|
Diego de Velasco (?? - 1575) was a career soldier who served as interim Lieutenant Governor of Spanish Florida between 1574 and 1576. His administration ended with his and his treasurer Bertolomeo Martinez's imprisonment by his successor as governor, Hernando de Miranda, following investigations of corruption in his administration, as well as crimes committed against Native Americans and the Spanish settlers of Florida. ==Biography== De Velasco was the son-in-law of the first governor of Florida, Pedro Menéndez de Aviles. He joined the Spanish army in his youth, achieving the rank of lieutenant.〔Reid Badger, John; Scudder, Jr., Lawrence Clayton (1985). ( Alabama and the Borderlands: From Prehistory To Statehood ). The University of Alabama Press. Page 159.〕 In 1571, Velasco oversaw the construction of Fort San Felipe, a defensive structure built to protect the Spanish settlers of Florida after a raid by French settlers and Native Americans allied with them.〔(Charlesfort-Santa Elena. Port Royal, South Carolina ). Posted in “Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary: American Latino Heritage”. National Park Service. U.S. Department of Interior.〕 On September 17, 1574, after his father become a general in the ''Nueva Armada Real'' (New Royal Army), Velasco was appointed temporary Governor of Florida,〔Worth, John. ( - Spanish Florida - Governors ). University of West Florida.〕 although this was an interim appointment made upon the death of Menéndez.〔Lewis, J. D. (Carolina Explorers : Pedro Menéndez de Avilés ). 2007.〕 The colony's capital was the recently founded settlement of Santa Elena in what is now South Carolina.〔 The cacique of Guale told Alonso de Olmos that the Spaniards "had made him a Christian", but only to enslave him and steal his property. Apparently Velasco and Captain Alonso de Solis had taken several ''brazas'' (a ''braza'' was a Spanish unit of length equal to the reach of outspread arms) of the native medium of exchange, worth two gold ducats each, as well as several canoes, from the Indians without payment. Velasco denied he had forced the Indians to pay him personal tribute, and said that in fact, he and the Indians had exchanged gifts, and that the Indians had thus obtained Spanish products such as iron farming implements, blankets and clothes. Velasco said that he had established a friendship with the cacique, who had fallen ill on a visit to Santa Elena, and treated him with costly medicines until he recovered. Velasco also maintained that he had given the chief and his wife other gifts, such as clothes, and that in appreciation, they had given him a ''braza'' of black pearls, but of low value. According to the written testimony of Father Oré in 1576, Velasco, after asking the caciques of Guale to gather in Santa Elena, and indicating that he would not do them any harm, hanged one of them (the nephew of a cacique) as punishment for killing a Christian Indian chieftain, to fulfill a promise he had made to the wife of another chief who had converted to Christianity, she seeking vengeance for the murder of her husband, and demanding retribution. These events led to a widespread Guale rebellion and violence against the Spanish of ''La Florida''.〔Cecelia Borgen, Linda Suzanne (2007). (PRELUDE TO REBELLION: DIEGO DE REBOLLEDO VS. LÚCAS MENÉNDEZ IN MID-17TH. CENTURY SPANISH FLORIDA ). The University of West Florida. Consulted in 2011. Page 39.〕 Thirty soldiers who fought against the natives in defense of Santa Elena were killed, causing the town to be temporarily abandoned in the late summer of 1576 and then to be burned later by the Indians, in full view of the soldiers and settlers as they were about to sail away from Port Royal Sound.〔 Velasco was also accused of mishandling the provincial soldiers' pay, and consequently was replaced by Hernando de Miranda as governor of ''La Florida'' in 1575. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Diego de Velasco」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|