Luis de Carvajal y de la Cueva

Luis de Carvajal (Portuguese: Luis do Carvalhal; sometimes Luis de Carabajal y de la Cueva) ( – 13 February 1591) was a Portuguese colonial official and merchant who served as governor of the Spanish Empire's province of Nuevo León in present-day Mexico, best known as the first Spanish subject known to have entered Texas from Mexico across the lower Rio Grande. He was reputed to be a dealer in Native American slaves.

He was a Portuguese-born, Spanish Crown officer, who in 1579 was awarded a large swath of territory in New Spain, known as Nuevo Reino de León. He was born in Mogadouro, Portugal, around 1537, but was raised in the Kingdom of León at the home of the Count of Benavente, a contemporary and friend of Philip II of Spain, who named Carvajal Governor of Nuevo Reino de León and granted him many privileges on the basis of previous services to the Spanish Crown.

The territory granted to Carvajal included some portions in the south that had been settled by other Spaniards who refused to accept the terms of the grant

Background Carvajal was born circa 1537 in Mogadouro, Portugal, to Gaspar de Carvajal and Catalina de León, descendants of Jewish conversos (converts to Catholicism).

When he was eight years old, his family took him to Benavente, in the Spanish Kingdom of León. There, he was placed, probably as a page, in the house of the Count of Benavente, where he learned the manners and language of a Spanish nobleman. He lived there until his maternal uncle, Duarte de León, a wealthy Portuguese contractor sent him to the Portuguese islands of Cape Verde. There Carvajal learned a variety of skills, including navigation, accounting, and probably some military skills. In 1560, D. Sebastian, king of Portugal, named him treasurer for the assets of the deceased.

First sojourn in New Spain In 1567, Carvajal sailed for New Spain in his own ship as Admiral of a merchant fleet that sailed from the Canary Islands. Upon his arrival in Veracruz, he purchased a cattle hacienda near Tampico, and settled in that village, become its mayor the following year.

In 1578, after obtaining an endorsement from the viceroy and the Audiencia de México for his desire to be granted an important official charge by the king he went to Spain. After lengthy negotiations in the Consejo de Indias, on 31 May 1579 he succeeded in obtaining his desired post, and was awarded a large territory that was to be named Nuevo Reino de León. This was not the only time the king did so, but it did result in the recruitment of several New Christians, including Carvajal's sister, Francisca de Carvajal, and her family, all of whom were later found to secretly practice Judaism and were burnt at the stake by the Spanish Inquisition in Mexico City.

Second sojourn in New Spain In 1579 Phillip II, King of Spain, granted him the title of governor and captain-general with the mission to "discover, pacify and settle" a new province in New Spain to be called New Kingdom of León, 200 leagues inland from the port of Tampico.

The people recruited by Carvajal in Spain and Portugal were transported to the New world in a cargo ship, owned by Carvajal and named La Urca de Panuco. The ship left Seville on 10 June 1580 and arrived in Tampico on 24 August of the same year. The following October he went to Mexico City to present his credentials to the new viceroy, the Count of Coruña.

In consideration of the appointment of governor, Carvajal undertook to colonize the territory at his own expense, being allowed to repay himself out of the revenues. His original jurisdiction was to comprise a somewhat ill-defined territory, beginning at the port of Tampico, extending along the River Pánuco, and thence turning northward; but it was not to exceed 200 leagues either way. It would seem to have included Tamaulipas, as well as the states of Nuevo León and Coahuila, and parts of San Luis Potosí, Zacatecas, Durango, Chihuahua and Texas. Castaño de Sosa is also known as the leader of the first attempt to establish a Spanish settlement in New Mexico. The attempt failed and Castaño de Sosa was arrested and punished by Spanish authorities for his unauthorized expedition.

As mentioned earlier, the territory granted to Carvajal by Philip II included lands that were contested by other Spaniards living in New Spain. These individuals sued Carvajal in the highest court in New Spain -The Audiencia de México. Lasting more than three years these legal suits were decided in favor of Carvajal. The government was attempting to find a peaceful solution to the long-running and bloody Chichimeca War. Enslavement was one of the grievances of the Indians and a peaceful solution involved protecting the Indians against slavers. All along the frontier two successive Viceroys promoting peace with the Chichimecas cracked down on the slavers.

New charges were also brought against Carvajal. This was based on the accusations that Carvajal's ancestors were New Christians, which contradicted the "Purity of Blood" laws required to obtain permission to settle in the New Spain. This was sufficient to have Carvajal transferred to the jails of the Inquisition. Although several charges against him were initially mentioned – including enslaving Native Americans, only the charge of covering up the practicing Judaism of his sister and her children remained. In the end he was sentenced to a six-year exile in an auto-da-fé held on 24 February 1590 in Mexico City. However, before the sentence was carried out, he was sent back to the jail of the Court, where he died, nearly one year later, on 13 February 1591. His two nieces, Ana and María, were not executed with their brother and reaccepted to the Catholic faith; María, accused of relapsing into Judaism, was executed by garrote in an auto da fe on 25 March 1601 in Mexico City, at twenty-nine years of age. Ana was tried again for practicing Judaism in secret and executed by garrote on 11 April 1649, at sixty-seven years of age.