 He was born in Mogadouro, Portugal, around 1537, but was raised in the Kingdom of León, Spain at the home of the Count of Benavente, a contemporary and friend of Philip II, who named Carvajal Governor of Nuevo Reino de León and granted him many privileges on the basis of previous services to the Spanish Crown.The territory granted to Carvajal included some portions in the south that had been settled by other Spaniards who refused to accept the terms of the grant and sued Carvajal before the highest court in New Spain.The suits were decided in favor of Carvajal, but Álvaro Manrique de Zúñiga, marqués de Villamanrique, viceroy of New Spain, ordered the arrest of Carvajal in 1588, charging that Carvajal was enslaving Indians.