Francisco de Quiñónez - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Francisco de Quiñónez; Spanish

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...

soldier who was appointed as governor

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...

of 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...

for thirteen months, between May 1599 and June 1600.

When he became governor of Chile, Quiñónez was a veteran soldier. He had served, in 1559, in the Spanish Tercio

Tercio

The tercio was a Renaissance era military formation made up of a mixed infantry formation of about 3,000 pikemen, swordsmen and arquebusiers or musketeers in a mutually supportive formation. It was also sometimes referred to as the Spanish Square...

s that operated 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...

. He embarked in the squadron of the viceroy of Naples, in a campaign against Turkish pirates. In 1560 in the Battle of Djerba

Battle of Djerba

The naval Battle of Djerba took place in May 1560 near the island of Djerba, Tunisia in which the Ottomans under Piyale Pasha's command overwhelmed a large joint European fleet, chiefly Spanish forces, sinking half its ships.-Background:...

that was a disaster for the Spaniards who lost thirty ships. Quiñónez became one of the five thousand prisoners who were taken to Istambul and sold as slaves. Later rescued by means of the payment of a large ransom, he continued as a soldier fighting in Italy and 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...

. On his return to Spain, Quiñónez married Grimanesa de Mogrovejo, sister of the inquisidor of Granada

Granada

Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...

, later canonized as Saint Turibius of Mongrovejo. When this monk was promoted to the rank of archbishop of Lima

Lima

Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...

, Quiñónez 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....

, in 1580, as part of his retinue. Thanks to the protection of the archbishop, Quiñónez soon became Maestro de Campo

Maestro de Campo

Maestro de Campo was a rank created in 1534 by the Emperor Carlos V, inferior in rank only to the Capitán General and acted as a chief of staff. He was chosen by the monarch in the Council of State, and commanded a tercio. Their powers were similar to those of the old Marshals of the Kingdom of...

and general commissioner of the cavalry

Cavalry

Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...

. In 1582, the Viceroy of Peru, Martin Enríquez de Almansa made him commander of the treasure fleet that sailed from Peru to 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...

, be sent to Spain from there. Later he was named corregidor

Corregidor

Corregidor Island, locally called Isla ng Corregidor, is a lofty island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in southwestern part of Luzon Island in the Philippines. Due to this location, Corregidor was fortified with several coastal artillery and ammunition magazines to defend the entrance of...

of Lima, a position in which he gained some notice as a pursuer of thieves and vagabonds.

Quiñónez was designated Royal Governor of Chile

Royal Governor of Chile

by the Viceroy of Peru, Luis de Velasco

Luis de Velasco

Luís de Velasco was the second viceroy of New Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the mid-sixteenth century....

, after finding out about the death of 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:...

at the hands of the forces of the Mapuche

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...

toqui

Toqui

Toqui is a title conferred by the Mapuche to those who are chosen as their leaders during times of war. The toqui is chosen in an assembly or parliament of the chieftains of the various clans or confederation of clans , allied during the war in question...

Pelantaro

Pelantaro or Pelantarú was one of the vice toquis of Paillamachu, the toqui or military leader of the Mapuche people during the Mapuche uprising in 1598...

, in the Battle of Curalaba. Once in Chile he replaced the 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 temporarily administered the government. He commanded the Spaniards during the early desperate months of the Mapuche Revolt of 1598. During 1599, despite his efforts the Mapuche

Mapuche

destroyed the forts of Chivicura

Chivicura

Chivicura was a fort erected in 1593 by the Royal Governor of Chile, Martín García Oñez de Loyola on the south bank of the Biobío River, to the west of the confluence of the Rele River with the Bio Bio, in what is now the commune of Santa Juana, Chile...

and Jesus de Huenuraquí

Jesus de Huenuraquí

Jesus de Huenuraquí was a Spanish fort on heights to the north of the north bank of the Bio Bio River, next to the site of the modern rail station of Huenuraquí, in the commune of San Rosendo...

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...

and its city Santa Cruz de Coya

Santa Cruz de Coya

Santa Cruz de Coya was a city established by the governor of Chile Martín García Oñez de Loyola on the site of the fort of Santa Cruz de Oñez, in 1595. It was named for his wife Beatriz Clara Coya, a member of the royal Incan house...

, the cities of Santa María la Blanca de 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...

, San Andrés de Los Infantes

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...

and San Bartolomé de Chillán y Gamboa. In 1600, Quiñónez was able to rebuild a fort at the site of the destroyed city of Chillán.

Source

Diego Barros Arana
Diego Barros Arana
Diego Jacinto Agustín Barros Arana was an educator, diplomat and Chilean historian. He is considered the most important Chilean historian of the 19th century and his most famous work is the General History of Chile...

Historia general de Chile, Tomo tercero, Capítulo XV Gobierno interino de Pedro de Viscarra (1599). Nuevos desastres; arribo de otro Gobernador

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