Alonso de Ávalos Saavedra

Alonso de Ávalos Saavedra
Captain of the Province of Ávalos (in New Spain)
Hidalgo
In office
1523–1575
Preceded byOffice created
Succeeded by?
Mayor of Sayula
Personal details
Born
Alonso de Ávalos Saavedra

circa 1495
Medellín, Spain
Died1575
Amatitlán, Sayula, Province of Ávalos, New Spain
NationalityCastilian
Spouse(s)Francisca de Estrada y Gutiérrez-Flórez, m. circa 1530
Parent(s)Pedro López de Saavedra, Isabel Rangel y Ávalos
OccupationEncomendero, explorer, captain
NicknameEl Viejo (The Old Man)

Alonso de Ávalos Saavedra (Medellín, Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain, c. 1495 – Amatitlán, Sayula, province of Ávalos, New Spain, 1575) was a Castilian encomendero, explorer, conquistador, founder, captain, and mayor of Sayula.

Biography

In 1521, during the times the House of Trastámara ruled over Spain and its possessions, he organized an expedition to conquer the territory that today constitutes southern Jalisco, where he arrived in 1523, conquered Tzaulan (today, Sayula), "Place where flies abound", and established the capital city of the province of Ávalos there.[1] He was a cousin of Hernán Cortés.[2][3]

The Province of Ávalos extended southwest of Lake Chapala, its capital was Sayula, and was part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, unlike most of the current state of Jalisco, which along with Aguascalientes, Nayarit, Zacatecas and areas of San Luis Potosí and Sinaloa, constituted the Nueva Galicia.[4]

He was a brother of Francisco de Saavedra Sandoval. Around 1530, Alonso de Ávalos married Francisca de Estrada y Gutiérrez-Flórez, daughter of Alonso de Estrada and Marina Gutiérrez-Flórez.

See also

References

  1. ^ Morán Camberos, Juan Manuel (2019). "Reconstruyamos nuestra regionalidad. Capítulo IV, De Colima al Nayarit (Let's Rebuild Our Regionality. Chapter IV, From Colima to Nayarit), pp. 59-61" (PDF) (in Spanish). Mexico City: Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas (IIJ) of the UNAM. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  2. ^ «Ávalos, Alonso de», Diccionario Porrúa. Historia, Biografía y Geografía de México, Editorial Porrúa, S.A., Mexico City, Fifth Edition, 1986, Vol. I, p. 229.
  3. ^ Munguía Cárdenas, Federico. "La Transición Indígena-Colonial en la Provincia de Ávalos" (PDF).
  4. ^ «Ávalos, Provincia de», Diccionario Porrúa. Historia, Biografía y Geografía de México, Editorial Porrúa, S.A., Mexico City, Fifth edition, 1986, Vol. I, p. 229.