leaving the European prisoners still in the alhóndiga under guard.[1]
The reader will recollect that when the bishopric of Michoacan was established in 1536, Tzintzuntzan was elected as the cathedral town.[2] In 1554, however, the episcopal seat was removed to Patzcuaro,[3] whence it was finally transferred in 1580 to the city of Valladolid, in conformity with a bull issued by Pius V. in 1571.[4] This city was originally founded by Cristóbal Olid in the valley of Guayangaréo, which name was bestowed upon the town and retained until 1540, when it was refounded and formally settled by Viceroy Mendoza, who changed the name to that of Valladolid in honor of his birthplace in Spain. For the purpose of insuring its stability and prosperity, Mendoza sent several noble Spanish families from Mexico to the revived settlement, and among the first settlers mention must be made of Juan de Villaseñor Cervantes, from whose family Iturbide was descended. In 1553 Charles V. ennobled the city and granted it a coat of arms.[5]
- ↑ Hidalgo's route lay through the valley of Santiago and Acámbaro.
- ↑ See Hist. Mex., ii. 392, this series. Tzintzuntzan is Tarascan for humming-bird, a name which the town derived from the great numbers found in the vicinity, the capture of which and the use of the plumage in ornamenting mosaic and hieroglyphical designs constituted an important occupation of the inhabitants. Romero, Notic. Mich., 78.
- ↑ N. Esp. Brev. Res., MS., ii. 247. Romero states that the removal took place in 1540. Notic. Mich., 71. Patzcuaro, before the conquest, was a suburban ward of Tzintzuntzan, and became the pleasure resort of the Michoacan monarchs who built their court there. According to some linguists, the meaning of the word is 'the place of joy.' Ib.
- ↑ N. Esp. Brev. Res., MS., ii. 247.
- ↑ Ib.; Villaseñor, Teat., ii. 8-9; Gonzalez Dávila, Teat. Ecles., i. 107; Romero, Notic. Mich., 40. In Gonzalez Dávila, page 136, is given a wood-cut of the arms. The shield, which is surrounded by a crown, is divided in three parts, two occupying the upper portion and the third the lower. In each division is the representation of a crowned king holding a sceptre in his right hand, the left being extended with the palm open. The field is surrounded by a scrolled border. The arms first granted in 1553 were different. They consisted of a plain unornamented shield, surmounted by a crown and divided horizontally. In the upper half is a lake with a peñol in the centre, on the summit of which stands a church of St Peter. Three smaller eminences rise from the lake at the base. In the lower half is a representation of the cathedral, which was dedicated to San Salvador. Id, 110. The three kings according to Romero were intended to represent Cárlos V., his brother Maximiliano, and Philip II.
