Pedro de Villagra y Martínez

Pedro de Villagra y Martínez (* 1513 in Mombeltrán , Spain ; † September 11, 1577 in Lima , Peru ) was a Spanish soldier who took part in the conquest of what is now Chile and who administered this area as governor.

Life

De Villagra, whose father, Juan de Villagra, was a minor civil servant, set off for the first time in the New World in 1537 from his native Spain to Cartagena de Indias in the north of what is now Colombia . His journey took him to Peru via Santa Marta . With the expedition of Pedro de Valdivia he reached Chile.

After the founding of Santiago , the expedition leader de Villagra transferred the office of mayor for four years. After Valdivia's death in an unsuccessful battle against the Mapuche , de Villagra withdrew to Peru, where he married Beatriz de Figueroa.

After his nephew, Francisco de Villagra , took over the governorship of Chile, Pedro de Villgra y Martínez returned to this colony and also took part in the war against the Mapuche . After Francisco was unable to command the troops due to an illness, Pedro took over command of the southern army. In 1556 he defeated the Mapuche under Lautaro , who had already successfully led the army against Valdivia, in the battle of Peteroa , in which only two of the forty Spaniards who were led into the field died of the much larger Mapuche army, which was made up of several thousand warriors and lost 500 soldiers.

When Francisco de Villagra died at the end of June 1561, he had his office handed over to Pedro de Villagra. This office was later confirmed to him by the Viceroy of Peru, Diego López de Zúñiga y Velasco . The newly acquired office allowed him to adjust the troops according to his own plan. So he weakened the fortress Arauco in favor of the fortresses Angol and Concepción . Through the actions he wanted to centralize the armies. De Villagra's tactics later had a positive effect, as Lorenzo Bernal del Mercado , leader of the troops in the Battle of Angol , managed to cut large breaches in the Mapuche troops. The troops from the Angol garrison proved to be particularly effective. Later battles, such as the siege of Concepción , also fell out in favor of the Spaniards. After the Mapuche had been defeated in both the north and the south, there were several years of apparent peace between the two conflicting parties.

But de Villagra's political situation worsened for him when the viceroy died in 1564. According to the instructions of the successor de Zúñigas, de Villagra was replaced by Rodrigo de Quiroga a year later . After de Villagra was imprisoned, he was brought to Peru, where he wanted to wash his name. De Villagra was able to obtain an acquittal, whereupon he wrote to the Spanish king asking for redress, but his letter was never returned.

Pedro de Villagra y Martínez died a decade later, on September 11, 1577, in Lima.

personal data
SURNAME	Villagra y Martínez, Pedro de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Villagra, Pedro de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Spanish soldier and governor of what is now Chile
DATE OF BIRTH	1513
PLACE OF BIRTH	Mombeltrán , Spain
DATE OF DEATH	September 11, 1577
Place of death	Lima , Peru