Diego Carrillo de Mendoza, 1st Marquis of Gelves
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Don Diego Carrillo de Mendoza Marqués de Gélves Caballero de Santiago |
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| Viceroy of New Spain | |
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In office September 21, 1621 – November 1, 1624 |
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| Monarch | Philip IV |
| Prime Minister | Count-Duke of Olivares |
| Preceded by | Diego Fernández de Córdoba |
| Succeeded by | Rodrigo Pacheco |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1570 Valladolid, Spain |
| Died | c. 1631 Madrid, Spain |
| Religion | Catholic |
Don Diego Carrillo de Mendoza y Pimentel, 1st Marquis of Gélves (Spanish: Diego Pimentel y Toledo, primer marqués de Gélves y conde consorte de Priego, capitán-general de la caballería de Milán, Asistente de Sevilla, caballero de Santiago y comendador de Villanueva de la Fuente) (unknown year, Aragon – 1631) was a Spanish cavalry general, viceroy of Aragon, and viceroy of New Spain. He held the latter position from September 21, 1621 to January 15, 1624 or November 1, 1624.
Carrillo de Mendoza was born in Valladolid. He joined the army at an early age, where he was distinguished by his energy, valor and intelligence. He rose to the rank of cavalry general, and was made lord of the bedchamber for the king. He served as viceroy of Aragon before being sent to the Americas.
Arriving in New Spain in 1621, he found the administration in a bad state and immediately took steps to improve the moral standards of the functionaries. He organized detachments of armed highway patrolmen and assigned them to the principal highways to combat an epidemic of robbery. He authorized the immediate hanging of robbers caught in the act.
He bought grain and distributed it to the poor of the capital and its environs to combat the continuing drought and famine. He opposed the monopoly of the grain merchants, formed to drive up prices. This made him enemies. Also in his first year, he founded a chair of surgery at the University. This chair was first occupied by the Mexican-born doctor Cristóbal Hidalgo y Bandabal (d. 1660).
On March 7, 1623 the viceroy ordered work on the drainage system of the Valley of Mexico to cease, because he considered it costly and unlikely to be effective. He also ordered the destruction of the dike that diverted the Río Cuautitlán from entering the lakes around Mexico City. However, the next rainy season led again to large floods, many lost lives and much damage. This caused a considerable loss of the viceroy's prestige.
As the result of numerous complaints concerning venality and partiality, Viceroy Carrillo de Mendoza began an investigation of the archbishop of Mexico, Juan Pérez de la Serna. The viceroy instructed the archbishop not to grant divorces so readily, not to accept gifts, and not to charge high prices in the butcher shop the archbishop owned.
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Wikipedia