Pedro Lisperguer

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Pedro Lisperguer (* as Peter Lißberg 1535 in Worms ; † 1604 in Lima , Peru ) was a German conquistador in Spanish service. He belonged to the colonial aristocracy in Chile, held important offices in administration and the military, and amassed immense fortunes. With his numerous descendants, he founded a powerful family clan that had an extraordinarily great influence in Chile for almost two centuries.

biography

He was born in Worms am Rhein in 1535 as the son of councilor Peter Birling (* 1503) and his wife Catarina Lißberg. He had a younger brother named Peter Birling (* 1538). His paternal grandfather was Jacob Birling (* 1475), related to the princes of Saxony-Wittenberg.

Adolescent years

After the Catholic Emperor Charles V defeated an opposing alliance of Protestant princes and cities in the Battle of Mühlberg on the Elbe in April 1547 , the Protestant Worms also had to submit to him. It was up to Peter's father to declare the surrender of the city. In return, Peter Lißberg was accepted as a page in the service of Charles V and was called Pedro Lisperguer from then on . He then came to Spain with Pedro Fernández de Córdoba, 4th Count of Feria, who raised him in his house.

In 1554 Lisperguer accompanied the Duke of Feria on a trip to London to attend the wedding between Maria I Tudor and the Spaniard Philip II in June . There he met Jerónimo de Alderete , the deputy captain general of Chile. He had presented himself to Philip II in London to serve as the successor to the Chilean governor Pedro de Valdivia , who fell in December of the previous year . Alderete aroused interest in Chile with his reports on the development of the colony near Lisperguer. Then in mid-October Alderete was recommended by Philip II as the new governor of Chile and Lisperguer decided to go to Chile with him. Although it was still forbidden for non-Spaniards to enter the Spanish territories under threat of the death penalty, Lisperguer managed to obtain an entry permit for Peru and Chile. On November 14, Emperor Charles V in Flanders issued him the necessary document, a real cédula , which, among other things, contained an explicit mention that Lisperguer was of German origin. On October 15, 1555, Lisperguer embarked with Alderete in Sanlúcar de Barrameda on the fleet of the Spanish viceroy of Peru Andrés Hurtado de Mendoza , Marquis of Cañete. Alonso de Ercilla, who later became known as a writer, accompanied him on the journey . Alderete died on the voyage in Panama in April 1556, and Lisperguer then came to Lima as the viceroy's courtier.

Conquista in Chile

In Chile at that time the so-called Arauco War threatened the existence of the colony. In addition, Francisco de Aguirre and Francisco de Villagrán rivaled for the vacant governorship and thus brought the colony into further difficulties. The viceroy Andrés Hurtado de Mendoza soon put together an expedition to take control. He appointed his son García Hurtado de Mendoza governor of Chile and provided him with Lisperguer as one of four advisors. Lisperguer was also given command of one of the expedition's three galleons . So by that time he was already a high-ranking personality. On November 22nd, 1557 he arrived in Chile. On this occasion Lisperguer also brought some black slaves with him. The new governor had Aguirre and Villagrán arrested and ordered their deportation into exile in Peru. That was a harsh and unpopular decision. Lisperguer was the only one who dared to stand up for the two of them with the governor. The governor, however, did not tolerate any contradiction and ordered Lisperguer to bring the two of them to Peru and not to return to Chile himself. When they arrived in Peru, Lisperguer and his prisoners were honored by the viceroy and received at court.

Lisperguer soon returned to Chile and took part in the arauco campaign. As the commander of a ship, he brought supplies of soldiers and material to the city ​​of Concepción, which was encircled by the Mapuche . This allowed the city to survive the siege until more Spanish troops could come to the rescue.

In 1560, Lisperguer returned to Peru with his ship on behalf of the governor in order to procure urgently needed reinforcements for the management of the Arauco War.

In a dispute in connection with allegations of heresy against the conquistador Alonso de Escobar, Pedro Lisperguer stormed the church of La Merced in Santiago on January 27, 1563 in a heavily armed, larger group. This group included monks, scholars, a bishop, black slaves and also other conquistadors. The doors of the church were forcibly broken open. The target of the attack was the vicar and inquisition judge Antonio de Molina. His reaction on the following day was that he excommunicated his attackers, including Lisperguer ( descomunión mayor ipso jure ). It should be noted that Molina had also been excommunicated beforehand by other church people and in the end the Lisperguer group prevailed and Molina had to flee into exile in Peru.

On February 20, 1564, Lisperguer was appointed captain of a unit of light cavalry by Pedro de Villagra . In 1564 and 1565 he received several encomiendas.

In 1566 he too fell into the clutches of the Inquisition . The reason was that he had said that Maria gave birth through the belly button. In October he was sentenced to abjuración de vehementi , a penalty imposed for suspicion of heresy , with the threat of a stake if repeated. As a penitent, he had to hear a mass and deliver around 25 kg of cooking oil. After having completed his penance, he was sworn in on November 6th as a councilor of the Cabildo, the colonial city government of Santiago.

Later he was in command of the fortress Quiapo (built in 1566) near Lebu and as such was involved in its defense.

On December 13, 1568, he was elected mayor of Santiago by the Cabildo. He could not take up the office because the Catholic Church appealed. That was probably a consequence of his condemnation by the Inquisition.

In the period after 1560 and before 1570 he married Águeda Flores (* 1541- † 1632), the only legitimate daughter of Bartolomé Flores . His father-in-law, also a conquistador of German descent, was the richest man in Chile. The mother-in-law was Elvira Curiqueo, daughter of a Mapuche and an Inca from Talagante , Kazikin , landowner, and richest woman in Chile. When their father-in-law died in November 1585, Pedro Lisperguer and his wife were able to dispose of the colony's richest fortune. For example, there were many extensive lands in the area between Santiago and Cauquenes, about 400 km south . Lisperguer also had encomiendas in northern Patagonia, in what is now Argentina. From there he deported Puelche to his estancias in Putagán and Cauquenes.

In 1572 Lisperguer became mayor of Santiago de Chile .

He rose to the rank of general. On January 23, 1576 he was appointed witch judge as the successor to the late Alonso de Góngora Marmolejo . It was part of his office to pursue the machis, the Mapuche shamans .

Around mid-1583, while the newly appointed governor Alonso de Sotomayor , coming from Spain, was still on his way to Chile, he appointed Lisperguer as a member of a five-person commission that was supposed to take over the affairs of government and replace the interim governor Ruiz de Gamboa . Probably as a reward for his services, Lisperguer received from Sotomayor property rights to extensive land near Lampa, near Santiago, in the same year.

1583–1585 he was sent to Peru for the second time to receive support for the Arauco War. Lisperguer successfully fulfilled his mission and brought 200 soldiers and war material by ship to Chile for 30,000 gold pesos (value: 14.4 kg fine gold).

After that he stayed in Lima at the viceroy's court and never returned to Chile. The reason for this is not clear. In May 1595 he was sick and in trouble. His wife Águeda, who could read and write, made her will and went on a journey to see him. The last that was recorded by Lisperguer is his appointment as jentil-hombre de palacio by the viceroy Luis de Velazco on March 22, 1604 in Lima.

It is believed that Pedro Lisperguer died in Lima in 1604 or 1605.

The Lisperguerclan

Pedro Lisperguer and his wife Águeda Flores had six sons and three daughters:

  • Juan Rodulfo (1556--29 September 1606),
  • Pedro (* August 1581; married 1614; testament October 9, 1619),
  • Bartolomé,
  • Fadrique,
  • Federico († September 22, 1581),
  • Mauricio,
  • Magdalena (youngest daughter; married October 10, 1613; testament April 28, 1648),
  • María (* 1565; married December 5, 1595; no children),
  • Catalina (mother of Catalina de los Ríos y Lisperguer (* 1602; † 1665), La Quintrala ).

The Lisperguers belonged to the colonial aristocracy and were the most powerful family in Chile for a long time in the 16th and 17th centuries. Not only did they have vast fortunes, but they ruled the three great forces that ruled the country at the time. They dominated the judiciary through kinship ties with the judges, they influenced the clergy in their capacity as founders of monasteries, and they dominated the military in their capacity as commanders and distinguished soldiers.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Luis de Roa y Ursúa (1874-1947): El Reyno de Chile 1535-1810 . Estudio historico, genealogico y biografico. Talleres Tipográficas Cuesta, Valladolid 1945, p. 316 .
  2. ↑ Benjamin Vicuña Mackenna: Los Lisperguer y la Quintrala: (Doña Catalina de los Ríos) . Episodio histórico-social con numerosos documentos inéditos. 2nd Edition. Imprenta del Mercurio, Valparaíso 1877, p. 16 f . ( Memoria Chilena - Documents ).
  3. ↑ a b c d Luis de Roa y Ursúa, p. 316
  4. ↑ Medina, José Toribio (1852–1930): La Araucana: Ilustraciones II . Imprenta Elzeviriana, Santiago de Chile 1918, p. 12 ff . ( Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes ).
  5. ^ Miguel Luis Amunátegui Aldunate (1828-1888): Descubrimiento i conquista de Chile - Pedro de Valdivia . Imprenta, Litografía y Encuadernación Barcelona, ​​Santiago de Chile 1913, p. 302 ( Memoria Chilena - Documents ).
  6. ↑ Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna, p. 17
  7. ↑ Benjamin Vicuña Mackenna, p. 17f
  8. ↑ Rolando Mellafe (1929-1995): La Introducción de la esclavitud negra de Chile: tráfico y rutas . In: Estudios de historia economica americana . tape 2 . Universidad de Chile, Santiago de Chile 1959, LCCN  85-192802 , p. 5 ( Memoria Chilena documents [accessed September 6, 2009]). P. 54
  9. ^ Diego Barros Arana (1830–1907): Historia general de Chile . La Colonia desde 1561 hasta 1620. Ed .: Centro de Investigaciones Diego Barros Arana. tape 2 . Editorial Universitaria, Santiago de Chile 1999, ISBN 956-11-1534-4 , p. 88 ( Memoria Chilena - Documents ).
  10. ^ Alonso de Gongora Marmolejo (1524–1575): Historia de Chile desde su descubrimiento hasta el año de 1575 . In: Colección de historiadores de Chile y de documentos relativos a la historia nacional . tape 2 . Imprenta del Ferrocarril, Santiago de Chile 1862, p. 68 ( Memoria Chilena - Documents ).
  11. ↑ Vicente Carvallo y Goyeneche (1740-1816): Descripción-histórico-jeográfica del reino de Chile . In: Colección de historiadores de Chile y de documentos relativos a la historia nacional . tape 1 . Imprenta del Ferrocarril, Santiago de Chile 1861, p. 152 ( Memoria Chilena - Documents ).
  12. ↑ a b Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna, p. 18
  13. ↑ Claudio Llanos: Relación entre negros e indios en el Reino de Chile durante el siglo XVI . In: Estudios Afroamericanos Virtual (EAVirtual) . No. 2 , May 2005, ISSN  1697-4255 , p. 101 ( online [accessed September 5, 2009]). Relación entre negros e indios en el Reino de Chile durante el siglo XVI ( Memento of the original of May 14, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ub.edu
  14. ↑ José Toribio Medina: Historia del Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición en Chile . Fondo Bibliográfico JT Medina, Santiago de Chile 1952, p. 13 ff., 58 ff . ( Memoria Chilena - Documents ).
  15. ^ Eugene H. Korth: Spanish policy in colonial Chile . The struggle for social justice, 1535-1700. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California 1968, pp. 54 ( Google Book (Limited Preview) [accessed September 6, 2009]).
  16. ↑ a b Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna, p. 19.
  17. ↑ José Toribio Medina, p. 90.
  18. ↑ a b Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna, p. 24.
  19. ↑ Luis Aguirre Echiburu: Españoles chilenos . Historia, cultura, instituciones, actualidad, personalidades. 1959 ( Google Book (excerpts)). P. 35
  20. ↑ José Toribio Medina (1852-1930): Diccionario biográfico colonial de Chile . Imprenta Elziviriana, Santiago de Chile 1906, p. 312 ( Memoria Chilena - Documents ).
  21. ↑ Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna, p. 25.
  22. ^ Eugene H. Korth: Spanish policy in colonial Chile . The struggle for social justice, 1535-1700. Stanford University Press, 1968, ISBN 978-0-8047-0666-7 , pp. 28 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  23. ↑ Gerd Wunder: The Lisperguer family in Chile. In: Negotiations of the German Scientific Association in Santiago, Chile. Volume 2, 1934.
  24. ↑ Benjamin Vicuña Mackenna, p. 24f.
  25. ^ Diego Barros Arana (1830–1907): Historia general de Chile . La Colonia desde 1561 hasta 1620. Ed .: Centro de Investigaciones Diego Barros Arana. tape 3 . Editorial Universitaria, Santiago de Chile 1999, ISBN 956-11-1535-2 , p. 26 ( Memoria Chilena - Documents ).
  26. ↑ Benjamin Vicuña Mackenna (1831-1886): De Valparaíso a Santiago . datos, impresiones, noticias, episodios de viaje. Imprenta de la Librería del Mercurio, Santiago de Chile 1877, p. 295 ( Memoria Chilena - Documents ).
  27. ↑ Benjamin Vicuña Mackenna. Los Lisperguer y la Quintrala. P. 26.
  28. ↑ Benjamín Vicuña Mackenne, p. 31.
  29. ↑ Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna, p. 67.
  30. ^ Hermann Kellenbenz, Rolf Walter: Upper German merchants in Seville and Cádiz (1525-1560) . An edition of notarial files from the local archives. Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-515-07740-5 , pp. 21 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  31. ↑ Juan Guillermo Muñoz Correa: La viña de Quilicura en el reino de Chile, 1545-1744 . In: Revista Universe . tape 2 , no. 20 , 2005, ISSN  0718-2376 , p. 34-41 , doi : 10.4067 / S0718-23762005000200004 ( Universum online [accessed September 6, 2009]).
  32. ↑ Rafael Meisel Prieto (1903-1980): Páez de Sotomayor, Alsina y Montagut en Ocaña / Colombia . ( PDF 62 kB).
  33. ↑ Benjamin Vicuña Mackenna, p. 30ff.
personal data
SURNAME Lisperguer, Pedro
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lißberg, Peter (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German conquistador in Spanish service, Chilean colonial aristocrat
DATE OF BIRTH 1535
PLACE OF BIRTH Worms
DATE OF DEATH 1604
Place of death Lima , Viceroyalty of Peru