Don Diego de Benavides de la Cueva y Bazán, 1st Marquess of Solera and 8th Count of Santisteban del Puerto (sometimes ''Don Diego Benavides y de la Cueva, conde de Santisteban del Puerto'') (1607,

Santisteban del Puerto Santisteban del Puerto is a city located in the province of Jaén, Spain. According to the 2005 census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This t ...

, Jaén,

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 ...

– ca. March 19, 1666,

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

), was a Spanish military officer, diplomat, writer and colonial administrator. From December 31, 1661 to March 16, 1666 he was viceroy of

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

. Benavides received a Humanistic education with the Jesuits of the Colegio Imperial de Madrid.
/sup> He was a Knight of the

Order of Santiago The Order of Santiago (; es, Orden de Santiago ), is a religious and military order founded in the 12th century. It owes its name to the Patron Saint of Spain, "Santiago" (St. James the Greater). Its initial objective was to protect the pilgri ...

and a gentleman of the king's bedchamber. He fought in Aragon and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. After the 1643 war with Portugal, he was Captain General of the Borders. Later he was Governor of Galicia. In 1653 he was named Viceroy and Captain General of Navarre. For his valuable diplomatic services in the negotiation of the 1659

Peace of the Pyrenees The Treaty of the Pyrenees (french: Traité des Pyrénées; es, Tratado de los Pirineos; ca, Tractat dels Pirineus) was signed on 7 November 1659 on Pheasant Island, and ended the Franco-Spanish War that had begun in 1635. Negotiations were ...

and the subsequent marriage of Princess Maria Teresa of Austria with

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...

of France, King Philip IV made him Marquis de Solera. His writings included ''Epigramas latinos del humanista giennense D. Diego de Benavides y de la Cueva'' (Latin epigrams) and ''Horae succisiuae siue Elucubrationes''. The latter work was a poetic anthology compiled by his sons Francisco and Manuel de Benavides and published in 1660 (second edition, 1664).
/sup> In 1661 he was named

Viceroy of Peru The viceroys of Peru ruled the Viceroyalty of Peru from 1544 to 1824 in the name of the monarch of Spain. The territories under ''de jure'' rule by the viceroys included in the 16th and 17th century almost all of South America except eastern Braz ...

. During his administration, he was much concerned about the condition of the Indigenous, particularly their education and labor conditions. To address these concerns he issued the ''Ordenanza de Obrajes'' (Ordenance of Manufactures) in 1664. He faced earthquakes to epidemics, and had to suppress fighting between Spanish miners. San Bartolomé hospital was built during his term of office. He built the first theater in

. He died in that city in 1666.

References

External links

Short biography

Short biographyArchived
2009-10-31)

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Benavides, Diego 1607 births 1666 deaths Counts of Spain Marquesses of Spain Viceroys of Peru Viceroys of Navarre Knights of Santiago Spanish diplomats University of Salamanca alumni