Alonso Hernández Puertocarrero
 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (June 2021) |
Alonso Hernández Puertocarrero (before 1495–1523) was a Spanish conquistador who was part of Hernán Cortés's expedition of conquest of what is today Mexico.
Soon after arriving on the eastern shore of Mexico with a gift of a grey mare from Cortés, Hernández was elected alcayde along with Francisco de Montejo of Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz.
After the Battle of Centla at Potonchán, Cortés awarded Hernandez with Malinche for use as a slave who was one of 20 slave girls given to the Spaniards as part of a peace treaty with the defeated city. However, Cortés later took Malinche back for himself after discovering she could speak Nahuatl along with Chontal Mayan thus making her indispensable as a translator and as a cultural interpreter. Later, Hernandez received the daughter of Totonac Chief Cuesco as a gift and baptized her Doña Francisca.[1]: 50–51, 82, 102, 121, 125
Cortés also sent Hernandez, along with de Montejo, back to Spain to provide King Charles with details of the expedition.[1]: 127–128
References
- ^ a b Diaz, B., 1963, The Conquest of New Spain, London: Penguin Books, ISBN 0140441239