Luis de Velasco, marqués de Salinas
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Luis de Velasco II Marqués de Salinas |
Don Luis de Velasco, marqués de Salinas (known as
Don Luis de Velasco, hijo to distinguish him from his father) (ca.
1534,
Carrión de los Condes, Spain—
September 7,
1617,
Seville), Spanish nobleman, son of the second viceroy of
New Spain, and himself the eighth viceroy. He governed from
January 27,
1590 to
November 4,
1595, and again from
July 2,
1607 to
June 10,
1611. In between he was viceroy of Peru for eight years.
Born in Spain, Luis de Velasco accompanied his father to New Spain and passed his youth in
Mexico City. After the death of his father, he continued to live in Mexico and served as alderman in the capital. However, he became disgusted with Viceroy
Álvaro Manrique de Zúñiga, marqués de Villamanrique and returned to Spain. He presented himself at the court of
Philip II, and the king named him ambassador to Florence.
On
July 19,
1589, Velasco received the appointment as the new viceroy of New Spain, replacing Manrique. Because the news that had reached Spain indicated that the colony was in turmoil, he was advised not to disembark at
Veracruz, the usual port of entry. Instead he arrived at Tamiahua, in the province of Pánuco. On his arrival he realized that tranquility had been restored. He then sailed on to Veracruz, where he disembarked in the middle of December,
1589.
From Veracruz he traveled to Mexico City, taking possession of the government on
January 27,
1590. There he was received as a native son, with great happiness by all classes.
In 1591 he obtained the pacification of the
Chichimeca tribes that had been in constant revolt and outside of Spanish control. The chiefs had asked the Spanish to supply food. Velasco accepted, and a peace treaty was signed. To introduce the Chichimecas to the customs of the colony, 400 Tlaxcalteca families were sent to live with them. The Franciscans also founded four colonies among the Chichimecas, with their center at
Zacatecas. In return, Velasco reduced the taxes that had been levied on the Indians and charged the
Real Hacienda to supply lawyers to represent the tribes and ease their entry into the society of the colony.
He promoted industry in New Spain, particularly spinning and weaving. He inaugurated the Paseo de la Alameda in Mexico City, and improved the fortifications of
San Juan de Ulúa in Veracruz.
In 1595, Velasco was named viceroy of Peru. He embarked from
Acapulco in November of that year. However, after eight years in Peru he found himself tired and sick, and asked to be relieved of the government so that he could return to New Spain. Upon his return, he devoted himself to his encomiendas Azcapotzalco and Teulitlán.
On
February 25,
1607, Velasco hijo was again named viceroy of New Spain, this time by the new king,
Philip III. He took possession of the government on July 2. Immediately he took up a project to dig the Huehuetoca canal, for flood control. Heretofore during the rainy season, year after year, Mexico City had been flooded. The canal project was under the direction of
Enrico Martínez, an engineer, and
Juan Sánchez, a mathematician of the
Society of Jesus. Work on the canal commenced on
November 28,
1607.
In February 1609 a royal edict arrived in Mexico prohibiting once again the enslavement of the Indians. Velasco hijo rigorously enforced this decree against the encomenderos and the mineowners. Like his father, this viceroy was known as a defender of the Indians.
Also in 1609 rumors of an impending rebellion of
Negroes circulated. Velasco took preventative measures, including sending an armed force under Captain
Pedro González de Herrera to Puebla. Herrera was to combat the escaped slaves and rebels (
Maroons) on the Rio Blanco, who preyed on travelers between Veracruz and Mexico City. The leader of the blacks,
Gaspar Yanga, sent a letter to Captain Herrera. The letter outlined the mistreatment of the blacks that had led them to flee captivity. Velasco took cognizance of the letter, but not before a bloody battle was fought, with heavy losses on each side. Velasco then arranged for the escaped slaves to found their own village,
San Lorenzo de los Negroes, near
Córdova.
Contacts with Japan
Luis de Velasco was involved in the establishment of trade and diplomatic relations with Japan. He received in
1610 the embassy of
Luis Sotelo and
Tanaka Shosuke, which had sailed from Japan on the Japanese sailship
San Buena Ventura, and agreed to send an ambassador to Japan in the person of the famous explorer
Sebastián Vizcaíno, with the added mission of exploring the "gold and silver islands" which were thought to be east of the Japanese isles. Luis de Velasco confiscated the Japanese ship, fearful that the Japanese would further master the technique of trans-oceanic voyages.
Vizcaíno sailed from Acapulco in the
San Bernardo on
March 22,
1611 with the emissaries from Japan, arriving in
Uraga on June 16 of that year. From there he traveled to Edo to meet the second shogun
Hidetada, and thence to Sumpa to meet with ex-Shogan
Ieyasu. Vizcaíno, having lost his ship, sailed from Japan
October 28,
1613 on board the Japanese
galleon San Juan Bautista and arrived back at Acapulco on
January 25,
1614. He was accompanied by
Hasekura Tsunenaga, designated as the Japanese ambassador to Spain, and about 140 other Japanese.
In 1610 King Philip III made him Marqués de Salinas as a reward for his services, and on
December 27,
1610 named him president of the
Council of the Indies. In 1611 Velasco departed New Spain to take up this position in the mother country. He served as president of the Council from
December 1,
1610 until retiring old and infirm on
August 7,
1617. He died one month later in Seville.
*"Japon,"
Enciclopedia de México, v. 8. Mexico City, 1988.
*"Velasco, Luis de,"
Enciclopedia de México, v. 14. Mexico City, 1988.
*García Puron, Manuel,
México y sus gobernantes, v. 1. Mexico City: Joaquín Porrua, 1984.
*Orozco L., Fernando,
Fechas históricas de México. Mexico City: Panorama Editorial, 1988.
*Orozco Linares, Fernando,
Gobernantes de México. Mexico City: Panorama Editorial, 1985.
*
Yanga and the Maroon rebellion
