Pedro de Alvarado's widow took over his governorship of Guatemala and died in a mudflow two days later

Pedro de Alvarado, conqueror and governor of Guatemala, was a widower of Francisca de la Cueva. In 1538, with a papal dispensation, he married her sister Beatriz in Spain. Beatriz reached Guatemala in April 1539 with 20 maidens and a dowry of 30,000 ducats in goods. Alvarado left in 1540 on an expedition to find Cíbola and then joined the fighting in Nueva Galicia. At Nochistlán he fell down a slope with his horse, and he died on 4 July 1541. Beatriz had the walls of her house painted black. The viceroy had named her cousin, Francisco de la Cueva, interim governor. On 9 September 1541 the cabildo of Santiago voted by majority to make Beatriz governor. She signed her acceptance "la sin ventura doña Beatriz" ("the unfortunate Doña Beatriz"). After three days of rain, on the night of 10 to 11 September, mud and rock from the Volcán de Agua destroyed the city. Beatriz died in her palace chapel with her attendants. Alvarado's daughter Leonor, whose mother was Luisa Xicotencatl, survived. Bishop Francisco Marroquín took over the government. Years later Beatriz was buried beside Alvarado in the cathedral of Antigua. She is often called the first woman governor in the Americas. The record does not support "first": Isabel de Bobadilla governed Cuba from 1539, and Prensa Libre lists María Álvarez de Toledo in Santo Domingo before Beatriz.