Pedro Morales y Mercado

Pedro Morales y Mercado (c. 1610 - c. 1670) was a 17th-century Spanish nobleman, who held different honorific positions in the Río de la Plata, serving as mayor, army officer and treasurer of Buenos Aires.[1]

Captain
Pedro Morales y Mercado
Lieutenant Governor of Buenos Aires
In office
1661–1662
MonarchPhilip IV
Preceded byAmador de Roxas y Azevedo
Succeeded byJacinto Vela de Hinojosa
Vice-Mayor of Buenos Aires
In office
1651–1652
MonarchPhilip IV
Preceded byJuan Nieto de Umanes
Succeeded byLorenzo Suárez Maldonado
Personal details
Bornc. 1610
Ciudad de Rodrigo, Salamanca, Spain
Diedc. 1670
Buenos Aires, Argentina
SpouseMaría de Manzanares y Aguilar
Occupationpolitician
army
Professiontreasurer
military man
Signature
Military service
Allegiance Spanish Empire
Branch/serviceSpanish Army
Years of servicec. 1620-c. 1660
RankCaptain

Biography

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Pedro Morales y Mercado was born about 1610 in Ciudad de Rodrigo, (Spain), son of Juan de Morales y Mercado and Blanca Enríquez de Soria, belonging to a noble family,[2] possibly related to the House of Enríquez.[3]

Towards the year 1630 he moved to Buenos Aires, where served as Captain in the Fuerte de Buenos Aires. On January 1, 1651 Antonio de la Torre Herrera and Pedro Morales y Mercado, swore before the Governor Jacinto de Láriz, as mayors of first and second vote of the City of Buenos Aires.[4] That same year, Morales was named Alférez Real, being in charge of carrying the Royal Standard in the St. Martin's Day.[5]

Pedro Morales y Mercado served for more than thirty years to the Spanish Empire. In 1660 he was appointed to the position of Lieutenant Governor and Lieutenant general of the Río de la Plata, the highest hierarchical post after the Governor.[6]

He also had held various senior positions during the Viceroyalty of Peru, serving as Captain, Chief Justice[7] and Treasurer of Buenos Aires.[8] His wife was María Manzanares y Aguilar, daughter of Francisco de Manzanares y Dardos, a Spanish politician, born in Toledo, and Leonor de Aguilar Pérez de Burgos, born in Buenos Aires.[9] Pedro de Morales y Mercado maintained ties with the families of Ignacio Fernández de Agüero and Juan Báez de Alpoim, who attended as witnesses at the wedding of one of their daughters.[10]

References

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  1. ^ Historia, Volumen 10,Número 38 -Volumen 11,Número 45, Argentina, 1965
  2. ^ Nobiliario del antiguo virreynato del Río de la Plata, Librería y editorial "La Facultad", Bernabé y cía., 1938
  3. ^ Estudios genealógicos, heráldicos y nobilarios en honor de Vicente Cadenas y Vincent, 1978, ISBN 9788400037796
  4. ^ Acuerdos del extinguido Cabildo de Buenos Aires, Volume 11, P. E. Coni e hijos, 1914, 1914
  5. ^ Buenos Aires en el siglo XVII, Ricardo de Lafuente Machaín, 1980
  6. ^ Historia de la Argentina: Consolidación de la labor pobladora, 1600-1700, Vicente D. Sierra, 1967
  7. ^ Acuerdos del extinguido Cabildo de Buenos Aires, Volumen 11, Talleres gráficos de la Penitenciaria nacional 1914, 1914
  8. ^ Registro estadístico de la provincia de Buenos Aires, Partes 1-2, Buenos Aires (Argentina : Province). Oficina de Estadística General, 1860
  9. ^ Colección de Documentos Sobre Los Conquistadores y Pobladores Del Río de La Plata, Jorge F. Lima González Bonorino, Hernán Carlos Lux-Wurm, 2001, ISBN 9789879768822
  10. ^ Vida pública y vida privada, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras de la Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina, 1996, ISBN 9789879603703
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