This article is about the Spanish conquistador of Guatemala and Chiapas. He is not to be confused with the
late 16th-century Spanish clergyman.
Pedro de Portocarrero (c. 1504[1] – c. 1539) was a Spanish
conquistador who was active in the early 16th century in
Guatemala, and
Chiapas in southern
Mexico.[2] He was one of the few Spanish noblemen that took part in the early stages of the Spanish conquest of the Americas, and was distantly related to prominent conquistador
Pedro de Alvarado, who appointed him as an official in early colonial Guatemala.
Family and background
Pedro de Portocarrero was a nobleman who was distantly related to prominent conquistador
Pedro de Alvarado.[3] Pedro de Portocarrero was the son of Juan Portocarrero.[4][nb 1] Portocarrero's paternal grandfather was the comendador Rodrigo Portocarrero, a knight of the
Order of Santiago. His mother was Beatriz Pacheco, daughter of
Juan Pacheco,
Marquess of Villena, a powerful nobleman in the court of King
Henry IV of Castile.[5] One of Portocarrero's grandfathers was the paternal uncle of Pedro de Alvarado.[6]
Portocarrero was one of the few members of the Spanish aristocracy that took part in the early stages of the Spanish conquest of the Americas;[7] his father was the second count of
Medellín. He was of Portuguese ancestry, from a family that became prominent in the borderlands between Spain and Portugal.[4] As a younger son of the Count of Medellín, Pedro served in a minor role in the court of the future
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor in
Flanders, since the Portocarreros preferred to have their sons educated as
pages before progressing into military or ecclesiastical roles.[8] Various branches of the family became involved in both sides of the political disputes that engulfed their territory, which may have been why Pedro de Portocarrero left Spain.[9] He arrived in Mexico in late 1521 or early 1522.[10]
In late 1527, Portocarrero led an expedition into Chiapas and, in January 1528,[17] successfully established the first Spanish town there, within the territory of the
Tojolabal Maya. The new town was called San Cristóbal de los Llanos, and was located in the
Comitán valley.[2] Portocarrero's expedition penetrated Chiapas as far as the
Tzotzil town of
Huixtan.[17] At Huixtan, Portocarrero met a rival Spanish expedition headed by
Diego de Mazariegos, and after protracted negotiations Portocarrero retreated back to Guatemala.[18]
Marriage and death
Pedro de Portocarrero married Alvarado's daughter Leanor, probably in early 1536. In 1536, Portocarrero accompanied Alvarado to Honduras and fought against the
Chontal Maya of the
Naco valley, where an uprising against the Spanish was underway.[19] Portocarrero died "of old age" before 1539.[20] At the time of his death, he still held Sacatepéquez and Ostuncalco in encomienda.[21]
^Some sources claim Pedro de Portocarrero's father was also named Pedro de Portocarrero, and was married to Inés de Alvarado, who was the paternal aunt of Pedro de Alvarado; see for example Vega 2003, p. 188.
Lenkersdorf, Gudrun (1993). Génesis histórica de Chiapas, 1522–1532: el conflicto entre Portocarrero y Mazariegos (in Spanish). Mexico City, Mexico: Instituto de Investigaciones Filológicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM).
ISBN968-36-3238-6.
OCLC902558567.
Lenkersdorf, Gudrun (2004) [1995]. "La resistencia a la conquista española en Los Altos de Chiapas". In Juan Pedro Viqueira and Mario Humberto Ruz (eds.). Chiapas: los rumbos de otra historia (PDF) (in Spanish). Mexico City, Mexico: Centro de Investigaciones Filológicas with Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social (CIESAS). pp. 71–85.
ISBN968-36-4836-3.
OCLC36759921. Archived from
the original (PDF) on 2014-11-13.
Polo Sifontes, Francis (1986). Los Cakchiqueles en la Conquista de Guatemala (in Spanish). Guatemala: CENALTEX.
OCLC82712257.
Recinos, Adrian (1986) [1952]. Pedro de Alvarado: Conquistador de México y Guatemala (in Spanish) (2nd ed.). Guatemala City, Guatemala: CENALTEX Centro Nacional de Libros de Texto y Material Didáctico "José de Pineda Ibarra".
OCLC243309954.