ALVARADO, PEDRO DE

born c. 1485, Badajoz, Castile died 1541, in or near Guadalajara, New Spain [now in Mexico] a conqueror of Mexico and Central America for Spain. Alvarado went to Santo Domingo in 1510 and in 1518 commanded one of Juan de Grijalva's ships sent from Cuba to explore the Yucatn Peninsula. In February 1519 he accompanied the army, led from Cuba by Hernn Corts, that was to conquer Mexico. Alvarado was placed in charge of Tenochtitln (Mexico City), and in 1522 he became the city's first alcalde (mayor or principal magistrate). In 1523 Alvarado conquered the Quich and Cakchiquel of Guatemala and in 1524 founded Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala (Ciudad Vieja; present Antigua, Guatemala). This town became the first capital of the captaincy general of Guatemala, later including much of Central America, of which Alvarado was governor (152731). In 1534 Alvarado led an unlicensed expedition to Quito, but in 1535 he sold his ships and munitions to Diego de Almagro, one of Francisco Pizarro's captains. He then returned to Guatemala and, in 1537, to Spain, where he was confirmed as governor of Guatemala for seven years and was given a charter to explore Mexico. He arrived in Honduras in 1539 and died while attempting to quell an Indian uprising in central Mexico.