Robledo
Charles Martínez y Vigil uncovered records pertaining to the request for license to travel to the New World relating to Pedro Robledo and Catalina López (ONMF: 93). These records consist of nineteen pages and are dated 1574. In these records, Pedro Robledo is identified as a "vecino de lugar de Carmena." Carmena was in the jurisdiction of Maqueda. Robledo declared he was married and had children and that he was struggling to make a living in Spain. He wanted to take his family to Mexico City in New Spain where his "primos hermanos," Miguel de Sandoval and Catalina Sánchez, resided. Sandoval and Sánchez are repeatedly referred to as "personas muy ricas" who had written to him many times encouraging Robledo and his family to come live with them.
In a document dated 10 November 1574, Villa de Torrijos (about twenty miles from Maqueda), Pedro Robledo declared he was married legitimately within the Catholic Church with Catalina López and had these children: Ana, Diego, Luis and Lucía. Again he mentioned his cousins in Mexico City, Miguel de Sandoval and Catalina Sánchez. Robledo presented three witnesses on his behalf, Alexo Pérez and Luis Martín, “vecinos del lugar de Carmena,” and Sebastián López de Alcabón [?], vecino of Torrijos.
In the testimony of the witnesses, it is mentioned that the lugar de Carmena is located within the lands of the Duque de Maqueda. Alexo Pérez, age thirty, confirmed that Pedro and his wife were legitimately married and named their children as Diego, Ana, Lucía and Luis. He described Robledo and his wife as "gente honrrada y principal." Pérez further stated that Miguel de Sandoval and Catalina Sánchez were natives of the same area of Maqueda and were cousins of Pedro Robledo. This document has two signatures. The first is difficult to read, but is presumably that of Pedro Robledo. The second signature clearly reads "Cata Lopez." The handwriting for both signatures is similar and may indicate that the document was a copy.
Luis Martín, age twenty-five, declared that for all of his life he had known Pedro Robledo. The rest of his testimony corresponds with that of Alexo Pérez, as does the testimony of Sebastián López de Alcabón [?].
We learn from other related documents that Pedro Robledo had a nephew in his care. This nephew, named Luis, was orphaned as a child and became a ward of Robledo. In 1574, Luis was sixteen years old. Pedro sought license to be granted for him to go to New Spain with his family. Testimony was collected from several people to confirm the relationship between Pedro and his ward. On 7 December 1574, in the lugar de Carmena, jurisdiction of Maqueda, Pedro Robledo declared that his nephew, Luis, had lived with him for the past ten to twelve years, and brought four witnesses to testify to this. The witnesses were Juan de la Cadena y Vega, Juan de la Casa, and Martín de Ysasaga, and Pedro López (son of Francisco López de Sto [? —Santo?]), each of whom declared they were not related to Pedro Robledo.
Juan de la Cadena y Vega, age twenty-eight, vecino de Carmena, declared that he knew Pedro Robledo and his nephew Luis. He further stated that Luis was an orphan and had lived in the care of Robledo since he was a child. Juan de la Casa, over fifty years old, also a vecino de Carmena, provided the same testimony, as did Martín de Ysasaga, age thirty. Pedro López, fifty years old, son of Francisco López de Sto [? —Santo?], vecino de Carmena, provided the same testimony and added that the nephew had been in Robledo's care for the past ten to eleven years.
The testimonies were written by Alonso Durán, public scribe appointed by the Duque de Maqueda, don Bernardino de Cárdenas, with approval from the King and his Royal Council.
The information above comes from documents found in the Archivo General de Indias (AGI), Seville, in a collection referred to as "Indiferente." It is likely that there are related documents still to be located in the AGI collection known as Contratación. It was at the Casa de Contratación that people with license to pass to the New World presented themselves and were accounted for before getting on a ship for the voyage across the Atlantic Ocean.
Researchers: Charles Martínez y Vigil (extraction and photocopies) and José Antonio Esquibel (summary).
Source: Archivo General de Indias, Sevilla, Indiferente, 2055, N.77.
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A brother of Pedro Robledo (ONMF: 93) sought passage to Americas in 1575. This brother was Alejo Robledo, the namesake of his father, and he intended to travel with his brother Pedro Robledo. Alejo Robledo was married with Francisca Díaz and had three children: Alejo, Francisco and Ana. All were vecinos of Carmena in the jurisdiction of Maqueda. The record indicates that Alejo and Pedro were going to be in the company of Catalina Sánchez, very likely the woman of this name who was married with Miguel de Sandoval and their kinswomen. The record of passage for Pedro Robledo mentioned he was going to live in Mexico City with his cousins ("primos hermanos"), Miguel de Sandoval and Catalina Sánchez.
Expediente de concesión de licensia para pasar a Mexico a favor de Alejo Robledo, con su mujer Francisca Dias y sus hijos Alejo, Francisco y Ana, todos vecinos de Carmena (Maqueda). Para ir con Pedro Robledo (hermano de Alejo Robledo, tiene licencia aparte) a estar en compañia de Catalina Sanchez.
Researcher: Charles Martínez y Vigil
Source: Archivo General de la Nación, Indiferente, 2056, N. 87. Fecha: 1575
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Doña Luisa Robledo (ONMF: 93, 95), wife of Bartolomé Romero, was mentioned as deceased in a statement given by Lucas de Figueroa on 26 January 1626. Figueroa, a vecino of the Villa de Santa Fe, stated that doña Luisa had commented to him about the few Masses that Governor don Juan de Eulate attended, and that during Mass when the host was elevated, she noticed that Eulate would turn his head. Eulate served as governor of New Mexico between 1618 and 1625. All of these facts indicate that doña Luisa Robledo died sometime between 1618 and January 1626.
Researcher: José Antonio Esquibel
Sources: Archivo General de la Nación, Inquisición, t. 356, f. 264