Francisco de Toledo (1515 - 1584)
Born on July 10, 1515 in the village of Oropesa in Spain. His father was the third Count of Oropesa, and through his mother's side, was third cousin to Emperor Charles V. In 1535 Toledo joined the Order of Alcantara, a religious-military order.
Toledo became the fifth Viceroy of Peru in 1569. He was appointed viceroy by Phillip II after serving as a steward in his court.
During his rule, Toledo took charge of the government and implemented many reforms. He was able to break the power of the encomienderos, reducing them to obedient servants of the crown. He worked very hard to take care of the Indigenous people and educated them. Toledo added new laws and royal decrees related to the Indians and their lands; and gathered the natives into villages, or reducciones. Another good thing Toledo did was to diminish the old system of mita or forced native labor. These reforms were later called the Toledo Reforms.
Toledo was one of the greatest Viceroys to rule in old Inca Empire, but the one thing he did wrong during this time was the execution of Inca Leader Tupac Amaru in 1571. The reason Toledo executed him was because Amaru had murdered three of his administrators. As a result of this, Amaru was treated as a rebel and then executed.
Toledo ruled as Viceroy until 1581 when he was found blamed for the books not being balanced and taxes not being sent back to Spain. He was taken back to Spain and put in jail for this crime. He stayed in jail until 1584 when he passed away of natural causes.
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