Luis de Carvajal (sometimes Luis de Carvajal y de la Cueva) was a Portuguese-born, Spanish-Crown officer, who was awarded a large swath of territory in New Spain, known as Nuevo Reino de León, in 1579. 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 the 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. Although the suits were decided in favor of Carvajal time and again, the Count of Villamanrique, a viceroy of New Spain who arrived there in 1585, sided with those Spaniards, and ordered the arrest of Carvajal in 1588 arguing that Carvajal was harming Indians, a charge that was never proven. His enemies knew he was a descendant of "conversos" and bribed one of his captains to mention his name to the Inquisition in Mexico City. There, Carvajal was accused of several charges, but only the charge of covering for his relatives who practiced Judaism was upheld. Sentenced to exile, he was first sent back to the court's jail, where he died a year later.