The Governorate of Chiloé was political and military subdivision of the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...

that existed, with a 1784–1789 interregnum, from 1567 to 1852. The Governorate of Chiloé depended on the

Captaincy General of Chile The General Captaincy of Chile (''Capitanía General de Chile'' ), Governorate of Chile, or Kingdom of Chile, was a territory of the Spanish Empire from 1541 to 1818 that was, initially, part of the Viceroyalty of Peru. It comprised most of mod ...

until the late 18th century when it was made dependent directly on the

Viceroyalty of Peru The Viceroyalty of Peru (), officially known as the Kingdom of Peru (), was a Monarchy of Spain, Spanish imperial provincial administrative district, created in 1542, that originally contained modern-day Peru and most of the Spanish Empire in ...

. The administrative change was done simultaneously as the capital of the archipelago was moved from Castro to Ancud in 1768. The last Royal Governor of Chiloé, Antonio de Quintanilla, depended directly on the central government in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

Extent

The Governorate of Chiloé had its ''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' (; ; ) describes practices that are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. The phrase is often used in contrast with '' de facto'' ('from fa ...

'' northern limit a

Bueno River The Bueno River (Spanish: ''Río Bueno'') is a river in southern Chile. It originates in Ranco Lake and like most of Chile rivers it drains into the Pacific Ocean at the southern boundary of the Valdivian Coastal Reserve. Its lower flow forms t ...

in continental Chile. There the governorate limited with the territories of

Valdivia Valdivia (; Mapuche: Ainil) 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 ...

. The area '' de facto'' controlled included the Chiloé Archipelago, the seashore forts and settlements north of

Chacao Channel The Chacao Channel () is located in Los Lagos Region, Chile and separates Chiloé Island from mainland Chile. The channel is about 40 km long and 4 km wide and connects the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Ancud. The channel was created during the Quat ...

plus the Mission of Nahuel Huapi which was nevertheless financed from Valdivia. Historian Gabriel Guarda do however disagree claiming the Mission of Nahuel Huapi was within the jurisdiction of

. The so-called ''juncos of Osorno'' (

Huilliche The Huilliche (), Huiliche or Huilliche-Mapuche are the southern partiality of the Mapuche macroethnic group in Chile and Argentina. Located in the Zona Sur, they inhabit both Futahuillimapu ("great land of the south") and, as the Cunco or Ve ...

s) attempted in the late 18th century to have their lands, that lied just south of Bueno River, to be removed from the Governorate of Chiloé and incorporated to Valdivia. The reason of this was their bad relation and history of warfare with the settlements of around Chacao Channel.

Royal governors

All 17th century Royal Governors were named by the

Royal Governor of Chile The royal governor of Chile ruled over the Spanish colonization of the Americas, Spanish colonial administrative district called the Captaincy General of Chile, and as a result the royal governor also held the title of a captain general. There w ...

. In the 18th century this system changed and while still named by the Royal Governor of Chile the position were to be ratified by the

King of Spain The monarchy of Spain or Spanish monarchy () is the constitutional form of government of Spain. It consists of a Hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarch who reigns as the head of state, being the highest office of the country. The Spanish ...

. Later in the 18th century the Viceroy of Peru took over the duties of naming governors but still with the need of ratification by the King of Spain. Formally the office was granted based on merits during all of the 17th century. However, in the early 18th century "pecuniary service" begun also to be considered, which meant in practice that the office could be purchased. This practice was abolished in 1750. The office of Governor of Chiloé was commonly used to booster a carrier and then access more desirable positions of power in

Central Chile Central Chile (''Zona central'') is one of the five natural regions into which CORFO divided continental Chile in 1950. It is home to a majority of the Chilean population and includes the three largest metropolitan areas—Santiago, Valparaí ...

. The position of Royal Governor of Chiloé dates to the early 17th century. Before that a succession of

corregidor Corregidor (, , ) is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Philippines, and is considered part of Cavite City and thus the province of Cavite. It is located west of Manila, the nation's capi ...

es existed including Alonso Benítez and Alonso de Góngora Marmolejo. Antonio Mejía who was sent by Alonso de Ribera to rule Chiloé died in a shipwreck in 1603 while approaching the archipelago. * Martín Ruiz de Gamboa (1567-1568) * Francisco Hernández Ortiz-Pizarro (1601-1604) *Andrés Herrera (1642–1643)Barros Arana 2000, p. 282. * Fernando de Alvarado (1643–1644) * Ignacio Carrera Iturgoyen (''c''. 1650)Barros Arana 2000, p. 337. *Antonio Manríquez de Lara (1680s) * Bartolomé Gallardo (1686-1688) * José Marín de Velasco (1708–1712, 1715–1719)Olguín, pp. 21–24 *Blas de Vera Ponce y León * Nicolás Salvo (1719–1724)Olguín, pp. 24–26 *Juan Dávila de Herzelles (1724–1728) *Francisco José Sotomayor *Bartolomé Carrillo *Alonso Sánchez del Pozo *Francisco Gutiérrez de Espejo (1740–1741)Olguín, pp. 28–29 * Victoriano Martínez de Tineo (1743–1748) * Antonio Narciso de Santa María (1749–1761) *

Juan Antonio Garretón Juan Antonio Garretón (born in Aragón, Spain) was a Spanish army officer who served in different positions in Colonial Chile and Chiloé. Garretón led Spanish forces based in Valdivia to victory in the Battle of Río Bueno of 1759.Barros ...

(1761–1765) *Manuel Fernández de Castelblanco (1765–1768) *Carlos de Beranger Dusonet (1768–1772) *

(1772-1777) *Antonio Martínez y La Espada (1777-1786) The "notables" of Chiloé, represented by the local cabildo had a conflictive relation with governor Martínez y La Espada. The cabildo made complaints to the authorities in

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

.Olguín, pp. 39–41 Between 1786 and 1789 the position of governor was abolished and replaced by an

intendant An intendant (; ; ) was, and sometimes still is, a public official, especially in France, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. The intendancy system was a centralizing administrative system developed in France. In the War of the Spanish Success ...

. The sole intendant of this period was Francisco Hurtado del Pino.Urbina Burgos, R. (2012)
Notas para el estudio del oficio de Gobernador de Chiloé durante el periodo indiano
'' Revista Chilena de Historia del Derecho'', (10), pp. 205-219.Urbina Burgos, R. (1986). La Intendencia de Chiloé y los conflictos del gobernador-intendente Francisco Hurtado: 1784-1789. Revista de Historia y Geografía, 154. * Francisco Garos (1789–1791) *Pedro Cañaveral y Ponce (1791-1797)Olguín, pp. 46–47 *Juan Antonio Montes de la Puente (1797–1800) * César Balviani (1800-1800) * Antonio Álvarez y Jiménez (1800-1813) * Ignacio María Justiz y Urrutia (1813-1817) * Antonio de Quintanilla (1817-1852)

References

Sources

* * * {{coord missing, Peru 01 . History of the Captaincy General of Chile Viceroyalty of Peru 1600s establishments in the Captaincy General of Chile 1600s establishments in the Viceroyalty of Peru 1780s disestablishments in the Viceroyalty of Peru 1780s establishments in the Viceroyalty of Peru 1820s disestablishments in the Viceroyalty of Peru Chiloé Archipelago Subdivisions of the Viceroyalty of Peru States and territories disestablished in 1784 States and territories disestablished in 1852