Velasco, Luis de ("The Younger") (1538–1617)

Luis de ("The Younger") Velasco (b. 1538; d. 1617), viceroy of Mexico and of Peru. Born in Carrión de los Condes, Palencia, in Spain, Velasco first went to Mexico in 1560 to join his father, who was the second viceroy. Earlier he had gone with his brother, don Antonio de Velasco, as a member of the party which accompanied Philip II to England for his marriage to Queen Mary. In Mexico, Velasco married doña María de Ircio, daughter of a conquistador. In 1565 he assisted in the uncovering of the "Cortes Conspiracy." After returning to Spain in 1585, he served as ambassador to Florence. In 1589 he was appointed viceroy of Mexico, where he served until becoming viceroy of Peru in 1595. In 1604 he retired to his estates in Mexico only to be reappointed viceroy of Mexico in 1607 and eventually president of the Council of the Indies in Spain in 1611. He was granted the title of marqués de las Salinas del Río Pisuerga in 1609.

Velasco is credited with the successful pacification of the northern Mexican frontier, reorganization of the textile mills, and the initiation of the drainage of the Valley of Mexico. In Peru he reorganized the system of Indian labor, regulated the textile mills, and reorganized the mercury mines of Huancavelica.

See alsoMexico: The Colonial Period .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Manuel De Mendiburu, Diccionario histórico-biográfico del Perú (1874–1890).

Vicente Riva Palacio, México a través de los siglos, vol. 2 (1939), pp. 447-450, 538-555.

Additional Bibliography

Salazar Andreu, Juan Pablo. Luis de Velasco. Mexico City: Planeta DeAgostini, 2002.

                                     John F. Schwaller