Adelantado

A prestigious military title that all Spanish CONQUiSTADO-Res aspired to during the medieval period as well as during the conquest of the New World.

The title comes from the verb adelantar, which means “to advance,” and developed during the RecONQUiSTA. Essentially, it signified a war hero who “advanced” into enemy territory and captured land for his king. Adelantados received instant patents of nobility as well as extensive lands in the areas they conquered. When the progress of the Reconquista slowed and came to an end with the fall of

Granada in 1492, the title fell out of favor. It returned with the Spanish conquests in the Americas—indeed, it became one of the most highly sought titles in the New World. It provided poor soldiers of fortune one of the only ways to enter into the ranks of the nobility. In Spanish America the position of the adelantado was essentially that of a military governor. He possessed executive and judicial powers within the territories he conquered. Additionally, he had limited power to write legislation, particularly labor regulations for plantations and mines. The adelantado also held the right to appoint subordinate officials in his lands and to distribute land as a reward to his followers.

Because it was a position of great honor and power, the Spanish Crown granted it only to the greatest con-quistadores. Christopher Columbus assumed the power to grant the title and bestowed it upon his brother Bartholomew Columbus, essentially giving him the island of Hispaniola as his personal territory. Vasco Nunez de Balboa was the first explorer to receive the title directly from the Crown, although Juan Ponce de Leon was the first actually to exercise the powers of the office. Several of the important figures from the conquest era achieved adelantado status, but few of them passed the title on to their heirs. The Crown was deeply concerned about creating a powerful landed nobility in the New World. By 1600, the Crown had abolished the title, giving its powers to the office of the viceroy.

Further reading: C. H. Haring, The Spanish Empire in America (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1947); Lyle N. McAlister, Spain and Portugal in the New World, 1495-1700 (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1984).

—Scott Chamberlain

Africanus, Leo See Leo Africanus.

Aguilar, Francisco de (ca. 1469-1561) conquistador One of the more intriguing conquistadores, Francisco de Aguilar was one of the lieutenants of Hernan Cortes who in his later years gave up his worldly possessions and entered the Dominican order.

Scholars know relatively little about Aguilar’s early years in Spain, although it seems he was christened Alonso de Aguilar in 1469. By the early 1500s he had built a close relationship with several conquistadores, including Cortes and Pedro de Alvarado. When Cortes left Cuba to explore the mainland in 1519, he selected Aguilar to be one of his officers. From the moment the expedition landed in the Yucatan Peninsula, Aguilar displayed integrity, courage, and a quick intelligence. He was also contemplative and thoughtful—attributes that would eventually lead him away from a military career. During the course of the Aztec conquest, Cortes came to rely upon him as a steady, dependable officer who could shoulder enormous responsibility. After Cortes had seized and imprisoned the Aztec emperor Moctezuma II, he assigned Aguilar with the important task of guarding him. Because Aguilar was more dependable than daring, he never distinguished himself in battle as did Alvarado. Still, Cortes valued his services highly and rewarded him handsomely after the conquest was complete.

As part of his payment Aguilar gained a series of ENCO-MIENDAs, which were grants of Native labor. According to colonial documents, his most important encomiendas were in Tlapa and Chilapa in central Mexico. Aguilar also gained the right to establish a venta, or hostelry, between the principal port of Veracruz and the city of Puebla, located to the east of Mexico City. This was the principal highway of New Spain—the great thoroughfare by which the collected wealth of the colony traveled to the coast for shipment back to Europe. By virtue of these rewards, Aguilar became enormously wealthy and influential. Surprisingly, only a few years later, he abandoned his wealth, land, and property. In 1529, at the age of 50, Aguilar took the vows of a Dominican priest, taking the name Fray Francisco de Aguilar. While not entirely without precedent (Bartolome de Las Casas had a similar transformation), this abrupt career change shocked many. Diego Duran referred to it as a “curious episode” in his History of the Indies, but for Aguilar the choice seemed natural since he had an introspective disposition that fit well with life in the cloister; his writings show he had a probing intellect and was constantly concerned with the morality of the conquest. In later years he developed gout and lived in almost constant pain. He died in Mexico at age 92.

Aguilar is primarily remembered today for his brief account of the conquest of the Aztecs, which he began at age 80 with the encouragement of his brothers of the order. In his preface he apologized for his sparse, direct style, but these elements make his account appealing for modern audiences. Aguilar’s short narrative still captures the dangers and raw terror of the conquest.

Further reading: Patricia de Fuentes, The Conquistadors: First Person Accounts of the Conquest of Mexico (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1993); Peter Gerhard, A Guide to the Historical Geography of New Spain (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1993).

—Scott Chamberlain