Guatemala and founded the city (modern Antigua) that became the first capital of the Guatemala region, which later included much of Central America. He was governor of Guatemala in 1527–31. In 1539 he began an exploration of central Mexico, but died while quelling an Indian uprising.