Antonio de Mendoza (1490-1552) was a Spanish viceroy in Mexico and Peru who inaugurated the system of viceregal administration, which lasted nearly three centuries.

Antonio de Mendoza was born near Granada into one of the country's oldest and most famous families. He entered the service of Emperor Charles V, for whom he performed a number of successful diplomatic missions in Italy. He was then selected to become the first Spanish viceroy of New Spain in the New World, where he arrived in 1535.

Mendoza proved a prudent, firm, and hardworking viceroy. He had the difficult task of consolidating the royal authority, correcting the abuses of tyrannical officials, completing the pacification and conversion of the conquered Indians, and promoting the economic prosperity of the new colony to the maximum advantage of the royal treasury.

Conservative Regent

Mendoza showed a patriarchal concern for the natives and did much to secure improved...