@reunificacion_...Valerio de la Cruz, born Xicalchalchilmitl in Texcoco around 1517, was an indigenous noble descended from Netzahualcóyotl who placed his sword in the service of the Hispanic Monarchy. Baptized and educated alongside the Spaniards from childhood, at just ten years old he entered the royal militias and rose to become an ensign in the guard of lance and buckler. In command of mixed hosts—Castilian harquebusiers and indigenous archers

Translated from Spanish

Juan Bautista Valerio de la Cruz, born Xicalchalchilmitl in Texcoco around 1517, was an indigenous noble descended from Netzahualcóyotl who placed his sword in the service of the Hispanic Monarchy. Baptized and educated alongside the Spaniards from childhood, at just ten years old he entered the royal militias and rose to become an ensign in the guard of lance and buckler. In command of mixed hosts—Castilian harquebusiers and indigenous archers—he conquered and pacified Jilotepec, Tula, Tepetlán, San Miguel el Grande, and other Chichimec lands, blending diplomacy, valor, and military experience. His loyalty and effectiveness led Viceroy Luis de Velasco to appoint him captain general of the Chichimecs, a position that the Crown ratified along with his own coat of arms and the granting of the cross and habit of the Order of Santiago. Far from being a folkloric exception, Juan Bautista embodies the profound reality of Hispanidad: indigenous people, mestizos, and peninsulars building the same world together under the Crown and the Catholic faith. He founded and endowed churches and convents, promoted works such as the bridge in Tula, and always favored the presence of religious figures in the new territories. He died in 1572, honored by novohispanic society and remembered by indigenous and mestizo chroniclers as a true knight of Santiago and hero of the Great Chichimeca. His life demonstrates that Spain's history in America was not merely the work of a handful of men from the Peninsula, but of entire peoples integrated into a single project. Source Facebook: Hispanos Unidos.