Diego de Montemayor
Encyclopedia
Governor of Nuevo León
The Mexican state of Nuevo León has been governed by more than a hundred individuals in its history, who have had various titles and degrees of responsibility depending on the prevailing political regime of the time....
. He was born in Spain, probably in Málaga
Málaga
Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...
or Old Castile
Old Castile
Old Castile is a historic region of Spain, which included territory that later corresponded to the provinces of Santander , Burgos, Logroño , Soria, Segovia, Ávila, Valladolid, Palencia....
, to Juan Montemayor and Mayor Hernández.
Montemayor is credited with the founding of Monterrey
Monterrey
Monterrey , is the capital city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León in the country of Mexico. The city is anchor to the third-largest metropolitan area in Mexico and is ranked as the ninth-largest city in the nation. Monterrey serves as a commercial center in the north of the country and is the...
, the capital of the northeastern Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
state of Nuevo León
Nuevo León
Nuevo León It is located in Northeastern Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Tamaulipas to the north and east, San Luis Potosí to the south, and Coahuila to the west. To the north, Nuevo León has a 15 kilometer stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border adjacent to the U.S...
, on September 20, 1596. The establishment was officially called Ciudad Metropolitana de Nuestra Señora de Monterrey ("Metropolitan City of Our Lady of Monterrey," partly to curry favor from the Viceroy of the time, the Gaspar de Zúñiga y Acevedo, Count of Monterrey
Gaspar de Zúñiga y Acevedo, Count of Monterrey
Gaspar de Zúñiga Acevedo y Fonseca, 5th Count of Monterrey , Spanish nobleman, the ninth viceroy of New Spain. He governed from November 5, 1595 to October 26, 1603...
. Montemayor's founding was the third effort. The two previous ones bore the names Santa Lucia and San Luis Rey de Francia and were headed by Alberto del Canto
Alberto del Canto
Alberto del Canto was a Portuguese soldier and explorer. He was born Alberto do Canto, on Terceira Island, Azores. During the colonization of America, Canto explored the northeastern part of Mexico, and founded several cities, such as Saltillo, of which he was the first mayor...
, the future arch-enemy of Montemayor, and the second by Luis de Carabajal y Cueva
Luis de Carabajal y Cueva
Luis de Carabajal y Cueva was a Spanish-Portuguese adventurer, slave-trader and governor of Nuevo León.-Background:...
. Montemayor brought forty people with him from Saltillo
Saltillo
Saltillo is the capital city of the northeastern Mexican state of Coahuila and the municipal seat of the municipality of the same name. The city is located about 400 km south of the U.S. state of Texas, and 90 km west of Monterrey, Nuevo León....
to populate Monterrey, mostly of Jewish descent — nine married couples, three men without families, fourteen boys, four girls, and one Indian named Domingo Manuel.
Montemayor served as governor of Nuevo León
Governor of Nuevo León
The Mexican state of Nuevo León has been governed by more than a hundred individuals in its history, who have had various titles and degrees of responsibility depending on the prevailing political regime of the time....
from 1588 to 1610 and was likely of Sephardic Jewish descent. He was married three times. His wives were Inez Rodríguez, who came with him from Spain to the New World in 1548, María de Esquivel, and Juana Porcalla de la Cerda. Montemayor had three children, one from each of his wives. His children were Inez, Diego, and Estefanía.
During the Chichimeca War
Chichimeca War
The Chichimeca War was a military conflict waged between Spanish colonizers and their Indian allies against a confederation of Chichimeca Indians. It was the longest and most expensive conflict between Spaniards and the indigenous peoples of New Spain in the history of the colony.The Chichimeca...
in 1550, Montemayor was often away from his third wife, Juana Porcalla de la Cerda, and her attention soon focused on Alberto del Canto
Alberto del Canto
Alberto del Canto was a Portuguese soldier and explorer. He was born Alberto do Canto, on Terceira Island, Azores. During the colonization of America, Canto explored the northeastern part of Mexico, and founded several cities, such as Saltillo, of which he was the first mayor...
, only a few years her elder. When Montemayor later confronted her about the ongoing affair, an argument ensued, he drew his sword and killed her. Montemayor fled into the wilderness to the north, but was eventually cleared of all charges (perhaps because a law at the time allowed a man to kill his unfaithful wife). His daughter with Juana Porcalla, Estefanía, later married Alberto del Canto
Alberto del Canto
Alberto del Canto was a Portuguese soldier and explorer. He was born Alberto do Canto, on Terceira Island, Azores. During the colonization of America, Canto explored the northeastern part of Mexico, and founded several cities, such as Saltillo, of which he was the first mayor...
and had three children with him, though the two separated in 1596. Estefanía moved back to Monterrey with her father, and her children took the last name of Montemayor. Montemayor never met his vow to kill Alberto del Canto
Alberto del Canto
Alberto del Canto was a Portuguese soldier and explorer. He was born Alberto do Canto, on Terceira Island, Azores. During the colonization of America, Canto explored the northeastern part of Mexico, and founded several cities, such as Saltillo, of which he was the first mayor...
.
He died about 1611 in Monterrey, and is believed to be buried in the Convento de San Francisco in Monterrey.
