García Hurtado de Mendoza

García Hurtado de Mendoza.

García Hurtado de Mendoza y Manrique , 4th Count of Cañete (born July 21, 1535 in Cuenca , † February 4, 1609 in Madrid ), was a Spanish military and royal official who served as governor of Chile (1557–1561) and viceroy of Peru (1589–1596).

Life

On January 9, 1557, García Hurtado de Mendoza was appointed governor of Chile by his father Andrés Hurtado de Mendoza , the viceroy of Peru . He waged a merciless war of retaliation against the insurgent Mapuche Indians in the south of the province of Araucaria . In 1557, after the arrival of Hurtado, the Spanish troop leader Pedro de Villagra succeeded in killing the Mapuche leader Lautaro in a surprise attack.

The writer Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga described the war and the cruel deeds of the Spaniards in his novel La Araucana and reports in particular of the murder of the chief Mapuche leader, the war chief ( Toqui ) Caupolicán , who as the hero of the story became the literary prototype of the Indian Novel heroes and " noble savages " became.

In 1557–1559, the governor sent the explorer Juan Fernández Ladrillero on an expedition to explore the Strait of Magellan . García Hurtado de Mendoza founded the cities of Osorno and Cañete .

In 1561 García Hurtado de Mendoza was replaced as governor of Chile because he had fallen out of favor with King Philip II . His successor was Francisco de Villagra (1561-1563).

Hurtado returned to Spain and represented his country diplomatically in Italy from 1561 to 1588 . He then returned to South America again and served as Viceroy of Peru from 1589 to 1596, like his father.

In 1595 the Spanish explorer Alvaro de Mendaña de Neyra named the Polynesian archipelago of the Marquesas after the then reigning viceroy ("Las Islas Marquesas Don García Hurtado de Mendoza y Cañete").

García Hurtado de Mendoza died in Madrid in 1609.

Web links

Commons : García Hurtado de Mendoza - Collection of images, videos and audio files

predecessor	Office	successor
Fernando Torres y Portugal	Viceroy of Peru 1589–1596	Luis de Velasco y Castilla

personal data
SURNAME	Hurtado de Mendoza, García
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Hurtado de Mendoza y Manrique, García (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Governor of Chile (1557–1561), Viceroy of Peru (1588–1593)
DATE OF BIRTH	July 21, 1535
PLACE OF BIRTH	Cuenca
DATE OF DEATH	February 4, 1609
Place of death	Madrid