José Alfonso Pizarro, Marquis del Villar (sometimes given as José Alonso Pizarro) (1689 in
Murcia
Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...
– 1762 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 ...
) was a Spanish naval officer and colonial administrator. From November 6, 1749, to November 24, 1753, he was
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 Anglo-Norman ''roy'' (Old Frenc ...
of the Spanish
Viceroyalty of New Granada
The Viceroyalty of the New Kingdom of Granada ( ), also called Viceroyalty of New Granada or Viceroyalty of Santa Fe, was the name given on 27 May 1717 to the jurisdiction of the Spanish Empire in northern South America, corresponding to modern ...
.
Biography
As a youth Pizarro entered the naval service of the
Knights of Malta
The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic Church, Cathol ...
. He was a knight of the Order and gentleman of the bedchamber of the king. Later he served in the Spanish navy, rising to the rank of rear admiral.
When the Spanish government heard of the expedition of British Admiral
George Anson to the Pacific, a fleet of two ships of the line and four frigates was despatched with a regiment of infantry for Chile. The fleet, under Pizarro's command, left in October 1740, and arrived on January 5, 1741, in the
Río de la Plata
The Río de la Plata (; ), also called the River Plate or La Plata River in English, is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at Punta Gorda, Colonia, Punta Gorda. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean and ...
. Hearing that Anson was refitting in
Santa Catharina for entering the Pacific by the
Strait of Le Maire (off the southeast tip of
Tierra del Fuego
Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South America, South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan.
The archipelago consists of the main is ...
), Pizarro sailed at once to intercept him.
His squadron consisting of the ships ''Asia'' (64 guns), ''Guipúzcoa'' (74), ''Hermione'' (54) and ''Esperanza'' (50) and the frigate ''
San Estéban'' (40). However, he lost one ship and one frigate in a storm and was obliged to put back for repairs. On the second attempt, with two vessels, he was again dismasted and returned to Montevideo. From there, he despatched the frigate ''Esperanza'' to the Pacific, and crossed the Andes to Peru, where for some time he exercised the functions of naval commander-in-chief.
After the peace with England, Pizarro left the frigate on the Pacific station and returned overland to Montevideo, where he found his flagship, the ''Asia'', refitted. He sailed in the ''Asia'' for Europe in November 1745. Part of the crew consisted of Indians from the pampas, who one night rose against the Spaniards, killing the watch on deck. They had gained possession of the vessel when Pizarro succeeded in killing the ringleader, and in the confusion drove the mutineers into the sea.
On his arrival at
Cádiz
Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...
in January 1746, Pizarro was promoted to vice-admiral. In 1749, he was appointed viceroy and
captain general of New Granada. He arrived in
Cartagena de Indias
Cartagena ( ), known since the colonial era as Cartagena de Indias (), is a city and one of the major ports on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Region of Colombia, Caribbean Coast Region, along the Caribbean Sea. Cartagena's past ...
in the frigate ''Uaricochea'' in early November 1749, and was sworn in by his predecessor,
Sebastián de Eslava
Sebastián de Eslava y Lazaga (January 19, 1685 – June 21, 1759) was a Spanish general and colonial official. From April 24, 1740 to November 6, 1749 he was viceroy of the newly reestablished Viceroyalty of New Granada. He was governing th ...
.
Pizarro formed a monopoly of
aguardiente
( Portuguese) or ( Spanish) (; ; ) is a type of distilled alcoholic spirit that contains between 29% and 60% alcohol by volume (ABV). It is a somewhat generic term that can refer to liquors made from various foods. It originates from and is t ...
, which provoked riots. He reorganized the mint. He improved communications with Bogotá. He began the construction of the mortar and stone bridge of San Antonio, over the junction of the Río San Agustín and the Río San Francisco in
Bogotá
Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...
. This latter work was completed by his successor,
José Solís Folch de Cardona.
Pizarro served until 1753, when he turned over the government to his successor and returned to Spain.
Notes
References
*
Attribution:
*
External links
Some biographical information
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pizarro, Jose Alfonso
1689 births
1762 deaths
Marquesses of Spain
Viceroys of New Granada