Royal Governor of Chile facts for kids

The Royal Governor of Chile was like the main boss of the Spanish territory called the Captaincy General of Chile. This person also had the important title of Captain General, which meant they were in charge of the military too.

During the time of the Spanish rule and the conquest of Chile, there were 66 different governors or captains. It became a tradition for almost every governor to hold special meetings, called parliaments, with the Mapuches people.

Who Were the Royal Governors of Chile?

These governors were powerful leaders sent by the King of Spain to manage the land and people in Chile. They were responsible for everything from laws to defense.

Early Governors and Their Challenges

The first governors faced many challenges, especially conflicts with the Mapuche people. Some even lost their lives during battles.

Picture	Name	Started Role	Finished Role	Notes	Appointed by
	Pedro de Valdivia	August 1540	December 1547	First Spanish governor of Chile.	Charles V
	Francisco de Villagra	December 1547	20 July 1549
	Pedro de Valdivia	20 July 1549	25 December 1553	Was killed at the Battle of Tucapel.
	Rodrigo de Quiroga	December 1553	February 1555
	Francisco de Villagra			A group of three leaders.
	Francisco de Aguirre
	City Councils of Chile	February 1555	May 1556	Cities governed themselves while a court in Lima decided who would be governor.
	Francisco de Villagra	May 1556	April 1557		Philip II
	García Hurtado de Mendoza	April 1557	February 1561
	Francisco de Villagra	February 1561	June 1563
	Pedro de Villagra	June 1563	June 1565
	Rodrigo de Quiroga	June 1565	August 1567
	Royal Court of Chile	August 1567	August 1568	A high court ruled Chile for a short time.
	Melchor Bravo de Saravia	August 1568	January 1575
	Rodrigo de Quiroga	January 1575	February 1580
	Martín Ruiz de Gamboa	February 1580	July 1583
	Alonso de Sotomayor	September 1583	July 1592
	Pedro de Viscarra	July 1592	October 1592
	Martín García Óñez de Loyola	October 1592	December 1598	Killed during the Disaster of Curalaba.
	Pedro de Viscarra de la Barrera	December 1598	May 1599		Philip III
	Francisco de Quiñónez	May 1599	July 1600
	Alonso García de Ramón	July 1600	February 1601
	Alonso de Ribera de Pareja	February 1601	March 1605
	Alonso García de Ramón	March 1605	September 1607
	Luis Merlo de la Fuente Ruiz de Beteta	September 1607	January 1611
	Juan Jaraquemada	January 1611	March 1612
	Alonso de Ribera de Pareja	March 1612	March 1617
	Fernando Talaverano Gallegos	March 1617	January 1618
	Lope de Ulloa y Lemos	January 1618	December 1620
	Cristóbal de la Cerda y Sotomayor	December 1620	November 1621
	Pedro Osores de Ulloa	November 1621	September 1624		Philip IV
	Francisco de Álava y Nureña	September 1624	May 1625
	Luis Fernández de Córdoba y Arce	May 1625	December 1629
	Francisco Laso de la Vega	December 1629	May 1639
	Francisco López de Zúñiga 2nd Marquis of Baides	May 1639	May 1646
	Martín de Mujica y Buitrón	May 1646	April 1649
	Alonso de Figueroa y Córdoba	April 1649	May 1650
	Francisco Antonio de Acuña Cabrera y Bayona	May 1650	January 1656
	Pedro Porter Casanate	January 1656	February 1662
	Diego González Montero Justiniano	February 1662	May 1662
	Ángel de Peredo	May 1662	January 1664
	Francisco de Meneses Brito	January 1664	1667
	Diego Dávila Coello y Pacheco 1st Marquis of Navamorcuende	1667	February 1670		Charles II
	Diego González Montero Justiniano	February 1670	October 1670
	Juan Henríquez de Villalobos	October 1670	April 1682
	Marcos José de Garro Senei de Artola	April 1682	January 1692
	Tomás Marín de Poveda 1st Marquis of Cañada Hermosa	January 1692	December 1700
	Francisco Ibáñez de Segovia y Peralta	December 1700	February 1709		Philip V
	Juan Andrés de Ustariz	February 1709	December 1716
	José de Santiago Concha y Salvatierra	December 1716	17 December 1717
	Gabriel Cano y Aponte	17 December 1717	11 November 1733
	Francisco de Sánchez de la Barreda	11 November 1733	May 1734
	Manuel Silvestre de Salamanca Cano	May 1734	November 1737
	José Antonio Manso de Velasco Count of Superunda	November 1737	June 1744
	Francisco José de Ovando 1st Marquis of Brindisi	June 1745	March 1746
	Domingo Ortíz de Rosas 1st Marquis of Poblaciones	25 March 1746	28 December 1755		Ferdinand VI
	Manuel de Amat y Junyent	28 December 1755	9 September 1761
	Félix de Berroeta	September 1761	October 1762		Charles III
	Antonio de Guill y Gonzaga	October 1762	August 1768
	Juan de Balmaseda	August 1768	March 1770
	Francisco Javier de Morales	March 1770	March 1772

Governors Leading to Independence

As time went on, the role of the governor became even more important, especially as Chile began its journey towards independence from Spain.

Picture	Name	Started Role	Finished Role	Notes	Appointed by
	Agustín de Jáuregui y Aldecoa	March 1772	July 1780		Charles III
	Tomás Álvarez de Acevedo Ordaz	July 1780	December 1780	Served temporarily.
	Ambrosio de Benavides	December 1780	April 1787
	Tomás Álvarez de Acevedo Ordaz	April 1787	May 1788	Served temporarily.
	Ambrosio O'Higgins	May 1788	May 1796		Charles IV
	José de Rezabal y Ugarte	May 1796	September 1796	Served temporarily.
	Gabriel de Avilés	18 September 1796	21 January 1799
	Joaquín del Pino Sánchez de Rojas	January 1799	April 1801
	José de Santiago Concha Jiménez Lobatón	April 1801	December 1801	Served temporarily.
	Francisco Tadeo Diez de Medina Vidanges	December 1801	January 1802	Served temporarily.
	Luis Muñoz de Guzmán	January 1802	February 1808
	Juan Rodríguez Ballesteros	February 1808	April 1808	Served temporarily.	Ferdinand VII
	Francisco Antonio García Carrasco Díaz	April 1808	July 1810	The office was stopped between 1810-1814 during the Patria Vieja (Old Homeland) period.
	Gabino Gaínza Fernández de Medrano	19 July 1814	26 December 1814	During the Reconquista Española (Spanish Reconquest).
	Mariano Osorio	2 October 1814	26 December 1815	Served temporarily during the Reconquest.
	Francisco Marcó del Pont Ángel Díaz y Méndez	26 December 1815	12 February 1817	Last Royal Governor before Chile's independence.

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