Rodrigo de Frías

Brief Biography

Rodrigo de Frías was born sometime between 1512 and 1515 in Talavera de la Reina (Toledo) to Licenciado Frías and Elena de Lovado. He obtained a license for New Spain in May 1536 and traveled with fellow expeditionary Gaspar de Guadalupe. Prior to the Expedition setting out, Rodrigo received a salary from Viceroy Mendoza, placing him within the viceroy's inner circle. He was approximately twenty-eight years old when he went on the Expedition, serving in Vázquez de Coronado's company. Upon his return, Rodrigo settled in western Mexico, married Casilda de Mayoral (possibly the daughter of fellow expeditionary Pedro Mayoral), had at least one daughter, and held numerous governmental positions.

Gender
Male
Title (Y/N)
No
Date of Birth
1512-1515
Age Set
25-35
Country of Origin
Spain
Place of Birth (City/Town)
Talavera de la Reina
Place of Birth (modern province/state/region)
Toledo
Died on the Expedition?
No
Last Known Location
Guadalajara, Mexico
Position on Expedition
Horseman
Within Viceroy Mendoza's Sphere
Yes
Post Expedition Occupation
Mill owner
Alcalde Mayor
Alcalde Ordinario
Encomendero
Residence After Expedition
Guadalajara, New Spain
Married
Yes
Name of Spouse
Casilda de Mayoral
Name of Children
doña Bernaldina de Frías
Ability to sign name
Yes
Relatives
father: Licenciado Frías; mother: Elena de Lovado
References-Documentary

1530-1540:

AGI, Pasajersos, L.2, E.2587 = Boyd-Bowman, Indice geobiográfico, II:11121  [May 2, 1536; Talavera de la Reina; to New Spain] [father: Licenciado Frías; mother: Elena de Lovado];

AGI, Justicia, 258, pieza 1, “Relación de los salarios” [fol.800r:Nov. 1539, a rrodrigo de frias...L pesos]

1540-1550:

1540, Feb: Muster in Flint & Flint, Documents, Document 12 [3 horses, elk hide jacket, native arms, in Vázquez de Coronado's company]

AGI, Justicia, 267, N.3, “Proceso de Francisco Vázquez” [Frías, estante en México, was de oficio witness] [could sign his name-no signature on copy] [lived in home of doña Francisca, widow of Francisco Flores] [in Pedro de Tovar's camp] = witness: AGI, Justicia, 1021, N.2, Pieza 4 [Información];

AGI, Justicia, 258, pieza 1, “Relación de los salarios” [fol. 820r:a rrodrigo de frias...May 23, 1545...cxxx pesos];

AGI, Justicia, 1021, N.2, pieza 5, “Probanza de don García López de Cárdenas” [México, end of 1547 and early 1548 (por parte)] [Frías, estante en México, more than 25 years old; says that the Indians had fuertes de madera];

AGI, Justicia, 1021, N.2, pieza 6, “Probanza del fiscal Villalobos” [México, January 10, 1547] [Frías, native of Talavera, estante in México, about 30 years old] [could sign his name (no signature on copy)];

Catálogo, Resumen e Índices [México, 5 septiembre 1564, Francisco Domínguez, vecino de la Ciudad Real de Chiapa, estante en México, hace declaración en favor de Luis de Villarreal, mercader, vecino de México, por cuanto Melchor de Villarreal, estante en la Ciudad Real de Chiapa, entregó a Pedro Ruiz, vecino de la dicha ciudad, [...continues] Firmó. Testigos: Rodrigo de Frías, Nicolás de Morales y Cristóbal Pérez, vecinos];

Catálogo, Resumen e Índices [México, 13 julio 1565, Pedro de Salcedo, vecino, se obliga a pagar a Francisco de Mendoza, librero, vecino, [...continues] Firmó. Testigos: Rodrigo de Frías, Miguel de Écija y Juan Bautista, impresor, vecinos y estantes]

1550-1560:

AGI, Justicia, 202, N.1, R.1 [El fiscal contra Guido de Labazares y su esposa, Inéz Álvarez de Gibraleón, 1551-1560; Sebastián Rodríguez en nombre de Inés Álvarez de Gibraleón muger que fue de Francisco Rodríguez de Zacatula difunto; a witness in December 1550 in the ciudad de México is Rodrigo de Frías, vecino de Guadalajara, estante en México, more than 25 years old; este testigo fue por soldado la dicha jornada [de Cíbola], can sign but no signature on copy];

1560-1570:

AGI, Patronato, 182, R.3 [October 1561, Guadalajara: interrogatorio asks whether the witnesses know Rodrigo Frías vecino de Guadalajara and alcalde mayor of the mines of Comanja y Señora que estan en este reino; and whether they know don Diego de Guevara, alcalde mayor que fue de este reino [Nueva Galicia]; central issue is whether the Rio Grande as far as Querétero is one of the boundaries of Nueva Galicia; Guanajuato and the valle de Oxitipa are also involved; petition mentions that Francisco Vázquez de Coronado, gobernador que fue, conceded Querétaro to Pedro Vázquez, vecino de Compostela; then de la Torre gave it to Francisco Barron, vecino de Guadalajara; a Pedro Gómez de Contreras is mentioned as a former teniente de alcalde mayor en las minas de Guanajuato; then "vuestra audiencia deste reino proveydo a Rodrigo de Frías, vecino de Guadalajara por alcalde mayor y justicia en las minas nuevas que se han descubierto en las sierras de Comanja que estan mucho mas cercanas a esta dicha ciudad [Guadalajara]...y estando el dicho alcalde mayor Rodrigo de Frías administrando e haciendo justicia un Juan de Jaso, vecino de la ciudad de México, con mano armada y gente que consigo trajo...;" Jaso went to where Frías was "con vara alta y con mucha gente armada y entro en las dichas minas...y le quito la vara que asi tenia en las manos forzablemente...y le maltrato e le trajo su persona;" Jaso had a provisión from Luis de Velasco; Pedro de Ledesma is one of the signatories to the petition, as a regidor of Guadalajara; Juan Tellez, escribano público, mentions ongoing pleitos with Cristóbal Pérez and Álvaro Ruiz, procuradores de la audiencia real de Nueva España, and with several other persons; an Hernando Alvarado, estante en Guadalajara, is a witness in November 1561; according to interrogatorio, Nuño de Guzmán granted Querétaro to Lope de Samaniego; "por fin y muerte del dicho Lope de Samaniego Francisco Vázquez de Coronado, gobernador que fue...deposito el pueblo de queretaro en Pero Vázquez, vecino de la ciudad de Compostela;" a witness to the presentation of witnesses is Francisco Roxo, vecino de Guadalajara; witnesses called include Rodrigo de Frías and Alonso Martín, vecinos de Guadalajara; Alonso Martín is a conquistador of Nueva Galicia, more than 55 years old; he only heard about Vázquez de Coronado substituting Pedro Vázquez for Lope de Samaniego; according to witness Diego Hurtado, "Pedro Vázquez vino a este reino al tiempo que el gobernador Francisco Vázquez de Coronado volvio de la conquista de Cíbola...y el dicho Francisco Vázquez lo tenia por suyo [because Pedro Vázquez had lost his mind] e ? xaramyllo trato pleito sobre ello e este vido que paso en el año de quarenta e tres"]; Bernardina de Frias, 13 July 1619, fol.60r, descendant?];

Fernández Sotelo, La Primigenia Audiencia Nueva Galicia [p.172, 192-93:30 July 1564, mines of Comanja, Rodrigo de Frías, vecino is named alcalde mayor; ["Testimonio de los naturales que hay en los pueblos de Indios de Galicia", 20 Feb. 1570, Pueblo de Jalostitlán, de Rodrigo de Frías, 250 indios, p.299];

 Gerhard, North Frontier, 106 [The only other encomienda here--Los Altos de Jalisco--Xalostotlitlán, held by Rodrigo de Frías in 1570, by Casilda de Mayoral in 1592-1595, and by doña Bernaldina de Frías in 1604-1606];

1570-1580:

AGN, Instituciones Coloniales, GD110, Real Audiencia, Tierras, vol.3506, exp.1, 1573-95 [Guadalajara, October 12, 1572, Rodrigo de Frías como [segundo] marydo y conjunta persona de casilda de mayoral [first husband was Pedro Cuadrado) contra los bienes y herederos de Jhoan de çaldivar difunto; autos por Rodrigo de Frías, vecino de Guadalajara, and Juan de Zaldívar, difunto [by November 1571], y doña María de Mendoza, su muger, por la posesión de una caballería de tierra [de pan llevar] llamada Toluquilla [en la valle de Tototitlán, en términos de Guadalajara; on the camino a Tonolá sobre la caballería de tierra y de rriego y molino y frutos; Frías asks for the return of this property and its products; a Cristóbal Pérez is procurador for Zaldívar; case initiated by Frías in 1567; Zaldívar is accused of having entered the property [that had yielded seis mil fanegas de trigo] by force three years before; Casilda took possession of the property after her first husband’s death; final ruling in favor of Frías; when the property was remarked in January 1573, Frías took a black [slave?] with him; a bachiller Alonso Hernández, escribano, is paid three pesos for examining titles; in 1593, Juan Toledano (who had been Frías’ procurador) now writes on behalf of the Jesuit college of Guadalajara and on behalf of Gómez Alvarado, son-in-law of Frías; he describes Frías as “señor del molino que mis partes poseen agora;” in 1591 there is an adult daughter named doña Bernaldina de Frías, wife of Gómez de Alvarado; in 1586 [by which time Frías has died] Casilda de Mayoral sold “un labor de trigo” to Bernardo de Balbuena “con casas de vivienda, casas para encerrar el maíz, corrales, cocina, casa de moças con su apareo con un molino de pan moliente y corriente que entre noche y día molia diez y seis fanegas de trigo,” less than two leagues from Guadalajara, “Calava de Taluquilla;” price was 1,300 pesos de oro común; a witness to a poder from Juan de Zaldívar in 1566 is Alonso Sánchez el mozo, vecino de Guadalajara; from Rodrigo de Frías and Casilda de Mayoral’s interrogatorio: Casilda’s first husband, Pedro Cuadrado, received the caballería by grant made by Francisco Vázquez de Coronado; “Rodrigo de Frías y sus criados plowed and planted the land;” the land is irrigated from a spring on top of a peñol; Indian leaders from the pueblo of San Pedro are also questioned later; from Juan de Zaldívar’s interrogatorio: in September 1567 a Francisco Roxo, interprete de la real audiencia, translates the testimony of an indio principal in Guadalajara; a witness in 1567 is a Cristóbal Pérez, carnicero, vecino de Guadalajara, more than 30 years old, has known Zaldívar and Frías for 20 years (must not be our man); most of the witnesses for Zaldívar in 1567 are Indians; signature of Francisco Roxo; Another interrogatorio on behalf of Zaldívar in Zacatecas: witness Hernán Martel has known both Zaldívar and Frías for more than 25 years (that is, since at least 1542); in 1559 or so Martel went to talk with Frías “a sus pueblos donde el dicho Rodrigo de Frías estava y residio; Rodrigo de Frías is still alive in November 1569, when he is called to make a deposition in Guadalajara; Casilda Mayoral also makes a deposition: she has known Juan de Zaldívar since 1541 or 1542; she and Rodrigo had planted “higueras y otros árboles frutiferos;” in 1569 she is about 45 years old; she evidently signed, but no signaturenature; Frías is still alive on October 27, 1573, when he and Casilda and doña Marina de Mendoza (who cannot sign) jointly sign an agreement about supply of water to the molino at Toluquilla; costs are to be split ¾ by Marina de Mendoza and ¼ by Frías and Mayoral; in that year Frías is alcalde ordinario for Guadalajara (signed)];

Archivo General Municipal, Guadalajara, AC 3/1573, Ant. Paq. 1, Leg. 1 [fol.3: 1573, a Rodrigo de Frias is the alcalde ordinario];

Garmendia Leal, Fundadores [p.48: Familias de Guadalajara, from protocolos of Rodrigo Hernández Cordero, rollo 026637, 1585-91, in Dec. 1573 and August 1574, Frías says he is 60+ years old];

Palomino y Cañedo, Protocolos de Rodrigo Hernández Cordero, Anotaciones, #1 [p.163: regarding a memorial made by fray Miguel Lozano in Guadalajara in 1575; witness was Rodrigo de Frias, vecino of 60 more or less; saw Lozano being the vicar in Teucaltiche, Teucualtiche and Taltenango; #30, p.212: regarding fray Antonio de Mendoza, witness in 1574 in Guadalajara, Rodrigo de Frias, vecino of 60 more or less; #31, H, p.218: regarding Luis Gómez de Alvarado, witness in 1573 and alcalde ordinario, Rodrigo de Frias, more than 60 years old, poblador and says está en ésta tierra que ha mas de 37 años]

Other Info:

AGI, Justicia, 263, Pieza 1, “Probanza de don Antonio de Mendoza, Zacatula” [alcalde ordinario of Zacatula Diego Ruíz tells of having talked to a “fulano frias” who went on the expedition];

Hillerkuss, Documentalia  [Frías, Rodrigo de sworn statement by Pedro, indio, criado of Frías [note 90: Rodrigo de Frías encomendero en Los Altos de Jalisco. Tenía una hacienda 45 km al SE de León, (Guanajuato?)], p.95];

Hillerkuss, Diccionario Biográfico, vol.2  [born between 1512 and 1515; regidor of Guadalajara, 9/1550 together with Juan de Zaldivar y Oñate, Pedro de Ledesma, Francisco Cornejo; owns estancia Quadrado in the Altas de Jalisco, 1551; 1557, regidor in Guadalajara; 1561, vecino of Guadalajara, alcalde mayor of the mines of Comanja; expelled from the mines by force by a group headed by Juan de Jaso in 1561; 1564 back in the mines; 1569 encomendero Xalostotlan; 1573, alcalde ordinario, Guadalajara; witness for don Luis Gómez de Alvarado, 1573; daughter or granddaughter, Bernaldina de Frias; 1573, legal cases with Juan de Zaldívar y Mendoza, regarding a caballeria called Toluquilla; 1574, witness in Guadalajara, regarding a monastery; 1575, witness for Miguel Lozano in Guadalajara, p.2:167-68];

Relatives:

AHAG, Justicia, Provisorato, 1562-1616, Caja 1 [Guadalajara, 15 June 1588; witness to poder-Luis de Frias, descendant?];

AGI, Contratación, 5218, N.85 [licencia de pasajero a indias de Rodrigo de Frías Albornoz, natural de Talavera, hijo de Lázaro de Frías (el Viejo) y Beatriz de Contreras, a Nueva España, 1555];

AGI, Pasajeros, L.3, E.3274 [Rodrigo de Frías Albornoz]