New Light on the Career of Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán

Abstract

It is a notable fact that Nuño Beltrán de Guzman, whom many regard as second only in importance to Hernán Cortés in the early history of New Spain, should have escaped for so long the detailed attention of historians. Because of this neglect several false notions have gained currency. For instance, it has been customarily assumed that a Nuño de Guzmán, encomendero of Puerto Plata, Española, was the man who became governor of Panuco, president of the First Audiencia of New Spain, and governor of New Galicia; and wide acceptance has been given to the belief that the man who held these important positions in New Spain died a lonely, despised man in the royal prison of Torrejón de Velasco. Recent investigations by the author in the Spanish archives of Sevilla, Madrid, Guadalajara, and Simancas strongly suggest that the Nuño de Guzmán of Puerto Plata was not the same as the more famous Nuño Beltrán de Guzmán of Guadalajara, Spain, who held three important positions in sixteenth-century New Spain. This research has also lent new insights into the life of Nuño de Guzmán of Guadalajara before and after his career in the Indies.