Blasco Nunez Vela (1490 - January 18, 1546) was the first Spanish viceroy of Peru, from May 15, 1544 to January 18, 1546. He was charged by King Charles I with the enforcement of the controversial New Laws, which dealt with the failure of the encomienda system to protect the Indigenous people of America from the rapacity of the conquistadors and their descendants.

Origins

Nunez Vela was a native of Avila, born into an ancient and noble family. He was knight of the Order of Santiago and corregidor of Malaga and Cuenca, Spain, and devoted to the service of the king. One of his brothers was lord of the bedchamber to the king, and another was archbishop of Burgos. Although honest, loyal and courageous, Nunez was also stubborn, intolerant, violent and distrustful.

Appointment as viceroy

In March 1542 he was named viceroy, governor and captain general of Peru and president of the Audiencia, and also captain general of Chile, with a salary of 5,000 ducats.

He sailed from Sanlucar on November 3, 1542 in command of a fleet, with much pomp. He was accompanied by the members of the Audiencia and other illustrious personalities. His last instructions from the king were to "show himself to be a severe punisher of infractions." Nunez's adherence to these instructions was to prove very costly. He arrived in Lima on May 17, 1544.

The New Laws

The New Laws he had been sent to enforce had been promulgated by Charles, under the influence of reformers such as Bartolome de las Casas, to improve the lot of the Indigenous in the Spanish dominions. They were intended to clarify, expand and enforce provisions of the Laws of Burgos of 1512. The latter had provided many safeguards for the Indigenous, but these had not been enforced. The New Laws became effective November 20, 1542, in Madrid.

In order to enforce the New Laws and suppress the insubordination of the conquistadors in New Spain and Peru, representatives of the Crown were provided with the powers, authority and splendor of the king. This new office was designated virrey (viceroy). Audiencias were also appointed to assist the viceroys in the administration of civil and criminal justice. The Audiencias were composed of four oidores (judges).

Actions as viceroy

Nunez arrived at Nombre de Dios on January 10, 1544, and passed from there to Panama City. Leaving the Audiencia in Panama, he sailed for Peru, arriving at Tumbes on March 14, 1544. He went from there to Trujillo, where he was solemnly received, and thence to La Barranca. In La Barranca he may have read on one of the walls, "Whoever comes to take my hacienda, his life will be taken".

The New Laws were not well received by the conquistadors because they provided that what was effectively Indian slavery had to end, that everyone had to pay a fair share of taxes, and that all the encomienda rights had to go to the king. The conquistadors would have nothing of this.

Nunez arrived in Lima, the capital of the colony, on May 17, 1544, where he was received in royal splendor and sworn into office. News of governmental measures he had already taken on the voyage had preceded him, and he was met with hostility and resistance from the officials and clergy. Nunez himself now had doubts about enforcing the New Laws in the current situation. He agreed to join the Spanish landowners in the colony in a petition to the emperor to suspend them, but claiming a lack of authority, he refused to suspend them on his own initiative.

The resistance aggravated his distrust and increased the severity of his measures. He imprisoned Cristobal Vaca de Castro, his predecessor as head of the colonial government, and then had him sent to Spain. On September 13, 1544, in a late night interview in the viceroy's palace, Nunez accused Juan Suarez de Carbajal of treason. The exchange became heated, and Nunez killed Suarez with a dagger.

Deposition as viceroy

The death of Suarez led the Audiencia to break with the viceroy. Believing they could rely on help from Gonzalo Pizarro, brother of Francisco Pizarro, they determined to remove Nunez from office and send him back to Spain. (Pizarro had already raised a small army in opposition to the viceroy.) On September 18, 1544 they deposed him and ordered his imprisonment. The viceroy was sent a prisoner to the island of San Lorenzo, to be handed over to oidor Alvarez. In Alvarez's custody, Nunez left San Lorenzo for Panama on September 24. Just out of port, Alvarez told the viceroy he was now free, and turned over command of the ship to him.

The civil war

Nunez ordered the ship to sail for Tumbes, where he disembarked in the middle of October. He gathered an army and led it south to battle the conquistadors. Pizarro made his solemn entry into Lima on October 28, at the head of 1,200 well-trained and well-armed soldiers, with artillery, under the royal banner of Castile. Both sides claimed to be defenders of the king. Pizzaro was sworn in before the Audiencia as interim governor and captain general of Peru, until a replacement could be named by the king.

Nunez and his small force left San Miguel (near Quito) just ahead of Pizarro's soldiers. The hope was to link up in the high country with Benalcazar, the loyal commander at Popayan. Indecisive skirmishes were fought along the line of march. Nunez, suspecting treachery among his officers, had three of them executed. Nunez arrived in Popayan, and Pizarro occupied Quito, formerly friendly territory for the viceroy. Pizarro lured Nunez out of Popayan to Quito by a stratagem. The two armies met January 18, 1546 at nearby Anaquito

Seven hundred soldiers of the army of Pizarro fought Nunez and his smaller army of a few hundred at Anaquito. Nunez fought bravely, in spite of his age, but he was killed in the battle and then decapitated. His head was marched about on a pike to demonstrate that the conquistadors had won and were now in charge. Fearing the loss of the American colonies the Crown watered down the New Laws and restored the encomiendas.

King Charles recognized the fallen viceroy and his sons, ordering that Nunez be honored annually. Charles made two of his sons knights, one in the Order of Santiago and one in the Order of Alcantara. The sons became ambassador to France, captain general of artillery, and archbishop of Burgos.

External links

Other pages about Colonial Peru

-Alonzo de Alvarado -Ana Francisca de Borja y Doria -Ana de Castro -Andres Hurtado de Mendoza -Antonio de Mendoza -Antonio de Morga -Balconies of Lima -Baltasar de la Cueva Enriquez -Battle of Sangarara -Bernardo de Iturriaza -Blasco Nunez Vela -Cabildo (council) -Carmine Nicolao Caracciolo -Cathedral of Lima -Comentarios Reales de los Incas -Convento de San Francisco -Cristobal Ramirez de Cartagena -Cristobal Vaca de Castro -Diego Ladron de Guevara -Diego Lopez de Zuniga y Velasco -Diego Morcillo Rubio de Aunon -Diego Nunez de Avendano -Diego Quispe Tito -Diego de Almagro -Diego de Benavides y de la Cueva -Fernando Torres de Portugal y Mesia -Francisco Ruiz Lozano -Francisco de Borja y Aragon -Francisco de Toledo, Count of Oropesa -Garcia Hurtado de Mendoza, Marquis of Canete -Government Palace (Peru) -Hans Heinrich Bruning Brookstedt -Hernando de Luque -Historic Centre of Lima -Jose Antonio de Areche -Jose Antonio de Mendoza -Jose de Armendariz -Juan Jimenez de Montalvo -Juan Pizarro II -Lima City Walls -Luis Jeronimo Fernandez de Cabrera -Manuel de Oms y de Santa Pau -Mateo de la Mata Ponce de Leon -Melchor Bravo de Saravia -Melchor Linan y Cisneros -Melchor de Navarra y Rocafull -Miguel Nunez de Sanabria -Osambela House -Pedro Alvarez de Toledo y Leiva -Pedro Antonio Fernandez de Castro -Pedro Bohorquez -Pedro de la Gasca -San Telmo (ship) -Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire -Torre Tagle Palace -Tupac Amaru II -Turibius of Mongrovejo -Viceroyalty of Peru

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