Martin de Mayorga

Martin de Mayorga

Martín Díaz de Mayorga y Ferrer (baptized September 12, 1721 in Barcelona , Spain ; † July 28, 1783 at sea off Cádiz , Spain) was a Spanish officer and colonial administrator who served as governor of Guatemala and viceroy of New Spain.

Origin and family

Martín de Mayorga's mother was called Manuela Ferrer. His father, who was also called Martín, died half a year before he was born. He was a brigadier general. His paternal grandfather, also called Martín, was a colonel in the army and had command of the fortress of Cadiz.

In 1760 he married Josefa Valcárel y Daoiz from Pamplona , who was the queen's lady-in-waiting. The couple had a daughter and two sons, Pedro and Francisco, who later also embarked on military careers.

Careers in Europe

Like his grandfather and father before him, Martín de Mayorga joined the army and served in the royal guard. He fought in the Spanish campaigns in northern Italy from 1745. He took part in the capture of Almeida (Portugal) by the Spaniards. King Charles III appointed him in 1766 military and civil governor of Alcántara. He was also inducted into the Order of Alcantara .

Term of office as governor of Guatemala

In 1772 Martín de Mayorga was appointed governor of Guatemala , who was also chairman of the Real Audiencia of Guatemala . He reached Guatemala in June 1773, accompanied by his wife. Immediately after his arrival, on June 29, 1773, a severe earthquake shook the area, which completely destroyed most of the houses in the capital Antigua Guatemala . Earthquakes repeated themselves in September and December; the total number of victims was over 120,000 dead.

Disaster relief and aftercare made up a large part of government work. In addition, the governor Mayorga had an intensive exchange with the Spanish court as to whether the capital should be relocated to a safer place. In doing so, he prevailed against Archbishop Pedro Cortés y Larraz , who wanted to keep the previous location. The colony recovered from the setback, and the king rewarded Mayorga with promotion to field marshal.

In January 1779 Mayorga received a letter from Colonial Minister José de Gálvez y Gallardo that he should be relieved of his post. The minister's brother, Matías de Gálvez y Gallardo, was to become governor of Guatemala as a replacement .

Tenure as Viceroy of New Spain

In April 1779, the New Spanish viceroy Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa died unexpectedly in office. In the sealed envelope that the Real Audiencia of Mexico had to open in the event of death, the governor of Guatemala was scheduled from Madrid as an interim successor. It can be assumed that the Council of India was referring to Matías de Gálvez. But since he had not yet taken over the office, the call went to the previous incumbent, Martín de Mayorga. This fact caused a deep dislike of José de Gálvez for Martín de Mayorga.

He reached Mexico City in late August 1779, shortly after the Regent of the Audiencia, Francisco Romá y Rosell, declared war with England . Viceroy Mayorga prepared for the British to attack Spanish possessions as in previous wars. Therefore he ordered important trading ports in Mexico (above all Veracruz ), but also the ports of the newly acquired Louisiana and on Cuba to be reinforced and guarded. He also made the Philippines ready for defense. The feared British attack then failed to materialize.

So that the expected costs of a war did not ruin the state treasury as before, he entrusted a separate person responsible for the state finances of the colony: Pedro Antonio de Cossio. Few confidants knew of this division of labor, which lasted until the end of Mayorga's term in office. It led to conflicting orders from the viceroy and the tax authorities. In the end, Cossio fell out of favor because of his quick temper.

In Mayorga's tenure, Fort San Diego in the port of Acapulco was continued; the fortifications on the Caribbean coast were also expanded. A powder factory was built in Tacubaya .

In 1779, New Spain suffered from a chickenpox epidemic, which hit the indigenous population in particular.

Mayorga was considered an art-loving man - he set up the Royal Academy of Fine Arts ( Real Academia de Bellas Artes ). Administratively, Mexico City was divided into eight districts during his tenure. Numerous streets were paved. He ordered the artistic director of Puebla to collect and preserve the manuscripts of the historical work Historia Antigua de la Nueva España by Mariano Fernández de Echeverría y Veytia and Lorenzo Boturini de Benaducci .

Like many of his predecessors, Mayorga also had to fight against rebellious Indians: At the beginning of 1781, the locals in Izúcar in Puebla (state) rose against the Spaniards.

Mayorga was not among the confidants of the powerful José de Gálvez; the relationship between the two was marked by mistrust. Contrary to the usual practice, Mayorga was not promoted further militarily after his appointment. At court and also in public opinion, it was negative that Mayorga delegated important fields of activity to his court master Guillermo Bargigli. Satirists made fun of the viceroy's negligence.

At the end of April 1783, as instructed, he handed over the official business to Matías de Gálvez, who was chosen as viceroy from the beginning. Mayorga immediately left for Cuba, where he sailed to Spain with the frigate Clotilde . Shortly before arriving in Cádiz, Mayorga died on board. Rumors said that he had been poisoned by his political enemies.

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• Biography (spanish)
• Biography (spanish)
• Juana Vázquez Gómez: Dictionary of Mexican Rulers, 1325–1997 . Greenwood Publishing Group, Westport, CT, USA 1997, ISBN 0-313-30049-6 , pp. 44 ( books.google.de ).

predecessor	Office	successor
Francisco Romá y Rosell	Viceroy of New Spain 1779–1783	Matías de Gálvez y Gallardo