When was the Viceroyalty of New Spain created, and why?

The Viceroyalty of New Spain is created

Se crea el Virreinato de la Nueva España

1535. Fourteen years after the fall of Tenochtitlan, Charles V replaced the quarrelling conquerors and the first Audiencia with a viceroy, a 'vice-king' who…

Where: Mexico, Central America, The Spanish Caribbean, Mexico City

What happened

Fourteen years after the fall of Tenochtitlan, Charles V replaced the quarrelling conquerors and the first Audiencia with a viceroy, a 'vice-king' who represented him in person. Antonio de Mendoza arrived in Mexico City in October 1535 and governed until 1550, bringing the first printing press in the Americas (1539), founding schools and pushing exploration north. New Spain stretched from Guatemala to the deserts of the north and later to California, New Mexico and Texas, and after 1565 it also governed the Philippines. The viceroy presided over the Real Audiencia; Veracruz on the Gulf and Acapulco on the Pacific were its ports. The same model was applied to Peru in 1542.

Say it

El virrey gobernaba en nombre del rey.

The viceroy governed in the king's name.

Why it matters

Mexico City became the administrative and cultural capital of Spanish North America, and the Mexican standard of Spanish grew from the speech of this viceregal court and its university.

Read about it

Connected

Sources

  1. El virreinato de la Nueva España (ficha de clase) — Secretaría de Educación Pública (México), Nueva Escuela Mexicana
  2. Colonial Government in the Spanish Empire — World History Encyclopedia
  3. The Iberian Conquest of the Americas — World History Encyclopedia