Pedro de Alvarado

Pedro de Alvarado served as the deputy commander under the conquerer of Mexico, Hernán Cortés. To explore and subdue Guatemala, he brought 120 horsemen, 300 footsoldiers and several hundred Cholula and Tlascala auxiliaries. Though instructed by Cortés to to bring the people "to peace without war", Alvarado employed brutal means in his conquest of Guatemala. After his bloody behavior provoked the Cakchiquel people to rise up against the Spanish, Alvarado tracked down the rebel leaders one by one and hanged them in the central plaza.