The Conquest of Mexico - Genealogy

In an earlier post, I mentioned that there were "many" Spaniards with Hernan Cortes during the conquest of Mexico. Some additional research has shown me that historians consider the actual number to have been about 2,000 soldiers. Of those, roughly one-fourth to one-third died in battle.

Of those who survived, almost all remained in Mexico, and are the progenitors of nearly the entire population living there now. Here's how it breaks down:

The population at the start of the conquest is estimated to have been about 20 million Indians. Some eighty years later, by the year 1600 that population had dwindled to about one million due to war, disease, starvation, and forced labor.

Today there are 125 million Mexican citizens but during the three centuries between 1600 and 1900, very few people emigrated to Mexico and the country's population grew to only about 15 million.

This means that the roughly 1,500 Spaniards who survived the initial conquest of Mexico were the ancestors of those 15 million and they, in turn, formed the basis for today's 125 million Mexicans. --Not to mention those who migrated north to America or in the opposite direction to Central and South America.

So if you are of Spanish/Mexican descent, and if you have a fairly common Hispanic last name such as Avila, Gonzalez, Vasquez, Moreno, Rodriquez, Garcia, Alvarado, Lopez, or Villalobos (plus 2,000 others), you might want to take a look at the web pages located at  The Conquistadores of Mexico.

You may be surprised to find that someone with your surname fought alongside Cortes. It's worth a visit.

Villalobos and The Conquest of Mexico

In researching the name Villalobos, I came across "The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo."

If you are not familiar with the name, he was one of the soldiers who accompanied Hernan Cortes during the  1519 defeat of the Aztecs of Mexico.

Bernal wrote his memoirs several years later, after reading accounts of what had happened that were written by individuals who hadn't even been there. His account is simple, straighforward and, as far as is known, quite honest.

The reason I mention him and his book is that one of the names he lists is "Villalobos."

And I thought you might be interested to see if your last name is among those who were involved in the conquest by Spain of Mexico nearly 500 years ago.  Here are the surnames, as listed in Bernal Diaz' book:

Aguilar - Alamilla - Alaminos - Alanis - Alerza - Almodovar - Alobancho - Alonso - Alpedrino - Alvarado - Amaya - Angula - Aragon - Arevalo - Arguello - Ario - Artiaga - Astorgos - Avila - Balnor - Barco - Barrientos - Bejel - Berritez - Bonal - Burguenno


Caceres - Camillas - Cardenas - Cardona - Carmonas - Caro - Carrero - Carvajal - Castaneda - Catalan - Cermenno - Cervantes - Chico - Cieza - Corral - Cortes - Cuellar – Cuenca

De Coria - De la Loa - De las Casas - De las Varillas - De Mola - De Palo - Del Puerto - Del Rio - Diaz - Dominguez – Duran

Escalante - Escalona - Escobar - Escudero - Espinosa - Estrada - Farsan - Figuero - Flamenco - Flores - Florin - Gallego - Galvez - Gamboa - Garona - Garcia - Genna - Gorrez - Grado - Granado - Gutierres – Guzman

Hernandez - Herrera - Hurones - Ircio - Jaen - La Serna - Lares - Larios - Lencero - Leon - Lerma - Lopez – Lugo

Madrid - Madrigal - Magallanes - Magarino - Maite - Maldonado - Manquillo - Marin - Martin - Martinez - Median - Medrano - Mendes - Mercado - Mesa - Misa - Monjaraz - Monroy - Montannes - Montejo - Morales - Moreno - Morillas - Morla – Moron

Najara - Navarro - Naxara - Nortes - Nuñez - Ochoa - Oinzones - Ojeda - Olea - Oli - Olmedo - Olmedo - Ordas - Orozco - Orteguilla - Ortiz – Osorio

Pacheco - Palencia - Palma - Pardo - Paredes - Pennalosa - Pennates - Perez - Pinedo - Pizarro - Platero - Plazuela - Polanco - Poron - Porras - Portillo – Quintero - Rabaso - Ramirez - Rapapelo - Ribadeo - Rodriguez - Rojas - Romero – Ruano

Sabrite - San Juan - Sanchez - Sandaña - Sandoval - Santa Clara - Santiago - Santisteban - Saragoza - Saucedo - Sedenno - Siciliano - Solis - Sopuerta – Suarez

Talavera - Terrazas - Tirado - Tostado - Trebejo - Truxillos (Trujillos) - Tuvilla - Umbria

Valdovinos - Valencia - Valenciano - Valladolid - Vandadas - Vargas - Varguillas - Vasquez - Velasquez - Villafuerte - Villalobos - Villanuevas - Villareal – Villasinda

Xaramillo (Jaramillo) - Ximena (Jimena) - Ximenes (Jimenez) - Yannez - Zamisdio

...Quite a list, yet it is incomplete because Diaz couild not recall the names of everyone who took part.
 
We tend to think that the Astecs of Mexico were defeated by "a handful of men" (five or six), but actually there were many. Not "many" compared to the number of Indians against whom they fought, but "many" in the sense of more than a mere handful.
 
Iis your last name among those listed above?

...And here is today's link  Gigliola Cinquetti

Extended Family

I have been thinking about my extended family, but with a special twist on the word "extended."

Normally, in today's society in America, your extended family includes your in-laws, your step-father, step-mothers, step-brothers and step-sisters, etc. But I am thinking more about "extended" in the sense of "stretched out" or "far away" (either in distance or in time).

I have a sister, for instance, whom I have not seen in several years and who lives hundreds of miles away from me. And I have nephews and nieces who live fairly close by -- within driving distance, in fact -- but whom rarely I see.

Yet they are related to me, I watched them grow up, and I've seen them have children of their own.

So why do we remain so far apart (both in time and/or in distance)?

No idea.

My Villa-Lovos family includes:

I. Paz Villalobos (my grandfather, ____-____) m. Modesta Esparza Duenes (____-1951)
   A. Antonio Esparza Villa-Lovos (my father, 1904-2003) m. Stella Valdez (1914-____)
        1. Charles Gastelum Villa-Lovos (myself, 1942-____) m. Sylvia Casaus (1952-____)
            (a) Christopher Michael Villa-Lovos (my son, 1972-____) m. Jessica Lamas (1973-____)
                (i) Charles Anthony Villa-Lovos (my grandson, 1995-____)
                (ii) Julia Villa-Lovos (my granddaughter, (2000-____)

        2. Anthony Peter Villa-Lovos (my brother, 1943-____) m. Sandra Santana (1944-____)
            (a) Anthony Charles Villa-Lovos (my nephew, 1961-____) m. Marie _________ (19__-____)
                (i) Tiana Villa-Lovos (my grand-niece, 1997-____)
            (b) Tracy Villa-Lovos (my nephew, 1963-____)  m. Sherri Doctor (19__-____)
                (i) Kevin Villa-Lovos (my grand-nephew, ____-____)
                (ii) Ashley Villa-Lovos (my grand-niece, ____-____)
            (c) JulieAnn Villa-Lovos (my niece, 1964-____) m. James Angel (19__-____)
                (i) Noah Angel (19__-____)
                (ii) Ethan Angel (10__-____)

        3. Teresa Villa-Lovos (my sister, 1943-____) m. Lawrence Mora
            (a) Jeanette Mora (196_-____)
            (b) Christina Mora (196_-____)
            (c) Laura Mora (196_-____)
            (d) Larry Mora (197_-____)

        3. Anita Grace Villa-Lovos (my sister, 1946-____) m. Jesus Diaz
            (a) Jesse Diaz (19__-____)
            (b) David Diaz (19__-____)

All those members of my family, most of them still living and not all that far away. I guess it's up to me to see them more often, perhaps set up an annual family picnic or something similar.

The Villalobos Family Crest

Heraldry, crest, shield, coat-of-arms, blazons -- all refer more or less to the means by which European families with the same last name could identify themselves as uniquely "us" rather than anonymously "them."

The Villalobos shield, shown here, displays two wolves, one above the other, facing in the same direction.

Heraldry, most popular in the eleventh through sixteenth centuries in western Europe, was never a precise science. It usually began with a drawing by an artist based on the written or spoken description by a nobleman who wanted a family coat-of-arms.

For instance, a man might want to show two golden lions fighting a white eagle on a background of dark blue. Based on this, the artist would draw his interpretation.

Family crests -- whether from England, Spain, Portugal, France, Holland, Germany or Italy -- were used by the nobility and landed gentry of each country.

Over the last two centuries, heraldry has steadily become less significant and less meaningful. Most people of European descent today have no idea if they have a family crest, or what it might look like. ...And most people don't care.

Still, heraldry can be interesting for those of us who have a familial connection -- no matter how distantly removed -- to any of the western European nations. The coat-of-arms or shield by which your last name was once recognized can be a source of pride or, at the very least, a conversation starter.

In case you're thinking the Villalobos crest is just something that was recently made up, here are some of the sources that were researched in order to locate this shield, which dates back to the early 1200s:

• The Encyclopaedia Heraldica, 1828, by William Berry for the College of Arms;, a late 19th century compilation of about 130,000 blazons of European Families by Johan Baptiste Rietstap of the Netherlands;
• A Complete Body of Heraldry by Josseph Edmondson in 1780; and, lastly and most significantly,
• Diccionario de Heraldica by J.A. Schnieper, a resource for Spanish heraldry.

If your last name is Mendoza, Aragon, Vega, Soria, etc., you might consider looking for your own family's shield/coat-of-arms.

It makes for some interesting conversation.

And is today's song from YouTube: Matt Monro - I Will Wait For you

Villalobos Genealogy Sites

What this site is all about.

Yesterday I came across two websites that should be of interest to Villalobos-type people.

One of them is the Villalobos Family Genealogy Forum, in which people whose last name is Villalobos post questions regarding their family roots, whether from Spain, Puerto Rico, the Philippine Islands or elsewhere.

From what I found at this site, though, most of the questions go unanswered, which is a shame.

It seems there should be a better way (or a better place) for people to indicate that they are looking for other family members. I saw many people posting their informatiion and asking for someone to contact them, but there were very few responses.

There really should be a better way. Maybe someday there will be. Any ideas?

The other site I found is the Villalobos section (Chapter 24) of the Castile and Leon Nobility page (it's a very l-o-n-g page). It is part of the Foundation for Medieval Genealogy (http://fmg.ac/) website.

The Villalobos section is near the bottom of this lengthy page, but proved to be quite interesting. It was good to discover that, if nothing else, the name Villalobos goes back at least eight hundred years. Maybe More.

The earliest Villalobos listed was don Rodrigo Gil de Villalobos, son of don Gil Manrique Señor de Manzanedo & his wife doña Teresa Fernández. He was born about 1289.

...Well, I look forward to hearing from anyone named Villalobos, or Villa-Lovos, etc., who happens to stumble across this site.