Luis Merlo de la Fuente Ruiz de Beteta was a Spanish colonial official who briefly served as the Royal Governor of Chile, in 1610–11.

Biography

He was born in Valdepeñas, Spain to Luis Merlo de la Fuente and Maria Ruiz de Betena. He went to

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 ...

, specifically

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 Cos ...

, in 1588 in the capacity of an ''oidor'' or judge, later travelling to

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 River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

, Peru. From there the

viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning "k ...

at the time,

García Hurtado de Mendoza, 5th Marquis of Cañete García Hurtado de Mendoza y Manrique, 5th Marquis of Cañete (July 21, 1535 – May 19, 1609) was a Spanish Governor of Chile, and later Viceroy of Peru (from January 8, 1590 to July 24, 1596). He is often known simply as "Marquis of Cañete". Be ...

, sent him to

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

, Chile to judge the governor, Alonso de Sotomayor, for possible misconduct. Later, he travelled as an emissary to various colonial cities. When Philip III wanted to reinstate the Real Audiencia in Chile, he was selected as one of the ''oidores'' which compose that type of body. The members of the Audiencia arrived in Santiago by April 24, 1609, and were installed by September 9 of the same year. Upon the illness of the governor,

Alonso García de Ramón Alonso García de Ramón (c. 1552 – August 5, 1610) was a Spanish soldier and twice Royal Governor of Chile: first temporarily from July 1600 to February 1601, and then from March 1605 to August 1610. He was born in Cuenca, Spain in 155 ...

, Merlo de la Fuente was eventually designated the successor, and he took command on September 2, 1610. This duty lasted only until January 15, 1611, however. During this period Merlo de la Fuente faced a rising by the

Mapuche The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who sha ...

Indians, who tried to take advantage of the death of the previous governor. In 1612, he returned to Lima, and in 1620 he retired from the Crown's service. {{DEFAULTSORT:Merlo de la Fuente, Luis People from the Province of Ciudad Real Royal Governors of Chile Spanish generals 17th-century Spanish people 17th-century Chilean people Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown University of Salamanca alumni