José de Iturrigaray

José de Iturrigaray

José Joaquín Vicente de Iturrigaray y Aróstegui (born June 27, 1742 in Cádiz , Spain (according to other sources: in Navarra ); † September 1814 (according to other sources: December 1815) in Madrid , Spain) was a Spanish officer and colonial administrator who officiated as Viceroy of New Spain.

Life

Family, education and military career

Iturrigaray was born to a wealthy merchant family from Navarre. His parents were José de Iturrigaray and María Manuela de Aróstegui. José chose the military career and entered the army as an infantry cadet at the age of seventeen. In 1762 he took part in the Spanish campaign against Portugal ( Guerra Fantástica ) as part of the Seven Years' War and was promoted to lieutenant.

In 1777 he was appointed captain of the royal Carabineros . In 1789 he reached the rank of brigadier general. In the First Coalition War against revolutionary France , he was promoted to field marshal, and in 1795 he was appointed lieutenant general. In the Orange War against Portugal in 1801 he took part as commander of the Andalusian army.

Political career

His friendship with Manuel de Godoy , who had a decisive influence on Spain's foreign and war policy at the time, encouraged him to step into politics. He served briefly as captain general of Andalusia and as governor of Cádiz.

Tenure as Viceroy of New Spain

The resignation of the viceroy Félix Berenguer de Marquina of New Spain was accepted in July 1802. At the instigation of Manuel de Godoy, José de Iturrigaray was quickly appointed as his successor; at the end of August 1812 he set off on the journey to Mexico with a large retinue of family and servants as well as plenty of luggage. Some of the luggage apparently contained not only the family's personal belongings, but also merchandise that Iturrigaray smuggled into the colony on his own account.

He reached the capital Mexico City at the beginning of January , took over the official duties of his predecessor and made the traditional entry.

When Iturrigaray began his tenure, the German explorer Alexander von Humboldt visited Mexico and stayed in Mexico City for nine months in 1803. His explorations into the mining industry in Guanajuato were encouraged by the viceroy to the best of his ability. Iturrigaray also traveled to Guanajuato, which caused quite a stir there.

During Iturrigaray's tenure, the smallpox vaccination was introduced, the road to Veracruz was expanded and the drainage system for the Valley of Mexico was further developed. The viceroy placed great emphasis on entertainment and had court balls in Mexico based on the model of the Madrid court. He had bullfights and cockfights organized for the people, which his predecessor had forbidden.

In terms of foreign policy, he tried, like his predecessors, to protect the sparsely populated and poorly secured northern provinces as best he could against infiltration by Anglo-American settlers and adventurers.

The ports of Veracruz and Havana have also been upgraded to protect against British attacks. With the renewed war against England from 1805, the colony found itself in a state of defense, and the goal was to relieve the strained Spanish treasury with contributions. Viceroy Iturrigaray ended the tax exemption of the clergy, which led to violent protests by the Church - represented by the Bishop of Michoacán , Manuel Abad y Queipo .

Upheaval in Europe, Napoleon's invasion of Spain

The rise of Napoleon Bonaparte resulted in significant upheavals in motherland Spain. From the beginning of 1808 the French occupied strategically important points in Spain. King Charles IV abdicated in favor of his son Ferdinand VII , but he was actually held captive in exile at Valençay Castle. Napoleon proclaimed his brother Joseph Bonaparte King of Spain.

Many Spaniards reacted with resistance, which also had a military effect. The Spaniards set up many ambushes and skirmishes against Napoleon's standing army without seeking a major military conflict on the open battlefield. They called this tactic of needle pricks guerrilla .

Political representation of the Spaniards who supported Ferdinand was taken over by the Junta Suprema Central , first in Madrid, later in Seville and Cádiz . From 1810 the Cortes of Cadiz took over the legislative function. The executive branch (Regencia) was largely limited to waging war with England and Portugal against the Bonapartists.

Reaction in New Spain

The news of the uprising of Aranjuez , the overthrow of Manuel Godoy and the abdication of the king reached Spain in mid-May 1808. They led to a deep rift through the colony, which was attached to the question of what legitimacy and in what form Mexico governs should be when the motherland Spain was not able to control its colonies as usual.

On one side stood the Peninsulares , the Spanish born in the motherland, represented by the lawyers of the Real Audiencia of Mexico ; they insisted on the continuation of the previous order and counted on Ferdinand's return to the throne soon. In the meantime the colonies had to wait after their introduction.

On the other hand, the criollos ( Creoles ), the upper class born in America, were prominently represented in the Viceroyalty by the magistrate (Ayuntamiento) of Mexico City. The Creoles saw the uprising that was forming in the motherland as a model for achieving more local self-determination and independence in Mexico.

There was a wide range of opinions: they ranged from pragmatists who were only looking for a short-term interim solution in order to maintain public order, to resolute representatives of popular sovereignty and independence based on the model of the United States .

The Viceroy called all the capital's dignitaries to a consultative meeting on August 9th. The Creoles took the view that the royal Spanish rule was incapable of acting and that the people of New Spain therefore had to organize themselves and that their own legislation had to be initiated. This position was rejected by the representatives of the Audiencia, New Spain is a colony and without a motherland is not entitled to act, but is still subject to the decisions of King Ferdinand. A politically viable agreement could not be reached.

The situation became more complicated when two representatives of the junta came to New Spain from Seville in mid-August: Manuel Francisco Jáuregui and Juan Jabat demanded that New Spain should follow the junta as the legitimate representative of the legitimate king. A little later, a letter with the same demand arrived from the Junta of Asturias from London, where the former Prime Minister Pedro Ceballos Guerra set up a kind of government in exile and publicly represented Ferdinand's case against Bonaparte.

For the Audiencia, the juntas' contradicting requirements were a clear sign that they would not give in to either of them, but rather wait for direct orders from the king. The more radical Creoles, on the other hand, saw the signal to no longer obey orders from Europe, but to take the government of Mexico into their own hands.

Viceroy Iturrigaray leaned towards the Creole side and advocated the formation of a local junta to lead the government under his suzerainty.

Coup and deposition

The Peninsulares responded with a coup on September 15, 1808. Under the leadership of the merchant Gabriel de Yermo , several hundred armed men broke into the viceroy's palace and took him and his family prisoner. While his family was being taken to the San Bernardo Monastery, Iturrigaray was transferred to the Inquisition prison. The conspirators declared the viceroy deposed and named Field Marshal Pedro de Garibay as his successor.

In a September 17 special edition of Gazeta , Archbishop Francisco Javier de Lizana y Beaumont and the Oidores of the Audiencia published an article that Iturrigaray was imprisoned for security and public order. The Creole spokesmen, Primo Verdad, Juan Francisco Azcárate, Melchor de Talamantes and José María Beristáin were also arrested and imprisoned.

The Audiencia brought an action against Iturrigaray; the trial was to take place in Spain in Cadiz. The deposed viceroy was brought to Europe, where he arrived in February 1809. In February 1810, the executive body of the Cortes of Cádiz , the Regencia , decided that he could live freely with his family in Spain and should receive his regular military pay; his confiscated goods were also to be returned to him.

The trial brought against Iturrigaray resulted in a conviction for infidelity, which, however, was rendered insignificant by an amnesty. The assessment of his administration (Juicio de Residencia) resulted in a substantial fine, which he had not paid in full when he died in Madrid in early September 1814.

literature

• Fernando Orozco: Gobernantes de México . 3. Edition. Panorama Editorial, Mexico City 2004, ISBN 968-38-0260-5 , p. 175-176 ( Google Books ).
• Juana Vázquez Gómez: Dictionary of Mexican Rulers, 1325–1997 . Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport CT 1997, ISBN 0-313-30049-6 ( Google Books ).
• Barbara H. Stein, Stanley J. Stein: Crisis in an Atlantic Empire: Spain and New Spain 1808-1810 . Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2014, ISBN 1-4214-1425-2 ( Google Books ).

Web links

Commons : José de Iturrigaray  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Biography (spanish)
• Biography (spanish)
• Short biography (Spanish)
• History of his tenure (Spanish)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ulrike Leitner (Ed.): Alexander von Humboldt. From Mexico City to Veracruz. Diary. Akademie Verlag, Berlin 2005, p. 11, 21-23 .

predecessor	Office	successor
Félix Berenguer de Marquina	Viceroy of New Spain 1803-1808	Pedro de Garibay