Martín Cortés (El Legítimo)

Martín Cortés y Ramírez de Arellano , second Marqués del Valle de Oaxaca, also with the nickname "El Legítimo" (* 1532 in Cuernavaca (Mexico), † 1589 in Madrid ), was a son of the Spanish conqueror Hernán Cortés and his second wife Doña Juana Ramírez de Arellano de Zúñiga. He was the first legitimate surviving son of Cortés and inherited his title and much of his fortune. He is not to be confused with his older half-brother of the same name Martín Cortés , often referred to as "El Mestizo" and born out of Cortés' relationship with Malinche .

biography

Martín grew up in Cuernavaca, but traveled to Spain with his father and half-brothers Martín and Luis as early as 1540 and served as a page at the court of Charles V and his successor Philip II , and was able to make friends with them. From 1557 he fought in Flanders , which was then ruled by Spain, against the Dutch at the Battle of Saint-Quentin . He married his niece, Ana Ramírez de Arellano, who gave birth to his heir, Fernando.

In 1563 he returned to the viceroyalty of New Spain . There he was enthusiastically received, but was suspected of instigating a possible uprising by the incumbent viceroy (1565–1568), accused and sentenced to death for high treason. After a pardon, he was convicted again in Spain, expropriated and exiled to the then Spanish Oran in Algeria. He was rehabilitated in 1574 and received the return of his goods, but was not allowed to return to Mexico.

Web links

• The Children of Cortés - Website by Xavier López Medellín (Spanish)