Baltasar de Zúñiga y Guzmán
Baltasar de Zúñiga Guzmán Sotomayor y Mendoza , Duke (Spanish: duque) of Arión , Margrave (Spanish: marqués) of Valero and Almonte , Spanish grandee (* 1658 in Madrid , Spain ; † December 26, 1727 ibid) was a Spanish nobleman and Colonial administrator who served as viceroy of Navarre , Sardinia and New Spain.
Life
Origin and family
Baltasar de Zúñiga came from a family of the Spanish nobility. His father was the Duke of Béjar; his older brother inherited the title.
Careers in Europe
In 1692 Zúñiga was appointed viceroy of Navarre, and he held this office until 1697. In 1700 he was appointed to the Council of India . In 1704, King Philip V made him viceroy of Sardinia , which was then Spanish. When the Austrians occupied the island in the Spanish War of Succession in 1707 , he returned to mainland Spain.
Tenure as Viceroy of New Spain
With a deed dated November 22, 1715, King Philip V appointed him Viceroy of New Spain as the successor to Fernando de Alencastre Noroña y Silva . In the spring of 1716 he embarked for America and reached Veracruz in early June 1716. On June 28, he reached Chapultepec and a few weeks later made his ceremonial entry into Mexico City . He was the first bachelor to rule as Viceroy of New Spain.
Right at the beginning of his tenure, the north of the colony ( Texas ) was hit by a long period of drought and famine. The few Spanish settlers there set about giving up their settlements. The viceroy had food brought into the region and brought experts to help the settlers with questions of agriculture and animal husbandry. The gradual repopulation of the country, abandoned by the Spanish since the Pueblo Uprising of 1690, was gradual. Under Zúniga's rule, four new settlements were established and were occupied by volunteers, soldiers, released prisoners and monks of the Franciscan order . The Lipan Indians in New Mexico , who started the Pueblo uprising, submitted after long fighting in 1718.
Even under Zúñiga's tenure, the struggle against the English settlers continued, who had built up a flourishing and illegal trade in wood from Laguna de Términos , which they fought in the Mexican jungles.
In 1717 a delegation of Indian chiefs came to Mexico City from Florida . Zúñiga had them taken to Veracruz by the Armada de Barlovento ; from there they were transported by carriage and received with all honors. After they were baptized , they pledged allegiance to the Spanish crown.
In 1717 the Spanish crown decided to have a monopoly on the cultivation and sale of tobacco . In Cuba in particular , the private factories had to close and the income for the state budget rose.
The Jesuit priest Juan María de Salvatierra returned to Mexico from his missionary trip to California in 1718 to present his concerns to the viceroy at the Spanish court. However, Salvatierra died on the trip in Guadalajara (Mexico) . His companion Jaime Bravo brought the wishes of the Jesuits to Zúñiga.
In 1720 Spain was again at war with France . This increased the risk of French advances from Louisiana (colony) towards Florida as well as Texas and what is now New Mexico. Attacks by the French, for example on Pensacola (Florida) , were able to repel the Spaniards. On the island of Hispaniola , the Spanish succeeded in 1720 in driving out the French settlers who had settled in the west of the island.
Later term in Spain
In 1722, Baltasar de Zúñiga handed over the office of Viceroy to Juan de Acuña in order to serve as court master in the palace of Louis , the Prince of Asturias, when he married the Princess of Orléans . In 1725 the king gave him the title of Duke of Arión .
He also took over the chairmanship of the Council of India until he died in Madrid in 1727. In his will he decreed that his heart should be buried in New Spain.
literature
- Juana Vázquez Gómez: Dictionary of Mexican Rulers, 1325–1997 . Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport, CT, USA 1997, ISBN 0-313-30049-6 , pp. 37-38 ( books.google.de ).
- Fernando Orozco: Gobernantes de México . 3. Edition. Panorama Editorial, Mexico City 2004, ISBN 968-38-0260-5 , p. 125 ( books.google.de ).
Web links
- Biography (spanish)
- History of his tenure (Spanish)
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Fernando de Alencastre Noroña y Silva |
Viceroy of New Spain 1716–1722 |
Juan de Acuña |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Zúñiga y Guzmán, Baltasar de |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Duke of Arión, Duque de Arión, Margrave of Valero and Almonte, marqués de Valero y de Almonte |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Viceroy of Navarre, Sardinia and New Spain |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1658 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Madrid , Spain |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 26, 1727 |
| Place of death | Madrid , Spain |