Alonso Manso

Most Reverend Alonso Manso
Bishop of Puerto Rico
Church	Catholic Church
Diocese	Diocese of Puerto Rico
Predecessor	None
Successor	Rodrigo de Bastidas y Rodriguez de Romera
Orders
Consecration	March 3, 1512 by Diego de Deza
Personal details
Born	1460 Becerril de Campos, Spain
Died	September 27, 1539 (age 79) San Juan Bautista
Previous post	Bishop of Magua

Alonso Manso (1460 – September 27, 1539) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as the first Bishop of Puerto Rico (1511-1539) and as the eighth governor of Puerto Rico.

Alonso Manso was born in Becerril de Campos, Spain and studied theology at the University of Salamanca. He became the canon of Salamanca and the chaplain of the prince Don Juan. On November 15, 1504 he was appointed bishop of Magua, Dominican Republic. On August 8, 1511, Pope Julius II created three dioceses in the New World, two in Hispaniola (Santo Domingo and Concepción de la Vega) and one in Porto Rico [sic] (San Juan), and Manso was appointed bishop of the diocese of Porto Rico. On March 3, 1512, he was consecrated bishop by Diego de Deza, Archbishop of Sevilla. Before even arriving to Puerto Rico on September 26, 1512, he founded the first school of advanced studies. In 1513, he became the first bishop to arrive in the New World. In 1519, at the request of Bishop Manso the diocese of Puerto Rico was expanded to cover all the Leeward Islands. That same year he was appointed as the first Inquisitor General of the Indies and two years later he directed the construction of the Cathedral of San Juan. However, the cathedral would be completely destroyed by a hurricane in 1539, shortly after his death.

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