Rodrigo Pacheco y Osorio

Rodrigo Pacheco y Osorio de Toledo

Rodrigo Pacheco y Osorio de Toledo , Marqués de Cerralvo (* before 1570 in Spain , † June 1652 in Madrid , Spain) was a Spanish colonial administrator who served as Viceroy of New Spain.

Origin and career in Europe

Rodrigo Pacheco came from a noble family from Spain, served in the royal army and served as the Inquisitor of Valladolid .

Tenure as Viceroy of New Spain

Appointment as viceroy

When news of the violent conflict between the New Spanish Viceroy Diego Carrillo de Mendoza and the Archbishop of Mexico City, Juan Pérez de la Serna , reached the Spanish court, King Philip IV sent Pacheco to Mexico to shed light on the matter and to punish the guilty. For this purpose, he was given comprehensive powers.

In November 1624, Pacheco reached Mexico City ; at that time his predecessor had already left for Europe under adventurous circumstances to represent his cause there before the king himself.

Threat from the Dutch and French

However, the investigation of civil war-like unrest and popular uprisings initially faded into the background. Spain was on the verge of the Thirty Years' War at war with France and Holland, and the Spanish colony was in acute danger. Dutch privateers threatened the port city of Acapulco , which was the starting point for shipping with the Spanish colonies in East Asia (such as the Philippines ). Pacheco went to Acapulco and overlooked the defenses there.

Pirers also threatened Spanish shipping towards Europe. The Dutch privateer Pit Hein captured a Spanish merchant ship association off the Bahamas with 12 million pesos in gold and merchandise on board.

Floods

After his operations had stopped work on the dyke and canal system of Mexico City for financial reasons and the city was subsequently hit by severe flooding during the rainy season, Pacheco ordered some work to be resumed. The work progressed only slowly, and in 1627 and especially in 1629 there were again devastating floods; the city center was under water approximately two meters. 30,000 people died, parts of the urban area were under water for several years.

In May 1630 Pacheco wanted to move the capital to Tacubaya , which was higher up and therefore seemed reasonably safe from flooding. The project failed due to protests from the guilds and guilds, who instead demanded that work on dikes and drainage canals be resumed with energy. The viceroy submitted, and in 1632 the work was largely complete: the Huehuetoca Canal was inaugurated and the dike ring around the city center had been renewed.

Return to Europe

The extensive infrastructure work during Pacheco's tenure cost a lot of money. Large sums of money ran through the Viceroy's coffers, and Pacheco apparently kept some of them for himself. He is also said to be corrupt. He owed his long term of office of over ten years to his good relations with the court, especially from Duke Olivares. When he returned to Spain in 1635, he was an exceptionally wealthy man.

King Philip IV was satisfied with his administration and gave Pacheco high honors. He was appointed to the Council of State, appointed chamberlain to the court and officiated as chief steward . He was later sent to the imperial court in Vienna as Spain's ambassador .

Rodrigo Pacheco y Osorio died in Madrid in June 1652.

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• Short biography (Spanish)
• Biography (spanish)

predecessor	Office	successor
Diego Carrillo de Mendoza y Pimentel	Viceroy of New Spain (Mexico) 1624–1635	Lope Díaz de Armendáriz