Juan Cerón

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Juan Cerón
2nd and 4th Governor of Puerto Rico
In office
28 October 1509 – 2 March 1510
MonarchJoanna
Ferdinand II of Aragón
Nicolás de Ovando
Diego Columbus
Preceded byJuan Ponce de León
Succeeded byJuan Ponce de León
In office
28 November 1511 – 2 June 1512
MonarchJoanna
Ferdinand II of Aragón
Diego Columbus
Preceded byJuan Ponce de León
Succeeded byRodrigo Moscoso
Personal details
ProfessionConquistador

Juan Cerón was a Spanish conquistador who served as the second and fourth governor of Puerto Rico from 1509 to 1510, and 1511 to 1512. He was aligned with Diego Columbus and opposed to Juan Ponce de León.

Biography

Cerón arrived in Puerto Rico in 1509.[1] He was aligned with Diego Columbus and was appointed to political officers by Columbus.[2]

Cerón's legacy in the history of the island is tainted by the rivalries between Nicolas de Ovando and Columbus.[3][4] When Columbus retook possession of his father's title of "Admiral of the Seas" and the governorship of Hispaniola in 1509, he dispatched Cerón to Puerto Rico with the title of Alcalde Mayor to replace Ovando's favorite, Juan Ponce de León.[5]

Cerón took office as governor on 28 October 1509[6] while his brother Martín was made alguacil mayor.[7][8] He instituted a new repartimiento against the indigenous population and took away natives that were assigned to colonists by de León.[6] The monarchy of Spain gave Cerón permission to enslave all indigenous people who were captured in combat.[9] King Ferdinand II of Aragon appointed de León as captain governor on 2 March 1510,[10] and de León arrested the Cerón brothers on 10 July before sending them to Spain.[8]

Távora was built by Cristóbal de Sotomayor in 1509, but moved the settlement in 1510 due to indigenous opposition.[11] Cerón constructed a new city near the former site of Távora and named it San Germán.[12]

Columbus restored Cerón as governor. A second repartimiento was instituted by Cerón on 25 July 1511, and ordered the indigienious population to work in gold mines.[13]

Cerón's governorship did not end well; complaints about his handling of the Repartimiento of Indians prompted the Crown to remove him and reinstall Ponce de León as governor in 1513.[14][15]

References

  1. Turner 2013, p. 3.
  2. Turner 2020, p. 11.
  3. Abbad y Lasierr, Íñigo (1866). Historia geográfica, civil y natural de la isla de San Juan Bautista de Puerto Rico. Imprenta y librería de Acosta. pp. 84–5.
  4. Siegel, Peter E. (2006). Ancient Borinquen: Archaeology and Ethnohistory of Native Puerto Rico. University of Alabama Press. pp. 343–44. ISBN 0817352384.
  5. Floyd, Troy (1973). The Columbus Dynasty in the Caribbean, 1492-1526. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. pp. 99, 101, 104–105, 129.
  6. Anderson-Córdova 2017, p. 45.
  7. Oliver 2009, p. 201.
  8. Siegel 2009, p. 344.
  9. Stone 2021, p. 37.
  10. Anderson-Córdova 2017, p. 46.
  11. Altman & Wheat 2019, pp. 31–32.
  12. Altman & Wheat 2019, p. 36.
  13. Siegel 2009, p. 345.
  14. Vivas Maldonado, José Luis and Gaetano Massa (1969). The History of Puerto Rico. New York: Las Americas. pp. 70–90.
  15. Irving, Washington (1843). The Complete Works of Washington Irving in One Volume: With a Memoir of the Author. Baudry's European Library. p. 1021.

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