Alonso de Sotomayor
Encyclopedia
Alonso de Sotomayor y Valmediano (1545–1610) was a Spanish
conquistador
from Extremadura
, and a Royal Governor of Chile
.
, in the province of Extremadura
, the son of Gutiérrez de Sotomayor e Hinojosa and Beatriz de Valmediano. At the age of 15 he joined the army, serving first in Italy
until 1567, and then moving to Flanders
.
In 1580 he was called back to Madrid
by his official duties. King Philip II
, seeing his military record, awarded him a knighthood in the Order of Santiago
and sent him on a campaign against Portugal
. However, at that time news arrived from Chile
, where the Arauco War
continued and reinforcements were needed. The king subsequently decided to name Sotomayor governor of the district and send him there with a large contingent of soldiers to resolve the situation.
. This previous governor had become extremely unpopular for a tax regime, the Tasa de Gamboa
, which prohibited the payment of taxes by the Indians in the form of labor. Sotomayor was forced to arrest and imprison Gamboa in the government house at Santiago
, from which he was released only after providing a bond. However, Sotomayor later absolved Gamboa and freed him entirely.
With these antecedents, Sotomayor's first decision was reestablishing the old system of labor levies, abolishing the Tasa de Gamboa
and reinstituting the previous Tasa de Santillán
, albeit with provisions to humanize the old system, with the goal of avoiding the excesses of the encomenderos against the Indians.
, which is to say, by building a series of forts which would protect each other and the cities. However, carrying out this project required a professional army, and requests for such were turned down by the Spanish authorities, due to the general scarcity of resources in the area and of the Crown.
Instead he launched a number of campaigns against the resisting Mapuche Indians
. He succeeded in capturing the mestizo Alonso Díaz
, who had been a resistance leader for many years. Sotomayor sent his brother Luis to fight a campaign in the area around Valdivia
, and succeeded in defeating the Mapuches in a surprise attack at Angol
on January 16, 1585.
Sotomayor also put in action his plan of fortifications with the few men that he had. In 1584, he founded the fort of San Fabián de Conueo
in Coelemu
. In 1585 he ordered the construction of the fort Santo Arbol de la Cruz
where the Guaqui River
enters the Bio Bio River. He ordered the construction of a fort on each side of the Bio Bio River, the forts Espíritu Santo
and Santísima Trinidad
and another at a place in Catirai
called San Jerónimo de Millapoa
and raised another fort at Purén
, where he also placed a small detachment. He raised these forts with the goal of cutting communications among the Mapuches and hoped to quickly establish towns in each of these places, which would attract enough people to bring reinforcements to Chile persuaded that this was the best method of reducing the tribes for the definitive conquest.
The Mapuche Toquis Nongoniel, Cadeguala
and Guanoalca
opposed the establishment of these forts, eventually forcing the abandonment of Purén in 1586. In 1589 Sotomayor reoccupied and expanded the fort of Puren and built a fort near the sea on the heights of Marihueñu
and in 1590 he moved Arauco
to its current location close to the sea.
However, his actions did not really weaken the Mapuches. The capture of Diaz didn't change the situation, and the establishment of the forts did not have any of their intended consequences. Instead, the Aracanians were every day better aqainted with the Spanish horses and weapons. The arquebus
was their only problem, as they did not know how to use it and in any case did not have any source of gunpowder
.
pirates, most notably Thomas Cavendish
, who anchored in Quintero
on April 9, 1587. There he was defeated by the Spanish, losing 10 men. Additionally, he had to deal with revolts by soldiers in the south, motivated by the poverty that they suffered on account of not being paid in either gold or encomienda
rights.
Alarmed by the situation and by the lack of reinforcements, Sotomayor went to Peru
on July 30, 1592 to petition the viceroy there for more men. He left the old and circumspect lawyer Pedro de Viscarra
, who had arrived from Spain two years earlier with the title of lieutenant governor of Chile.
, where he learned that the king had named a new governor of Chile, Martín García Óñez de Loyola
. He returned to Chile to testify about and defend his actions, a tribunal from which he emerged triumphant. He then headed towards Spain, but was detained on the road by the Viceroy of Peru, who asked him to take charge of the province of Panama
, then menaced by English invasion.
from Spain.
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
conquistador
Conquistador
Conquistadors were Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th to 16th centuries, following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...
from Extremadura
Extremadura
Extremadura is an autonomous community of western Spain whose capital city is Mérida. Its component provinces are Cáceres and Badajoz. It is bordered by Portugal to the west...
, and a Royal Governor of Chile
Royal Governor of Chile
The Royal Governor of Chile ruled over the Spanish colonial administrative district known as the Kingdom of Chile. This district was also called the Captaincy General of Chile, and as a result the Royal Governor also held the title of a Captain General...
.
Early life
He was born in TrujilloTrujillo, Spain
Trujillo is a Spanish city of 9860 inhabitants , located in the province of Cáceres, in the Extremadura region. Famous for its monuments, it is a premier resort in Extremadura. It was the birthplace of Francisco Pizarro and his brothers, conquerors of Peru, as well as of Francisco de Orellana...
, in the province of Extremadura
Extremadura
Extremadura is an autonomous community of western Spain whose capital city is Mérida. Its component provinces are Cáceres and Badajoz. It is bordered by Portugal to the west...
, the son of Gutiérrez de Sotomayor e Hinojosa and Beatriz de Valmediano. At the age of 15 he joined the army, serving first in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
until 1567, and then moving to Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
.
In 1580 he was called back to Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
by his official duties. King Philip II
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
, seeing his military record, awarded him a knighthood in the Order of Santiago
Order of Santiago
The Order of Santiago was founded in the 12th century, and owes its name to the national patron of Galicia and Spain, Santiago , under whose banner the Christians of Galicia and Asturias began in the 9th century to combat and drive back the Muslims of the Iberian Peninsula.-History:Santiago de...
and sent him on a campaign against Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. However, at that time news arrived from Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, where the Arauco War
Arauco War
The Arauco War was a conflict between colonial Spaniards and the Mapuche people in what is now the Araucanía and Biobío regions of modern Chile...
continued and reinforcements were needed. The king subsequently decided to name Sotomayor governor of the district and send him there with a large contingent of soldiers to resolve the situation.
Governor of Chile
Sotomayor arrived in Chile in 1583 and found himself required to play the role of judge, hearing innumerable accusations against the previous governor Martín Ruiz de GamboaMartín Ruiz de Gamboa
Martín Ruiz de Gamboa de Berriz was a Spanish Basque conquistador, and served as a Royal Governor of Chile.-Early years:He was born in Durango, Biscay, the son of Andrés Ruiz de Gamboa and Nafarra de Berriz, and served as a youth in the royal navy in the Levant...
. This previous governor had become extremely unpopular for a tax regime, the Tasa de Gamboa
Tasa de Gamboa
Tasa de Gamboa or Rate of Gamboa was a money tax rate applied to the indigenous peoples in the Kingdom of Chile by the Governor Martin Ruiz de Gamboa, in place of the tribute of personal service in the encomienda system, as desired by the kings of Spain...
, which prohibited the payment of taxes by the Indians in the form of labor. Sotomayor was forced to arrest and imprison Gamboa in the government house at Santiago
Santiago, Chile
Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...
, from which he was released only after providing a bond. However, Sotomayor later absolved Gamboa and freed him entirely.
With these antecedents, Sotomayor's first decision was reestablishing the old system of labor levies, abolishing the Tasa de Gamboa
Tasa de Gamboa
Tasa de Gamboa or Rate of Gamboa was a money tax rate applied to the indigenous peoples in the Kingdom of Chile by the Governor Martin Ruiz de Gamboa, in place of the tribute of personal service in the encomienda system, as desired by the kings of Spain...
and reinstituting the previous Tasa de Santillán
Tasa de Santillán
Tasa de Santillán or Rate of Santillán was a rate of indigenous labor applied in the Captaincy General of Chile by Spanish governor García Hurtado de Mendoza, the first formal regulation of the system of encomiendas in Chile. Promulgated in 1558, it was the first set of laws that regulated labor...
, albeit with provisions to humanize the old system, with the goal of avoiding the excesses of the encomenderos against the Indians.
The Arauco war
Sotomayor wanted to extend the conquest of Chile in the style of Pedro de ValdiviaPedro de Valdivia
Pedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva was a Spanish conquistador and the first royal governor of Chile. After serving with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in 1534, where he served as lieutenant under Francisco Pizarro in Peru, acting as his second in command...
, which is to say, by building a series of forts which would protect each other and the cities. However, carrying out this project required a professional army, and requests for such were turned down by the Spanish authorities, due to the general scarcity of resources in the area and of the Crown.
Mapuche
The Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended...
. He succeeded in capturing the mestizo Alonso Díaz
Paineñamcu
Paineñamcu or Paynenancu or Alonso Diaz, was the Mapuche toqui from 1574 to 1584. Alonso Diaz was a mestizo Spanish soldier offended because the Governor of Chile did not promote him to the officer rank of alféres, who subsequently went over to the Mapuche in 1572...
, who had been a resistance leader for many years. Sotomayor sent his brother Luis to fight a campaign in the area around Valdivia
Valdivia, Chile
Valdivia is a city and commune in southern Chile administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder Pedro de Valdivia and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia and Cau-Cau Rivers, approximately east of the coastal towns of Corral and Niebla...
, and succeeded in defeating the Mapuches in a surprise attack at Angol
Angol
Angol is a commune and capital city of the Malleco Province in the Araucanía Region of southern Chile. It is located at the foot of the Nahuelbuta Range and next to the Vergara River, that permitted communications by small boats to the Bío-Bío River and Concepción. This strategic position explains...
on January 16, 1585.
Sotomayor also put in action his plan of fortifications with the few men that he had. In 1584, he founded the fort of San Fabián de Conueo
San Fabián de Conueo
San Fabián de Conueo a fort four kilometers south of the town of Rafael, Chile. It was first established by governor Alonso de Sotomayor in 1584 to secure control of the Coelemu region between the Itata River and Concepcion. Destroyed, it later was restored in 1657 by order of governor Pedro...
in Coelemu
Coelemu
Coelemu is a Chilean commune and city in Ñuble Province, Biobío Region. According to the 2002 census, the commune population was 16,082 and has an area of .-Demographics:...
. In 1585 he ordered the construction of the fort Santo Arbol de la Cruz
Santo Arbol de la Cruz
Santo Arbol de la Cruz was a fort constructed in 1585 by the Royal Governor of Chile Alonso de Sotomayor. It was located north of the entrance of the Guaqui River into the Bio Bio River near the modern rail station and village of Duiquín...
where the Guaqui River
Guaqui River
Guaqui or Guaque River is a tributary of the Bío-Bío River in the Biobío Region of Chile. It is a river of great volume with a course of 55 kilometers originating from small streams, that have their source west of the town of Las Canteras; it runs to the west, north of the city of Los Ángeles, and...
enters the Bio Bio River. He ordered the construction of a fort on each side of the Bio Bio River, the forts Espíritu Santo
Espíritu Santo (fort)
Espíritu Santo was a Spanish fortress that existed a little to the north of what is now the Nacimiento commune of Biobío Province, Bio-Bio Region of Chile. It was on the left bank of the Bio Bio River immediately below its confluence with the Tavolevo River...
and Santísima Trinidad
Santísima Trinidad (fort)
Santísima Trinidad or Most Holy Trinity was a fortress in the Kingdom of Chile that existed on the north shore of the Bio-Bio River in what is now the Biobío Province. It was built directly across the river from Fort Espíritu Santo by the Royal Governor of Chile Alonso de Sotomayor in 1585...
and another at a place in Catirai
Catirai
Catirai or Catiray is the region of the Moluche Aillarehue of Catiray in old Araucanía. It is now the Santa Juana commune of the Concepción Province and the Nacimiento commune of the Biobío Province of the Biobío Region, of Chile...
called San Jerónimo de Millapoa
San Jerónimo de Millapoa
San Jerónimo de Millapoa was a fort founded by Alonso de Sotomayor in 1585. It dominated the small valleys of the eastern slopes of the Nahuelbuta Range of Catirai, in the upper part of the Culenco River, in the mountainous area 25 kilometers south of the modern commune of Santa Juana...
and raised another fort at Purén
Purén
Purén is a city and commune in Malleco Province of Araucanía Region, Chile. It is located in the west base of the Nahuelbuta mountain range . The economical activity of Purén is based in forest exploitation and agriculture...
, where he also placed a small detachment. He raised these forts with the goal of cutting communications among the Mapuches and hoped to quickly establish towns in each of these places, which would attract enough people to bring reinforcements to Chile persuaded that this was the best method of reducing the tribes for the definitive conquest.
The Mapuche Toquis Nongoniel, Cadeguala
Cadeguala
Cadeguala or Cadiguala was a Mapuche toqui elected in 1585 following the death in battle of the previous toqui Nangoniel. Cadeguala was a noted warrior and the first Mapuche toqui known to have used cavalry successfully in battle...
and Guanoalca
Guanoalca
Guanoalca was the Mapuche Toqui elected in 1586 following the death in battle of the previous toqui Cadeguala, killed in a duel with the garrison commander of the Spanish fort at Puren in 1586...
opposed the establishment of these forts, eventually forcing the abandonment of Purén in 1586. In 1589 Sotomayor reoccupied and expanded the fort of Puren and built a fort near the sea on the heights of Marihueñu
Marihueñu
Marihueñu or Marigueno is a large hill in the Nahuelbuta Range near the coast in the Lota commune of the Bio-Bio Region of southern Chile. Its name is from the Mapudungun mari, "ten" and huenu, "heights"...
and in 1590 he moved Arauco
Arauco, Chile
Arauco is a city and commune in Chile, located in Arauco Province in the Biobio Region. The meaning of Arauco means Chalky Water in Mapudungun. The region was a Moluche aillarehue...
to its current location close to the sea.
However, his actions did not really weaken the Mapuches. The capture of Diaz didn't change the situation, and the establishment of the forts did not have any of their intended consequences. Instead, the Aracanians were every day better aqainted with the Spanish horses and weapons. The arquebus
Arquebus
The arquebus , or "hook tube", is an early muzzle-loaded firearm used in the 15th to 17th centuries. The word was originally modeled on the German hakenbüchse; this produced haquebute...
was their only problem, as they did not know how to use it and in any case did not have any source of gunpowder
Gunpowder
Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...
.
Problems of the government
Amidst these problems with the insurgency, Sotomayor also had to confront the attacks of EnglishEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
pirates, most notably Thomas Cavendish
Thomas Cavendish
Sir Thomas Cavendish was an English explorer and a privateer known as "The Navigator" because he was the first who deliberately tried to emulate Sir Francis Drake and raid the Spanish towns and ships in the Pacific and return by circumnavigating the globe...
, who anchored in Quintero
Quintero
Quintero is a Chilean city and commune in Valparaíso Province, Valparaíso Region. The commune spans an area of .-History:The name of the city comes from Alonso Quintero, the Spanish navigator who discovered the bay in 1536 when he arrived on the ship Santiaguillo.-Demographics:According to the 2002...
on April 9, 1587. There he was defeated by the Spanish, losing 10 men. Additionally, he had to deal with revolts by soldiers in the south, motivated by the poverty that they suffered on account of not being paid in either gold or encomienda
Encomienda
The encomienda was a system that was employed mainly by the Spanish crown during the colonization of the Americas to regulate Native American labor....
rights.
Alarmed by the situation and by the lack of reinforcements, Sotomayor went to Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
on July 30, 1592 to petition the viceroy there for more men. He left the old and circumspect lawyer Pedro de Viscarra
Pedro de Viscarra
Pedro de Viscarra de la Barrera, twice Royal Governor of Chile, was an old lawyer who had arrived in the Kingdom of Chile from Spain in 1590. Alonso de Sotomayor went to Peru on July 30, 1592 to petition the viceroy there for more men leaving Pedro de Viscarra with the title of lieutenant governor...
, who had arrived from Spain two years earlier with the title of lieutenant governor of Chile.
Governor of Panama
In August, Sotomayor disembarked in CallaoCallao
Callao is the largest and most important port in Peru. The city is coterminous with the Constitutional Province of Callao, the only province of the Callao Region. Callao is located west of Lima, the country's capital, and is part of the Lima Metropolitan Area, a large metropolis that holds almost...
, where he learned that the king had named a new governor of Chile, Martín García Óñez de Loyola
Martín García Óñez de Loyola
Don Martín García Óñez de Loyola was a Spanish Basque soldier and Royal Governor of Chile.-Early life:...
. He returned to Chile to testify about and defend his actions, a tribunal from which he emerged triumphant. He then headed towards Spain, but was detained on the road by the Viceroy of Peru, who asked him to take charge of the province of Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, then menaced by English invasion.
Later life
Upon his return to Spain he was again named governor of Chile in 1604. However, due to his bitter frustrations there he declined the post. He joined the Council of the Indies and in 1609 and was charged with the expulsion of the MoriscosExpulsion of the Moriscos
On April 9, 1609, King Philip III of Spain decreed the Expulsion of the Moriscos . The Moriscos were the descendants of the Muslim population that converted to Christianity under threat of exile from Ferdinand and Isabella in 1502...
from Spain.
Sources
- Pedro Mariño de LoberaPedro Mariño de LoberaPedro Mariño de Lobera was a Spanish conquistador and chronicler of the Arauco War in the Kingdom of Chile.-Biography:A professional soldier who served in the war between Spain and France, he went to the Americas in 1545. Mariño joined the forces of Pedro de La Gasca in Havana, Cuba, when he...
. Crónica del Reino de Chile, escrita por el capitán Pedro Mariño de Lobera... reducido a nuevo método y estilo por el Padre Bartolomé de Escobar (1593) (Chronicle of the Kingdom of Chile, written by captain Pedro Mariño de Lobera... summarized to a new method and style by Fr. Bartolomé de Escobar). Crónicas del Reino de Chile, Madrid, Atlas, 1960, pp. 227–562; Biblioteca de Autores Españoles; pp. 569–575; online edition - Diego de RosalesDiego de RosalesDiego de Rosales was a Spanish chronicler and author of Historia General del Reino de Chile.He studied in his hometown, where he also joined the Society of Jesus. He came to Chile in the year 1629, without having taken his last vows still being sent to the residence that the Jesuits had in Arauco...
, Historia general de el Reyno de Chile, el Flandes Indiano (General History of the Kingdom of Chile, the Indian Flanders). Valparaíso, 1877–1878, 3 Vols. - Felipe Gomez De Vidaurre, HISTORIA GEOGRÁFICA, NATURAL Y CIVIL DEL REINO DE CHILE, TOMO II,CON UNA INTRODUCCIÓN BIOGRÁFICA Y NOTAS POR J. T. MEDINA, Coleccíon de historiadores de Chile, Tomo XV, SANTIAGO DE CHILE, IMPRENTA ERCILLA, 1889 Google Books, Digitized August 4, 2005 (History of Chile 1535-1764)
- Vicente Carvallo y GoyenecheVicente Carvallo y GoyenecheVicente Carvallo y Goyeneche was a Chilean soldier, author and historian of Basque descent, born in Valdivia. Author of the Descripcion Histórico Geografía del Reino de Chile, covering the history and geography of the Kingdom of Chile from the beginning of the Spanish conquest to 1789...
. Descripcion Histórica y Geografía del Reino de Chile (1542-1788) (Historical Description and Geography of the Kingdom of Chile). E Libros from Memoria Chilena, Santiago, 1876; online edition