Campuzano Polanco Coat of Arms on Burial Slab

Campuzano-Polanco was a prominent family from the

colony of Santo Domingo In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...

(today

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

) with origins in

Santiago de los Caballeros Santiago de los Caballeros (; '' en, James, son of Zebedee, Saint James of the Knights''), often shortened to Santiago, is the second-largest city in the Dominican Republic and the fourth-largest city in the Caribbean by population. It is the cap ...

. During the colonial era of the

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...

, their members and descendants went on to occupy high political, military and ecclesiastical positions, locally and outside the Island, as well as in the metropolis of

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Their merits extend since the beginning and until the end of the colony.

Origins

Pedro Perez Polanco (c.1635-1714) was a captain of the military bands of the "cincuentenas" (bands of 50

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

lancer A lancer was a type of cavalryman who fought with a lance. Lances were used for mounted warfare in Assyria as early as and subsequently by Persia, India, Egypt, China, Greece, and Rome. The weapon was widely used throughout Eurasia during the M ...

s ) from the northern part of the island of the Hispaniola who lead successful military campaigns in the English invasion of Penn and Venables in 1655 and in the Battle of the Limonade in 1691. Along with other captains such as Luis Lopez Tirado, Antonio Pichardo Vinuesa, Jose Morel de Santa Cruz, Francisco del Monte and others, Polanco constituted the military and political class of Santiago de los Caballeros and the North coast. Perez Polanco was also

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of Santiago de los Caballeros and well off hatero (herder), rancher and sugar mill owner. He was the only son and successor of Garcia Perez Polanco (c.1620- 1656), who had also been a captain of the northern military bands defending the northern coast and towns against the

buccaneer Buccaneers were a kind of privateers or free sailors particular to the Caribbean Sea during the 17th and 18th centuries. First established on northern Hispaniola as early as 1625, their heyday was from Stuart Restoration, the Restoration in 16 ...

s and the filibusters from the Tortuga Island. His mother was Ines Martinez Mejia de Henao. His grandfather, Pedro Polanco de Henao (c.1585-1679), was Mayor of the town of Concepcion de La Vega in 1623 and was married to Ana Minaya Alconchel. His great-grandparents Garcia Perez Polanco (c.1535) and Apolinaria de Henao y Almeida Casasola descended from nobles and the earliest settlers of Santiago de los Caballeros, La Vega and Cotui, three of the oldest European settlements in the American continent. Garcia Perez Polanco was also Mayor of La Vega around 1575 His great-great-grandfather, Garcia de Polanco (

Santillana del Mar Santillana del Mar () is a historic town situated in Cantabria, Spain. Its many historic buildings attract thousands of holidaymakers every year. There is an old saying that Santillana del Mar is ''The Town of Three Lies'', since it is neither a ...

, Spain, c.1480- ) was one of the first settlers who landed in the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

. He arrived with

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

in the Gallega ship on his 4th voyage in 1502 that attempted to

circumnavigate Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical body (e.g. a planet or moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first recorded circumnavigation of the Earth was the Magel ...

the world for the first time. His relatives Luis Polanco was mayor of Cotui in 1638, and Garcia Polanco, who was

Vicar General A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ...

in 1660 under Archbishop Francisco Pio Guadalupe Tellez Pedro Perez Polanco married Bernarda Martinez de Rojas. Bernarda was the daughter of Fulgencio Martinez de Ugarte, a relator of the Royal Audiencia, and Ana de Rojas Figueroa, sister of Don Gabriel de Rojas Valle Figueroa, leader and commander of the

Capture of Fort Rocher The Capture of Fort Rocher took place on 9 February 1654, during the Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659). Equipped with one Artillery battery, siege battery, a Spanish expedition of 700 troops attacked the buccaneer stronghold of Tortuga (Haiti), ...

in the Tortuga Island in 1654. Their daughter, Maria Josefa Perez Polanco (c.1660-1744) married Gregorio Semillan Campuzano. Campuzano (b. 1648) was from

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...

, Spain and arrived in the island in 1680 as an assessor of the Governor Francisco de Segura Sandoval y Castilla (1678-1684). He was also Mayor of Santiago de los Caballeros and wrote a chronicle titled ''"Memorial"'' where the living conditions and economy of the north of the island at the time were described. They had at least five sons and three daughters, who used the compound surname Campuzano-Polanco as a sign of distinction, a tradition that all the descendants adopted as well.

1st Generation

Francisco Gregorio Campuzano Polanco (1682-1765)

Dedicated to the clergy and became Prior Provincial of the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...

(''Order of the Preachers'') in 1720 for the area of Santa Cruz de las Indias with a wide jurisdiction over the convents of Santo Domingo,

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

and

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. He received his doctorate of theology in the Convent of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome in 1721

Pedro Campuzano Polanco (1685-1754)

Captain of the Royal Armies from 1708 to 1719. He was Lieutenant Colonel of the city of La Vega, Villa del Cotuí and its parties in 1719, in charge of evicting the enemies who were approaching the coasts. Along with his brother Jose, he financed many successful

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

corsair A corsair is a privateer or pirate, especially: * Barbary corsair, Ottoman and Berber pirates and privateers operating from North Africa * French corsairs, privateers operating on behalf of the French crown Corsair may also refer to: Arts and ...

expeditions in the early 1700s. He played a major role in the pacification of the uprising in the city of Santiago, known as the "Revolt of the Captains". and in charge of the incorporation to the island of the families and victims of th
Guadalupe and Tolosa Shipwreck
in 1724. Later he was mayor of Santo Domingo from 1752 to 1754. His son, Antonio Bruno Campuzano-Polanco, became the head/rector priest of the Cathedral Primate of the Americas.

Jose Campuzano Polanco (1698-1760)

Arguably the most successful

from Santo Domingo during the

Golden Age of Piracy The Golden Age of Piracy is a common designation for the period between the 1650s and the 1730s, when maritime piracy was a significant factor in the histories of the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, the Indian Ocean, North America, and West Africa ...

in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

in the first half of the 18th century operating under a " patente de corso" ( letter of marque). One of the most daring and active corsairs of the

Caribbean region The Caribbean region of Colombia or Caribbean coast region is in the north of Colombia and is mainly composed of 8 departments located contiguous to the Caribbean.Cartagena,

Santa Marta Santa Marta (), officially Distrito Turístico, Cultural e Histórico de Santa Marta ("Touristic, Cultural and Historic District of Santa Marta"), is a city on the coast of the Caribbean Sea in northern Colombia. It is the capital of Magdalena ...

Maracaibo ) , motto = "''Muy noble y leal''"(English: "Very noble and loyal") , anthem = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_alt = ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and the island of Santa Cruz, among other areas. In theory

ing aimed to stop contraband but in reality it was a very important activity for the island of Santo Domingo, since it provided products of basic consumption to the population.

Battle of Cartagena de Indias (1741)

Jose Campuzano-Polanco was also one of the naval

Captains Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

who, along with Lorenzo Alderete and , defended Cartagena in the Spanish victory in the

Battle of Cartagena de Indias The Battle of Cartagena de Indias ( es, Sitio de Cartagena de Indias, lit=Siege of Cartagena de Indias) took place during the 1739 to 1748 War of Jenkins' Ear between Spanish Empire, Spain and Kingdom of Great Britain, Britain. The result of lo ...

in 1741 commanded by Admiral

Blas de Lezo Admiral Blas de Lezo y Olavarrieta (3 February 1689 – 7 September 1741) was a Spanish navy officer best remembered for the Battle of Cartagena de Indias (1741) in the Viceroyalty of New Granada, where Spanish imperial forces under his command ...

(known as "Half Man"), the most crucial battle of the

War of Jenkins' Ear The War of Jenkins' Ear, or , was a conflict lasting from 1739 to 1748 between Britain and the Spanish Empire. The majority of the fighting took place in New Granada and the Caribbean Sea, with major operations largely ended by 1742. It is con ...

(). He wrote a diary about the battle which along with the diary of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

lieutenant William Forbes, are the two main sources for the telling of this historical encounter in the Caribbean.

Juan Campuzano Polanco (1695-1780)

Juan Campuzano Polanco was an hatero and landowner in Santiago de los Caballeros and the north west region of the island involved in livestock exports and

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

haciendas. He married Beatriz Sanchez Firpo, daughter of Captain corsair Domingo Moreno Sanchez from

Santa Cruz de Tenerife Santa Cruz de Tenerife, commonly abbreviated as Santa Cruz (), is a city, the capital of the island of Tenerife, Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and capital of the Canary Islands. Santa Cruz has a population of 206,593 (2013) within its admi ...

and had at least 5 children: fray Antonio, who was Prior Provincial of the

Mercedarian Order The Royal, Celestial and Military Order of Our Lady of Mercy and the Redemption of the Captives ( la, Ordo Beatae Mariae de Mercede Redemptionis Captivorum, abbreviated O. de M.), also known as the Mercedarians, is a Catholic mendicant order es ...

; Luis, Mariana, Dr.

Pbr PBR may refer to: Science and technology * Passive bistatic radar * Partition boot record * Pebble bed reactor, a type of nuclear reactor * Peripheral benzodiazepine receptor, another name for translocator protein * Phosphorus bromide * Photobio ...

. Pedro, and Diego. His youngest son Col. Lt. Diego Polanco (1770-c.1840) was the military commander for the Cibao region of Santo Domingo in the Battle of Palo Hincado in 1808 as well as the president of the Assembly of Bondillo which returned Santo Domingo to Spain from France.

Francisco Campuzano Polanco (1689-1741)

maestre de campo ''Maestre 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 po ...

who moved to

Coro, Venezuela Coro, historically known as Neu-Augsburg, is the capital of Falcón State and the second oldest city of Venezuela (after Cumaná). It was founded on July 26, 1527, by Juan de Ampíes as Santa Ana de Coro. It is established at the south of the Para ...

and there he married Francisca Morillo de Ayala and founded cacao farms for exportation. He became (lieutenant governor) of Coro, mayor of the city in 1715 and provincial official of the Cajas Reales. His children were assigned military positions and engaged in agricultural activities. One of his sons Francisco Campuzano-Polanco Morillo was mayor of Coro as well and Jose moved back and resided in Santo Domingo.

2nd Generation

Jose Campuzano-Polanco Morillo (1723-c. 1800)

Returned to Santo Domingo to manage the sugar mill of Barbarroja in Hato Mayor which belonged to the family and became the first Provincial Mayor of the

Santa Hermandad Santa Hermandad (, "holy brotherhood") was a type of military peacekeeping association of armed individuals, which became characteristic of municipal life in medieval Spain, especially in Castile. Modern hermandades in Spain, some of which evo ...

when the title was first created in the island in 1758. Jose Campuzano, also known as Dr. Don Jose Polanco, obtained a doctorate in law from the University of Santo Tomas de Aquino in 1751 and was named mayor of Santo Domingo in 1752 by Governor Francisco Rubio y Peñaranda (1751-1759). He married Rosa Fernandez de Lara and had one son, Adrian and three daughters, Maria Magdalena who married Nicolas Heredia Serrano Pimentel, Josefa who married Jose Maria Mieses Guridi, a wealthy rancher and Maria Magdalena Catalina who married Ignacio Perez Caro, great-grandson of former Governor Ignacio Perez Caro.

3rd Generation

Adrian Campuzano-Polanco Fernandez (1754-1819)

Adrian Campuzano-Polanco was the first

criollo Criollo or criolla (Spanish for creole) may refer to: People * Criollo people, a social class in the Spanish race-based colonial caste system (the European descendants) Animals * Criollo duck, a species of duck native to Central and South Ameri ...

from Santo Domingo to be elected as a deputy to the

Cortes of Cádiz The Cortes of Cádiz was a revival of the traditional ''Cortes Generales, cortes'' (Spanish parliament), which as an institution had not functioned for many years, but it met as a single body, rather than divided into estates as with previous o ...

in 1811 as a Member for America and the Philippines, positions to which he resigned or did not accept. He married Rosa Perez-Caro, granddaughter of the Governor Ignacio Perez Caro. He was the last mayor of Santo Domingo in 1797-1798 before the Era of France of Santo Domingo. He was also rector of the University of Santo Tomas de Aquino in 1795 after obtaining his doctorate in law that same year, asesor of the Army in Cuba and lawyer for the .

4th Generation

Francisco Javier Caro (Santo Domingo, 1773- Madrid, 1848)

Francisco Javier Caro was the son of Maria Magdalena Catalina Campuzano-Polanco Fernandez and Ignacio Perez Caro y Oviedo, great-grandson of former Governor Ignacio Perez Caro. One of his three sisters, Maria Belen Caro Campuzano-Polanco, was married to , considered the first Cuban poet. He became rector of the

University of Salamanca The University of Salamanca ( es, Universidad de Salamanca) is a Spanish higher education institution, located in the city of Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It was founded in 1218 by King Alfonso IX. It is th ...

from 1798 to 1800 after studying there years before, being one of the few American criollos ever to do so. He was member of the Supreme Central and Governing Junta and

Captain General Captain general (and its literal equivalent in several languages) is a high military rank of general officer grade, and a gubernatorial title. History The term "Captain General" started to appear in the 14th century, with the meaning of Command ...

Castilla la Vieja Old Castile ( es, Castilla la Vieja ) is a historic region of Spain, which had different definitions along the centuries. Its extension was formally defined in the 1833 territorial division of Spain as the sum of the following provinces: Sant ...

(1808-1810) and was the royal

commissary A commissary is a government official charged with oversight or an ecclesiastical official who exercises in special circumstances the jurisdiction of a bishop. In many countries, the term is used as an administrative or police title. It often c ...

for the King of Spain in the island of Santo Domingo in charge of the institutional reorganization of the country at the start of the 2nd Spanish Colony after La Reconquista of Juan Sanchez Ramirez in 1808. He was deputy for America in the

from 1813 to 1814 and in 1821, minister of the

Consejo de Indias The Council of the Indies ( es, Consejo de las Indias), officially the Royal and Supreme Council of the Indies ( es, Real y Supremo Consejo de las Indias, link=no, ), was the most important administrative organ of the Spanish Empire for the Amer ...

from 1815 to 1817 and in 1834 and a member of the court of Isabel II from 1833 to 1836. Caro was named by Isabel II in 1834. He was also testamentary of King Fernando VII.

5th Generation

Jose Maria Heredia (1803-1839)

Chapel Virgin del Rosario in the Convent of the Dominican Order

Maria Mercedes Heredia Campuzano-Polanco, daughter of Nicolas Heredia Serrano and Maria Magdalena Campuzano-Polanco Fernandez, married Jose Francisco Heredia Mieses. They were the parents of poet Jose Maria Heredia (1803-1839), considered by many to be the first

romantic poet Romantic poetry is the poetry of the Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. It involved a reaction against prevailing Enlightenment ideas of the 18t ...

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

He is known as "El Cantor del Niagara" and was named . Jose Maria Heredia's mentor and professor was his own cousin, Francisco Javier Caro.

Private burial chapel of the Campuzano-Polanco

In the early 18th century Francisco Gregorio Campuzano-Polanco built the ''Chapel of Virgin del Rosario'' in the . The family became the owners of the chapel and most its members are buried there. The vault of the chapel is decorated with the twelve zodiacal sign around the sun, and because of this the chapel is also called the ''Chapel of the Zodiac''. In addition in the vault there are other personages like the Olympic Gods that represent the four seasons. This unique chapel is the only one of its kind in America and one of the four vaults with astrological representations that exist today in the world, along with the Celestial Vault or in the University of Salamanca, in Rioseco and the Chapel of Osiris in the Hathor Temple of Dandera

References

{{Reflist, 30em Works cited * Ruth Torres Agudo, ‘Los Campuzano-Polanco, una familia de la élite de la ciudad de Santo Domingo’, ''Nuevo Mundo Mundos Nuevos'' nline Coloquios, Online 05.01.2007. URL : http://nuevomundo.revues.org/3240; DOI : 10.4000/nuevomundo.3240. * Emilio Rodríguez Demorizi, ''Familias'' ''Hispanoamericanas'', Vol. 1, Trujillo, Dominican Rep., Montalvo, 1959, p. 61 * Victoria Stapells Johnson,
Corsarios de Santo Domingo 1718-1779: Un estudio socio-económico
', Lleida, Spain, Espai-Temps, 1992. * Ruth Torres Agudo, "Elites y grupos de poder: Los Hacendados de Santo Domingo (1750- 1795). University of Salamanca, 2008. URL: http://gredos.usal.es/jspui/bitstream/10366/21683/3/DHMMC_TorresAgudo_Elites.pdf * Machado Baéz, Manuel. ''Santiagueses ilustres de la colonia''. 2nd Edition, Santo Domingo, Ediciones Centurión, 1972 * Torres Agudo, Ruth. “Dos catedráticos dominicanos en la Universidad de Salamanca”. ''CLÍO'' 168 (Santo Domingo, 2004) pp. 245–264. * Ugarte, María. ''Iglesias,'' ''Capillas y ermitas coloniales''. Santo Domingo, Colección Banreservas, 1995. * Utrera, Fray Cipriano de. ''Centenario de José María Heredia (1839-1939).'' Ciudad Trujillo, Editoral Franciscana, 1939. * Utrera, Fray Cipriano de. ''Santo Domingo. Dilucidaciones históricas''. Santo Domingo, Publicaciones de la Secretaría de Estado de Educación, Bellas Artes y Cultos, 1978, Vol I. * Hernandez Gonzalez, Manuel Vicente
Expansion fundacional y desarrollo en el norte dominicano (1680-1795)
Santo Domingo, Editora Buho, 2007. * Gabriel García, José
''Compendio de la Historia de Santo Domingo''. Tomo II
Santo Domingo, Imprenta de Garcia Hermanos, 1894 Military history of the Dominican Republic Piracy in the Caribbean Privateers History of Hispaniola 18th-century pirates People of the Spanish colonial Americas People of the Colony of Santo Domingo History of the Caribbean Dominican Republic families Dominican Republic people of Spanish descent White Dominicans