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Cortes was a respectable gentleman of good birth, a native of Medelin in Estremadura, the son of Martin Cortes de Monroy, by Catalina Pizarro de Altamirano, who were both hidalgos of the best families in the province, though poor, and had acquired a considerable property in the island of Cuba, where he had been twice raised to the office of alcalde.
Valdivia set out on the 28th of January, 1540, with 150 Spaniards, amongst whom Pedro Gomez, Pedro de Miranda, and Alonzo de Monroy were destined especially to distinguish themselves; he crossed first the desert of Atacama, which even at the present day is considered a most troublesome enterprise, and reached Copiapo, standing in the midst of a beautiful valley.
As the young prince was one day riding between them, escorted by a party of archers and preceded by an officer carrying a lance, Monroy suddenly dispatched him with two or three mortal wounds of a poniard. At the same time Miranda wrested the lance from the officer of the guard, who were thrown into confusion by this unexpected event, and the two Spaniards readily accomplished their escape.
The generals Clayton and Monroy were killed; the duke of Cumberland, who exhibited uncommon proofs of courage, was shot through the calf of the leg; the earl of Albemarle, general Huske, and several other officers of distinction, were wounded.
When De Castro was informed of the critical situation of affairs in Chili, he immediately sent off a considerable reinforcement by land under the command of Monroy, who had the good fortune to conceal his march from the Copaipans, and to join Valdivia in safety.
Victor Hugo excelled in the superb gestures appropriate to such a scene: witness the passage in Hernani, before the tomb of Charlemagne, where the obscure bandit claims the right to take his place at the head of the princes and nobles whom the newly-elected Emperor has ordered off to execution: Hernani: Dieu qui donne le sceptre et qui te le donna M'a fait duc de Segorbe et duc de Cardona, Marquis de Monroy, comte Albatéra, vicomte De Gor, seigneur de lieux dont j'ignore le compte.
The commandant of the Spaniards, Alonzo de Monroy, found means to send a messenger to inform Valdivia of his situation; and the governor accordingly hastened to the aid of the besieged with all possible expedition, and found the ditch almost filled with dead bodies, while the enemy, notwithstanding the heavy loss they had sustained, were preparing to renew the assault.
One of the most dramatic of these feuds a savage species of vendetta was the following: Doña Maria Perez, a Plasencian dame of noble birth, had married one of the most powerful noblemen in Salamanca, Monroy by name, and upon the latter's death remained a widowed mother of two sons.
In the mean time, considering the urgent state of his affairs, Valdivia resolved to dispatch two of his principal officers, Alonzo Monroy, and Pedro Miranda by land to Peru, with an escort of six horsemen, whose spurs, bits, and stirrups he directed to be made of solid gold, hoping thereby to entice a sufficient number of recruits to come to his assistance, by this obvious proof of the riches of the country.
Being solicitous to have a complete knowledge of the sea-coast, he ordered Pastene to explore the whole as far to the southwards as possible, noting the most important places all along the coast; and, on his return from this maritime survey, he sent him back to Peru for additional reinforcements, as the natives had become every day bolder and more enterprising, ever since their victory in Copaipo over Monroy and Miranda.
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