Juan de Saavedra (judge)

Juan or Hernando de Saavedra (* before 1530, † after 1564) was a Spanish lawyer who, as dean of the Real Audiencia of Lima, temporarily held the official duties of a viceroy of Peru in 1564 without formally holding this office.

Little is known of Saavedra. But since he was a judge ( Oidor ) at the Real Audiencia in Lima, he must have had legal training in Spain. The sources do not reveal his relationship to the conquistador Juan de Saavedra .

In February 1564, Diego López de Zúñiga y Velasco , Conde de Nieva , the incumbent viceroy of Peru, was killed. At the time, Saavedra was the senior judge in Lima. At his side officiated Ponce de León, Salazar de Villasante and Juan de Matienzo. As dean, Saavedra took over the official duties of the colonial administration until the new colonial administrator Lope García de Castro, who had been appointed the previous year (1563), arrived in Peru in autumn .

Sources and web links

predecessor	Office	successor
Diego López de Zúñiga y Velasco	Viceroy of Peru (interim) 1564	Lope García de Castro

personal data
SURNAME	Saavedra, Juan de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Saavedra, Hernando de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Spanish lawyer, interim viceroy of Peru
DATE OF BIRTH	15th century or 16th century
DATE OF DEATH	16th Century