Manuel de Amat y Juniet
Encyclopedia
Felipe Manuel Cayetano de Amat y de Juniet (March 1707 – February 14, 1782) was a Spanish military officer and colonial administrator. He was the Royal Governor
of the Captaincy General of Chile from December 28, 1755 to September 9, 1761, and Viceroy of Peru from October 12, 1761 to July 17, 1776.
(Province of Barcelona), into an aristocratic Catalonia
n family. His father was José de Amat y de Planella, Marquis de Castellbell, and his mother was Mariana de Junyent y de Vergós, daughter of the Marquis de Castellmeià.
He entered the army at a young age. In 1719 he saw hostile action against the French in Aragon
. At the age of 17 he joined the Order of Malta and went to the island, where he remained four years. He later served in the wars in northern Africa, and obtained the command of a regiment of dragoons.
He distinguished himself in the Battle of Bitonto
in the Kingdom of Naples
(May 25, 1734). There he served with the contingent under the command of the Carrillo de Albornoz, Duke of Montemar that defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Bitonto
in the War of the Polish Succession
. He also stood out in the siege of Gaeta
later in 1734.
He was promoted to field marshal
.
people (for example, Santa Bárbara). He founded the towns of Talcamávida
, Hualqui
and Nacimiento, among others. He entered negotiations with the Mapuches, the first time in Salto del Laja in 1758, and another time in Santiago de Chile in February 1760. His goal was to guarantee the security of communications between Concepción
and Chiloé, but he was only partly successful.
In Santiago he began important public works and administrative tasks, including improvements to bridges over the Río Mapocho, a market in the Plaza de Armas, and the reform of the Royal University of San Felipe (1757). On October 12, 1758 he established the first police force in Chile, called the Dragones de la Reina (Dragoons of the Queen). This name was retained until the independence of Chile. In 1812 the force was renamed the Dragones de Chile.
Amat asked for and got a juicio de residencia
(trial of grievances). The outcome was in his favor.
on July 17, 1776. In September 1767, he executed the expulsion of the Jesuits missionaries from the Viceroyalty of Peru
, following orders from the Crown. He established the first Regulation of Commerce and Organization of Customs rules, which led to the building of the customshouse in Callao.http://www.regioncallao.gob.pe/historia01.asp
He had the fortress of Real Felipe constructed in Callao
, being finished in 1774. He founded the Royal College of San Carlos. He constructed various public works in Lima. Probably the most famous are the Alameda de los Descalzos and the Paseo de Aguas, in the district of Rímac
. He also remodeled the Alameda de Acho. Also under his administration, the Plaza de Toros de Acho, the world's third oldest surviving bull ring, was built by Agustin de Landaburu. It was the first bull ring in Peru, and opened with a corrida
and a great celebration on February 22, 1762.
Tradition says the Paseo de Aguas was built in honor of Amat's mistress, the actress Micaela Villegas
, better known as La Perricholi, a Mestiza
woman. The story is that when the viceroy asked her to become his mistress, she replied that she would when he laid the moon at her feet. Amat y Junient then ordered the construction of the Paseo de Aguas in front of her house. It is an aqueduct from the Rímac River
with a fountain and a long, narrow reflecting pool, with a promenade along the sides of the pool. The night of the following full moon, he invited her to view it with him.
La Perricholi's life inspired painters, writers and musicians. It provided the basis for the Prosper Mérimée
comic novella Le Carrosse du Saint-Sacrement, which in turn was the basis for both the Jacques Offenbach
opéra bouffe
La Périchole
and the Jean Renoir
1953 film Le Carrosse d'or
(The Golden Coach). She and the viceroy are also prominent characters in the Thornton Wilder
novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey
.
would lead to the establishment of British bases from which attacks could be launched on Peru, Amat organized an expedition under the command of Domingo de Bonechea
to Tahiti
, which arrived just after that of Captain Cook, but in time to explore other islands in the group which Cook had not discovered. In subsequent voyages ordered by Amat, de Bonechea was the first European to explore most of French Polynesia
.
Amat also sent an expedition under Juan Antonio de Buenechea
to search for the doomed ship Oriflama
, piloted by his kinsman Manuel de Buenechea.
on February 14, 1782. His widow died on October 3, 1791. Amat had no legitimate children.
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 the Captaincy General of Chile from December 28, 1755 to September 9, 1761, and Viceroy of Peru from October 12, 1761 to July 17, 1776.
Origins and military career
Felipe Manuel Cayetano de Amat y de Junyent was born in March of 1707 in VacarissesVallès Occidental
Vallès Occidental is a comarca in Catalonia, Spain. It is unique among the comarques in that the two cities Sabadell and Terrassa share the role of comarcal capital...
(Province of Barcelona), into an aristocratic Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
n family. His father was José de Amat y de Planella, Marquis de Castellbell, and his mother was Mariana de Junyent y de Vergós, daughter of the Marquis de Castellmeià.
He entered the army at a young age. In 1719 he saw hostile action against the French in Aragon
Aragon
Aragon is a modern autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. Located in northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces : Huesca, Zaragoza, and Teruel. Its capital is Zaragoza...
. At the age of 17 he joined the Order of Malta and went to the island, where he remained four years. He later served in the wars in northern Africa, and obtained the command of a regiment of dragoons.
He distinguished himself in the Battle of Bitonto
Battle of Bitonto
The Battle of Bitonto was a Spanish victory over Austrian forces near Bitonto in the Kingdom of Naples in the War of Polish Succession...
in the Kingdom of Naples
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...
(May 25, 1734). There he served with the contingent under the command of the Carrillo de Albornoz, Duke of Montemar that defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Bitonto
Battle of Bitonto
The Battle of Bitonto was a Spanish victory over Austrian forces near Bitonto in the Kingdom of Naples in the War of Polish Succession...
in the War of the Polish Succession
War of the Polish Succession
The War of the Polish Succession was a major European war for princes' possessions sparked by a Polish civil war over the succession to Augustus II, King of Poland that other European powers widened in pursuit of their own national interests...
. He also stood out in the siege of Gaeta
Siege of Gaeta (1734)
The Siege of Gaeta was a siege during the War of Polish Succession fought at Gaeta, Italy. The Habsburgs at Gaeta withstood four months of siege from the Bourbon armies under the Duke of Parma ....
later in 1734.
He was promoted to field marshal
Field Marshal
Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...
.
Royal Governor of Chile
In 1755 Felipe Cayetano de Amat y de Junyent was sent to South America, as Royal Governor of the Captaincy General and president of the Audiencia Real of Chile. He traveled throughout colonial Chile, and ordered the construction of fortifications on the coast and along the frontier with the MapucheMapuche
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...
people (for example, Santa Bárbara). He founded the towns of Talcamávida
Talcamávida
Talcamávida is a town in the commune of Hualqui in the Biobío Region of Chile. It is located on the north bank of the Bio Bio River across from Santa Juana on the opposite shore. It occupied a plain along the river 42 kilometers from the Pacific Ocean that is part of a small valley surrounded by...
, Hualqui
Hualqui
Hualqui is a Chilean city and commune in the Concepción Province, Biobio Region. It is also part of the Greater Concepcion conurbation, although it maintains a rural profile. It had a population of 18,768 inhabitants according to the 2002 census....
and Nacimiento, among others. He entered negotiations with the Mapuches, the first time in Salto del Laja in 1758, and another time in Santiago de Chile in February 1760. His goal was to guarantee the security of communications between Concepción
Concepción, Chile
Concepción is a city in Chile, capital of Concepción Province and of the Biobío Region or Region VIII. Greater Concepción is the second-largest conurbation in the country, with 889,725 inhabitants...
and Chiloé, but he was only partly successful.
In Santiago he began important public works and administrative tasks, including improvements to bridges over the Río Mapocho, a market in the Plaza de Armas, and the reform of the Royal University of San Felipe (1757). On October 12, 1758 he established the first police force in Chile, called the Dragones de la Reina (Dragoons of the Queen). This name was retained until the independence of Chile. In 1812 the force was renamed the Dragones de Chile.
Amat asked for and got a juicio de residencia
Juicio de residencia
A juicio de residencia was a judicial procedure of Castilian law and the Laws of the Indies. It consisted of this: at the termination of a public functionary's term, his performance in office was subject to review, and those with grievances against him were entitled to a hearing...
(trial of grievances). The outcome was in his favor.
Viceroy of Peru
On October 12, 1761 Amat succeeded José Manso de Velasco, 1st Count of Superunda as Viceroy of Peru. He was followed by Manuel de Guirior, Marqués de GuiriorManuel de Guirior
Manuel de Guirior was a Spanish naval officer and colonial administrator. He was viceroy of New Granada from 1772 to 1776 and of Peru from July 17, 1776 to July 21, 1780.Guirior was born into a noble family of Navarre. He entered the navy in 1733 as a lieutenant...
on July 17, 1776. In September 1767, he executed the expulsion of the Jesuits missionaries from the Viceroyalty of Peru
Viceroyalty of Peru
Created in 1542, the Viceroyalty of Peru was a Spanish colonial administrative district that originally contained most of Spanish-ruled South America, governed from the capital of Lima...
, following orders from the Crown. He established the first Regulation of Commerce and Organization of Customs rules, which led to the building of the customshouse in Callao.http://www.regioncallao.gob.pe/historia01.asp
He had the fortress of Real Felipe constructed in Callao
Callao
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...
, being finished in 1774. He founded the Royal College of San Carlos. He constructed various public works in Lima. Probably the most famous are the Alameda de los Descalzos and the Paseo de Aguas, in the district of Rímac
Rímac District
Rímac is a district in the Lima Province, Peru. It lies directly to the north of downtown Lima, to which it is connected by six bridges over the Rímac River. The district also borders the Independencia, San Martín de Porres, and San Juan de Lurigancho districts...
. He also remodeled the Alameda de Acho. Also under his administration, the Plaza de Toros de Acho, the world's third oldest surviving bull ring, was built by Agustin de Landaburu. It was the first bull ring in Peru, and opened with a corrida
Bullfighting
Bullfighting is a traditional spectacle of Spain, Portugal, southern France and some Latin American countries , in which one or more bulls are baited in a bullring for sport and entertainment...
and a great celebration on February 22, 1762.
Tradition says the Paseo de Aguas was built in honor of Amat's mistress, the actress Micaela Villegas
Micaela Villegas
Maria Micaela Villegas Hurtado , known as La Perricholi, was arguably the most famous Peruvian woman of the eighteenth century. She was a celebrated entertainer and the famous mistress of Manuel de Amat y Juniet, Viceroy of Peru from 1761 to 1776...
, better known as La Perricholi, a Mestiza
Mestizo
Mestizo is a term traditionally used in Latin America, Philippines and Spain for people of mixed European and Native American heritage or descent...
woman. The story is that when the viceroy asked her to become his mistress, she replied that she would when he laid the moon at her feet. Amat y Junient then ordered the construction of the Paseo de Aguas in front of her house. It is an aqueduct from the Rímac River
Rímac River
The Rímac River is located in western Peru and is the most important source of potable water for the Lima and Callao Metropolitan Area.The river is part of the Pacific watershed and has a length of 160 km...
with a fountain and a long, narrow reflecting pool, with a promenade along the sides of the pool. The night of the following full moon, he invited her to view it with him.
La Perricholi's life inspired painters, writers and musicians. It provided the basis for the Prosper Mérimée
Prosper Mérimée
Prosper Mérimée was a French dramatist, historian, archaeologist, and short story writer. He is perhaps best known for his novella Carmen, which became the basis of Bizet's opera Carmen.-Life:...
comic novella Le Carrosse du Saint-Sacrement, which in turn was the basis for both the Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
opéra bouffe
Opéra bouffe
Opéra bouffe is a genre of late 19th-century French operetta, closely associated with Jacques Offenbach, who produced many of them at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens that gave its name to the form....
La Périchole
La Périchole
La Périchole is an opéra bouffe in three acts by Jacques Offenbach. Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy wrote the French-language libretto based on the 1829 one act play Le carrosse du Saint-Sacrement by Prosper Mérimée, which was revived on 13 March 1850 at the Théâtre-Français...
and the Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir
Jean Renoir was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent era to the end of the 1960s...
1953 film Le Carrosse d'or
The Golden Coach
The Golden Coach is a 1952 film directed by Jean Renoir that tells the story of a commedia dell'arte troupe in 18th century Peru. The screenplay was written by Renoir, Jack Kirkland, Renzo Avanzo and Giulio Macchi and is based on the play, Le Carrosse du Saint-Sacrement by Prosper Mérimée...
(The Golden Coach). She and the viceroy are also prominent characters in the Thornton Wilder
Thornton Wilder
Thornton Niven Wilder was an American playwright and novelist. He received three Pulitzer Prizes, one for his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and two for his plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth, and a National Book Award for his novel The Eighth Day.-Early years:Wilder was born in Madison,...
novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
The Bridge of San Luis Rey is American author Thornton Wilder's second novel, first published in 1927 to worldwide acclaim. It tells the story of several interrelated people who die in the collapse of an Inca rope-fiber suspension bridge in Peru, and the events that lead up to their being on the...
.
Expeditions
Fearing that Pacific explorations by Captain CookJames Cook
Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
would lead to the establishment of British bases from which attacks could be launched on Peru, Amat organized an expedition under the command of Domingo de Bonechea
Domingo de Bonechea
Domingo de Bonechea Andonaegui , born on August 8, 1713 in Getaria, Basque Country, died in Tahiti in 1775, was an explorer for the Spanish crown...
to Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
, which arrived just after that of Captain Cook, but in time to explore other islands in the group which Cook had not discovered. In subsequent voyages ordered by Amat, de Bonechea was the first European to explore most of French Polynesia
French Polynesia
French Polynesia is an overseas country of the French Republic . It is made up of several groups of Polynesian islands, the most famous island being Tahiti in the Society Islands group, which is also the most populous island and the seat of the capital of the territory...
.
Amat also sent an expedition under Juan Antonio de Buenechea
Buenechea
Buenechea is a the Spanish spelling of a Basque surname which also occurs in the variants Bonechea, Buonechea, Boenechea and Bonachea. The modern Basque spellings are Buenetxea and Bonetxea...
to search for the doomed ship Oriflama
Oriflama
Oriflamme was a 56-gun ship of the line of the French Navy. She was built at Toulon and launched on 1743 by engineer and builder Pierre Blaise Coulomb. The ship was named for the long, multi-tailed red banner that was historically the battle standard of the medieval French monarchy...
, piloted by his kinsman Manuel de Buenechea.
Last Days
Amat returned home to Barcelona on October 22, 1777. His only marriage was to María Francisca de Fivaller y de Bru in June 1779. He was 72 years old, and she 24. Felipe Manuel Cayetano de Amat y de Junie died in BarcelonaBarcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
on February 14, 1782. His widow died on October 3, 1791. Amat had no legitimate children.