Gaspar de Zúñiga Acevedo y Velasco

Gaspar de Zúñiga Acevedo y Velasco
9th Viceroy of New Spain
In office November 5, 1595 – October 26, 1603
Monarchs	Philip II Philip III
Preceded by	Luis de Velasco y Castilla
Succeeded by	Juan de Mendoza y Luna
Viceroy of Peru
In office December 8, 1604 – February 10, 1606
Preceded by	Luis de Velasco y Castilla
Succeeded by	Diego Núñez de Avendaño, interim, as senior Oidor of the Audiencia of Lima

Gaspar de Zúñiga Acevedo y Velasco (Castle of Monterrey, Monterrey, 1560 – Lima, February 10, 1606) was a Spanish nobleman of the House of Zúñiga, 5th Count of Monterrey, Lord of Biedma, Ulloa and of the house of La Ribera, pertiguero mayor of Santiago de Compostela, Viceroy, Governor and Captain General of the Kingdom of New Spain, President of the Real Audiencia of Mexico, and later Viceroy, Governor and Captain General of the Kingdom of Peru, and President of the Real Audiencia of the City of the Kings (Lima).

Parentage

He was the son of Jerónimo de Zúñiga Acevedo y Fonseca, 4th Count of Monterrey, Lord of Biedma, Ulloa and of the house of La Ribera, pertiguero mayor of Santiago de Compostela, and of his wife Inés de Velasco y Tovar, daughter of Juan de Velasco y Tovar, Marquis of Berlanga, and of his wife Juana Enríquez de Ribera. Upon his father's death in 1563 he inherited from him and became the 5th Count of Monterrey. In 1583 he married Inés de Velasco y Aragón, daughter of Íñigo Fernández de Velasco y Tovar, 6th Count of Haro, 4th Duke of Frías, Constable of Castile, and of his wife Ana Ángela de Aragón y Guzmán. The marriage agreements between the Count of Monterrey and the Duke of Frías concerning the marriage of their children Gaspar and Inés were granted in 1563. Gaspar and Inés had several children in their marriage:

• Pedro Jerónimo, who died young, so that his younger brother came to inherit from him;
• Manuel de Acevedo y Zúñiga, married to Leonor de Guzmán, daughter of Enrique de Guzmán, 2nd Count of Olivares, and of María Pimentel de Fonseca y Zúñiga (Gaspar's sister);
• Inés de Zúñiga y Velasco, married to Gaspar de Guzmán y Pimentel, Count-Duke of Olivares, valido of King Philip IV;
• María de Zúñiga y Aragón, who died unmarried;
• Catalina de Fonseca y Zúñiga, a nun in the convent of Santa Cruz in Valladolid.

Military aid to King Philip II

Gaspar studied in Monterrey at the Jesuit college founded by his grandfather Alonso de Zúñiga y Acevedo Fonseca, 3rd Count of Monterrey. At the age of 18, in 1578, he decided to give aid to King Philip II, with his Galician troops paid at his own expense, in military actions on the border with Portugal, bringing eighteen towns into obedience to King Philip II. Gaspar with his Galician troops, together with those of his cousin Francisco de Zúñiga y Sotomayor, 4th Duke of Béjar and Plasencia, and the royal armies under the command of Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba de Tormes, took part in the review held by King Philip II at the entry into Portugal, at Cantillana near Badajoz, on June 15, 1580. Gaspar defended the port of A Coruña with his Galician troops when it was attacked by the English corsair Francis Drake in 1589. In 1594 Gaspar had to litigate with his relative Fernando de Castro y Andrade, Count of Lemos, before the Royal Council of Castile over a procedural step in the lawsuit concerning the property of the House of Ulloa.

Viceroy of the Kingdom of New Spain

Gaspar de Zúñiga was appointed by King Philip II on May 28, 1595 as Viceroy, Governor and Captain General of the Kingdom of New Spain and President of the Real Audiencia of Mexico. He was the ninth Viceroy of New Spain, governing from 1595 until 1603. The departure permit was signed by Philip II in Madrid on June 27, 1595, and the file of information and passenger license to the Indies, traveling with 70 servants, twelve of them married with wives and children, and 58 single, can be consulted in the Archive of the Indies. He arrived at Veracruz in mid-September in the fleet of General Luis Fajardo; he met one day in Acolmán with his predecessor, Luis de Velasco y Castilla, Marquis of Salinas, and on November 5, 1595 he made his official entry into the Mexican capital.

At the start of his government, Zúñiga decided to settle the Province of New Mexico in order to obtain an increase in the revenues of the Crown. He studied the agreement concluded between his predecessor and Francisco de Oñate, corrected it and appointed Vicente Saldivar to carry it out. The companies recruited mutinied in Taxco, 200 leagues from Mexico. The Viceroy placed the expedition under the command of Captain Lope de Ulloa to punish the rebels and force the troops to continue with the expedition. New Mexico was occupied without the natives offering resistance. The expedition founded the City of Santa Fe and in its explorations reached as far as present-day Nebraska, but did not find the famous seven cities of gold in the provinces of Cíbola and Quivira.

Pirates under the command of Guillermo Paro took Campeche by surprise in 1597, sowing terror. After strong resistance they were defeated by the townspeople, and their leader was gravely wounded and then executed. The Viceroy Count of Monterrey ordered the protection of the ports and the relocation of the population of Veracruz to the place where it stands today, opposite the castle of San Juan de Ulúa, and in 1600 construction of the city began.

During his government in Mexico he took great pains to have the Indians who lived scattered across the hills gathered into settlements, while preserving their rights to their lands; he likewise provided that the Indians should be free with respect to service in the fields and the mines, so as to prevent them from being deceived and exploited by the miners and by the rich landowners. In 1601 the Indians of the Sierra de Topia rose up because of the cruel labor they endured in the mines. The Bishop of Guadalajara, Ildefonso de la Mota, founded several Jesuit missions, managing to pacify the Indians.

On May 19, 1603, King Philip III appointed him Viceroy, Governor and Captain General of the Kingdom of New Castile (Peru) as well as President of the Real Audiencia of Lima. He awaited in Mexico the arrival of his successor Juan de Mendoza y Luna, Marquis of Montesclaros, who came accompanied by his wife, and on October 4, 1603 he received them in Otumba with great pomp, providing lodging and sumptuous festivities that lasted eight days, at his own expense; he then set out for Acapulco accompanied by a great number of Indians weeping at his departure. A demonstration of affection and gratitude such as this, felt by the Indians, had not been made for any of his predecessors, nor was it made for his successors. He was a Viceroy, the chroniclers say, adorned with great virtues and recognized by the Indians as their "benefactor and father".

Explorations

Among his first acts as Viceroy was the organization of an overland expedition to explore and colonize the north of the New Kingdom of León and Castile (present-day New Mexico), following a policy of his predecessor, Viceroy Velasco. The famous expedition, under the command of Juan de Oñate, had been delayed at Velasco's suggestion in order to review the agreement. Oñate would become Governor of the province and would found the old city of Santa Fe. Oñate's official search did not locate the legendary Seven Cities of Gold that were thought to lie in the provinces of Cíbola and Quivira.

He also sent two expeditions to explore the Pacific coast from Mexico. In 1596 he arranged to send an expedition to explore and colonize California, from where news arrived of the existence of rich pearl beds. He appointed Admiral Sebastián Vizcaíno as head of the expedition. The expedition, composed of three ships, set out from Acapulco and discovered the entire coastline of California. It founded the port of La Paz, so named because of its friendly reception by the natives. It also discovered Cape San Sebastián.

A later expedition by Vizcaíno with the same mission set sail on May 5, 1602 with four ships. That expedition was more fruitful. Ensenada, Baja California was founded. San Diego Bay was explored and Catalina Island was named. The explorers reached as far north as Monterey Bay, Alta California, which Vizcaíno named in honor of the Viceroy. Later plans to colonize Alta California failed, since Zúñiga's successor, Juan de Mendoza, 3rd Marquis of Montesclaros, was less favorable to those colonization attempts. It would be the Jesuit father Juan María Salvatierra who would found the City of Loreto on the eastern coast of Baja California.

The capital of Nuevo León was also founded, and was given the name of Monterrey in his honor.

Viceroy of the Kingdom of Peru

The Count of Monterrey was the tenth Viceroy of Peru, governing from 1604 to 1606. His farewell from Mexico was very sumptuous and splendid. He embarked at Acapulco on April 1, 1604 while in delicate health, and arrived at Paita on May 24; for various reasons, illness and bad weather, he was forced to continue the journey overland, despite the exhausting stages. On July 14 he set out for Lima; in August he was passing through Lambayeque and in October he left Trujillo; in November he spent a few days in Huaura and, finally, after meeting with his predecessor, once again Luis de Velasco y Castilla, Marquis of Salinas, he made his official entry into Lima on December 8, 1604.

The Cabildo of Lima had the festivities that were customarily celebrated upon the arrival of a new viceroy postponed, because an auto de fe had to be held on March 13, 1605 (convicts of little consequence, who were not burned). The festivities in honor of the Count of Monterrey were celebrated with a bullfight and a juego de cañas on April 15, and the students of the college of San Pablo gave him a reception on July 29 of the same year.

In 1604 the Viceroy Count of Monterrey imposed the tax on weights and measures to finance the Cabildo. On November 25, 1604, strong earthquakes caused serious damage in the Province of Arequipa. The Count of Monterrey, learning of the emigration of Indians who had fled their towns out of fear as a result of the great devastation and repeated earthquakes caused by the eruption of the Huaynaputina Volcano in 1600 in the Province of Arequipa, commissioned the licentiate Juan Antonio de Rivero y Alderete to give a report on the damage that had occurred and to seek out the fugitives, have them return with their families and work on the reconstruction of their towns.

Upon learning of it, the Count of Monterrey sent a ship to the Galápagos Island to rescue ten shipwrecked men who had remained there for two years of hardship. The ship brought the rescued men to Lima in November 1605.

He ordered the creation of the Tribunal de Cuentas with the privileges and preeminences of the Contaduría Mayor of Castile. The Tribunal was organized in February 1607. The bishopric of Santa Cruz de la Sierra was erected in 1605. In Lima were founded the monasteries of the recoleta of Belén, of Mercedarian religious; the recolección of Santa María Magdalena, of Dominican religious; and the college of San Ildefonso, of the Order of Saint Augustine.

His settlement work provided for the founding of towns. The Villa of San Miguel de Ibarra in Ecuador was founded on September 29, 1606. This town was to serve as a link between Quito and Pasto, as well as between Quito and the Province of Esmeralda. San Felipe de Austria de Oruro in Bolivia was founded on November 1, 1606. The town, located in a mining center, grew rapidly.

He ordered the expedition for the discovery of the islands of the Southern Indies in the South Sea, fulfilling the wishes of King Philip III expressed in his appointment. He placed the expedition under the command of the merchant Captain and cabo Pedro Fernández de Quirós, assisted by the Navy Captain Diego de Prado y Tovar in command of the nao San Pedro y San Pablo, 60 tons, by Luis Báez de Torres in command of the nao Almiranta San Pedrico, 40 tons, and by Pedro Bernal in command of an English launch, Los Reyes Magos, ready in case of a landing. The three ships carried sixty, forty and twelve sailors respectively, among them Castilians, Portuguese and Flemings. The three ships carried the stores necessary for their success in terms of water, food and weapons. Six Franciscan religious also went aboard, with Fray Martín de Bonilla as their commissary. It sailed from Callao with great solemnity on December 21, 1605. Pope Clement VIII had granted indulgences to the expeditionaries three years earlier at the request of Diego de Prado, through the intermediation of Christopher Clavius. After crossing the Pacific, Quirós showed more interest in trade with Manila than in discovery, and conspired to change the direction of the expedition toward the northeast just when it was perceiving signs of approaching a mainland, at latitude 26. This mainland was evidenced by signs such as continental clouds, the type of storms and the manner of the sun's setting in what would be the south of New Caledonia. This change, contrary to what had been agreed in the council of officers, and the anger at his having used part of the casks intended for water to trade for wine in Manila, provoked the mutiny and the separation after the Islands of the Holy Spirit (Vanuatu) had been explored. Afterward Quirós, stripped of command, returned to Acapulco in the flagship.

Diego de Prado and Luis Báez de Torres continued the enterprise. They sailed along the coast of New Guinea, which they mapped and named Magna Margarita in honor of the Queen. Afterward they sailed toward the mainland of which they had already had evidence when sailing at latitude 26°. When they became aware that it was a mainland, they took possession of what they believed to be a new continent and named it Austrialia del Espíritu Santo, in honor of the House of Austria. They found numerous peoples of relatively light complexion and fairly well organized, whom Diego de Prado called canacs. The reception was sometimes peaceful and sometimes violent. The expedition showed great caution not to attack the natives without cause. Likewise, they discovered evidence of the sporadic commercial presence of Chinese merchants. De Prado noted all the signs of mineral, plant and animal wealth. After covering dozens of leagues of coast in what would be Queensland, they turned back north, avoiding the reef barriers ("baxos" in the account). They captured some natives in order to Christianize them in Manila, but they were not able to settle definitively in those lands. The expedition continued through the Strait of Tovar, renamed by English navigators as the Torres Strait, past New Guinea and Borneo, where they came across the first Portuguese-speaking natives, who indicated to them the nearness of explored land. In Manila, the governor seems to have delayed the news of the discovery out of commercial interests and jealousy of a new land that would overshadow the Philippines; meanwhile, Quirós flooded the Secretariat of State with fictitious accounts in order to win royal favor, for he was aware of the existence of a southern mainland. Despite the letters, accounts, maps and the sending of a native to the King, the Spanish Public Administration buried the discovery and taking of possession of Australia in the archives. In those years it was predicted that the size of the Southern Indies would be similar to that of America, so it is possible that the Administration found itself without the resources to undertake another colonization. Gaspar de Zúñiga would never learn the result of this expedition that he financed, for the discovery took place in 1608. The change of Viceroy in Peru may also have influenced the outcome of the story. Báez de Torres would continue to serve the Navy discreetly; Diego de Prado y Tovar would return by way of Goa and Hormuz, making a pilgrimage to Aleppo and again by ship via Malta until reaching Madrid, where he would be ordained a monk and shut himself away in the convent of San Basilio in Madrid, on the calle del Desengaño, which has since disappeared. The English explorers of the 18th century knew Torres's account and respected him as a precursor. Diego de Prado's standard, a Maltese Cross on a white field, appears today on the flag of the Australian State of Queensland.

He also ordered the expedition to the lands of the Mojos in the east of Upper Peru (today Bolivia).

He had mining intensified, especially the working of the quicksilver mines, so important at that time because quicksilver was used for the extraction of silver and gold. He promulgated ordinances to ensure the good quality of craftwork, prevent monopoly and obtain artisans who were skilled in the practice of their craft and of good repute.

The prosperity of the mestizos and mulattoes in America was very noticeable at this time. The Viceroy Count of Monterrey found himself obliged to draw up ordinances prohibiting luxurious attire for mulatto women and the possession of weapons by mulatto men, and, in addition, prohibiting more than two of them from serving as attendants to persons of quality. In New Spain, years later, in 1612, these ordinances were expanded by his successors and extended to Blacks, Filipinos and Chinese.

The Count of Monterrey, Viceroy of Mexico and of Peru, was very pious, and his honesty was proven. He covered the debts of the State with his own patrimony. Despite his broken health he visited churches, and distributed all his income in alms and acts of charity. In his time there lived in Lima exemplars of piety and religiosity such as Archbishop Toribio de Mogrovejo, Isabel Flores de Oliva and Martín de Porras, who were canonized by the Catholic Church. Strange events took place in Peru in those years, as the chroniclers of the time relate: the events of the Arequipa earthquake, the raising of the dead, the repentance of heretics, apparitions of souls. The Count of Monterrey received the nickname the Viceroy of the Miracles. The Indian chronicler Felipe Guamán Poma de Ayala attests that the Count of Monterrey gave alms to the poor, favored the Indians, honored the Incas and caciques, and punished the corregidores, encomenderos and Spaniards who mistreated the Indians.

He died in Lima on February 10, 1606, after a long and painful illness that forced him to remain in bed for more than two months, which he spent at the hacienda La Granja, belonging to the Dominican fathers, located in Limatambo. In his will he named as executors Diego de Portugal, alcalde ordinario of the City of the Kings in 1606, and Diego Núñez de Avendaño, who, as the senior Oidor of the Real Audiencia, exercised the government in the absence of the Viceroy, but died months later, on May 26, 1606. The costs of his burial were covered by the Real Audiencia, as there was no money in the house of the Viceroy Count of Monterrey, and he was buried in the church of San Pedro of the Society of Jesus. His remains were transferred to Spain in May 1607 by Father Alonso Mesías, who had been elected procurator in Rome, and buried in the church of the Jesuit College, at the castle of Monterrey, located in Monterrey, Galicia, founded by his grandfather Alonso. He left large debts. His brother Baltasar helped his son and heir Manuel in the inheritance lawsuit over the County of Monterrey and the entailed estates of his house before Kings Philip III and Philip IV.

His wife, the Countess of Monterrey, remained in Spain with their children during the absence of Count Gaspar, residing in her palace in Madrid. She gave refuge to her cousin Juana de Velasco y Aragón, 6th Duchess of Gandía, in December 1599, when the Duchess, camarera mayor of Queen Margaret of Austria, had to withdraw from the court of King Philip III at the insinuations of his valido Francisco Gómez de Sandoval y Rojas, 1st Duke of Lerma.

His reputation as an honest man was so great that no one proposed that the Juicio de Residencia be carried out, which was normally conducted on the outgoing Viceroy when he left the government. The Real Audiencia of Lima, in its letter of February 28, 1606, informed King Philip III of the death of the Viceroy, Count of Monterrey, stating that his government was one of the most just and prudent that these Kingdoms have enjoyed and that the Count of Monterrey was a figure of great talent and singular virtues of piety and justice, and the others, which without doubt made him one of the great and most important ministers that Your Majesty has had. By royal decree of Philip III, dated May 11, 1608 in Aranjuez, in recognition of the services rendered to the Crown of Spain by the Count of Monterrey, his heirs were granted a repartimiento in Peru, with an income of six thousand ducats.

References

• Rivera Cambas, Manuel (1872). Los Gobernantes de México. Tomo I (in español). Méjico: Imprenta de J.M. Aguilar Ortiz.

• Vargas Ugarte S.J., Rubén (1998). Compendio Histórico del Perú. Virreinato (Siglo XVII). Tomo III (in español) (Carlos Milla Batres ed.). Lima: Editorial Milla Batres SA.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)

• "AER (Archivos Españoles en Red)" (in español).

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