Gonzalo de Sandoval
Encyclopedia
Gonzalo de Sandoval was a Spanish conquistador in New Spain
(Mexico) and briefly co-governor of the colony while Hernan Cortés
was away from the capital (March 2, 1527 to August 22, 1527).
, Cortés placed him in command at Villa Rica de Vera Cruz
as alguacil mayor. He seized the messengers of Pánfilo de Narváez
, who demanded the surrender of the town, and sent them as prisoners to Cortés. In the ensuing battle, it was Sandoval who captured Narváez.
He led the vanguard in the Spanish retreat on the Noche Triste
in 1520. He conducted operations against the Aztecs from a post called Segura, near Tepeaca. He stayed there until the brigantines were built for the attack by water on the capital, when he went to Tlaxcala to direct their transportation overland.
. The population fled at the approach of the Spanish. Sandoval found some horse hides hung in a temple. (The Indians had no horses.) In another temple he found the inscription: "Here was imprisoned the hapless Juan Yuste, with many others I brought in my company." Yuste was one of the soldiers who had arrived with Narváez. Sandoval destroyed the town, and then returned to his task of transporting the vessels for the attack on Tenochtitlan.
In the siege he occupied the eastern approach. In the first assault he supported Pedro de Alvarado
in the attempt to gain the marketplace. One of the men under his command, García Holguín, in command of one of the brigantines in the assault on Tenochtitlan, captured the Tlatoani
Cuauhtémoc
. Holguín and Sandoval took him to Cortés.
, who had been sent by the Crown to relieve Cortes, and in a council of officers obtained a delay.
He became the godfather of one of the nobles of Tlaxcala
, Citlalpopocatzin, who took the baptismal name of Bartolomé.
Later he was sent to the region of Coatzacoalcos
, where he pacified Huatusco
, Tuxtepec and Oaxaca
. He also founded the town of Medellín
in Tatatetelco, near Huatusco and south of present-day Veracruz
; completed the pacification of Coatzacoalcos; founded the port of Espíritu Santo along the Coatzacoalcos River
; took the best village (Guaspaltepeque) for his own; and consolidated the subjugation of Centla
, Chinantla
and Tabasco
. In Pánuco, he repressed an indigenous
insurrection. In 1521 he sent 200 pesos of gold to his father in Spain.
(in the present-day state of Colima
) in 1522, Cortés sent Gonzalo de Sandoval there with instructions to conquer the territory and found a town. In the indigenous town of Caxitlán, near the coast, Sandoval founded the city of Colima
in its first location on July 25, 1523. He also established its city government, the third oldest in New Spain. Later, in 1527, Francisco Cortés de San Buenaventura moved the city to its present location and gave it the name of San Sebastián de Colima.
in 1524, where he was made alguacil and granted some encomienda
s, such as Xacona. On his return from this expedition, he was made justicia mayor of New Spain. He replaced Marcos de Aguilar
in the governing council of the colony on March 2, 1527 and served in the government until August 22, 1527.
. Since he had no legitimate children, his parents and his niece Saavedra were his heirs.
, his friend and battle companion, wrote that he was a good judge and administrator, besides being a good soldier. Vázquez de Tapia said that he often blasphemed, using the names of God and the Virgin Mary in vain, cursing Divine Providence, and stating that he did not believe in God.
Díaz del Castillo also said this about him:
New Spain
New Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...
(Mexico) and briefly co-governor of the colony while Hernan Cortés
Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca was a Spanish Conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century...
was away from the capital (March 2, 1527 to August 22, 1527).
Arrival in New Spain
Sandoval was the youngest of the lieutenants of Cortés. They arrived together in New Spain in 1519. After the subjugation of MoctezumaMoctezuma II
Moctezuma , also known by a number of variant spellings including Montezuma, Moteuczoma, Motecuhzoma and referred to in full by early Nahuatl texts as Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin, was the ninth tlatoani or ruler of Tenochtitlan, reigning from 1502 to 1520...
, Cortés placed him in command at Villa Rica de Vera Cruz
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...
as alguacil mayor. He seized the messengers of Pánfilo de Narváez
Pánfilo de Narváez
Pánfilo de Narváez was a Spanish conqueror and soldier in the Americas. He is most remembered as the leader of two expeditions, one to Mexico in 1520 to oppose Hernán Cortés, and the disastrous Narváez expedition to Florida in 1527....
, who demanded the surrender of the town, and sent them as prisoners to Cortés. In the ensuing battle, it was Sandoval who captured Narváez.
He led the vanguard in the Spanish retreat on the Noche Triste
La Noche Triste
La Noche Triste on June 30, 1520, was an important event during the Spanish conquest of Mexico, wherein Hernán Cortés and his army of Spanish conquistadors and native allies fought their way out of the Mexican capital at Tenochtitlan following the death of the Aztec king Montezuma, whom the...
in 1520. He conducted operations against the Aztecs from a post called Segura, near Tepeaca. He stayed there until the brigantines were built for the attack by water on the capital, when he went to Tlaxcala to direct their transportation overland.
Siege of Tenochtitlan
Along the way he was ordered to conquer a town the Spanish had named poblado morisco (Moorish town) in Calpulalpa or SultepecSultepec
Sultepec is a town and municipality in Mexico State in Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 552.52 km².As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 24,986.-References:...
. The population fled at the approach of the Spanish. Sandoval found some horse hides hung in a temple. (The Indians had no horses.) In another temple he found the inscription: "Here was imprisoned the hapless Juan Yuste, with many others I brought in my company." Yuste was one of the soldiers who had arrived with Narváez. Sandoval destroyed the town, and then returned to his task of transporting the vessels for the attack on Tenochtitlan.
In the siege he occupied the eastern approach. In the first assault he supported Pedro de Alvarado
Pedro de Alvarado
Pedro de Alvarado y Contreras was a Spanish conquistador and governor of Guatemala. He participated in the conquest of Cuba, in Juan de Grijalva's exploration of the coasts of Yucatan and the Gulf of Mexico, and in the conquest of Mexico led by Hernan Cortes...
in the attempt to gain the marketplace. One of the men under his command, García Holguín, in command of one of the brigantines in the assault on Tenochtitlan, captured the Tlatoani
Tlatoani
Tlatoani is the Nahuatl term for the ruler of an altepetl, a pre-Hispanic state. The word literally means "speaker", but may be translated into English as "king". A is a female ruler, or queen regnant....
Cuauhtémoc
Cuauhtémoc
Cuauhtémoc was the Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan from 1520 to 1521...
. Holguín and Sandoval took him to Cortés.
After the fall of Tenochtitlan
In December 1521, Sandoval met Cristóbal de TapiaCristóbal de Tapia
Cristóbal de Tapia was an inspector sent to New Spain in 1521 to investigate the conduct of the conquistador Hernán Cortés, and if he deemed it necessary, to arrest him and bring him to trial...
, who had been sent by the Crown to relieve Cortes, and in a council of officers obtained a delay.
He became the godfather of one of the nobles of Tlaxcala
Tlaxcala
Tlaxcala officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Tlaxcala is one of the 31 states which along with the Federal District comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 60 municipalities and its capital city is Tlaxcala....
, Citlalpopocatzin, who took the baptismal name of Bartolomé.
Later he was sent to the region of Coatzacoalcos
Coatzacoalcos
Coatzacoalcos is a major port city in the southern part of the Mexican state of Veracruz, on the Coatzacoalcos River. Coatzacoalcos comes from an indigenous word meaning "Site of the Snake" or "Where the snake hides"...
, where he pacified Huatusco
Huatusco
Huatusco is the better known name of "Huatusco de Chicuellar", a city in the Mexican state of Veracruz, on the Xalapa–Mexico City railroad...
, Tuxtepec and Oaxaca
Oaxaca, Oaxaca
The city and municipality of Oaxaca de Juárez, or simply Oaxaca, is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of the same name . It is located in the Centro District in the Central Valleys region of the state, in the foothills of the Sierra Madre at the base of the Cerro del Fortín...
. He also founded the town of Medellín
Medellín
Medellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...
in Tatatetelco, near Huatusco and south of present-day Veracruz
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...
; completed the pacification of Coatzacoalcos; founded the port of Espíritu Santo along the Coatzacoalcos River
Coatzacoalcos River
The Coatzacoalcos is a large river that feeds mainly the south part of the state of Veracruz; it originates in the Sierra de Niltepec and crosses the state of Oaxaca in the region of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, flowing for toward the Gulf of Mexico. Tributaries include El Corte, Sarabia,...
; took the best village (Guaspaltepeque) for his own; and consolidated the subjugation of Centla
Centla
Centla is a municipality in Tabasco in south-eastern Mexico.-References:...
, Chinantla
Chinantla
Chinantla is a municipio of the state of Puebla, Mexico. It is situated in the southeastern part of the state, and lies some 220 km from the city of Puebla, the state's capital. The village also called Chinantla is the seat of the municipal government, and the municipality's largest settlement...
and Tabasco
Tabasco
Tabasco officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Tabasco is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa....
. In Pánuco, he repressed an indigenous
Indigenous peoples of Mexico
Mexico, in the second article of its Constitution, is defined as a "pluricultural" nation in recognition of the diverse ethnic groups that constitute it, and in which the indigenous peoples are the original foundation...
insurrection. In 1521 he sent 200 pesos of gold to his father in Spain.
Founding of Colima
After Juan Rodríguez de Villafuerte was defeated by the Indigenous in the Valley of TecománTecomán
Tecomán is a city and seat of the municipality of Tecomán in the Mexican state of Colima, about 50 km south of the city of Colima. In the 2005 census the city had a population of 112,726 people. It is the three-largest community in the state of Colima. The municipality has an area of...
(in the present-day state of Colima
Colima
Colima is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It shares its name with its capital and main city, Colima....
) in 1522, Cortés sent Gonzalo de Sandoval there with instructions to conquer the territory and found a town. In the indigenous town of Caxitlán, near the coast, Sandoval founded the city of Colima
Colima, Colima
Colima is capital of the state of the same name, a city and municipality located in the center west of Mexico. It is located near the Colima Volcano, which divides the small state from that of Jalisco. Despite being the capital, the city is not the state’s main tourist attraction, eclipsed by...
in its first location on July 25, 1523. He also established its city government, the third oldest in New Spain. Later, in 1527, Francisco Cortés de San Buenaventura moved the city to its present location and gave it the name of San Sebastián de Colima.
Honduras
He was with Cortés in HondurasHonduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
in 1524, where he was made alguacil and granted some encomienda
Encomienda
The encomienda was a system that was employed mainly by the Spanish crown during the colonization of the Americas to regulate Native American labor....
s, such as Xacona. On his return from this expedition, he was made justicia mayor of New Spain. He replaced Marcos de Aguilar
Marcos de Aguilar
Marcos de Aguilar was briefly royal governor of New Spain .Marcos de Aguilar was a licenciado. He served in various judicial capacities in Seville...
in the governing council of the colony on March 2, 1527 and served in the government until August 22, 1527.
Return to Spain
In the middle of April of the following year, he left New Spain with Cortés to return to the mother country. He became mortally ill on the voyage. After his arrival in Spain, someone took advantage of his illness to steal the 13 bars of gold that constituted his fortune. He died soon after arriving in Spain, and his remains were interred in La Rábida MonasteryLa Rabida Monastery
La Rábida Monastery is a Franciscan monastery in the southern Spanish town of Palos de la Frontera, in the province of Huelva and the autonomous region of Andalucia...
. Since he had no legitimate children, his parents and his niece Saavedra were his heirs.
Evaluation
Bernal Díaz del CastilloBernal Díaz del Castillo
Bernal Díaz del Castillo was a conquistador, who wrote an eyewitness account of the conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards for Hernán Cortés, himself serving as a rodelero under Cortés.-Early life:...
, his friend and battle companion, wrote that he was a good judge and administrator, besides being a good soldier. Vázquez de Tapia said that he often blasphemed, using the names of God and the Virgin Mary in vain, cursing Divine Providence, and stating that he did not believe in God.
Díaz del Castillo also said this about him:
He was not highly educated, but a simple man; neither was he covetous for gold, but only for fame and to be a good, strong captain. In the wars of New Spain he always took account of the soldiers... and befriended them and helped them. He was not a man who wore rich clothes, but very plain ones.