Manuel de Salamanca

Manuel Silvestre de Salamanca Cano (* late 17th century in Mora (Toledo) , Spain ; died in Santiago de Chile in December 1775 ) was a Spanish officer and colonial administrator who served as governor in Chile from 1734 to 1737 .

Life

Origin and youth

Salamanca was born near Toledo , the son of Domingo Salamancy y Lumbreras and his wife Josefa Cano de Aponte . The exact date of birth is not known. He married Isabel de Zabala.

He embarked on a military career and took part in the War of the Spanish Succession , including the siege and capture of Barcelona .

Military career in Chile

With a royal patent dated November 29, 1716, he was sent to Chile as a cavalry officer. His uncle Gabriel Cano de Aponte , his mother's brother, had assumed the office of Chilean governor in December 1717. Salamanca rose to the position of General Plenipotentiary (Spanish: Procurador General ) of the Army and traveled to Lima to bring reinforcements and supplies to Chile. On the journey by ship he repulsed an attack by English privateers near Arica ; in Lima he was appointed Maestro de Campo . He was the second highest commander of the colony and had to represent the governor in his absence at the front against the Mapuche .

In 1723 there was an uprising of the indigenous population, which Salamanca suppressed with military severity.

Term of office as governor

With the death of his uncle, the position of governor became vacant. The chief judge (Spanish: Oidor Decano ) of the Real Audiencia of Chile , Francisco de Sánchez de la Barreda , took over the office and appointed Salamance governor of Concepción. The Viceroy of Peru , José de Armendáriz , however, did not confirm Barreda in office, but named Salamanca in his place.

During his term of office, numerous churches and missions were rebuilt, especially the Jesuits , which had been destroyed in the previous Indian Wars.

On November 15, 1737 he handed over his office to José Antonio Manso de Velasco , who came as a regular successor with a royal certificate from Europe.

literature

• José Toribio Medina : Diccionario Biográfico Colonial de Chile . Imprenta Elziviriana, Santiago, Chile 1906, p. 782–792 (Spanish, memoriachilena.cl [PDF; accessed June 15, 2010]).