Gonzalo Yáñez was a native of Guadalcanal (Sevilla province) and son of Gonzalo Yáñez de Ortega and Juana Páez. He was the brother of fellow expeditionary Antón Ruiz. Gonzalo was present at the 1540 muster as a footman. It would appear from the documentary record that Gonzalo was a scribe, as apparently was his father who went to Santo Domingo in 1527. Eventually Gonzalo moved to Quito. The Yáñez name was somewhat common in Guadalcanal and muddies the documentary record for the expeditionary.
1540-1550:
1540, Feb: Muster in Flint & Flint, Documents, Document 12 [round shield, sword, native arms, footman]
AGI, Justicia, 273, N. 2, “Visita a Cristóbal Pérez, escribano del número, 1546” [includes copy of Proceso criminal de Andrés Xuárez, 1538] [witness, Juan de Vitoria, can sign his name, was playing cards and lost; owed money and made an obligation before Gonzalo Yáñes, escribano de su majestad]
1550-1560:
AGI, Pasajeros, L.3, E.3332 [1556, Gonzalo Yáñez, escribano de número de la ciudad de San Francisco de Quito, vecino de ella, y natural de Guadalcanal, hijo de Gonzalo Yáñez de Ortega y de Juana Páez, al Perú]
AGI, Contratación, 474B, N.4, R.2 [Autos por donde consta las personas a quien pertenecen 3 barras de palata venidas de San Juan de la Frontera de los Chachapoyas, por bienes de difuntos, Truxillo (Peru), 1578; begins in 1557; one of the persons listed is a Gonzalo Yañez; Diego de Pineda is corregidor y justicia mayor en esta dicha ciudad y su tierra and Antonio de Paz is escribano; a Juan Cortés is corregidor of la Frontera de Chachapoyas; 789 pesos de plata en barras y menuda; don Hurtado de Mendoza, marqués de Cañete, is virrey del Perú; next step is in Trujillo in 1559; now Cortés sends a statement of who the silver belonged to, so that everything can be forwarded to Spain in the navío of maestre Gonzalo Martín; a don Juan de Sandoval is alcalde of Trujillo and has one of the three keys to the caja; then things jump back to January 1557 in Frontera de los Chachapoyas; the tenedores de bienes de difuntos there are called in to produce an accounting; “ytem se les hase cargo de la moneda E ynventario de gonçalo iañez difunto que parecse que sumo y monto ciento y treinta y un [131] pesos;” of this amount the tenedores have only 116 pesos]
Other info: ?Méndez Venegas, Emigrantes a América, no# [Extremadura, vecino of Guadalcanal; had debts with Hernán López Ortiz, when he went to the Indies];
Piferrer, Nobiliario, 4:182-183, #1812 [family name comes from the proper name, Ivan; very ancient; family seat in Galicia; don Rodrigo Yáñez in 1500 in Galicia]
brother: AGI, Pasajeros, L.2, E.2513 [April 2, 1536, Antón Ruíz, hijo de Gonzalo Yáñez Ortega y de Juana Páez, natural de Guadalcanal, a Nueva España (this Gonzalo Yáñez is the brother of the Antón Ruíz who was a member of the expedition also from Guadalcanal) [the two are separated by only two people on the muster roll];
AGI, Pasajeros, L.3, E.3344 [1556, Alonso de Ortega, native of Guadalcanal, merchant, son of Gonzalo Yáñez de Ortega y de Juana Páez, a Tierra Firme (this is yet another brother)]
?AGI, Pasajeros, L. 2, E. 2222 [January 13, 1536, Alonso de Ortega y Isabel Sánchez, con Catalina y Benita, sus hijas, vecinos de Guadalcanal, a Nueva España (probably another brother who left on the same ship as Antón Ruíz)];
Relatives: ?AGS, Contadurías Generales, 3072 [from 1557: Gonzalo Yáñez and Rodrigo Yáñez, vecinos de Guadalcanal…estuvieron por guardas de los pozos y fundiciones de la mina de Guadalcanal en que se ocuparon mas de tres meses;” they received 1,000 maravedíes; and they received another 140,000 maravedíes “por ciertos montonales [montonal = cosas puestas sin orden una encima de otras] y relaves [partículas de mineral que el agua del lave arrastra] que les dio el dicho Martín Delgado por la guarda que hizieron en las dichas entremeses;” Typical example of the “relaciones de la plata que ha procedido y se ha afinado en estas minas [de Guadalcanal]”: “dende cinco de Marzo hasta catorze del dicho mes deste año de mill y quinientos y sesenta y ocho años se han afinados en estas minas de vuestra magestad termino de Guadalcanal diez y nueve planchas de plata fina que pesaron mill y ducientos y veinte marcos y seis onzas”; not if he is in Peru in 1556, his father?];
?Pérez-Embid Wamba, Aracena [p.65: in 1486 a Gonzalo Yáñez Monís is head of family of lower-middle economic status; 79: in 1407 a Gonzalo Yáñez was an escribano público and also alguacil in Aracena];
?AGI, Contratación, 198, N.19 [1558, Francisco Muñoz, espadero, vecino of Mexico City sending money to Spain, is the albacea, signed (no signature); 1551 will of Antón Sánchez Sandoval, owes Martín Sánchez, vecino of the mines of Guachinango; received merchandise from Juan Yáñes vecino of Guadalcanal and presently in Yçatlan; Juan de Peñas, mayordomo del ospital de Nuestra Señora de la Concepcion in Mexico City, signed his statement (no signature on copy, 9 Oct. 1551];
?AGI, Indiferente General, 1952, L.2 [fol. 101: April 12, 1583, Real cédula...para que dejen pasar a Nueva España a Gonzalo Yáñez vecino de Guadalcanal, llevando a su mujer e hijos]
Gonzalo Yañez Ortega, father:
AGI, Pasajeros, L.1, E.3428 = Boyd-Bowman, Indice geobiográfico, II:8526 [September 13, 1527, Gonzalo Yáñez de Ortega, natural de Guadalcanal, hijo de Antón Ruíz de Ortega y de Mari González, a Santo Domingo] [this probably is the father of Gonzalo Yáñez and Antón Ruíz];
AGI, Indiferente General, 425, L.23 [fols. 209v - 210r: November 13, 1555, Licencia a Gonzalo Yáñez Ortega para pasar a Indias 2 esclavos y 1 esclava, negros, para servicio personal];
AGI, Mapas y Planos, Escudos, 97 [1567; Escudo de armas solicitado por Gonzalo Yañez Ortega vecino de Guadalcanal; "un escudo con un hombre armado que quita la bandera a un tirano y le pone la espada en los pechos y se la quita en favor de su magestad"];
AGI, Contratación, 471, N.4, R.2 [Quito, bienes de difuntos de Alonso de Aranda, mercader], native of Hinojosa, María de Aranda was sister to Alonso de Aranda; case in the Casa de Contratación because the heirs have not received the money sent by Aranda, request made in Madrid 10 Dec. 1568; in Tierra Firme; Quito, 1 Jan 1564 it was stated that Aranda, merchant, died about 11 months before; paid Gonzalo Yáñez Ortega, escribano, 6 pesos, 3 tomines, 6 granos; Aranda is estante in Quito; Will made in Quito, 7 Feb. 1563- Juan de Aranda is his son, apparently still in Hinojosa; 300 masses to be said for him in Fuente Obejuna; has a slave, Catalina, who was Isabel de Mejía's; he names albaceas in Spain -his brother Diego Sánchez Pozuelo, sister - María de Aranda, Melchior de Morales, and Juan de Aranda; also names some in Quito; heirs-Diego Mendez, Carlos de Salazar, Pedro de Ruanes, vecinos and Pedro de Ortega Guillén, vecino; witness to the will includes Andrés Martín, estante in Quito; 21 Feb. 1563-Aranda states-his father was Gil Hernández de Aranda, mother-Leonor Martín, both deceased; he is sick in bed, adds a codicil: Capitan Juan Proçel vecino que fue desta ciudad le devia por vertud de una obligacion ciertos pesos de ora que no se ha alerda quantos son la qual esta en su cofre los quales pesos de oro contenidos en la dicha escriptura de obligacion el dicho Juan Proçel le dio e pago lo en ella contenido por tanto dixo que la da por ninguna e de ningun efecto e valor e da por libre e quito al dicho capitan Juan Proçel de los pesos de oro en ella contenidos e a sus bienes e herederos [fol. 13r]; 25 Feb. 1563-still sick in bed, wants to endow a capilla in San Juan church in Hinojosa; and money to the convent Nuestra Señora de la Merced; signed his name (no signature); a shipment of gold and silver was registered for Aranda = over 673 pesos; gross estate of 2516 pesos from 635 in auction sales, 942 debt collection, 785 collected in silver, 106 pesos in gold and silver, 48 pesos in silver; [fol. 6r-7r] an Alonso Saavedra is paid one and a half pesos from Aranda's estate; a Maese Miguel is paid five pesos from Aranda's estate that the deceased owed him; Francisco Gómez is owed 3 pesos; in his will of February 1563 Aranda gives four pesos to each of the cofradias of Santisimo Sacramento, Vera Cruz, and Nuestra Señora de la Colevación; and he gives 15 pesos each to two pueblos of Indians (Chultos--Juan de Padilla and Tiquezambe--Pedro Martín Montanero); he establishes a capellanía in Hinojosa for a chapel to be built in the iglesia de San Juan; 10 pesos to the mayordomo del colegio de San Andrés; and he directs that ornaments and real property that can serve the capellanía; the clerigo is to be whatever relative is nearest to Aranda who is qualified; he delegates the role of padrón for the Capellanía to his brother Diego Sánchez Pozuelo, Melchior de Morales, and his son Juan de Aranda, all vecinos de Hinojosa; Aranda also leaves 100 pesos for Juana, his niece and daughter of Diego Sánchez, difunto, que era natural de Cumbres Mayores, and who (Juana) is in the house of Juan Flamenco in Quito; Aranda owes 9 pesos to "Miranda el viejo;" he owes 5 pesos to Maese Miguel, cirujano, "por siete dias que me curo;" Aranda has a book of accounts; he is a mercader and has a tienda in Quito; he owns a black woman slave, Catalina, who formerly belonged to Isabel Mejía; his albaceas in Spain are the three padrones above plus his sister María de Aranda; his albaceas in Peru are Diego Méndez, Carlos de Salazar, and Pedro de Ruanes, all vecinos de Quito, also a Pedro de Ortega Guillén, also vecino de Quito; [and signs (his signo on image 14 Verso]