I researched the naming of Conquistadors and found that you were right that some people that went on Vasquez De Coronados’s expedition were also referred to as Conquistador. So we have two men named Pedro Ledesma that were conquistadors but they were not involved in the same events.
I have previously stated that criado meant servant but it had different connotations in the 1500’s. Criado could mean what we now call personal assistant or Subordinate. Many criados when on to hold high positions in government.
Many years ago I received some information on the Ledezma family from another genealogist that was also researching the Ledesmas that came to Mexico. His primary focus was trying to find his Ledesma ancestors from Guanajuato. He had come to a brick wall so he was researching all the Ledesmas that came from Spain. He informed me that the Ledesma ancestral branch (From Los altos de Jalisco) that I was investigating descended from a family in Zamora Spain that also left much descent in South America. He provided my starting point for investigating in Spain but I also ran into a brickwall like he did. That is until a couple of years later when I was working on another research project and discovered at the bottom of the page written in small print that the Ledesma that I was stuck at was the son of a woman who is the illegitimate daughter of a prince of Castilla. I became fascinated by this find and renewed my efforts into finding my Ledesma ancestry. What I discovered was that the family had been involved in a big scandal a few generations before that had caused many family members to change their surname. Many of the family used variations of four different surnames which made tracking the family more difficult. I discovered that the genealogists who had shared his findings with me was correct that this family has many descendants in South America. Besides descending from royalty through his mother I also found that his father’s and his wife’s ancestral lines show that many generations back both of them descended from King Alfonso IX of Leon.
But my interests concern the Pedro Ledesma that is the progenitor of my De La Torre-Ledesma ancestors and I could not find Isabel Grado as a wife of one of the many Pedro Ledesmas from this family. What I found was a Pedro Ledesma that was married to a woman who was from Salamanca. That is all it says about them so I don’t know if this woman is the same woman known as Isabel Grado. This Pedro Ledesma also has a great uncle also named Pedro Ledesma that does not have a wife listed in the family tree. This led me back to researching my Pedro Ledesma that is married to Catalina Mejia De La Torre. Like you, I saw that it was written in a secondary source that he is the Pedro Ledesma known as a conquistador and that he was the son of Pedro Ledesma and Isabel Grado. My research into this theory proved that the conquistador Pedro Ledesma and the Pedro Ledesma married to Catalina Mejia De La Torre are two different people. So that leaves the situation where the Pedro Ledesma and Isabel Grado are not the parents of Pedro Ledesma that is married to Catalina if they are the parents of the conquistador.
So we have the ancestral line in Spain since we know who Pedro Ledesma that is married to Catalina De La Torre descends from, yet we have a weak link in Mexico at this time because we don’t know if the Pedro Ledesma married to Isabel Grado is the same couple as the Pedro Ledesma married to a woman from Salamanca.
I have much more information on this family that I will be presenting in my book. One of the stories of this Ledesma family involves the attempt to bribe the brother of an ancestor of many people in Nueva Galicia.
The Pedro Ledesma that is married to the “woman from Salamanca” is a relative of Hernan Cortez the Conquistador through his mother’s side. A paternal cousin of this Pedro Ledesma came to Mexico and was identified as Hernan Cortez’s cousin so there is also a familial connection through Pedro Ledesma’s paternal side.
It´s so interesting that a friend of yours has researched about the Ledesmas in Gto. because that´s the line I´m researching now because the Ledesmas of Michoacán have their origin precisely in Guanajuato.
I´m stuck right now with Domingo de Ledesma who was born around 1650 and married around 1674 Micaela de Espinosa. This couple lived in Salamanca.
I haven´t been able yet to find Domingo´s parents but I found that there is a contemporary Domingo de Ledesma who died in Patzcuaro on may-24-1696 and he is reported as being born in 1656.
A posible father or grandfather of one or both Domingos may be another Domingo de Ledesma born around 1600 who married around 1625 Francisca de Mendoza, I have this couple baptizing their daughter Juana de Ledesma ago-10-1636 in Queretaro
I found that there´s a Juan de Ledesma who married around the year 1600 to Mariana de Vargas and they are the origin of the Ledesmas of Silao, Gto.
I also found that there was a Domingo de Ledesma baptized aug-11-1583 contemporary to Juan the one who lived in Silao; Domingo´s parents were Antonio de Ledesma and Ana Suárez.
Did your Ledesma friend shared with you his findings? Maybe he has the links that I´m missing.
Now, talking about the Conquistador Pedro de Ledesma I found that the one married to Catalina Mexía is righteously called that way because in 1556 he claims to have fought, conquered and pacified Yucatan. And I´ve found that there were at least two more Ledesma conquerors : Hernando de Ledesma who came with Cortés, and Juan de Ledesma who came with Narvaez around 1508.
It is possible that these three conquerors were the sons of Martin de Ledesma and Isabel de la Parra who were the documented parents of Hernando and maybe for that reason the Pedro de Ledesma who married Catalina Mexía named his daughter Isabel.
It seems that it is a very interesting family so I can´t wait for your book to be released.
Both “Pedro Ledesma” lived very busy lives but the one married to Catalina Mejia is attached to the hip of Francisco Vasquez De Coronado while the Conquistador was attached to the hip of Pedro Alvarado.
I take issue with your statement:
“Conquistador Pedro de Ledesma I found that the one married to Catalina Mexía is righteously called that way because in 1556 he claims to have fought, conquered and pacified Yucatan. “
I agree with you that more than one can be called a Conquistador, but I think that the title was used for the one that conquered Nicaragua and pacified Yucatán. The expedition of Vasquez De Coronado was not a big success like Alvarado’s was in Yucatán and Nicaragua. Vasquez De Coronados expedition was an economic disaster as he blew through his wife’s Estrada inheritance.
The origin of this mistake that they were the same person is found in Diccionario autobiográfico de conquistadores y pobladores de Nueva España: The Conquistador Pedro de Ledesma that “ conquered and pacified Yucatán ” and helped govern Nicaragua is not the same one that married Catalina Mexia. That Conquistador Pedro Ledesma became known as “doctissimo Fray Pedro”. This Doctissimo Fray Pedro fought besides Pedro Alvarado and settled in Mexico City.
The Pedro Ledesma that married Catalina Mejia did participate in Governor Francisco Vazquez De Coronado northern expedition as he was his “criado” for ten years. This Pedro Ledesma lived in Francisco Vasquez De Coronado’s household in Guadalajara and only lived in Mexico City for a short time while the Conquistador Pedro Ledesma lived there for a long time after his tour of duty in the Yucatán and Nicaragua. There also seemed to be an age difference between the two Pedro Ledesma. The Conquistador Pedro Ledesma was approximately ten years older.
Yucatán and Nicaragua are to the south and Fernando Vasquez De Coronado’s expedition was to the north so they were far apart. I don’t know of anyone that was involved in both activities.
I believe that the Pedro Ledesma that is married to Catalina Mejia De La Torre is the son of The Pedro Ledesma married to “mujer de Salamanca” and I have not been able to confirm if this “mujer de Salamanca” is the same person as Isabel Grado.
The notes that were shared with me show that two sons of Domingo Ledesma and María Espinosa were born in Salamanca but that a daughter of theirs was born In Guanajuato. The sons were Marcelino m. 1704 in Salamanca to Josefa Rodriguez and Antonio Ledesma b. 1675. Their daughter Antonia was born the year after Marcelino was born in Guanajuato. Domingo and María left many descendants throughout Guanajuato. These notes and dates regarding the Ledesma in Guanajuato are not from my research.
I just became a member and am here researching my Ledesma lineage. I am interested in your book that will be coming out. Please keep me posted. Also in reading your information above about Pedro Ledesma marrying a woman from Salamanca. There is a town named " Ledesma" in Salamanca. See below link. Not sure if you knew this.
Some genealogists have claimed that Pedro Ledesma married to Isabel Grado and Pedro Ledesma the conquistador are the same person. I do not think they are the same person. I believe that the Conquistador is the half brother of the grandfather of the Pedro Ledesma married to Isabel Grado.
I have a lot more work to do before I add anymore info on this family as I am still researching the branches that went to South America.
32. Pedro de Zuniga, Conde de Ledesma y Plasencia, Justicia Mayor del Rey and Alguacil mayor del Rey,
+ Isabel Guzman
So Pedro Ledesma does descend from Edward of Windsor aka Edward III, King of England.
Please see the post on the descent of Edward III to Margarita Rocha Gutierrez to see the line of Pedro Zuniga, Conde de Ledesma and Plasencia to King Edward III.
I am not ready to post the ancestry of Pedro Ledesma yet.
hello, my name is Jose Alfredo De La Torre Romo, I am a descendent of Pedro de Ledezma and of his wife Catalina Mejia De La Torre daughter of Melchor Perez De La Torre. I have been trying to find from whom are his ancestors from Spaon, since I have been unable to follow that thread. I f you by any chance have any information on the subject could you please get in touch with me either thru here or my e-mail address at josealfredodelatorre@yahoo.com I greatly appreciate any help you might be able to provide.
Thank you
Jose Alfredo
I don’t know if our Pedro Ledesma that is married to Catalina De La Torre is the son of Pedro Ledesma and Isabel Grado. The timeline for The son of Pedro Ledesma and Isabel Grado does fit the Conquistador Pedro Ledesma but I have proved that these “Pedro Ledesma” are two different people.
There are a couple of Pedro de Ledesma during this time but if Steve Hernandez is correct that this Pedro Ledezma is the ancestor of the De La Torre Ledesma in Los Altos de Jalisco and if the claim that he descends from El Comendador is correct then I have found his parents and ancestors. The family trees that other genealogists have made for his ancestors are riddled with mistakes, just like Juan Pantoja Portocarrero ancestry and Toribio Hernandezs grandfathers ancestry. I don't want to post their parents without showing the correct ancestral lines for many more generations. In the book that I am writing, I provide evidence for the correct lines, and provide stories to go with many of these ancestors. The book is at least a year away as I continue to find important information. I had previously said that I would finally publish this summer but I continue to find little pieces of information that i want to add. One of his ancestors is arguably the greatest knight that ever lived.
I went ahead and posted the Ochoa Garibay ancestry because there are not a bunch of false genealogies on this family like there are for Juan Pantoja Portocarrero, Toribios grandfather, or Pedro Ledesmas great grandfather. There isn't or won't be a lot of discussion on the Ochoa line, I could just present without having to explain how it differs from other lines that people have. To this date, not one person has made a comment on the Ochoa line that I presented. It will be much different when I present these other lines (Juan Pantoja, Toribio Hernandez Arellano, Pedro Ledesma and Cervantes) as they go back many more centuries and have many more interesting stories attached to them.
R.A. Ricci
Hello! I was wondering how the book is going, since I'm very interested in the de La Torre Ledesma line. That line is both on my mother and father's tree and I'm stuck in Pedro de Ledesma.
I still have nt finished my book and for good reason. I keep finding bits of information to add. I just recently found a record showing Pedro Ledesmas mother in a dispute over an inheritance where some of the other people listed in the dispute are members of Hernan Cortez’s immediate family. So here is another family connection amongst the conquistadors.
Two Conquistador Pedro Ledesma
Dear Carlos,
I researched the naming of Conquistadors and found that you were right that some people that went on Vasquez De Coronados’s expedition were also referred to as Conquistador. So we have two men named Pedro Ledesma that were conquistadors but they were not involved in the same events.
Thanks,
Rick A. Ricci
Pedro Ledesma criado
I have previously stated that criado meant servant but it had different connotations in the 1500’s. Criado could mean what we now call personal assistant or Subordinate. Many criados when on to hold high positions in government.
Pedro de Ledezma
Dear Jose Alfredo,
Many years ago I received some information on the Ledezma family from another genealogist that was also researching the Ledesmas that came to Mexico. His primary focus was trying to find his Ledesma ancestors from Guanajuato. He had come to a brick wall so he was researching all the Ledesmas that came from Spain. He informed me that the Ledesma ancestral branch (From Los altos de Jalisco) that I was investigating descended from a family in Zamora Spain that also left much descent in South America. He provided my starting point for investigating in Spain but I also ran into a brickwall like he did. That is until a couple of years later when I was working on another research project and discovered at the bottom of the page written in small print that the Ledesma that I was stuck at was the son of a woman who is the illegitimate daughter of a prince of Castilla. I became fascinated by this find and renewed my efforts into finding my Ledesma ancestry. What I discovered was that the family had been involved in a big scandal a few generations before that had caused many family members to change their surname. Many of the family used variations of four different surnames which made tracking the family more difficult. I discovered that the genealogists who had shared his findings with me was correct that this family has many descendants in South America. Besides descending from royalty through his mother I also found that his father’s and his wife’s ancestral lines show that many generations back both of them descended from King Alfonso IX of Leon.
But my interests concern the Pedro Ledesma that is the progenitor of my De La Torre-Ledesma ancestors and I could not find Isabel Grado as a wife of one of the many Pedro Ledesmas from this family. What I found was a Pedro Ledesma that was married to a woman who was from Salamanca. That is all it says about them so I don’t know if this woman is the same woman known as Isabel Grado. This Pedro Ledesma also has a great uncle also named Pedro Ledesma that does not have a wife listed in the family tree. This led me back to researching my Pedro Ledesma that is married to Catalina Mejia De La Torre. Like you, I saw that it was written in a secondary source that he is the Pedro Ledesma known as a conquistador and that he was the son of Pedro Ledesma and Isabel Grado. My research into this theory proved that the conquistador Pedro Ledesma and the Pedro Ledesma married to Catalina Mejia De La Torre are two different people. So that leaves the situation where the Pedro Ledesma and Isabel Grado are not the parents of Pedro Ledesma that is married to Catalina if they are the parents of the conquistador.
So we have the ancestral line in Spain since we know who Pedro Ledesma that is married to Catalina De La Torre descends from, yet we have a weak link in Mexico at this time because we don’t know if the Pedro Ledesma married to Isabel Grado is the same couple as the Pedro Ledesma married to a woman from Salamanca.
I have much more information on this family that I will be presenting in my book. One of the stories of this Ledesma family involves the attempt to bribe the brother of an ancestor of many people in Nueva Galicia.
The Pedro Ledesma that is married to the “woman from Salamanca” is a relative of Hernan Cortez the Conquistador through his mother’s side. A paternal cousin of this Pedro Ledesma came to Mexico and was identified as Hernan Cortez’s cousin so there is also a familial connection through Pedro Ledesma’s paternal side.
Rick A. Ricci
Source :Mygenes2000
Pedro de Ledezma
Hello Primo Rick!
It´s so interesting that a friend of yours has researched about the Ledesmas in Gto. because that´s the line I´m researching now because the Ledesmas of Michoacán have their origin precisely in Guanajuato.
I´m stuck right now with Domingo de Ledesma who was born around 1650 and married around 1674 Micaela de Espinosa. This couple lived in Salamanca.
I haven´t been able yet to find Domingo´s parents but I found that there is a contemporary Domingo de Ledesma who died in Patzcuaro on may-24-1696 and he is reported as being born in 1656.
A posible father or grandfather of one or both Domingos may be another Domingo de Ledesma born around 1600 who married around 1625 Francisca de Mendoza, I have this couple baptizing their daughter Juana de Ledesma ago-10-1636 in Queretaro
I found that there´s a Juan de Ledesma who married around the year 1600 to Mariana de Vargas and they are the origin of the Ledesmas of Silao, Gto.
I also found that there was a Domingo de Ledesma baptized aug-11-1583 contemporary to Juan the one who lived in Silao; Domingo´s parents were Antonio de Ledesma and Ana Suárez.
Did your Ledesma friend shared with you his findings? Maybe he has the links that I´m missing.
Now, talking about the Conquistador Pedro de Ledesma I found that the one married to Catalina Mexía is righteously called that way because in 1556 he claims to have fought, conquered and pacified Yucatan. And I´ve found that there were at least two more Ledesma conquerors : Hernando de Ledesma who came with Cortés, and Juan de Ledesma who came with Narvaez around 1508.
It is possible that these three conquerors were the sons of Martin de Ledesma and Isabel de la Parra who were the documented parents of Hernando and maybe for that reason the Pedro de Ledesma who married Catalina Mexía named his daughter Isabel.
It seems that it is a very interesting family so I can´t wait for your book to be released.
Pedro de Ledezma
Both “Pedro Ledesma” lived very busy lives but the one married to Catalina Mejia is attached to the hip of Francisco Vasquez De Coronado while the Conquistador was attached to the hip of Pedro Alvarado.
I take issue with your statement:
“Conquistador Pedro de Ledesma I found that the one married to Catalina Mexía is righteously called that way because in 1556 he claims to have fought, conquered and pacified Yucatan. “
I agree with you that more than one can be called a Conquistador, but I think that the title was used for the one that conquered Nicaragua and pacified Yucatán. The expedition of Vasquez De Coronado was not a big success like Alvarado’s was in Yucatán and Nicaragua. Vasquez De Coronados expedition was an economic disaster as he blew through his wife’s Estrada inheritance.
The origin of this mistake that they were the same person is found in Diccionario autobiográfico de conquistadores y pobladores de Nueva España: The Conquistador Pedro de Ledesma that “ conquered and pacified Yucatán ” and helped govern Nicaragua is not the same one that married Catalina Mexia. That Conquistador Pedro Ledesma became known as “doctissimo Fray Pedro”. This Doctissimo Fray Pedro fought besides Pedro Alvarado and settled in Mexico City.
The Pedro Ledesma that married Catalina Mejia did participate in Governor Francisco Vazquez De Coronado northern expedition as he was his “criado” for ten years. This Pedro Ledesma lived in Francisco Vasquez De Coronado’s household in Guadalajara and only lived in Mexico City for a short time while the Conquistador Pedro Ledesma lived there for a long time after his tour of duty in the Yucatán and Nicaragua. There also seemed to be an age difference between the two Pedro Ledesma. The Conquistador Pedro Ledesma was approximately ten years older.
Yucatán and Nicaragua are to the south and Fernando Vasquez De Coronado’s expedition was to the north so they were far apart. I don’t know of anyone that was involved in both activities.
I believe that the Pedro Ledesma that is married to Catalina Mejia De La Torre is the son of The Pedro Ledesma married to “mujer de Salamanca” and I have not been able to confirm if this “mujer de Salamanca” is the same person as Isabel Grado.
The notes that were shared with me show that two sons of Domingo Ledesma and María Espinosa were born in Salamanca but that a daughter of theirs was born In Guanajuato. The sons were Marcelino m. 1704 in Salamanca to Josefa Rodriguez and Antonio Ledesma b. 1675. Their daughter Antonia was born the year after Marcelino was born in Guanajuato. Domingo and María left many descendants throughout Guanajuato. These notes and dates regarding the Ledesma in Guanajuato are not from my research.
Thanks,
Rick A. Ricci
Ledesma Line
Hello Rick,
I just became a member and am here researching my Ledesma lineage. I am interested in your book that will be coming out. Please keep me posted. Also in reading your information above about Pedro Ledesma marrying a woman from Salamanca. There is a town named " Ledesma" in Salamanca. See below link. Not sure if you knew this.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ledesma,_Castile_and_Le%C3%B3n
Pedro Ledesmas
Some genealogists have claimed that Pedro Ledesma married to Isabel Grado and Pedro Ledesma the conquistador are the same person. I do not think they are the same person. I believe that the Conquistador is the half brother of the grandfather of the Pedro Ledesma married to Isabel Grado.
I have a lot more work to do before I add anymore info on this family as I am still researching the branches that went to South America.
Pedro de Ledezma
Pedro Ledesma does descend from :
32. Pedro de Zuniga, Conde de Ledesma y Plasencia, Justicia Mayor del Rey and Alguacil mayor del Rey,
+ Isabel Guzman
So Pedro Ledesma does descend from Edward of Windsor aka Edward III, King of England.
Please see the post on the descent of Edward III to Margarita Rocha Gutierrez to see the line of Pedro Zuniga, Conde de Ledesma and Plasencia to King Edward III.
I am not ready to post the ancestry of Pedro Ledesma yet.
Pedro de Ledezma
hello, my name is Jose Alfredo De La Torre Romo, I am a descendent of Pedro de Ledezma and of his wife Catalina Mejia De La Torre daughter of Melchor Perez De La Torre. I have been trying to find from whom are his ancestors from Spaon, since I have been unable to follow that thread. I f you by any chance have any information on the subject could you please get in touch with me either thru here or my e-mail address at josealfredodelatorre@yahoo.com I greatly appreciate any help you might be able to provide.
Thank you
Jose Alfredo
Pedro de Ledezma
Dear Jose Alfredo,
I don’t know if our Pedro Ledesma that is married to Catalina De La Torre is the son of Pedro Ledesma and Isabel Grado. The timeline for The son of Pedro Ledesma and Isabel Grado does fit the Conquistador Pedro Ledesma but I have proved that these “Pedro Ledesma” are two different people.
Rick A. Ricci
Source Mygenes2000
Pedro de Ledezma
There are a couple of Pedro de Ledesma during this time but if Steve Hernandez is correct that this Pedro Ledezma is the ancestor of the De La Torre Ledesma in Los Altos de Jalisco and if the claim that he descends from El Comendador is correct then I have found his parents and ancestors. The family trees that other genealogists have made for his ancestors are riddled with mistakes, just like Juan Pantoja Portocarrero ancestry and Toribio Hernandezs grandfathers ancestry. I don't want to post their parents without showing the correct ancestral lines for many more generations. In the book that I am writing, I provide evidence for the correct lines, and provide stories to go with many of these ancestors. The book is at least a year away as I continue to find important information. I had previously said that I would finally publish this summer but I continue to find little pieces of information that i want to add. One of his ancestors is arguably the greatest knight that ever lived.
I went ahead and posted the Ochoa Garibay ancestry because there are not a bunch of false genealogies on this family like there are for Juan Pantoja Portocarrero, Toribios grandfather, or Pedro Ledesmas great grandfather. There isn't or won't be a lot of discussion on the Ochoa line, I could just present without having to explain how it differs from other lines that people have. To this date, not one person has made a comment on the Ochoa line that I presented. It will be much different when I present these other lines (Juan Pantoja, Toribio Hernandez Arellano, Pedro Ledesma and Cervantes) as they go back many more centuries and have many more interesting stories attached to them.
R.A. Ricci
De La Torre Ledesma
Hello! I was wondering how the book is going, since I'm very interested in the de La Torre Ledesma line. That line is both on my mother and father's tree and I'm stuck in Pedro de Ledesma.
Unfinished book
I still have nt finished my book and for good reason. I keep finding bits of information to add. I just recently found a record showing Pedro Ledesmas mother in a dispute over an inheritance where some of the other people listed in the dispute are members of Hernan Cortez’s immediate family. So here is another family connection amongst the conquistadors.
Rick A. Ricci