Juan Vicente de Güemes

Juan Vicente de Güemes

Juan Vicente de Güemes Pacheco y Horcasitas , Count (Spanish: conde) of Revillagigedo (born April 5, 1738 in Havana , Cuba ; †  May 12, 1799 in Madrid , Spain ), was a Spanish colonial administrator who served as viceroy of New Spain.

Life

Family, youth and education

Juan Vicente de Güemes was born in Havana to Juan Francisco de Güemes y Horcasitas , who was governor of Cuba at the time Juan was born . When his father was appointed Viceroy of New Spain in 1746, the family moved to Mexico City .

Juan Vicente was taught philosophy and Latin with his brother, but at the same time he received training as a cadet. At the age of 15 he commanded the palace guard of the viceroyalty. In 1756 he returned to Spain with his father.

He married N. Llera. None of his children survived him.

Military career

While his parents went to Madrid, where his mother died soon afterwards, Juan Vicente de Güemes joined the guard regiment of Cadiz . In 1762 he moved to Ceuta , where he took over a regiment whose colonel had previously died.

As part of the Seven Years' War he took part in the Spanish campaign against Portugal in the same year . On the orders of Count Aranda , the Commander in Chief of the Spanish Army, he sailed for Panama to defend the Isthmus of Panama against possible British attacks.

In Panama he faced a revolt by local militiamen when he tried to set up the Defense Army. In the middle of the war preparations, he received news of his father's death in Spain, which had sparked inheritance disputes in the family. His father was after his return from King Charles III. was raised to count, so that in addition to the material goods, the title of nobility was the reason for the dispute.

Güemes left his post and went to Spain on his own initiative without asking permission from his superiors. As a result, he fell out of favor at court. Only José Moñino y Redondo , Count Floridablanca, reactivated him for the siege of Gibraltar (1779–1783) .

With the Peace of Paris (1783) the war against the British ended and Güemes went to Madrid. However, he did not take on a position at court, but went about his business, which brought him good income. In 1788 he was offered the management of Banco San Carlos , the state-owned funding agency for war projects.

With the death of King Charles III. the time of his banishment from the court was over. Count Floridablanca proposed Güemes for the post of viceroy of the Río de la Plata , but before he could leave, the much more important office of the New Spanish viceroy was vacated, since Manuel Antonio Flores had asked for his replacement.

Tenure as Viceroy of New Spain

Güemes accepted and reached Veracruz in early August 1789. On August 18, he entered the capital, Mexico City. A serious crime occurred right at the beginning of his term in office: several armed bandits attacked the house of the merchant Joaquín Dongo and killed eleven people there. Contrary to the usual practice of years of unsuccessful trials, the Viceroy managed to record, convict and execute the perpetrators within a few days.

Güemes quickly embarked on a comprehensive reform program: he restructured the administration of the capital and the Intendencias , added 4 more to the existing 12 Intendencias and set up regular mail between the capital and the decentralized administrative centers, which initially ran every five days. In addition, he had mining and agriculture modernized and improved the education system, especially for the indigenous population. The financial administration was expanded and the increased economic strength led to increased tax revenues.

A census he ordered in 1791 showed that Mexico City had a population of over 111,000, including 4,250 soldiers and just under 8,000 clergy. Numerous structures were completed during his tenure, including the two towers of the cathedral. During leveling work on the Plaza Mayor , workers discovered the Aztec Stone of the Sun in December 1790 . The markets that had previously been held on the main square had to move to decentralized locations.

Güemes had streets paved and the main streets illuminated at night. He improved the drinking water supply and prohibited Mexicans from throwing their rubbish on the streets. From 1793 he set up the first public carriage service in the capital and had the main roads between the more important places expanded. First fire protection measures were enacted and the viceroy ordered that the dead be buried in cemeteries outside the settlements. To finance all of these measures, he introduced a state lottery.

During Güemes' tenure, the Italian navigator Alessandro Malaspina di Mulazzo, on behalf of the Spaniards , looked for access to the Northwest Passage on the Pacific coast of North America and explored the coast. At the end of 1789 the occupation of the Spanish settlement in the Nootka Bay returned; the Spaniards under Esteban José Martínez had captured British ships and sent them with their crews to Mexico; this led to considerable diplomatic entanglements in Europe, the so-called Nootka crisis . Güemes criticized the expedition leader. Another expedition under Francisco de Eliza followed in the spring of 1790.

In terms of foreign policy, New Spain was largely spared wars under Juan Vicente de Güemes. African slaves had risen against the colonial masters in the French part of the island of Hispaniola from 1791 , and Spanish and British troops prevented an encroachment on their dominions.

Return to Europe

In 1794 he was recalled, possibly in connection with allegations that political opponents had spread against him at court. He gave his successor detailed information and left Veracruz at the end of December 1794.

In April 1795 he arrived in Spain. King Charles IV (or his powerful prime minister Manuel de Godoy ) appointed him captain general of Barcelona and commanding general of the artillery. He could not take up both offices because he was plagued by recurring migraine attacks .

The revision of his term of office ( Juicio de Residencia ) dragged on over several years - probably also because the allegations against him were meticulously investigated. Juan Vicente de Güemes did not live to see the positive judgment because he died in May 1799. His younger brother Antonio María inherited the title of count.

literature

• Fernando Orozco: Gobernantes de México . 3. Edition. Panorama Editorial, Mexico City 2004, ISBN 968-38-0260-5 ( books.google.de ).
• Juana Vázquez Gómez: Dictionary of Mexican Rulers, 1325–1997 . Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport, CT, USA 1997, ISBN 0-313-30049-6 ( books.google.de ).

Web links

• Biography (spanish)
• History of his tenure (Spanish)
• Entry at Geneall.net

predecessor	Office	successor
Manuel Antonio Flores	Viceroy of New Spain 1789–1794	Miguel de la Grúa Talamanca y Branciforte