Why Monterrey's foundation is a 425 year old and mysterious history
Historians of Monterrey assure that it is necessary to do more studies on the date and place where the city was founded, as this has influenced its more than 4 centuries of existence.
Although Monterrey will be 425 years old this September 20, its origin continues to be enigmatic, as local historians admit that more research is still needed, since the conditions under which La Sultana del Norte was founded have not been made clear.
While it is true that Diego de Montemayor and 12 families are traditionally recognized as the ones responsible for the definitive founding of Monterrey, some characters have been forgotten, acknowledges historian Juana Margarita Domínguez, head of the Historical Archive of the state capital.
"Whenever we think about the founding of Monterrey and other history topics we think that everything has already been said, that there is nothing to investigate, that it is already a relevant fact and investigated by everyone and it is not so.
"As Marc Blosh would say: 'History is a science under construction,' and there are still many things about the founding of Monterrey that we don't know, starting with what is the exact place of the foundation," he considered.
In an interview for MILENIO, the researcher explained that there is still no certainty about the place where the founders of the city were located since it has been mentioned that they could have been installed in the area where the sculpture of Diego de Montemayor is located today, in the lower part of the local Congress; in the area of the Obelisk, on Juan Ignacio Ramon Street; in the water eyes of Santa Lucia, where the esplanade of the Museum of Mexican History is now located, and even where today is the church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, on 5 de Mayo and Zaragoza Streets.
"In the founding act it is mentioned that they settled next to a large mountain, which is supposed to be the Cerro de la Silla, where there are walnut trees, avocado trees, and a large waterhole, but there were several with these characteristics," adds Dominguez.
Although history officially recognizes Diego de Montemayor as the founder of the city, in 1596, the person who legally had the permits to found the New Kingdom of León and cities was Luis Carvajal y de la Cueva, who in 1582 founded the Villa de San Luis, today Monterrey.
In addition, until a few years ago it was discovered that the foundation of Carvajal y de la Cueva was given for two reasons: the first was to provide security to the roads between Mazapil, Zacatecas, and the Pánuco River in Veracruz; and the second was that there was nopal plantations with grana cochinilla ("prickly pear cactus"), widely used in the textile industry.
"The foundation that we celebrate is the one made by Diego de Montemayor, in 1596, as it is handled in the act of foundation, of September 20, but this was ratified until 1599 because Diego de Montemayor did not have neither the legal nor the military personality to found a city", the historian points out.
Diego de Montemayor gave it the name of the Metropolitan City of Monterrey, although he did not have the infrastructure to give it this title and it could even be mentioned that it was until 1624, with Martin de Zavala, that better conditions were achieved in the infrastructure and layout, he gave it the name of Villa de Cerralvo.
Also in the framework of the 425th anniversary of the city, the chronicler Leopoldo Espinosa Benavides comments that since the third and definitive foundation, the health system was important for the town.
"In the Historical Archive of Monterrey, there are documents dating back to the year 1600, where the existence of a hospital is noted, although its exact location cannot be located and it is possible that it was a hospital of the lazaretto type (a place where infectious contagious diseases were treated)", detailed the chronicler.
The Sephardic Jewish tradition
Regarding the ethnic origins of the founders, historian Juana Margarita Domínguez argues that there were Jews who were disguised as Catholics since they were persecuted in Spain and fled to the colonies.
"It is said that the first settlers were of crypto-Jewish origin, which are the Jews who were persecuted because Spain expelled them and that is why many of them went to the colonies.
"That is why as of 2015 there was a boom of many people from Monterrey to acquire Spanish or Portuguese nationality since by historical documentation it has been evidenced that many are descendants of these first settlers, who in turn were part of those expelled from Spain and Portugal," she explained.
The specialist added that some of the traditions of Monterrey are very similar to those that came from the Jews, among them meat cuts, flour tortillas, and when families had a lemon or a grapevine in the house.
"Many Regiomontanos have obtained Spanish citizenship because they have proven that they are descended from these first settlers, who were Sephardic Jews," he concluded.
In 2015, the government of Spain enacted the Sephardic Reparation Law, which sought to repair a "historical debt" with the heirs of that community and who were expelled from the Iberian Peninsula during the Reconquest of the Catholic Monarchs, at the end of the 15th century.
