Álvaro Manrique de Zúñiga, 1st Marquess of Villamanrique facts for kids
Álvaro Manrique de Zúñiga was a Spanish nobleman. He was also known as the first Marquess of Villamanrique. He became the seventh viceroy of New Spain, which was a large Spanish colony. Today, New Spain is mostly the country of Mexico. He was in charge from October 17, 1585, to January 26, 1590. He passed away in Spain in 1590.
Becoming Viceroy
Álvaro Manrique de Zúñiga was born in Spain around the 1540s. He was a younger son of a powerful family, the Duke of Béjar. He worked very well for the Spanish King. Because of his good work, King Philip II gave him the special title of Marqués de Villamanrique in 1575.
On February 26, 1585, King Philip II chose him to be the new viceroy of New Spain. He would take over from the previous viceroy, Pedro Moya de Contreras. Before this, Manrique de Zúñiga had lived in Seville for many years. This gave him some experience with how things worked in the Americas. The king himself picked him for this important role.
He stayed in Spain for a few months before traveling to the New World. He arrived in San Juan de Ulúa (which is now Veracruz) on September 7, 1585. His wife traveled with him. Soon after, he officially entered Mexico City to begin his job as viceroy.
His Time as Viceroy
When Manrique de Zúñiga started his job, he finished some rules about selling wine. He also decided where taverns (places that sold drinks) could be located.
In 1586, there was a disagreement among the religious leaders. This was a fight between two groups of priests: the regular clergy and the secular clergy. The regular clergy were friars, like Dominicans and Franciscans. The secular clergy were priests who worked in churches in towns. The friars had the support of the common people. But the viceroy and the rich nobles supported the secular priests. This disagreement made some friars very unhappy with the viceroy.
Pirates were a big problem during his time. On October 18, 1586, a famous English pirate named Sir Francis Drake captured a Spanish ship. This ship was called the Santa Ana. It was a Manila galleon, which carried valuable goods from the Philippines.
Later, on August 6, 1587, another English pirate, Thomas Cavendish, attacked the port of Huatulco. On September 3, 1587, he also raided Navidad. Cavendish then captured another Santa Ana Manila galleon on November 15, 1587. These galleons were very important. They carried a whole year's worth of treasure from the Philippines to Acapulco. From Acapulco, the treasure would eventually go to Spain.
To fight the pirates, Manrique de Zúñiga created a group of volunteer soldiers. These soldiers helped protect the ports on the Pacific coast. He also made sure Spanish ships were armed to fight the pirates at sea.
Manrique also took important steps to end the Chichimeca War. This was a long war on the northern borders of New Spain. It made it dangerous to travel to the silver mines near Zacatecas. The Spanish had tried to defeat and enslave the Chichimeca people, but it didn't work.
Manrique listened to advice from church leaders. He tried a new, more peaceful way to end the war. He removed many Spanish soldiers from the border. He thought they caused more trouble than they helped. He started talking with the Chichimeca leaders. He promised them food, clothes, land, and tools. He hoped this "gentle persuasion" would encourage them to settle down. He also stopped military attacks to capture or kill the Native Americans. This new plan worked well. By 1590, he announced that the roads to Zacatecas were safe. This was the first time in 40 years! The war slowly came to an end.
His Downfall
In 1588, the viceroy had a disagreement with the Audiencia de Guadalajara. An Audiencia was like a high court and a government council. This new Audiencia was acting very independently. Manrique tried to show that he was in charge. But his actions were seen as unfair and caused a lot of anger.
People made many accusations against him. They said he was unfair, greedy, and favored his family. They also said he stopped letters from New Spain from reaching Spain. Most of these accusations were not true or were made to sound worse than they were. But the colony seemed close to a civil war.
The bishop of Puebla, Pedro Romanos, was sent as a royal inspector. His job was to fix the problem. However, Romanos was an enemy of Manrique. They had been on opposite sides in the earlier religious conflict. Romanos worked hard against the viceroy. He even took Manrique's property. Later, a higher court in Spain said this was wrong. But the order was ignored in New Spain. This left the viceroy without money.
Manrique stayed as viceroy until January 1590. That's when his replacement, Luis de Velasco, marqués de Salinas, arrived in Mexico City. Manrique was forced to stay in New Spain for a few more years. He was part of a lawsuit. He was still very poor and also sick. He was finally able to go back to Spain to try and get his property back. But he died soon after reaching Madrid. He was still poor and very sad.
See also
In Spanish: Álvaro Manrique de Zúñiga para niños
