Pedro Messia de la Cerda

Pedro Messía de la Cerda, 5º Marqués de la Vega de Armijo , Margrave (Spanish: marqués) of la Vega de Armijo (born February 16, 1700 in Cordoba , Region of Andalusia , Spain , † 1783 in Madrid , Spain) was a Spanish officer and colonial administrator who served as Viceroy of New Granada.

Messía de la Cerda came from a noble family and embarked on a military career. In 1717 he began his military service in Cádiz . He took part in the Spanish conquest of Sardinia in 1718 and fought for the Spanish during the (re-) conquest of Sicily . He was wounded in the process and was briefly taken prisoner.

From 1719 onwards he fought on the Spanish side, mainly against the British Navy. In 1726 he was promoted to lieutenant. In 1732 he took part in the campaign in Algeria . In 1735 he was appointed frigate captain with the task of securing the Spanish route to the Atlantic near the Azores .

In 1747 he commanded the warship Glorioso and had a cargo of four million silver dollars to bring from America to Europe. At the height of the Azores, the English, who were at war with the Spanish in the War of the Austrian Succession , attacked the Glorioso with several ships and frigates on July 25, 1747; but Messía managed to escape. A second attack near Cape Finisterre could also be repulsed, and Messía managed to safely unload his cargo on August 16, 1747 in Corcubión . On the way from there to Cadiz, the British attacked a third time, at Cape St. Vincent . With enormous losses they succeeded in shooting the Glorioso incapable of maneuvering: Messía and his men had to surrender.

In Spain, however, they were celebrated as heroes. Messía rose to be in command of the navy and was appointed chamberlain to the king.

From 1750 he commanded the naval units that were supposed to involve piracy and smuggling off South America and the Caribbean. In 1753 he made a stop in Cartagena , where he met the Viceroy of New Granada, José Solís Folch de Cardona , who had just arrived from Europe , and whom he would later inherit in his office.

In 1755 he returned to Europe and took command of the Spanish Mediterranean fleet on board the Tigre . In 1757 he was promoted to lieutenant general and appointed to the Supreme War Council.

In March 1760, King Charles III appointed him . to the Viceroy of New Granada, Messía embarked for South America and reached Cartagena in October. In February 1761 he made his ceremonial entry into Santa Fé de Bogotá .

In September 1761 he went back to Cartagena because the British blocked the port of Havana in Cuba . In 1763 he returned to Bogotá.

The proselytizing of the locals was of great importance to him, albeit with little success; the Spaniards had to put down revolts and uprisings again and again. In order to rehabilitate the desolate state finances, he levied a tax on tobacco modeled on the spirits tax introduced by his predecessors. To improve government revenue, he took some measures to promote gold mining. He subjected the postal system to a state monopoly. During his tenure there was a saltpeter factory in Tunja and a gunpowder factory in Bogotá.

He promoted education and set up the first high schools for girls in South America. When King Charles III. ordered the Jesuit order to be expelled from all Spanish colonies, Messía, who himself was very much intended for the Jesuits, had to implement this order for New Granada. Messía managed to collect the books from the Jesuit colleges; they formed the basis of the first public library in New Granada.

When he passed seventy, he asked for his replacement. In 1771 the court complied with his wishes and sent Manuel de Guirior as his successor. Messía left Bogotá in September 1772 for Cartagena, handed over the official business there and sailed back to Europe.

There he died in Madrid in 1783.

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ Pedro Messía de la Cerda: Relación del estado del Virreinato de Santafé. Año de 1772. In Germán Colmenares (ed.): Relaciones e informes de los gobernantes de la Nueva Granada. Biblioteca Banco Popular, Bogotá 1989, Vol. I, pp. 123-152.

predecessor	Office	successor
José Solís Folch de Cardona	Viceroy of New Granada 1761--1772	Manuel de Guirior

personal data
SURNAME	Messia de la Cerda, Pedro
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Margrave of la Vega de Armijo; marqués de la Vega de Armijo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Viceroy of New Granada
DATE OF BIRTH	February 16, 1700
PLACE OF BIRTH	Cordoba (Spain) , Spain
DATE OF DEATH	1783
Place of death	Madrid , Spain

[1] Pedro Messía de la Cerda: Relación del estado del Virreinato de Santafé. Año de 1772. In Germán Colmenares (ed.): Relaciones e informes de los gobernantes de la Nueva Granada. Biblioteca Banco Popular, Bogotá 1989, Vol. I, pp. 123-152.