[XVII‑14] Montejo, Carta, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., ii. 231-2, 245; Alvarado, in Id., 255. In a letter to the king, Montejo says he had heard that his Majesty had been informed that Alvarado would, on his return to Honduras, find the amount of the king's fifth to be 100,000 castellaños, but that the statement was unfounded, the sum being only 12,000 castellaños. The cause assigned for the deficiency was the stoppage of certain mining works which had been operated by gangs of Indians from Salvador and Guatemala on account of the great mortality among them. The order for the stoppage of the work emanated from Maldonado, acting governor of Guatemala, and presumably occurred before the assumption of the government by Montejo.
[XVII‑15] Montejo was on bad terms with Pedraza, but gained his intercession by approaching him when he was in an amiable mood. He accuses him of boasting that his authority was greater than that of the governor and that a letter from him to the emperor would at once procure his dismissal. He also states that on one occasion he was compelled to turn back from an expedition on which he had started, news having reached him that Pedraza was disturbing the country by his harsh treatment of the Indians, and that he had some difficulty in restoring quiet. Montejo, in Id., 248-51, 258-9. It is not improbable that this may have been the case, for in a letter quoted in Squier's MSS., xxii. 26, 27, Pedraza states that in 1547 he petitioned for leave to found a settlement in the Indian village of Jutical, in Comayagua, and to grant repartimientos to those who should furnish him the means, claiming that he was specially inspired by the holy spirit to carry out the pacification of the natives by prayer and persuasion. The ecclesiastic was a young man; vain, ambitious, covetous, and one who would not hesitate to prostitute his profession if it would serve his own interests.
[XVII‑16] The amount was 17,000 pesos according to Oviedo, iv. 23.
[XVII‑17] In a letter to the emperor, dated Trujillo, May 1, 1547, Pedraza states that he would gladly have gone in person to aid Gasca in Peru, were it not that his journey to Portugal five years before and the time he had lost in Spain awaiting the papal bull, consumed the greater part of his fortune. Pedraza, Carta, in Squier's MSS., xxii. 18. It is not probable, however, that he was in any great danger of poverty, for he made large sums of money by his traffic in slaves.
[XVII‑18] During this absence of Pedraza, Bishop Marroquin of Guatemala had charge of the diocese and made various pastoral visits through the province, on which occasions he was afterward accused by the former of having spent more than 12,000 pesos of the episcopal revenues. Marroquin in refuting this charge refers to Alonso Maldonado, president of the audiencia, and affirms that though he spent over 1,000 castellanos during his journeys going and coming, he never received one peso de oro in return. Marroquin, Carta al Principe Don Felipe, in Cartas de Indias, 449.
[XVII‑19] This cathedral was dedicated to the 'Conception of Our Lady' and had five dignitaries with salaries ranging from 150 down to 40 pesos a year. Gonzalez Dávila, Teatro Ecles., i. 304 et seq.
[XVII‑20] See Hist. Cent. Amer., ii., and Hist. Mex., ii., passim, this series.
[XVII‑21] Before his appointment he was an oidor of the audiencia of Mexico, and acting governor of Guatemala.
[XVII‑22] In Remesal, Hist. Chyapa, 206, and Cartas de Indias, 776, the audiencia is said to have held its opening session May 16, 1544, whereas in a letter to the emperor dated December 30, 1545, and signed by President Maldonado and all the oidores, it is distinctly stated: 'En 15 Marzo desembarcaron los Licc. Herrera i Rogel. En 13 Mayo nos juntamos en Auda i luego se pregonaron las Nuevas Ordenanzas.' Audiencia, Carta, in Squier's MSS., xxii. 130.
[XVII‑23] Pedraza had been summoned from San Pedro del Puerto de Caballos, whence he had only come after repeated solicitations. Had he persisted it would have been necessary for Las Casas and Valdivieso to proceed to that town in company with Marroquin, for it was required that three prelates should assist at the ceremony of consecration. Pedraza was on bad terms with the two former, who state that they have heard things related of him. 'Que pareçen no buenas, y muchos escandalos.' Las Casas and Valdivieso, Relacion in Cartas de Indias, 19-23.