Background
Mendoza was born at Alcalá la Real (Jaén, Spain) in 1495, the son of the Second Conde de Tendilla, Íñigo López de Mendoza y Quiñones and Francisca Pacheco.
Mendoza was born at Alcalá la Real (Jaén, Spain) in 1495, the son of the Second Conde de Tendilla, Íñigo López de Mendoza y Quiñones and Francisca Pacheco.
Antonio entered the service of Emperor Charles V, for whom he performed a number of successful diplomatic missions in Italy. He was then selected to become the first Spanish viceroy of New Spain in the New World, where he arrived in 1535.
Antonio had the difficult task of consolidating the royal authority, correcting the abuses of tyrannical officials, completing the pacification and conversion of the conquered Indians, and promoting the economic prosperity of the new colony to the maximum advantage of the royal treasury.
Mendoza showed a patriarchal concern for the natives and did much to secure improved treatment and legal status for them. Any sign of rebellion, however, he ruthlessly repressed. Nor did he subscribe to the views of liberal advocates of Indian rights such as Bartoloméde Las Casas, who persuaded the Crown to enact the New Laws of the Indies (1542), exempting the Indians from forced labor in the mines and on the lands of their Spanish masters. Convinced that this would only lead to economic chaos and drive the Spaniards to rebel, Mendoza suspended the New Laws until they were rescinded.
While suppressing an Indian rising, Mendoza's men had the good fortune to come upon the rich silver deposits of Zacatecas, which were to provide the Crown with one of its greatest sources of revenue from the New World. In addition to mining, the viceroy also encouraged the production of wheat, olives, silk, cloth, and cattle, and other such activities. His keen interest in exploration aroused the envy of Hernán Cortés, who had conquered Mexico and been rewarded with great estates there. Mendoza sent ships to explore the Pacific and in 1542 dispatched an expedition to the north under the command of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado in a vain attempt to discover the fabled Seven Cities of Cíbola, which he believed to be a mightier empire than that of the Aztecs.
Worn out after 15 years of conscientiously discharging his varied duties, Mendoza requested permission to end his days in Spain. This was refused, and he was sent instead to Peru to consolidate the royal authority after a civil war among the conquistadores. One of his first acts there was to send his son to inspect and report on the conditions under which the Indians were working in the mines. Mendoza fell ill and died before he could introduce the reforms which he saw to be necessary but which needed to be tactfully implemented if the unruly Spaniards were not to be provoked to fresh unrest.
Quotations:
"Liberty means responsibility. That's why most men dread it."
"I made a habit always to hear the Indians; and although they very often lie to me, I do not show them any displeasure for it, for I do not believe them and I do not decide anything until I have found out the truth."
Mendoza proved a prudent, firm, and hardworking viceroy. He was remembered as a stern but humane and just administrator, genuinely concerned with the welfare of the people under his jurisdiction but loyally dedicated to the service of the Crown.
Antonio was married to María Ana de Trujillo de Mendoza, the daughter of Francisco de Vargas, senior accountant of the Catholic Monarchs. They had three children: Íñigo, Francisca and Francisco.