Pedro Porter Casanate

Pedro Porter Casanate (* (baptized) April 30, 1611 in Saragossa , Spain ; † February 27, 1662 in Concepción , Chile ) was a Spanish officer and explorer. He served as governor of Chile from 1656 until his death .

Life

Origin and youth

Porter was born the second of seven children to Juan Porter and his wife Esperanza Casanate. His father was a public prosecutor (Spanish: fiscal ) of Aragón . Pedro Porter initially studied in his hometown. In 1627 he signed on with the royal armada and took it from ensign to captain .

Fast career at sea

His first campaign took him to the Caribbean , where he fought against the English who had occupied St. Kitts and Nevis . He was very interested in nautical science and had an exchange of letters with the leading authorities in his country in the field. In 1634 he published a book on errors in the Spanish nautical tables. In the same year he was appointed sea captain.

Unsuccessful attempt to start a voyage of discovery

His interest in discovering and mapping new lands led him to suggest to the Viceroy of New Spain , Rodrigo Pacheco y Osorio , Marqués de Cerralvo, to explore whether Baja California is actually a peninsula or whether it is a northern passage from the Gulf of California in the Pacific . Approvals and funding for this expedition took a long time. In 1637 Porter decided to present his project directly in Spain to the Council of India , the highest body of the colonial administration. On the way to Europe he came under the control of the Dutch pirate Cornelis Corneliszoon Jol (called: Pie de Palo - wooden leg ) near Havana , who held him on Curaçao for several months before he could travel on to Europe.

Service in Europe

With a charter from 1638, King Philip IV approved Porter's project. This was in the meantime, however, under the Admiral Lope de Hoces in the war against France . On March 31, 1640 he reached New Spain with a new royal license and was now appointed admiral himself.

Porter Casanate was a member of the Order de Santiago since 1641 .

Expeditions in Central America

In 1643 Philip IV, the Spanish king, relieved Casanate of his office with the Armada. In the same year he went from Cádiz to Cartagena de Indias , in what is now Colombia . From there he crossed the continent to the coast of Mexico . He stayed there for three years in order to colonize the area for the Spanish crown.

Term of office as Governor of Chile

In 1656 he was appointed governor of Chile. In this role he led the Arauco war against the Mapuches . He continued this office until his death in 1662.

literature

• José Toribio Medina : Diccionario Biográfico Colonial de Chile . Imprenta Elziviriana, Santiago, Chile 1906, p. 697–698 (Spanish, memoriachilena.cl [PDF; accessed June 15, 2010]).

Web links

• Biography of Pedro Porter y Casanate (Spanish: PDF; 86 kB)