Pedro de Alvarado

Pedro de Alvarado (born c. 1485, Badajoz, Castile [Spain]—died 1541, in or near Guadalajara, New Spain [now in Mexico]) was a Spanish conquistador who helped conquer Mexico and Central America for Spain in the 16th century.

Alvarado went to Santo Domingo in 1510 and in 1518 commanded one of Juan de Grijalba’s ships sent from Cuba to explore the Yucatán Peninsula. In February 1519 he accompanied the army, led from Cuba by Hernán Cortés, that was to conquer Mexico. Alvarado was first placed in charge of Tenochtitlán (later Mexico City) in 1520 when Cortes left the city to meet a rival Spanish force on the coast. When Aztecs gathered in the square to celebrate the festival of Toxcatl, Alvarado feared an uprising and ordered his men to strike first. About 200 Aztec chiefs were massacred by Alvarado’s men, who were in turn besieged in their quarters by an angry mob. Upon his return, Cortes learned of the attack and uprising and quickly planned a nighttime retreat from Tenochtitlán. On the night of June 30, 1520, known as noche triste (“sad night”), Cortes and his men attempted to leave the city quietly but were spotted by the Aztecs. Fierce fighting erupted, and Alvarado, who was leading the rear guard, narrowly escaped, thanks largely to a spectacular leap across a canal. The Spanish recaptured Tenochtitlán in 1521, and in 1522 Alvarado became the city’s first alcalde (mayor or principal magistrate).

In 1523 Alvarado conquered the Quiché and Cakchiquel of Guatemala, and in 1524 he founded Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala (Ciudad Vieja; present Antigua, Guatemala). This town became the first capital of the captaincy general of Guatemala, later including much of Central America, of which Alvarado was governor (1527–31).

In 1534 Alvarado led an unlicensed expedition to Quito, but in 1535 he sold his ships and munitions to Diego de Almagro, one of Francisco Pizarro’s captains. He then returned to Guatemala and in 1537 to Spain, where he was confirmed as governor of Guatemala for seven years and was given a charter to explore Mexico. He arrived in Honduras in 1539 and died while attempting to quell an Indian uprising in central Mexico.