Pedro de Villagra
Encyclopedia
Mombeltrán
Mombeltrán is a municipality located in the province of Ávila, Castile and León, Spain. According to the 2006 census , the municipality has a population of 1,145 inhabitants....
, Ávila Province ; 1513 - Lima; September 11, 1577) was a 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 participated in the conquest 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...
, being appointed its Royal 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...
between 1563 and 1565.
His father was Juan de Villagra, a minor civil official. In 1537 he moved from Spain to Cartagena de Indias, then to Santa Marta
Santa Marta
Santa Marta is the capital city of the Colombian department of Magdalena in the Caribbean Region. It was founded in July 29, 1525 by the Spanish conqueror Rodrigo de Bastidas, which makes it the oldest remaining city in Colombia...
and later 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....
. He arrived in Chile with the expedition of Pedro de Valdivia
Pedro 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...
.
With the founding of 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...
, Villagra held for 4 years the post of the city's mayor. Valdivia also granted him an 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....
in Tirúa
Tirúa
Tirúa is a Chilean commune and town in Arauco Province, Biobío Region.-Demographics:According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Tirúa spans an area of and has 9,664 inhabitants . Of these, 2,508 lived in urban areas and 7,156 in rural areas...
. After the death of the governor, he moved back to Peru, where he married Beatriz de Figueroa.
He returned to Chile when his nephew Francisco de Villagra
Francisco de Villagra
Francisco de Villagra Velázquez was a Spanish conquistador, and three times governor of Chile.-Early life:Born at [Santervás de Campos], he was the son of Alvaro de Sarría and Ana Velázquez de Villagra, who were not married. For this reason he took the name of his mother...
was governor for the first time. He fought in 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...
and took command of the southern forces when the governor became ill. In 1556 he commanded the forces that drove Lautaro
Lautaro
Lautaro was a Mapuche military leader and protagonist of the War of Arauco in Chile. He defeated and exterminated the Spanish forces of Governor Pedro de Valdivia and was almost able to expel them from the area when he was killed in battle.-Early life:...
back from Santiago in the Battle of Peteroa
Battle of Peteroa
Battle of Peteroa was a battle in the Arauco War in 1556, in a place in a plain beside a river in the Mataquito River valley, called Peteroa....
.
He again commanded forces under Francisco de Villagra when he became governor again in 1561. When Francisco de Villagra died on June 22, 1563, he left Pedro de Villagra as interim governor. This was later confirmed by the Viceroy of Peru, Diego López de Zúñiga y Velasco
Diego López de Zúñiga y Velasco
Diego López de Zúñiga y Velasco, 4th Count of Nieva was the sixth viceroy of Peru, from April 17, 1561 to his death on February 20, 1564.-Early career:...
. His military strategy led him to concentrate his forces, vacating the fort 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...
in order to reinforce 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...
and 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...
. Some of the worst 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...
defeats would be suffered through the attack on Angol, where the garrisoning forces led by Lorenzo Bernal del Mercado
Lorenzo Bernal del Mercado
Lorenzo Bernal del Mercado was a Spanish captain who was one of the more successful soldiers in the Arauco War in Chile rising to the rank of Maestre de Campo and temporary Capitán General of the Captaincy General of Chile....
inflicted over a thousand of casualties and killed the 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...
Illangulién
Illangulién
Illangulién, Quiromanite, , Queupulien or Antiguenu, was the Mapuche toqui elected to replace Lemucaguin or Caupolicán the younger in 1559 following the Battle of Quiapo to his death in battle in the Battle of Angol in 1564....
in the Battle of Angol
Battle of Angol
Battle of Angol was a battle fought between the Mapuche and the Spanish conquerors in March 1564.-History:In Los Infantes captain Lorenzo Bernal del Mercado had discovered that the rebels had constructed a pucará close by, establishing a blockade of the city...
. Later he headed a new campaign in the south, relieving the Siege of Concepcion
Siege of Concepcion
During the Siege of Concepcion of the Arauco War, 20,000 warriors of the army of the Mapuche laid siege to the Spanish garrison and civil population in the fortress of Concepcion, Chile.-History:...
and resulting in the victorious battles of Reinohuelen and Tolmillán against the Mapuches north of the Bio-Bio River
Bío-Bío River
The Biobío River is the second largest river in Chile. It originates from Icalma and Galletué lakes in the Andes and flows 380 km to the Gulf of Arauco on the Pacific Ocean....
. This series of defeats resulted in a few years of apparent peace between the Spanish and Mapuche.
With the death of the viceroy López de Zúñiga y Velasco in 1564 the political situation deteriorated for Villagra. In 1565, at the orders of the new viceroy Lope García de Castro
Lope García de Castro
Lope García de Castro was a Spanish colonial administrator, member of the Council of the Indies and of the Audiencias of Panama and Lima...
, he was replaced by Rodrigo de Quiroga
Rodrigo de Quiroga
Rodrigo de Quiroga López de Ulloa was a Spanish conquistador of Galician origin. He was twice the Royal Governor of Chile.-Early life:...
, arrested, and sent to Peru, where he managed to clear his name. After his absolution he petitioned the king for the reparations he believed himself due, but he never received a response.
He died in Lima on September 11, 1577.