Matías de Gálvez y Gallardo

Matías de Gálvez

Matías de Gálvez y Gallardo (born July 24, 1717 in Macharaviaya , Province of Málaga , Spain , † November 3, 1784 in Mexico City , Mexico) was a Spanish colonial administrator who served as governor of Guatemala and viceroy of New Spain.

Origin and family

Matías Gálvez was the eldest son of Antonio Gálvez y Carbajal and Antonia Gallardo Jurado . The family belonged to the landed gentry, but were impoverished. With the death of the father, the family's economic situation worsened and the children had to tend goats and sheep to earn money. Despite the difficult conditions, several members of the family made great careers. His brother José de Gálvez y Gallardo was a visitador in New Spain in the years before Matías' term of office and later, as colonial minister, he implemented the Bourbon administrative reforms of Charles III. in the Spanish colonies. Another brother, Antonio , embarked on a military career and made it to the command of the Bay of Cadiz . Miguel de Gálvez y Gallardo was Spain's ambassador to Russia and Prussia .

Matías Gálvez married María Josefa de Madrid in 1745, with whom he had two sons: Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid , who was to succeed his father in the office of Viceroy of New Spain , and José, who died at the age of eight. His wife died while giving birth to the second son. He remarried in August 1750. With his second wife, Ana de Zayas y Ramos, he had another son, who, however, also died in childhood.

Military career

Little is known about his childhood and education. He entered the military, was deployed in the Canary Islands and rose to become captain of the artillery. As commander of the Paso Alto fortress on Tenerife , he was governor of the king and second military commander from 1775. In 1778 he moved to Guatemala on the recommendation of his brother José .

Term of office in Guatemala

Initially, he acted as inspector general of the Spanish army and the local militias in Guatemala. In 1779 he took over the post of governor and captain general of the province of Guatemala from Martín de Mayorga .

His inauguration coincided with the death of the Mexican viceroy Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa in April 1779. The Real Audiencia of Mexico had a sealed envelope from the Council of India , who was to be appointed as successor in the event of death. The governor of Guatemala was named , and it can be assumed that José de Gálvez wanted to bring his brother into the influential office. But since Matías de Gálvez had not yet taken over the office when the news from Mexico reached Guatemala, Martín de Mayorga became viceroy.

Gálvez's tenure in Guatemala was shaped by the effects of the American War of Independence , in which Spain (like France ) stood against Great Britain . Matías de Gálvez feared the war would spill over from British Belize to Guatemala; he kept an army of 14,000 men ready and strengthened the forts and cities in his area of ​​authority.

In fact, the British attacked the Fortaleza de San Fernando Omoa , but were repulsed at the end of November 1779, and Gálvez managed to completely conquer the Honduran coast. The war with England ended with the Peace of Paris (1783) . As a recognition, Gálvez was in the order of Charles III. and received the Order of Calatrava .

During his tenure, the construction of Nueva Guatemala advanced after the old capital was completely destroyed in an earthquake in 1773. The cathedral and the bishop's palace as well as several religious buildings and hospitals were to be among the more important buildings. The plan to connect Lake Nicaragua with the Pacific was abandoned again, as the lake is 31 meters above sea level.

The extensive work as well as the military actions were possible because Viceroy Mayorga provided the province generously with financial means from Mexico.

Tenure as Viceroy of New Spain

In April 1783 Gálvez received the order to replace Mayorga as the New Spanish viceroy. He went by land to Mexico City, where he received the king's certificate of appointment in August.

After Martín de Mayorga died unexpectedly on the crossing to Spain, rumors spread that he had been poisoned by his political opponents (including José and Matías de Gálvez).

Matías de Gálvez made his ceremonial entry into Mexico City in February 1784 . During his short term in office, he let the Gazeta de México appear again, which had been banned under the viceroy Carlos Francisco de Croix . In June 1784 he banned card games in the viceroyalty.

On November 13, 1784, Matías de Gálvez died after a long illness that had prevented him from signing documents weeks before his death. The chairman of the Real Audiencia of Mexico , Vicente de Herrera y Rivero , took over the office of viceroy on an interim basis until Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid , the son of the deceased, became the new viceroy in 1785 .

swell

• Biography (spanish)
• Short biography (Spanish)
• History of his tenure (Spanish)
• Fernando Orozco: Gobernantes de México . 3. Edition. Panorama Editorial, Mexico City 2004, ISBN 968-38-0260-5 , p. 155–156 ( 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 ).

predecessor	Office	successor
Martin de Mayorga	Viceroy of New Spain 1783–1784	Vicente de Herrera y Rivero