Everything about Vincente De Valverde totally explained
Vincente de Valverde was a Spanish
bishop. He was born in
Segovia, Spain about
1490 and most sources claim he died in
Oropesa,
Peru, in 1543. He was a
Dominican friar, and went to
Peru about 1530, although it isn't certain whether he accompanied
Francisco Pizarro from
Spain or arrived at San Miguel de
Piura in
1531 with re-enforcements from
Panama.
Biography
He was born at
Segovia, Spain towards the close of the fifteenth century, as the son of Francisco de Valverde and Ana Alvarez de Vallegada, and was related to many noble families, in particular, to that of
Francisco Pizarro, the
conquistador of Peru, and that of
Hernan Cortes, the conqueror of Mexico. Valverde became a professed member of the Dominicans at the convent of San Esteban at
Salamanca in April, 1524.
In 1529 he accompanied Pizarro as a missionary, on his intended voyage of conquest to Peru. Before the
battle of Caxamarca of 16 November 1532, Valverde endeavoured to obtain the
Great Inca Atahuallpa's peaceful submission; later he instructed and baptized the unfortunate Inca monarch.
Following the death of
Atahualpa, Pizarro saw no further obstacles to his conquest and decided to march into
Cuzco on November 15,
1533, bringing Friar Vincente de Valverde along with him and his followers. By March 23,
1534, a new church was erected in Cuzco and became Friar Valverde's cathedral. Pizarro also gave him a large native commandery, which Valverde mistreated by simply using them as slaves.
Later in 1534, friar Valverde headed back to Spain to assist Pizarro's brother,
Hernando Pizarro, in his negotiations at court. While in Spain, friar Valverde was also named by the empress-regent the bishop of Cuzco and Peru, since the original appointee,
Fernando de Luque, had died in
Panama in 1531.
By 1536 Valverde was yet again named protector of the Natives and inquisitor, and, being confirmed by the pope, he came back to Peru in the beginning of
1538, just before the execution of
Diego de Almagro, which he'd vainly tried to prevent.
When Emperor
Charles V learned of Pizarro's victories, he named Valverde first
Bishop of Cuzco, the royal city of the Peruvian kings;
pope Paul III ratified his choice in a
consistory held in January, 1537. The new bishop found his spiritual duties arduous, for he'd already been charged with the office of
Protector of the Natives. This forced him to cross the rude soldiery constantly, as the adverturers who made up the Spanish armies had no thought of justice or mercy to the Indians. He strove to settle the feud between Almagro and Pizarro and after the assassination of the latter was forced to flee from Peru. Making his way to
Panama, he halted for a brief stay at the
Island of Puná, near
Guayaquil in Ecuador, where he was put to death by the Indians on 31 October 1541. According to some sources,
the oppressed Indians revolted, captured Valverde, and poured molten gold down his throat as a punishment to greed.
Negative side
By far Friar Valverde's negative and contradictory side was his mistreatment of the natives of Peru which, instead of preaching the gospel, he oppressed, enslaved, and forced to work for the church. (This was the complete opposite to what
Bartolomé de Las Casas, another Spanish priest, did years later by defending the native's rights in works he published and in visits to
Spain to inform King
Philip II of the abuses committed against the local natives by the
Conquistadors.)
Valverde was later appointed by Pizarro on the commission to apportion lands and natives to the royal officers, and the licentiate,
Antonio de Game, whom Pizarro had appointed supreme judge of Cuzco. The latter charged Valverde in a letter to the emperor, dated March 10, 1539, with arbitrary acts and insisted that instead of protecting the natives, he only mistreated them and sought to confiscate their lands, and always gave the greater part to himself and his assistant. Despite the charges, on March 11, 1540, Friar Valverde officiated at the consecration of the new cathedral of Lima. He then headed back to Spain, where he presented to the emperor, by order of Pizarro, a memorial about the conquest under the title of "Relacion de la Conquista de los Reynos de Peru," in which he claimed that the natives could scarcely be considered as human beings, as they'd no souls.
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