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The
Viceroyalty of Peru:
Created in 1542, Spanish Virreinato
de Peru the second of the four
viceroyalties that Spain created to
govern its domains in the Americas.
The viceroyalty initially included
all of South America under Spanish
control except for the coast of what
is now Venezuela. It later lost
jurisdiction (with the creation of
the Viceroyalty of New Granada in
1739) over the areas that now
constitute the nations of Colombia,
Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela and,
later still (with the establishment
of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la
Plata in 1776), over what is now
Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and
much of Bolivia.
Until nearly the end of the colonial
era, Peru was considered the most
valuable Spanish possession in the
Americas. It produced vast
quantities of silver bullion for
 shipment to Europe, especially from
the mines at Potosí. Thriving on the labour of enslaved Indians, an
exploitative society of mine
operators and merchant princes lived
in splendour in the coastal city of
Lima. Access to easy wealth,
however, was one of the major
contributing factors to political
instability in the region. Geography
was another; Lima's position along
the western coast of South America
limited effective communication with
Spain, and the rigours of the
terrain (the Andes Mountains) made
Peru very difficult to govern.
From 1569 to 1581, the Viceroyalty
of Peru received some much-needed
stable leadership from the viceroy
Francisco de Toledo. Considered the
best of Peru's viceroys, Toledo
revamped the administration, granted
certain rights of autonomy to the
Indians, and modernized mining
operations. His successors—most
notably the Marqués de Montes Claros
(1607–15), Francisco de Borja y
Aragón, Prince de Esquilache
(1615–21), Don Pedro Antonio
Fernández de Castro, 10th Count de
Lemos (1667–72), and Melchor
Portocarrero Lasso de la Vega, Count
de la Monclova (1689–1705)—were for
the most part impressive men and
capable administrators.
By the late 18th century, however,
the Viceroyalty of Peru was badly in
need of reform. Exploitation of the
Indians had led in 1780 to the brief
but bloody rebellion of José Gabriel
Condorcanqui (or Tupac Amaru, as he
wished to call himself, after his
Inca ancestor). This revolt spread
throughout Peru, and, although Tupac
was captured and executed in 1781,
the Indians continued to wage war
against the Spaniards until 1783,
causing the disruption of the
viceroyalty's economic life. The
area was unable to mount a vigorous
defense when General José de San
Martín entered Lima and declared
Peru's independence from Spain in
July 1821. Then, on Dec. 9, 1824,
the Spanish royal army—despite an
advantage in manpower and arms—lost
the Battle of Ayacucho to a
revolutionary army under Antonio
José de Sucre. The viceroy of Peru
and his generals were taken
prisoner, and what was left of the
territory that had been the
Viceroyalty of Peru became part of
the independent nations of Peru and
Chile.
The Viceroyalty of Peru was divided
into audiencias, or provincial
administrations. Each of these was
governed by a president and included
the following (with its date of
creation):
Panamá (1538)
Lima (1543)
Santa Fe de Bogotá (1548)
La Plata de los Charcas (1559)
Quito (1563)
Chile (1563-1573; 1606)
Buenos Aires (1661-1672; 1776)
Caracas (1786)
Cuzco (1787)
With the creation of the Viceroyalty
of New Granada (now Colombia,
Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela) in
1717, the Audiencias of Panama,
Santa Fe de Bogota, and Quito were
detatched; with the establishment of
the Viceroyalty of the Río de la
Plata (now Argentina, Bolivia,
Paraguay and Uruguay) in 1776, the
Audiencia of Buenos Aires was
similarly lost.
Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata:
Created in 1776, the Viceroyalty of
the Río de la Plata was the last and
most shortlived viceroyalty created
by Spain. (The Spanish name,
Virreinato del Río de la Plata,
translates literally to 'Viceroyalty
of the River of Silver', although
some sources conventionally call the
viceroyalty Viceroyalty of the River
Plate.
In 1680, Portuguese governor of Rio
de Janeiro Manuel Lobo created the
Department of Colonia and founded
Colonia, a fort located in present
Uruguay's coast and the department's
capital. The main objective was to
secure the region from Spanish
expansionism. José de Garro quickly
attacked and seized the fort for
Spain, but on May 7, 1681 it was
handed back to Portugal due to the
Provisional Treaty of Lisbon.
On the other hand, the Viceroyalty
of Peru required all commerce to be
performed through Lima's port, which
restrained the Buenos Aires natural
port potential economy, a problem
that also caused large contraband
activities in the region, especially
in Asunción, Buenos Aires and
Montevideo.
Under these conditions, King Charles
III of Spain requested former
Governor of the Río de la Plata
Cevallos to think a way of
developing and securing the area, in
April 1776.
This meant a way of conquering
Colonia and the islands of Santa
Catalina from the Portuguese, in the
Banda Oriental (the "East Bank" of
the Río de la Plata, i.e., Uruguay),
and modernizing the underdeveloped
Buenos Aires.
Portuguese prime minister Pombal
continued to encourage the
occupation of territory which had
already been awarded to the Spanish
in the Treaty of Paris in 1763. King
Charles III quickly reacted to the
advantageous conditions: France was
bound to be an ally as a guarantor
of the treaty, and England due to
its own colony problems
 couldn't
help being neutral.
Cevallos sent a
warning and started aggressions
against Santa Catalina, from where
the Portuguese had already fled, and
it was conquered in less than a
month with no casualties. Then
Cevallos sailed towards Montevideo
and with the aid of Buenos Aires
governor Vértiz reclaimed Colonia,
also without resistance.
Cevallos
advanced to Maldonado city, where he
stopped his advance towards the Rio
Grande, as he was informed of the
Treaty of San Ildefonso which ended
hostilities in the area.Cevallos was
then free of other matters and
started significant transformations
in the area, including free commerce
(established on September 6, 1777)
with the aid of the Potosí minerals
which were meant to be the
viceroyalty's main source of
revenue.
The Bourbonic reforms in
1778 also helped greatly with the
region's development, and between
1792-1796 there was an unprecedented
boom.
PERU: The city was founded by
conquistador Francisco Pizarro on
January 18, 1535, naming it Ciudad
de los Reyes as the location was
decided at Epiphany, the January 6.
Lima, its original name, however
persisted. It is uncertain where the
name originated, but it is thought
that it derives from the Aymara word
lima-limaq, (yellow flower) or from
Quechuan rimaq (talking). In the
oldest Spanish maps of Peru, both
Lima and Ciudad de los Reyes can be
seen together as the names of the
city.
Lima became the most important city
in the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru,
which encompassed nearly all of
Spain's possessions in South America
during the colonial era (mid 1500s
to early 1800s).
In 1746, many important and
monumental buildings were damaged
and or destroyed (later repaired) in
an earthquake. The City of Kings'
cultural patrimony and incomparable,
beautiful architecture remained
prevalent. Its architectural and
political importance in Latin
America were equalled only by Mexico
City.
In 1996, the Japanese embassy
hostage crisis took place in Lima,
an affair which received global
media attention. It ended on April
22, 1997 when Peruvian Armed Forces
commandos stormed the building by
carrying out a frontal daytime
attack after tunneling underground
into the embassy to rescue the
seventy-two hostages. One hostage
died of medical complications, two
soldiers and all fourteen kidnappers
were killed in action.
Potosí: Founded 1546 as a mining
town, it soon acquired fabulous
wealth, becoming the largest city in
the Americas with a population
exceeding 200,000 people. In Spanish
there is still a saying vale un
Potosí meaning "being worth a
fortune" and, for Europeans, "Peru"
was a mythical land of riches. It is
here that most of the Spanish silver
came from and Indian labor, forced
by Francisco de Toledo through the
mita institution, came to die by the
thousands. After 1800 the silver
mines became depleted, making tin
the main product. This eventually
led to a slow economic decline.
During the War of Independence
(1809-1825, see History of Bolivia)
Potosi was frequently passed from
the control of Royalist and Patriot
forces. Major blunders by the First
Argentine Auxiliary Army (under the
command of Castelli) led to an
increased sense that independence
was needed and fostered resentment
towards Argentina. During that
occupation there was anarchy and
martial excess, and Potosi became
unfriendly to the point where it
could not be defended.
When the second auxiliary army
arrived it was received well, and
the commander, Belgrano did much to
heal the past wounds inflicted by
the tyrannical minded Castelli. When
that army was forced to retreat,
Belgrano took the calculated
decision to blow up the Casa de
Moneda. Since the locals refused to
evacuate this explosion would have
resulted in many casualties, but by
then the fuse was already lit.
Disaster was averted not by
Argentina who at that time were
fleeing, but by locals who put the
fuse out. In one stroke the good
feelings Belgrano delicately built
were destroyed. Two more expeditions
from Argentina would seize Potosi.
Complete List of Viceroys:
1544 - 1546 Blasco Núñez Vela
1546 - 1550 Pedro de La Gasca (Presidente
de la Audiencia)
1550 - 1552 Antonio de Mendoza,
conde de Tendilla
1552 - 1555 Melchor Bravo de Saravia
(Presidente de la Audiencia)
1555 - 1561 Andrés Hurtado de
Mendoza, marqués de Cañete
1561 - 1564 Diego López de Zúñiga y
Velasco, conde de Nieva
1564 Juan de Saavedra (Presidente de
la Audiencia)
1564 - 1569 Lope García de Castro (Presidente
de la Audiencia)
1569 - 1581 Francisco de Toledo,
conde de Oropesa
1581 - 1583 Martín Enríquez de
Almanza
1584 Cristóbal Ramírez de Cartagena
(Presidente de la Audiencia)
1584 - 1589 Fernando Torres y
Portugal
1589 - 1596 García Hurtado de
Mendoza, Marquis of Cañete
1596 - 1604 Luis de Velasco, marqués
de Salinas
1604 - 1606 Gaspar de Zúñiga y
Acevedo, Count of Monterrey
1607 Núñez de Avendaño (Presidente
de la Audiencia)
1607 - 1615 Juan de Mendoza y Luna,
marqués de Montesclaros
1615 - 1621 Francisco de Borja y
Aragón, príncipe de Esquilache
1621 - 1622 Juan Jiménez de Montalvo
(Presidente de la Audiencia)
1622 - 1629 Diego Fernández de
Córdoba, Marquis of Guadalcázar
1629 - 1639 Luis Jerónimo Fernández
de Cabrera, conde de Chinchón
1639 - 1648 Pedro Alvarez de Toledo
y Leiva, marqués de Mancera
1648 - 1655 García Sarmiento de
Sotomayor, conde de Salvatierra
1655 - 1661 Luis Enríquez de Guzmán,
conde de Alba de Liste
1661 - 1666 Diego de Benavides y de
la Cueva, conde de Santisteban del
Puerto
1666 - 1667 Bernardo de Iturriaza (Presidente
de la Audiencia)
1667 - 1672 Pedro Antonio Fernández
de Castro, conde de Lemos
1672 - 1674 Bernardo de Iturriaza (Presidente
de la Audiencia)
1674 - 1678 Baltasar de la Cueva
Enríquez, conde de Castellar
1678 - 1681 Melchor Liñán y Cisneros
1681 - 1689 Melchor de Navarra y
Rocafull, duque de la Palata
1689 - 1705 Melchor Portocarrero
Lasso de Vega, conde de Monclova
1705 - 1707 Miguel Núñez de Sanabria
(Presidente de la Audiencia)
1707 - 1710 Manuel de Oms y de Santa
Pau, marqués de Castelldosrius
1710 Miguel Núñez de Sanabria (Presidente
de la Audiencia)
1710 - 1716 Diego Ladrón de Guevara
1716 Mateo de la Mata Ponce de León
(Presidente de la Audiencia)
1716 - 1720 Carmine Nicolao
Caracciolo, príncipe de Santo Buono
1720 - 1724 Diego Morcillo Rubio de
Auñón
1724 - 1736 José de Armendáriz,
marqués de Castelfuerte
1736 - 1745 José Antonio de Mendoza
Caamaño y Sotomayor, marqués de
Villagarcía
1745 - 1761 José Antonio Manso de
Velasco, conde de Superunda
1761 - 1776 Manuel de Amat y Juniet
1776 - 1780 Manuel de Guirior
1780 - 1784 Agustín de Jáuregui y
Aldecoa
1784 - 1790 Teodoro de Croix
1790 - 1796 Francisco Gil de Taboada
y Lemos
1796 - 1801 Ambrosio O'Higgins,
Marquis of Osorno
1801 Manuel Arredondo y Pelegrín (Presidente
de la Audiencia)
1801 - 1806 Gabriel de Avilés y del
Fierro, marqués de Avilés
1806 - 1816 José Fernando Abascal y
Sousa
1816 - 1821 Joaquín de la Pezuela
1821 - 1824 José de la Serna e
Hinojosa
Sources:
-
Spanish Colonial Administration,
1782-1810 : The Intendant System in
the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la
Plata (University of London.
Historical Studies)
- Viceroyalty of Lord Mayo:
Administration in India, 1869-72 by
S. R Bakshi
-
Wikipedia
-
1911 Encyclopædia Britannica |
