Bernardo L%C3%B3pez de Mendiz%C3%A1bal

Bernardo Lpez de Mendizbal was a Spanish politician, soldier and religious, native of modern Mexico, who served as governor of New Mexico between 16591660 and as alcalde mayor , in Guayacocotla . Among other Lopezs dictates as governor of New Mexico, he prohibited to the Franciscan priests to force the Native Americans to work if they are not paid a salary and he recognized the right of the Native Americans to practice their religion. He also permitted the Pueblos Native Americans to perform their religious dances . These facts caused disagreements with the Franciscans missionaries of New Mexico in their dealings with the Native Americans. He was condemned to prison for the Inquisition due tocounts of malfeasance and the practice of Judaism in 1660, without having ended his administration. So, he was replaced this year in his government and was arrested in 1663.

Lpez de Mendizbal was born about 1620 in the town of Chietla, in Puebla . His father, Cristbal Lpez de Mendizbal, was a Basque captain and legal representative, while his mother, Leonor Pastrana, was a granddaughter of Jew Juan Nunez de Leon . The marriage had a hacienda in Chietla. Bernardos family was formed for imperial functionaries. Lpez also had a brother Gregorio Lpez de Mendizbal. Lpez studied arts and canon law in Jesuit college at Puebla, but finished his study at the university in Mexico City. Mendizbal also joined the Spanish Army, where he served in the Galleon de la Armada and was stationed for a time period in the Presidio of Cartagena de Indias . Lpez occupied many government charges in Nueva Granada, Cuba, and New Spain, while bureaucratically amounted. Lpez was also alcalde mayor, or royal administrator, in Guayacocotla, on the Sierra Madre Oriental, northeast of Mexico City.

Source: Wikipedia