The Duchy of Veragua ( es, Ducado de Veragua) is a hereditary title in the Peerage of Spain. It was also a Spanish hereditary domain created in 1537 in the reign of King Charles I in a small section of the territory of Veragua (''Gobernación de Veragua'', which had been created in 1502 and extended along the Caribbean coasts of present-day

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the coun ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

, and

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

as far to the east as the Río Belén). The first Duke of Veragua was Admiral Luis Colón y Toledo, grandson and heir of

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 ...

. Holders of this title also hold the title of Admiral of the Ocean Sea. The establishment of the duchy was the resolution of a longstanding dispute between the Spanish Crown and the heirs of Columbus, who had claimed a greater area. Luis Colón was also made Marquess of Jamaica. The Dukedom was a perfect square of twenty-five leagues on a side, extending towards the west from the mouth of the Río Belén in the Caribbean, in what is today Panamanian territory. As Panama is less than twenty-five leagues in width at this point, the Duchy extended into the Pacific. By this circumstance, the area of the previous territorial division,

Castilla de Oro Castilla de Oro or del Oro () was the name given by the Spanish settlers at the beginning of the 16th century to the Central American territories from the Gulf of Urabá, near today's Colombian-Panamanian border, to the Belén River. Beyond th ...

, was split into two separated parts. The western part, from the

Gulf of Nicoya The Gulf of Nicoya ( es, Golfo de Nicoya) is an inlet of the Pacific Ocean. It separates the Nicoya Peninsula from the mainland of Costa Rica, and encompasses a marine and coastal landscape of wetlands, rocky islands and cliffs. The first Spanish ...

to the border of the duchy, was united with Veragua Real (Royal Veragua) in 1540 to create the province of

Nuevo Cartago y Costa Rica Nuevo Cartago y Costa Rica was a province of the Kingdom of Guatemala, created in 1540 during the reign of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (King Charles I of Spain). It was formed from two earlier Spanish territories. The first of these was Royal V ...

. The first Duke of Veragua sent out various expeditions to try to enforce his authority throughout the territory, but they all resulted in disasters due to the resistance of the Indigenous peoples in their homeland and the difficulties of the topography and climate. In one of these expeditions the brother of the Duke, Francisco Colón, died at the hands of the natives. In 1556 the Duke decided to return the domain to the Crown in exchange for an increased annual rent of 17,000

ducat The ducat () coin was used as a trade coin in Europe from the later Middle Ages from the 13th to 19th centuries. Its most familiar version, the gold ducat or sequin containing around of 98.6% fine gold, originated in Venice in 1284 and gained ...

s (which was paid to his heirs up to 1898) and the retention of the title (which is still used in Spain). The current Duke of Veragua bears the same name as his ancestor, Cristóbal Colón. In 1560, King Philip II created the Province of Veragua from the territory of the duchy, which was placed under the jurisdiction of the

Royal Audiencia of Panama The Royal Audience and Chancery of Panama in Tierra Firme () was a governing body and superior court in the New World empire of Spain. The ''Audiencia'' of Panama was the third American '' audiencia'' after the ones of Santo Domingo and Mexico. I ...

. This province corresponds approximately to the present-day Panamanian

Veraguas Province Veraguas () is a province of Panama, located in the centre-west of the country. The capital is the city of Santiago de Veraguas. It is the only Panamanian province to border both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It covers an area of 10,587.6&n ...

List of Dukes of Veragua

References

This article is a free translation of the article Ducado de Veragua at the Spanish Wikipedia.

External links

"Sinopsis histórica de la Provincia de Veraguas"

GeneaAll.net
{{Authority control Colonial Central America Colonial Panama History of Nicaragua History of Costa Rica Columbus family Veragua Spanish colonization of the Americas 1537 establishments in the Spanish Empire Noble titles created in 1537 1537 in North America 16th century in Central America

List of Dukes of Veragua

See also

References

External links