Columbian Viceroyalty

Name that designates the number of titles and rights granted to Christopher Columbus

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Viceroyalty of the Indies

Virreinato de las Indias (Spanish)

1492–1535

Flag

Coat of arms

Status| Viceroyalty of the Spanish Empire
Capital| La Isabela (1494-1496)
Santo Domingo (1496-)
Official languages| Spanish
Government| Monarchy
Monarch|

• 1492–1504

| Isabella I & Ferdinand V (first)

• 1504–1535

| Joanna I
co-monarchs:
Philip I (1506)
Charles I (1516-)
Governor|

• 1492–1499

| Christopher Columbus (Viceroy)

• 1499–1502

| Francisco de Bobadilla

• 1502–1509

| Nicolás de Ovando

• 1509–1526

| Diego Columbus (Viceroy)
History|

• Discovery of the Americas

| 1492

• Foundation of La Isabela

| 1494

• Battle of La Vega Real

| 1495

• Foundation of Santo Domingo

| 1502

• Conquest of Puerto Rico

| 1508

• Conquest of Jamaica

| 1509

• Conquest of Cuba

| 1511

• Became the Viceroyalty of New Spain

| 1535
Currency| Santo Domingo real

Preceded by | Succeeded by

|

|  | Chiefdoms of Hispaniola

|

| New Spain |

|

Captaincy General of Santo Domingo |
Today part of| Dominican Republic

The Columbian Viceroyalty, Viceroyalty of the Indies or First Viceroyalty in the Indies is the name that designates the number of titles and rights granted to Christopher Columbus by the Catholic Monarchs in 1492 on the lands discovered and undiscovered, before embarking on his first trip that culminated in the colonization of the Americas.

## Origins

[edit]

The titles and powers over discovered lands granted to Christopher Columbus were entered in the capitulations of Santa Fe agreed on April 17 of 1492. Under them, the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella and Ferdinand, awarded for the period of his life, and after his death, to be conferred on his heirs or Successors one after the other perpetually:

* The title of Admiral of the Ocean Sea over all the islands and the mainland that discovered or won in this sea.
* The titles, always referred to together, of "Viceroy and Governor General".

In addition, other powers and economic prerogatives.

> [...]
> Firstly, that Your Highnesses, Masters as you are of the said Oceans, hereby and henceforth make Don Christopher Columbus your admiral in all those islands and all that land which, by his hand or industry, may be discovered or won in the said Oceans for the period of his life, and after his death, to be conferred on his heirs or Successors one after the other perpetually with all the privileges and prerogatives attendant thereto, and his successors in the said rank enjoyed them in their districts. ...

> Furthermore, that Your Highnesses make the said Don Christopher Columbus your Viceroy and Governor General in all the said islands and land which as said herein he should discover or win in the said Oceans, and that for the government of each and every of them, he should elect three persons for each rank, and that Your Highnesses should take and choose the one who is most suited to your service, so that in this way the lands which Our Lord permits him to find or win in Your Highnesses service may be better ruled.
>  [...][1]

These titles would be confirmed by the monarchs on his return from his first voyage in May 1493. Of these, the best known in Castile, which paid the most attention both Columbus and the monarchs, was the Admiral.[clarification needed]

## History

[edit]

According to the capitulations of Santa Fe, all lands discovered by Christopher Columbus were part of his viceroyalty:

In his first trip to the Americas (it got to Guanahani on 12 October 1492), Columbus discovered the Bahamas, Cuba and The Hispaniola, exerting his position as viceroy and governor in them, leaving to return to Spain to 39 men in La Navidad in Hispaniola, which was founded on December 25, 1492. the fort was destroyed shortly then by the Indians of the island, killing all its occupants.

Christopher Columbus Travels

On his second trip in 1493 Christopher Columbus discovered Guadalupe and other islands located on the side of Atlantic Ocean between it and Puerto Rico, where he arrived on 19 November 1493. Later he found Jamaica and explored Cuba. On his return to Spain in 1496 he discovered the Lesser Antilles located on the side of Caribbean Sea between Puerto Rico and Dominica.

On his third trip in 1498 he discovered Trinidad, Paria Peninsula and the Island of Margarita, remaining until 1500 in Hispaniola.

The kings sent to the Spanish as pesquisador judge (with government functions) to Francisco de Bobadilla in 1500, which upon arrival (August 23) arrested Columbus and his brothers and sailed Spain, dismissing him from the government. Columbus refused to be removed the shackles around his trip to Spain, during which he wrote a long letter to the Catholic Monarchs. Upon arriving to Spain he regained his freedom, but had lost prestige, its powers and the viceroyalty. Bobadilla was also relieved of his government and replaced by Nicolas de Ovando in 1502.

On his fourth trip, in 1502, he found St. Lucia and Martinique. He then toured the Central American coast from the Bay Islands to Gulf of Urabá. He remained in Jamaica until 1504 and then returned to Spain died on May 20, 1506, in Convent of San Francisco of Valladolid.

Since 1499 the kings authorized other trips of discovery without the authorization of Columbus, including those of Alonso de Ojeda and Vicente Yáñez Pinzón, creating for them governments in the territories they discovered: the governorate Coquibacoa on the coast of Venezuela, except Paria discovered by Columbus was for De Ojeda and Pinzón the governor off the coast of Brazil between the Amazon river and the Cape Holy Mary of Consolation. These governorates were exempted from the Viceroyalty of the Indies.

## The Viceroyalty after the death of Columbus

[edit]

On Christopher Columbus's death his eldest son Diego Columbus inherited his father's rights in the Americas, including the viceroyalty. However, King Ferdinand refused at first to transfer all rights of his father and appointed him governor of Hispaniola in 1508. Diego began a series of lawsuits against the crown known as the Columbian Lawsuits, and in 1511 his rights as viceroy were recognized, but with limited jurisdiction over those territories that had been officially discovered by his father. Consequently, Diego Columbus became the second Viceroy of the Indies. He died in 1526 bequeathing his rights to the viceroyalty to his son Luis Colón.

During the minority of Luis Colón the transaction occurred and arbitration that ended Columbian Lawsuits with the Spanish crown and in 1537 he received the knighthood of this I Duke of Veragua and Manor territorial six hundred twenty-five square leagues, composed of lands of ancient Veragua and Castilla del Oro. He was also graced with the hereditary dignity of I Marquis of Jamaica and the lordship of the island, putting an end to the Viceroyalty of the Indies

## References

[edit]

1. ^ MEMORY OF THE WORLD REGISTER - Santa Fe Capitulations. Ref N̊ 2006-42[permanent dead link] Discussion of the historical significance of the document, history, translation of text.

## Bibliography

[edit]

* Dougnac Rodriguez, Antonio (1994). "Capítulo 5: Gobierno, justicia, guerra, y hacienda. Autoridades radicadas en indias" [Chapter 5. Government, justice, war and finance. Authorities resident in the Indies. I. Government of Christopher Columbus (1492-1500) and IV. Government of Diego Columbus (1509-1523)]. Manual de historia del derecho indiano [Manual of History of the Law of the Indies] (in Spanish). National Autonomous University of Mexico. ISBN 968-36-4147-4.
* Ortuño Sánchez-Pedroza, José María (1990). "The first viceroy of the Indies: Christopher Columbus (1492-1506)". Annals of Law, University of Murcia (10). p. 235-250.
* Sánchez Bella, Ismael (1990). "The political organization of Spanish America". Chilena Magazine of History of Law (15). p. 205-217.

* v
* t
* e

Spanish Empire

Timeline–immersed

* Catholic Monarchs
* Conquest of the Americas, Asia and the Pacific
* Treaty of Tordesillas
* Italian Wars
* Habsburgs
* Golden Age
* War of the League of Cognac
* Encomiendas
* New Laws in favour of the indigenous
* Expulsion of the Moriscos
* Ottoman–Habsburg wars
* French Wars of Religion
* Bruneian–Spanish conflict
* Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)
* Piracy in the Caribbean
* Eighty Years' War
* Spanish–Moro conflict
* Thirty Years' War
* Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659)
* Portuguese Restoration War
* War of the Spanish Succession
* Queen Anne's War
* Bourbons
* Bourbon Reforms
* War of Jenkins' Ear
* Treaty of Madrid (1750)
* Seven Years' War
* Nootka Convention
* Napoleonic invasion
* Third Treaty of San Ildefonso
* Independence of Spanish continental Americas
* Adams–Onís Treaty
* Liberal constitution
* Carlist Wars
* Spanish–American War
* German–Spanish Treaty (1899)
* Spanish Civil War
* Independence of Morocco
* Independence of Equatorial Guinea
* Western Sahara conflict

Territories

| Europe|

* Spain
* Crown of Castille
* Crown of Aragon
* Union with Portugal
* Gibraltar
* Southern Italy (Kingdoms of Naples, Sicily and Sardinia)
* Milan
* Union with Holy Roman Empire
* Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, northernmost France
* Franche-Comté
* Pyrénées-Orientales

|

Americas (Spanish America)|

| North America|

* New Spain (Coastal Alaska, Central United States (Spanish Louisiana), Western United States (Spanish Texas), Florida, Mexico, Central America (Captaincy General of Yucatan), Spanish Caribbean)

|

Central America|

* Captaincy General of Guatemala
* Spanish West Indies (Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico)
* Trinidad
* Jamaica
* Haiti
* Aruba
* Curazao
* Bonaire
* Belize

South America|

* New Granada (Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Venezuela, part of Guyana, a northernmost portion of Brazilian Amazon)
* Peru (Peru, Acre, Chile)
* Río de la Plata (Argentina, Paraguay, Charcas (Bolivia), Banda Oriental (Uruguay), Misiones Orientales, Malvinas)

Asia and Oceania (Spanish East Indies)|

* Philippines
* Micronesia (Caroline, Guam, Mariana, Micronesia, Palau)
* Northern Taiwan
* Tidore

Africa|

* Equatorial Guinea
* Northern Africa (Western Sahara, Spanish Morocco, Tripoli, Tunis, Peñón of Algiers, Oran, Béjaïa, Ifni and Cape Juby)

Antarctica|

* Terra Australis

Administration

| Organization|

* Ayuntamiento
* Cabildo
* Council of the Indies
* Germania
* Santa Hermandad

|

Law|

* Exequatur
* Laws of the Indies
* Papal bull
* Royal Decree of Graces
* School of Salamanca
* Trial of residence

Titles and positions|

* Alcalde
* Corregidor
* Municipal president
* Regidor
* Syndic
* Vecino

Administrative subdivisions

| Viceroyalties|

* Columbian
* New Spain
* New Granada
* Perú
* Río de la Plata

|

Captaincies General|

* Chile
* Cuba
* Guatemala
* Philippines
* Provincias Internas
* Puerto Rico
* Santo Domingo
* Venezuela
* Yucatán

Governorates|

* Castilla de Oro
* Cuba
* La Florida
* Louisiana
* New Andalusia (1501–1513)
* New Andalusia
* New Castile
* New Navarre
* New Spain
* Tierra Firme
* New Toledo
* New León
* Paraguay
* Río de la Plata
* Terra Australis

Audiencias|

* Bogotá
* Buenos Aires
* Caracas
* Charcas
* Concepción
* Cusco
* Guadalajara
* Guatemala
* Lima
* Manila
* Mexico
* Panamá
* Quito
* Santiago
* Santo Domingo

Economy

| Currencies|

* Dollar (Peso)
* Real
* Maravedí
* Escudo
* Columnario
* Doubloon

|

Trade|

* Manila galleon
* Spanish treasure fleet
* Casa de Contratación
* Spanish Road
* Guipuzcoan Company of Caracas
* Barcelona Trading Company
* Consulate of the Sea
* Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
* Commerce Consulate of Buenos Aires

Military

| Armies|

* Tercio
* Army of Flanders
* Free Company of Volunteers of Catalonia
* Indian auxiliaries
* Spanish Armada
* Ships of the line
* Royalists
* Legión
* Army of Africa

|

Strategists|

* Duke of Alba
* Antonio de Leyva
* Martín de Goiti
* Alfonso d'Avalos
* García de Toledo Osorio
* Duke of Savoy
* Álvaro de Bazán the Elder
* John of Austria
* Charles Bonaventure de Longueval
* Pedro de Zubiaur
* Ambrosio Spinola
* Blas de Lezo
* Bernardo de Gálvez

Mariners|

* Christopher Columbus
* Pinzón brothers
* Ferdinand Magellan
* Juan Sebastián Elcano
* Juan de la Cosa
* Juan Ponce de León
* Miguel López de Legazpi
* Pedro Menéndez de Avilés
* Sebastián de Ocampo
* Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca
* Alonso de Ojeda
* Vasco Núñez de Balboa
* Alonso de Salazar
* Andrés de Urdaneta
* Antonio de Ulloa
* Ruy López de Villalobos
* Diego Columbus
* Alonso de Ercilla
* Nicolás de Ovando
* Juan de Ayala
* Sebastián Vizcaíno
* Juan Fernández
* Luis Fajardo
* Felipe González de Ahedo
* Francisco de Camargo
* Alonso de Camargo

Conquistadors|

* Hernán Cortés
* Francisco Pizarro
* Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada
* Hernán Pérez de Quesada
* Francisco Vázquez de Coronado
* Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar
* Pedro de Valdivia
* Gaspar de Portolà
* Pere Fages i Beleta
* Joan Orpí
* Pedro de Alvarado
* Martín de Ursúa
* Diego de Almagro
* Pánfilo de Narváez
* Diego de Mazariegos
* Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera
* Pere d'Alberní i Teixidor
* García López de Cárdenas

Notable battles|

| Old World|

| Won|

* Comuneros
* Bicocca
* Rome (1527)
* Landriano
* Pavia
* Tunis
* Mühlberg
* St. Quentin
* Gravelines
* Malta
* Lepanto
* Antwerp
* Azores
* Mons
* Gembloux
* Ostend
* English Armada
* Cape Celidonia
* White Mountain
* Breda
* Nördlingen
* Valenciennes
* Ceuta
* Bitonto
* Bailén
* Vitoria
* Tetouan
* Alhucemas

|

Lost|

* Capo d'Orso
* Vienna (1529)
* Preveza
* Siege of Castelnuovo
* Algiers
* Ceresole
* Balearic Islands (1558)
* Djerba
* Tunis
* Spanish Armada
* Leiden
* Rocroi
* Downs
* Montes Claros
* Passaro
* Manila Bay
* Trafalgar
* Somosierra
* Annual
* Mactan

New World|

| Won|

* Tenochtitlan
* Cajamarca
* Cusco
* Bogotá savanna
* Penco
* Mataquito
* Guadalupe Island
* Recife
* San Juan (1595)
* Bahia
* Colonia del Sacramento
* Comuneros (Paraguay)
* Cartagena de Indias
* Cuerno Verde
* Túpac Amaru II
* Túpac Katari
* Pensacola
* Newfoundland
* San Juan (1797)

|

Lost|

* La Noche Triste
* Iguape
* Tucapel
* Guiana
* Curalaba
* Comuneros (New Granada)
* Trinidad (1797)
* Chacabuco
* Boyacá
* Carabobo
* Pichincha
* Ayacucho
* Guam
* Santiago de Cuba
* Asomante

Spanish conquests

* Canary Islands
* The Americas
* Aztec
* Maya
* Chiapas
* Yucatán
* Guatemala
* Petén
* El Salvador
* Honduras
* Nicaragua
* Chibchan Nations
* Colombia
* Chile
* Inca
* Philippines

Other civil topics

* Spanish missions in the Americas
* Architecture
* Mesoamerican Codices
* Cusco painting tradition
* Indochristian painting in New Spain
* Quito painting tradition
* Africanist
* Tapada limeña
* Academia Antártica
* Colonial universities in Hispanic America
* Colonial universities in the Philippines
* General Archive of the Indies
* Colonial Spanish Horse
* Mustang
* Castas
* Criollos in the colonial society
* Old inquisition
* Slavery in Spanish Empire
* Asiento
* Law of coartación (which allowed slaves to buy their freedom, and that of others)
* Great Potosí Mint Fraud of 1649

Cartography

| Cartographers|

* Juan de la Cruz Cano y Olmedilla
* Agustín Ibáñez y Bojons

|

* v
* t
* e

Viceroys of the Spanish monarchy

Europe|

* Aragon
* Catalonia
* Naples
* Navarre
* Portugal
* Sardinia
* Sicily
* Valencia

Americas and East Indies|

* Columbian
* New Granada
* New Spain
* Peru
* Río de la Plata

* v
* t
* e

Thirteen Colonies

* New England Colonies
* Middle Colonies
* Chesapeake Colonies
* Tobacco Colonies
* Southern Colonies
* United Colonies

* Virginia (1607–1776)
* New Hampshire (1629–1641; 1679–1686; 1689–1776)
* Maryland (1632–1776)
* Connecticut (1636–1776)
* Rhode Island (1636–1776)
* Delaware (1664–1776)
* New Jersey (1664–1673; 1702–1776)
* New York (1664–1776)
* Pennsylvania (1681–1776)
* Massachusetts Bay (1691–1776)
* North Carolina (1712–1776)
* South Carolina (1712–1776)
* Georgia (1732–1776)

* Other British colonial entities in the contemporary United States

* Roanoke (1585–1590)
* Popham (1607–1608)
* Jamestown (1607–1699)
* Berkeley Hundred (1619)
* Plymouth (1620–1686; 1689–1691)
* Maine (1622–1658)
* Saint Croix (1625–1650)
* Carolana (1629–1663)
* Massachusetts Bay Colony (1629–1686; 1689–1691)
* Saybrook (1635–1644)
* New Haven (1638–1664)
* New England Confederation (1643–1654; 1675–c. 1680)
* Carolina (1663–1712)
* Rupert's Land (1670–1811)
* North-Western Territory (1670–1870)
* East Jersey (1674–1702)
* West Jersey (1674–1702)
* Dominion of New England (1686–1689)
* Indian Reserve (1763–1783)
* Quebec (1763–1783)
* East Florida (1763–1783)
* West Florida (1763–1783)
* New Ireland (1779–1783; 1814–1815)
* Columbia District (1810–1846)
* Red River Colony (1811–1818)
* Stickeen Territories (1862–1863)
* Colony of British Columbia (1863–1866)
* Colony of British Columbia and Vancouver Island (1866–1871)
* Province of British Columbia (1871–1903)

* Non-British colonial entities in the contemporary United States

* Columbian Viceroyalty (1492–1535)
* New Spain
* 1521–1821; Spanish Florida, 1565–1763
* New Navarre, 1565–1821
* Captaincy General of the Philippines, 1565–1898
* Captaincy General of Puerto Rico, 1580–1898
* Santa Fe de Nuevo México, 1598–1821
* Captaincy General of Cuba, 1607–1801
* Spanish Saint Croix, 1650–1651
* Spanish Texas, 1690–1821
* Las Californias, 1767–1804
* Spanish Louisiana, 1769–1801
* Provincias Internas, 1776–1821
* Spanish East Florida, 1783–1821
* Spanish West Florida, 1783–1821
* Alta California, 1804–1821
* New France
* 1534–1763; French Canada, 1535–1763
* French Florida, 1562–1565
* Hospitaller Saint Croix, 1651–1665
* French Saint Croix, 1665–1733
* Illinois Country, 1675–1769 and 1801–1803
* French Louisiana, 1682–1763 and 1801–1803
* New Netherland (1614–1667)
* Dutch Virgin Islands (1625–1672)
* New Sweden (1638–1655)
* Danish West Indies (1672–1917)
* Brandenburger Saint Thomas (1685–1754)
* Krabbeninsel (1689–1693)
* Scottish Darien Company (1698)
* Russian America (1799–1867)

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* Mayflower Compact (1620)
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* Of Plymouth Plantation (1630–1651)
* Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (1638)
* Quintipartite Deed (1676)

* Category

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