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1521
New spain
The fall of the Aztec Empire and capture of its ruler Cuauhtémoc (1521), left Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés in charge of a vast and largely unfamiliar land. -
1522
New spain
By 1522 his sovereign, Carlos V, had bestowed upon him the title Governor and Captain General of Nueva España (New Spain). Cortés promptly founded the Ciudad de Mexico on the ruins of the once-majestic Tenochtitlán, building a European-style colonial capital with the rubble left from razed Aztec pyramids, temples and palaces. -
1528
viceroyalty of new spain
In 1528 the creation of a high court, the audiencia, marked the first step in a long and ultimately incomplete effort to establish Spanish royal authority throughout the region, followed by the appointment of a viceroy in 1535 to oversee royal interests from the capital of Mexico City. -
1535
viceroyalty of new spain
Viceroyalty of New Spain, Spanish Virreinato de Nueva España, the first of the four viceroyalties that Spain created to govern its conquered lands in the New World. -
1535
viceroyalty of new spain
Established in 1535, it initially included all land north of the Isthmus of Panama under Spanish control. This later came to include upper and lower California, the area that is now the central and southwestern portion of the United States, and territory eastward along the Gulf of Mexico to Florida. -
Period: 1535 to 1549
viceroyalty of new spain
The first viceroy in New Spain was Antonio de Mendoza, who ruled from 1535 to 1549, then served as viceroy of Peru, where he died after one year in office. -
1549
viceroyalty of new spain
In New Spain, he dispatched Francisco Coronado on his expedition northward while ameliorating some of the worst abuses of the conquistadores. He supported the church in its work with the native population. -
1565
viceroyalty of new spain
The Viceroyalty of New Spain was also charged with governing Spain’s Caribbean possessions. Later, in 1565, the newly conquered Philippines were placed under the jurisdiction of New Spain. -
1565
viceroyalty of new spain
Although technically superior in governing authority, the viceroy in New Spain was hampered in practice from exerting that authority by the considerable independence of governors and royal audiencias in many of the subordinate areas. -
1565
viceroyalty of new spain
His power was largely confined to central and southern Mexico—from San Luis Potosí in the north to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in the south. -
1565
viceroyalty of new spain
Within this territory, the viceroys of New Spain aided in converting the native population to Christianity, developed an array of educational institutions, and oversaw an economy based almost entirely on mining and ranching. -
1565
viceroyalty of new spain
During the first 100 years of Spanish rule, the Indian population of New Spain declined from an estimated 25 million to 1 million as a result of maltreatment, disease, and disruption of their cultures. -
viceroyalty of new spain
During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Spanish administration of New Spain centered on the mining of silver, the defense of the colony from other European powers, and the evangelization and assimilation of Native American peoples into the Spanish colonial system. -
Period: to
viceroyalty of new spain
After a period of decline in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, the Viceroyalty of New Spain took on new life when refreshed by two distinguished men: Antonio María de Bucareli (1771–79) and Juan Vicente de Güemes Pacheco de Padilla, 2° conde de Revillagigedo (1789–94); the latter was the last able viceroy in New Spain.