Juan de Leyva y de la Cerda

Juan de Leyva de la Cerda

Juan de Leyva de la Cerda , conde de Baños, Marqués de Leyva y de Ladrada (* 1604 in Alcalá de Henares , Spain , † 1678 (according to other information: 1667 ) in Spain) was a Spanish colonial administrator who officiated as Viceroy of New Spain .

Life

Origin and career in Europe

Juan de Leyva y de la Cerda came from an old Spanish noble family. He served the Crown in the Spanish Navy from a young age. There he distinguished himself in the fight against the pirates of the Mediterranean. In 1626 he fought against the rebellious Catalans of Tarragona.

He was accepted into the Order of Santiago and served as chamberlain at court.

Tenure as Viceroy of New Spain

In 1660, the Spanish King Philip IV appointed him the new Viceroy of New Spain to Mexico. Until then, Leyva had no previous administrative or government experience.

The chroniclers portray de Leyva's character in gloomy colors. He is described as haughty and rude to deal with - but his predominant trait seems to have been his greed. One can therefore assume that the king chose him precisely for this reason: the finances of the crown were in a desolate state, and in Madrid Leyva was trusted that he would succeed in pressing more taxes and duties from New Spain than his predecessors succeeded in doing this (provided that he himself left a corresponding share).

In September 1660, Juan de Leyva arrived in Mexico City and took office. A short time later, his son Pedro got into an argument with a servant of the Count of Santiago, which ended fatally for the servant. The count wanted to hold Pedro responsible for his deed, whereupon he hired a few contract killers to kill the count. The plan failed, and the viceroy's entire family incurred the hatred of the local aristocracy.

At the same time, the oppression and continued abuse by the colonial administration led to revolts by various groups of indigenous Indians. In 1661, for example, the indigenous people of Tehuantepec rose against the Spaniards. The viceroy confiscated extensive lands and gave them to his family and friends for cultivation. Formally, they were to serve as collateral for a loan issued by the Treasury of New Spain to the Crown in Madrid. In the port of Veracruz he had merchandise confiscated that were intended for sale in Mexico City, forcing the traders there to pay taxes to the king immediately.

Deposition and return to Europe

The complaints and complaints that reached Europe from all strata of the colony increased so much that the king ordered the deposition of Juan de Leyva in 1664 and had the viceroyalty ruled on an interim basis by Diego Osorio de Escobar , the bishop of Puebla, in his place wanted to. Juan de Leyva, however, intercepted the royal letter and remained in office until the bishop and a crowd moved to Mexico City and forced his removal. His departure in September 1664 was accompanied by whistles, boos and stones thrown.

The king received his former confidante with serious reproaches and forbade him to enter the court. Embittered, Juan de Leyva went to a Carmelite monastery in Madrid. While some sources date his death to 1667, others state that Juan de Leyva was still ordained priest in 1676 and did not die until 1678.

literature

• Juana Vázquez Gómez: Dictionary of Mexican Rulers, 1325–1997 . Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport CT 1997, ISBN 0-313-30049-6 , pp. 30–31 ( Google Books [accessed June 19, 2015]).

Web links

Commons : Juan Francisco de Leyva y de la Cerda  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Short biography (Spanish)
• Short biography (Spanish)
• Biography (spanish)

predecessor	Office	successor
Francisco Fernández de la Cueva	Viceroy of New Spain 1660–1664	Diego Osorio de Escobar