Pedro de Alvarado

Pedro de Alvarado (c. 1485 – 4 July 1541) was a Spanish conquistador who held the titles of adelantado, governor, and captain general of Guatemala. He took part in the conquest of Cuba, sailed with Juan de Grijalva to explore the Yucatán Peninsula and Gulf of Mexico coasts, and fought under Hernán Cortés in the conquest of the Aztec Empire. He is credited with conquering much of Central America—Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and parts of Nicaragua.

Though a capable warrior who extended Spanish control across the region, Alvarado was known for greed and cruelty. Both indigenous people and fellow Spaniards accused him of various crimes and abuses. In 1541, while trying to suppress a native revolt in Mexico, a horse crushed him; he died a few days later.

Alvarado was flamboyant and charismatic, a brilliant military commander, but also cruel and hardened. He had good features and bearing. When the Aztecs saw a picture of him, they called him Tōnatiuh—because of his blond hair and his notorious temper. He looked handsome and affable, yet was volatile and quick to anger.

He dealt ruthlessly with the indigenous peoples he conquered. Historians believe his greed drove him to excessive cruelty. Spanish contemporaries denounced his extreme brutality while he was still alive. As a governor, he was poor, restlessly seeking new adventures rather than governing well. His tactical brutality—like the massacre in the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan—often hurt strategic goals. He was also accused of cruelty toward other Spaniards. Alvarado was ill-suited to rule; when in charge, he did little to build stable colonial foundations. His letters show no interest in civil matters, only exploration and war. He stubbornly resisted Spanish Crown attempts to set up ordered taxation in Guatemala, refusing to acknowledge them. W. George Lovell and others described him as "an insatiable despot who recognized no authority but his own and who regarded Guatemala as little more than his personal estate."

William H. Prescott wrote of his character, and Spanish chronicler Antonio de Remesal noted that "Alvarado desired more to be feared than loved by his subjects, whether they were Indians or Spaniards." In his easy use of violence, Alvarado was a product of his time. Cortés and Francisco Pizarro committed similar cruelties, yet have not attracted as much criticism.

Alvarado was born in 1485 in Badajoz, Extremadura, to Gómez de Alvarado and his second wife, Leonor de Contreras. He had a twin sister, Sarra, and four full brothers: Jorge, Gonzalo, Gómez, and Juan. He also had an illegitimate half brother, also named Juan, called Juan el Bastardo. Little is known of his early life before reaching the Americas. Tales of youthful exploits in Spain became popular legends, but their truth is doubtful. One story says that as a youth waiting to sail, he climbed a church tower in Seville with friends. A banner pole extended from an upper window. A companion walked out to the pole's end without cloak or sword, then returned backward. Alvarado, afraid of mockery, walked out with both sword and cloak, turned around at the end, and returned facing the tower.

His paternal grandfather, Juan Alvarado "el Viejo," was comendador of Hornachos; his grandmother was Catalina Messía. His uncle, Diego de Alvarado y Messía, was comendador of Lobón, Puebla, and Montijo, alcalde of Montánchez, and lord of Castellanos and Cubillana. Diego had fought in campaigns against the Moors.

Alvarado and his brothers crossed the Atlantic before 1511, possibly in 1510. By 1511, Spain had set up a licensing system for colonists. Only Juan de Alvarado appears in the registers for that year, suggesting the others were already in the New World. The brothers stopped at Hispaniola, though few records mention their stay. In Santo Domingo, Pedro befriended Hernán Cortés, then a public scribe. He joined Cortés in the conquest of Cuba under Diego de Velázquez, which began in 1511, accompanied by his brothers. Soon after, Alvarado managed a prosperous hacienda in Cuba. Around this time, he emerges in records as a wealthy, influential landowner well connected with Governor Velázquez.

Governor Velázquez, excited by Francisco Hernández de Córdoba's report of gold in Yucatán, organized an expedition of four ships and 260 men. He put his nephew Juan de Grijalva in overall command; Pedro de Alvarado captained one of the ships.