Tomás de la Cerda, 3rd Marquis of la Laguna
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Don Tomás de la Cerda Marqués de la Laguna |
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| Viceroy of New Spain | |
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In office 30 November 1680 – 16 November 1686 |
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| Monarch | Charles II |
| Preceded by | Bishop Payo Enríquez de Rivera |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 24 December 1638 Cogolludo, Spain |
| Died | 22 April 1692 (aged 53) Madrid, Spain |
| Spouse(s) | María Luisa Manrique de Lara, 11th Countess of Paredes |
| Religion | Catholic |
Tomás de la Cerda, 3rd Marquis of la Laguna, Grandee of Spain, (in full, Spanish: Don Tomás Antonio Manuel Lorenzo de la Cerda y Aragón, tercer marqués de la Laguna de Camero Viejo, Grande de España, caballero de la orden de Alcántara, comendador de la Moraleja, maestre de campo del Tercio Provincial de las Milicias de Sevilla, ministro del Consejo y Cámara de Indias, capitán general de mar Océano, del Ejército y Costas de Andalucía, Virrey de Galicia, Virrey gobernador y capitán general de Nueva España y presidente de su Real Audiencia, Mayordomo mayor de la reina Mariana de Baviera), (24 December 1638 – 22 April 1692), was a Spanish nobleman, viceroy of Galicia and of New Spain from 1680 to 1686. He is better known as the Count of Paredes, though he held this title only as consort.
Don Tomás de la Cerda was born in Cogolludo, Spain, to an illustrious Spanish family with longstanding military and political connections. He was the 4th child of Don Antonio de la Cerda, 7th Duke of Medinaceli, and of Doña Ana Portocarrero, 5th Duchess of Alcalá. In 1675, he married Doña María Luisa Manrique de Lara, 11th Countess of Paredes, with whom he had three children. In 1679, he was appointed viceroy of Galicia but never assumed the position, as he was almost immediately re-appointed to the more important of viceroy of New Spain.
Don Tomás de la Cerda was named viceroy of New Spain to replace Archbishop Payo Enríquez de Rivera. He made his formal entry into Mexico City on 30 November 1680 and took charge of the government.
Two triumphal arches to welcome the new viceroy were commissioned. One was designed by seventeenth-century savant and professor at the University of Mexico Don Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora and the other by nun and acclaimed poet, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. Their selection for this high honor was important for both, since they were of somewhat marginal status, Sigüenza as a failed Jesuit, Sor Juana as a woman of illegitimate birth. Sigüenza was a creole patriot, "who sought to endow the imperial city of Mexico with both a distinguished past and a glorious present," He published an explanation of the themes of his triumphal arch for the new viceroy, "The Political Virtues That Constitute a Ruler, Observed in the Ancient Monarchs of the Mexican Empire, Whose Effigies Adorn the Arch Erected by the Very Noble Imperial City of Mexico". The structure included niches for the Aztec monarchs of Mexico along with the Aztec god Huitzilopochtli to indicate to the viceroy that Mexico had a royal history prior to its becoming New Spain. Sor Juana's arch took the allegorical theme of Neptune. The title of her explanatory publication was "Allegorical Neptune, Ocean of Colors, Political Simulacrum, Erected by the Noble, Holy, and August Metropolitan Church of Mexico City, in the Magnificent Allegorical Concepts of a Triumphal Arch Solicitously Consecrated and Lovingly Dedicated to the Joyful Entrance of the Most Excellent Don Tomás Antonio de la Cerda, Count of Paredes, Marquis de la Laguna, Viceroy, Governor, and Captain General of Our New Spain". Choosing the theme of "allegorical Neptune" might be her allusion to the viceroy's noble title Marquis de la Laguna (marquis of the lake) and "the arch was a model of the virtues of kings and princes such as Neptune and the Viceroy."The viceroy became a patron of Sor Juana, continuing the practice dating from the viceroy, the Marquis of Mancera.
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