Agustín I of Mexico (1783–1824)
Born 1783 CE, died 1824 CE.
Agustín Cosme Damián de Iturbide y Arámburu (Spanish pronunciation: [aɣusˈtin de ituɾˈbiðe] ; 27 September 1783 – 19 July 1824), commonly known as Agustín de Iturbide and later by his regnal name Agustín I, was a Mexican army officer and politician who served as the first Emperor of Mexico from 1822 until his abdication in 1823. A criollo from a family of Valladolid's landed gentry, Iturbide entered the royal Spanish army in 1805 and became one of the most important commanders in the Mexican War of Independence, repeatedly defeating the insurgent forces from 1810 to 1815, culminating in the capture and execution of José María Morelos in 1815. He was dismissed from command in 1816 for corruption and cruelty towards the insurgent forces, but was reinstated in 1820 to defeat Vicente Guerrero. However, fearing the onset of republicanism following Spain's restoration of the liberal constitution of 1812, Iturbide allied with the insurgents under the plan of Iguala of 1821, which aimed to turn Mexico in a monarchy, with Roman Catholicism as its official religion and the abolition of the racial caste system and slavery.
Text from the Wikipedia article Agustín_de_Iturbide, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.