On April 17, 1535, in Barcelona, Spain the royal commissions named Mendoza the
Viceroy of New Spain. Because Mendoza came from an old and influential family, he immediately gained respect as a member of nobility. Additionally, he was placed in the inner circle of the Empress and was well known in the court. He governed for 15 years which was longer than any subsequent viceroy. On his arrival in New Spain, he found a recently conquered territory beset with Indigenous unrest and rivalry among the Spanish conquerors and Spanish settlers. Throughout his time as a viceroy he would stand in place of the king for all branches of the government. Furthermore, Mendoza was the highest colonial official in both of the Americas making him very influential. His difficult assignment was to govern in the king's name without making an enemy of
Hernán Cortés. Cortés himself had expected to be made the permanent ruling crown official of New Spain, since he had led the
Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. The Emperor
Charles V (King Charles I of Spain) and the
Council of the Indies judged Cortés too independent of crown authority to be made viceroy and had created a high court (
audiencia) in New Spain in 1528, appointing
Nuño de Guzmán, a rival of Cortés as its president to counter Cortés's power. In 1530 the crown granted Cortés the title of the Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca with multiple
encomiendas. With the arrival of Viceroy Mendoza in 1535, Cortés pursued his own economic interests from his palace in Cuernavaca. Although the Spanish had occupied and expanded explorations, conquest, and settlement in the Caribbean, it was not until the conquest of central Mexico that the crown appointed a viceroy (vice king), who would be the king's living image in Mexico and envisioned to effectively assert royal authority in the Kingdom of New Spain. To further cement his authority and establish a solid society he established marital alliances with powerful settlers committed to the development of New Spain, such as
Marina de la Caballería. Mendoza's status as a noble and his family's loyalty to the Spanish crown made him a suitable candidate for appointment. Don Antonio and Bishop
Juan de Zumárraga were key in the formation of two institutions of
Mexico: the
Colegio de Santa Cruz at
Tlatelolco (1536), where the sons of
Aztec nobles studied
Latin,
rhetoric,
philosophy and
music, and the
Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico (1552), modeled on the
University of Salamanca, which trained young men for the Catholic Church. These institutions were the first and second universities respectively to be established in the mainland of the
Americas. In 1536 he began the minting of silver and copper coins, known as
macuquinas. Also under his instructions, the first
printing press in the New World was brought to Mexico in 1539, by printer
Juan Pablos (Giovanni Paoli). The first book printed in Mexico:
La Escala Espiritual de San Juan Clímaco. On 18 May 1541 don Antonio founded the city of Valladolid (now
Morelia,
Michoacán). ,
Mexico; featuring a
bronze transcription of the city's founding decree. When the Spanish crown issued the
New Laws that put restrictions on the grants of elite conquerors awarded grants of labor
encomenderos, the viceroy prudently refrained from implementing the most draconian aspects of the edicts, which no longer permitted an
encomendero family holding the grant in perpetuity. In Peru, the implementation of the New Laws resulted in outright rebellion and the assassination of the viceroy. In reaction to the crisis caused by the New Laws, Mendoza introduced the policy of
obedezco pero no cumplo ("I obey but do not comply"), which means "I respect the authority of the crown, but in my judgment I do not implement particular legislation." He tried to not implement the New Laws, and therefore stabilized the region. In 1542 an
insurrection of the
Indians, called the
Mixtón Rebellion threatened to push the Spaniards out of northwestern Mexico, bringing the area under indigenous control. The Viceroy himself had to take the field and bring all disposable manpower. The rebellion was quashed and the surviving Indians were harshly punished. By the viceroy's order men, women and children were seized and executed, some by cannon fire, some torn apart by dogs, and others stabbed. In 1548 he suppressed an uprising of the
Zapotecs. As viceroy, Mendoza commissioned the expedition of
Francisco Vásquez de Coronado to explore and establish settlements in the northern lands of New Spain in 1540–42, the expedition of
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo to explore the western coastline of
Alta California in 1542–43, and the expedition of
Ruy López de Villalobos to the
Philippines in 1542–43. The
Codex Mendoza created by the order of Mendoza, and subsequently named for him. During his term of office, Mendoza is credited with consolidating the sovereignty of the Crown throughout the Spanish conquests in New Spain and limiting the power and ambition of the first
conquistadors. Many of the political and economic policies he established endured throughout the entire colonial period. He promoted the construction of hospitals and schools and encouraged improvements in agriculture, ranching and mining. His administration did much to bring stability and peace to New Spain. He was succeeded as viceroy of New Spain by Don
Luís de Velasco. It is reported that his advice to his successor was: "Do little and do that slowly." ==Viceroy of Peru==