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Juan Vásquez de Coronado y Anaya (Salamanca, 1523 – Sanlúcar de Barrameda, 1565) was a Spanish conquistador, remembered especially for his role in the colonization of Costa Rica, in Central America, where he gained a reputation for fairness, effective administration, and good relationships with the native population. He was a nephew of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado y Luján, who explored the southwestern United States between 1540 and 1542.
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By a decree given at Aranjuez by King Philip II of Spain on April 8, 1565, Juan Vásquez de Coronado was appointed as the first royal governor and first Adelantado (a hereditary title) of the province of Costa Rica, but his ship disappeared in a storm off the coast of southern Spain while he was on his way to receive his appointments from the monarch. He was married to Isabel, a daughter of Pedro Arias Dávila, the principal conqueror of Panamá. The Vásquez de Coronado Canton, one of the administrative divisions of the Province of San José, in the Republic Costa Rica, was named in his honor.
Life
Juan Vásquez de Coronado was born in Salamanca, Spain, the bastard son of a prominent nobleman, Gonzalo Vásquez de Coronado y Luján (c. 1500 – Valladolid, 1540), sixth Lord of Coquilla and la Torre de Juan Vásquez, perpetual Alguacil-Mayor of the Royal Audiencia (i.e., appellate court) of Valladolid, by an extramatrimonial relationship with Catalina de Anaya, from whom there are no further details but undoubtedly belonged to one of the most principal families of Salamanca.
Vásquez de Coronado went very young to America, at only 17 years old, and established first in Mexico and then in Guatemala, where he started to fulfill official charges, such as Deputy of the Cabildo of the City of Santiago de los Caballeros and Ordinary Alcalde of Guatemala. In 1548 he married Isabel Arias-Dávila, the daughter of Captain Gaspar Arias-Dávila, and a first cousin to Pedrarias Dávila, both of whom were amongst the most prominent Conquerors of New Spain and Guatemala. Having issue, he passed to El Salvador, where he enjoyed of an encomienda at Naolingo and was appointed Alcalde-Mayor of San Salvador in 1549. Later he appears occupying the same charge in Honduras in 1556 and in Nicaragua in 1561 and finally in Costa Rica in 1562. In the country he distinguished himself for the pacific and fair way with which he executed the tasks of the conquest, being very respected and esteemed either by the Indians and by the Spanish colonists. In 1565 he traveled to Spain where for his merits King Philip II granted him the charge of Governor of Costa Rica and the hereditary title of Adelantado of Costa Rica. However, in the return voyage to take possession of his charges, his ship disappeared in a storm in front of the coasts of southern Spain.
One of the most relevant characters of costarican history is without doubt Juan Vásquez de Coronado, conqueror, first Governor and first Adelantado of Costa Rica. Despite his historical transcendency as one of the main builders of the nation, Vásquez de Coronado is one of the main genearchs of the costarican population, to such a point that a widespread study evidences that he is the progenitor of a true elite, that which until 1975 has given 29 of its 44 Heads of State, and more than two hundred Parliamentaries.
Issue
He and his wife had at least one son, Gonzalo Vásquez de Coronado Arias, who married Ana Rodríguez del Padrón and had:
