Francisco de la Fuente y Villalobos

Francisco de la Fuente y Villalobos (* before 1580 in Spain , † 1656 in Lima , Viceroyalty of Peru ) was a Spanish officer . In 1655 he was temporarily proclaimed governor of Chile .

Fuente served as a soldier in Lisbon and came to Chile in 1605. In 1639 he was transferred to Concepción, where he took over the position of inspector general (Spanish: veedor ) of the army.

At the beginning of 1655 the Spaniards under Governor Antonio de Acuña Cabrera had lost numerous settlements and control of the entire hinterland in the war against the rebellious Indians. They had to withdraw to Concepción . There, an excited crowd of refugees protested against the governor's warfare, whom they accused of having launched a hopeless attack out of the economic interests of his family. The City Council of Concepción declared the Acuña deposed and put de la Fuente in his place.

He was of an advanced age and no longer in good health. So he was reluctant to accept the office. First he informed the Real Audiencia of Chile in Santiago of the events; then he turned to the Indian War.

The news of the dismissal of a governor appointed by the king was unheard of in Chile at that time. It caused more unrest in the city council and the Audiencia than the Indian revolt and the destruction of the settlements in the south. Although they shared the Cabildo de Concepción's assessment of the governor's responsibility and incompetence, they did not want to go so far as to revoke an appeal by the king. The Concepción riot was condemned and Acuña was confirmed in office.

The deposition was considered a serious offense against the authority of the king. Although Acuña was deposed again shortly afterwards by the viceroy in Peru, de la Fuente was called to court in Lima to justify himself because of the uprising. He traveled to Peru and died there a few days after his arrival.

Other rebels from Concepción were sentenced to four years in prison in the process, which lasted until 1658, but were then pardoned.

literature

• José Toribio Medina : Diccionario Biográfico Colonial de Chile . Imprenta Elziviriana, Santiago, Chile 1906, p. 316 (Spanish, memoriachilena.cl [PDF; accessed June 15, 2010]).
• Diego Barros Arana : Historia General de Chile . tape 4 . Editorial Universitaria, Santiago de Chile 2001, p. 345-360 (Spanish, memoriachilena.cl [accessed July 10, 2010] First edition: 1886).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Barros Arana: “ En Santiago como en Concepción, se cería que el mal gobierno de don Antonio de Acuña y la arrogante codicia de sus cuñados, habían producido la deplorable catástrofe que tenía al reino al borde de su ruina. »P. 355.