Juan Henríquez de Villalobos

Juan Henríquez de Villalobos (* around 1630 in Lima , today Peru , † 1689 in Madrid ) was a Spanish officer , colonial administrator and governor of Chile .

Life

Origin and military career

Henríquez was born in Lima around 1630 as the son of a Spanish Oidor at the Real Audiencia of Lima . His father was in the Order of Santiago and served as President of the Province of Granada . Juan Henríquez went back to Europe as a child. He studied law at the University of Salamanca and entered the service of the Crown at the age of 20.

He served in the navy and infantry in Spain and Italy. In the Restoration War against Portugal he was captured by the Portuguese on June 8, 1663 while taking Évora , and was only released after four years and nine months in prison on March 8, 1668 after the peace agreement. The regent María Ana appointed him to thank you as Knight of the Order of Santiago and a few months later as Governor of Chile, after she had deposed the incumbent Francisco de Meneses Brito .

Term of office as Governor of Chile

Henríquez embarked in June 1669 in Cádiz and reached Lima on March 26, 1670 and Concepción in October or November 1670. He was solemnly received by the city council (Spanish: Cabildo ) and took up his official duties.

During this time, there were repeated robberies by Indians, who mainly targeted the riding horses of the colonial rulers. His term of office was marked again and again by uprisings by the Mapuche and by pirate attacks against the Chilean coastal settlements.

On December 16, 1680, he received news that English pirates had burned the city of La Serena . He made his way there with all available forces, but found no more enemies when he reached the city.

Accuse

Henríquez was made serious allegations by the Audiencia after his term in office and he had to justify himself in a comprehensive legal process. The historians' judgments are also different: the historian José Toribio Medina writes about him that he left the colony enriched by no less than 700,000 Pesos. On the other hand, Diego Barros Arana rates Henríquez's term of office as “exemplary”. After completing his trial, he returned to Madrid, became a member of the Council of India and died there in 1689. He is buried in the chapel of Jesus, Mary and Joseph in the Colegio Imperial of the Jesuits .

literature

• José Toribio Medina : Diccionario Biográfico Colonial de Chile . Imprenta Elziviriana, Santiago de Chile 1906, p. 396–403 (Spanish, memoriachilena.cl [PDF]).
• Diego Barros Arana : Historia General de Chile . tape 5 . Editorial Universitaria, Santiago de Chile 2001, p. 95–160 (Spanish, memoriachilena.cl [accessed June 24, 2010] first edition: 1886).

Web links

• Article about privateers and smugglers in Chile at Biografía de Chile (Spanish)

Individual evidence

1. ^ According to Medina, p. 397, on November 4th, according to Barros Arana, p. 97, on October 30th.
2. ↑ Medina, p. 403: “ Fue el gobernador que más rico salió del reino, pues se llevó no menos de setecientos mil pesos. »
3. ↑ Barros Arana, p. 163, « Henríquez, por la actividad que desplegó en el gobierno, por las obras públicas que llevó a cabo in Santiago y en las otras ciudades sin imponer nuevas contribuciones, por la moderación y la prudencia con que supo ganarse todas las voluntades y premiar a los buenos servidores, había sido un mandatario modelo. »
4. ↑ Medina, p. 403.