page_title: Beatriz de la Cueva
section_title: Governor of Guatemala
hierarchical_section_title: Beatriz de la Cueva / Life / Governor of Guatemala
caption_attribution_description: Español: Ciudad Vieja y el Volcán de Agua
context_page_description: Beatriz de la Cueva de Alvarado, nicknamed "La Sinventura" - "the unfortunate" - was a Spanish noblewoman from Úbeda in Andalucia who became the governor of the Spanish colony of Guatemala for a few days in September 1541. She was killed by an earthquake shortly after taking office. Unique as the only woman to hold such a position in a major division of Spanish Latin America in colonial times, she is credited with having introduced the Spanish style of house construction and Spanish customs into Guatemala. She was buried in the cathedral of Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala.
context_section_description: Most of what little is known of Beatriz de la Cueva relates to Alvarado's second voyage to Spain, and her own sudden death. The couple returned to Guatemala by 1539, and her large retinue included 20 maids of honour. As Alvarado lay dying on a battlefield in Mexico in June 1541, he bequeathed both his wealth and his right to rule to Beatriz. Messengers carried the news from Mexico to Guatemala. Beatriz received them on 29 August and, distraught, ordered all her palace's internal and external walls painted black.
  Beatriz de la Cueva then successfully promoted herself as her husband's successor as governor of Guatemala among Alvarado's colleagues and friends. Although Alvarado had left her brother Francisco as acting governor; she summoned him, together with bishop Francisco Marroquín, and various other officials to her palace. Claiming that the royal treasurer aspired to Alvarado's title as governor and captain-general, Beatriz demanded that they make her governor instead. After heated discussion, Beatriz was declared governor the next morning, 9 September 1541. Beatriz de la Cueva signed the documents as la sin ventura, "the unfortunate", referring to the recent loss of her husband. She soon appointed her brother Francisco as her lieutenant, entrusted with day-to-day matters, while retaining for herself all powers relating to the distribution of wealth, Indian labour, and encomiendas. Thus, she became the first female governor in the New World, although her cousin María de Toledo had previously served as vicereine of Santo Domingo.
  In fact, the royal treasurer and his supporters continued to plot against her. When spies informed the newly-appointed governor, she ordered her brother to seize the plotters. The conspirators had planned to seize power in a coup early in the morning of September 11, and evaded the soldiers sent to arrest them by hiding in an abandoned house.
caption: The Volcán de Agua, seen from Ciudad Vieja, the former Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala until the disaster of 1541 resulted in its relocation
exif: {"Image Make": "FUJIFILM", "Image Model": "FinePix JV500", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Digital Camera FinePix JV500 Ver1.00", "Image DateTime": "2014:10:02 16:04:24", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "", "Image ExifOffset": "290", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 50, 53, 48, 0, 0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "25764", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "2597", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/240", "EXIF FNumber": "39/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Landscape Mode", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Standard Output Sensitivity", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2014:10:02 16:04:24", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2014:10:02 16:04:24", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "79/10", "EXIF ApertureValue": "393/100", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "683/100", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "393/100", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "34/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2048", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1536", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "25600", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "3339", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "3339", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "3", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Landscape", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}