José Cortés de Madariaga (8 July 1766 – March 1826) was a South American patriot.

Biography

Cortés de Madariaga studied theology in Santiago de Chile, and was ordained in 1788. He continued his studies at the Universidad de San Felipe and graduated as

doctor of divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...

. He got into a contest with someone else over a professorship of decretals at the university, and the two sailed to Spain to get a judgment 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 ...

. Both were rejected. On his return to Chile in 1802, a contrary wind landed him in

La Guaira La Guaira () is the capital city of the Venezuelan Vargas (state), state of the same name (formerly named Vargas) and the country's main port, founded in 1577 as an outlet for nearby Caracas. The city hosts its own professional baseball team i ...

, from where he traveled to

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

where he obtained a

canonry Canon () is a Christian title usually used to refer to a member of certain bodies in subject to an canon law, ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, in one of the houses within the p ...

in the cathedral in 1803. He took part in the patriotic movement, and when on 19 April 1810, in the meeting of the municipality, the captain general, Vicente Emparan, was about to be victorious, Cortés de Madariaga was sent for and took a seat in the assembly as deputy of the clergy. By his speeches he influenced the assembly, and the populace outside, to demand the deposition of Emparan, thus declaring independence. He was sent in 1811 as a commissioner to the patriots of

New Granada New Granada may refer to various former national denominations for the present-day country of Colombia: *New Kingdom of Granada, from 1538 to 1717 *Viceroyalty of New Granada, from 1717 to 1810, re-established from 1816 to 1822 *United Provinces of ...

, but in 1812 was included in the capitulation of Miranda, and sent by

Monteverde Monteverde is the twelfth Cantons of Costa Rica, canton of the Puntarenas Province, Puntarenas Provinces of Costa Rica, province of Costa Rica, located in the Cordillera de Tilarán (Tilarán range). Roughly a four-hour drive from the Costa Rica ...

as a prisoner to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, where he was confined in the penitentiary of

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ) is an Autonomous communities of Spain#Autonomous cities, autonomous city of Spain on the North African coast. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta is one of th ...

. He fled to

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in February 1814, and was delivered up by the acting governor, Sir George Don, to the Spanish authorities, but released in the following year on the reclamation of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

cabinet, which disavowed the conduct of the governor. In 1816 he set out for

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

, where he heard of Bolívar's expedition from

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, and early in 1817 sailed for

Isla Margarita Margarita Island (, ) is the largest island in the Venezuelan state of Nueva Esparta, situated off the north west coast of the country, in the Caribbean Sea. The capital city of Nueva Esparta, La Asunción, is located on the island. History ...

. There he published a manifesto protesting against the country being controlled by military chiefs, and recommending the formation of a representative government. In April he went to

Carúpano Carúpano is a city in the eastern Venezuelan state of Sucre. It is located on the Venezuelan Caribbean coast at the opening of two valleys, some 120 km east of the capital of Sucre, Cumaná.Montilla Montilla () is a town and municipality of Spain, located in the autonomous community of Andalusia. , the town had a population of 23,209, which makes it the fourth most populated municipality of the Province of Córdoba. It lies 32 miles south o ...

, Zea, and others, who were carried away by Cortés de Madariaga's eloquence, and on 8 May assembled the so-called congress of Cariaco, which decreed the deposition of Bolivar from the executive and appointed a governing junta of three members. But the other chiefs of the eastern provinces did not recognize the authority of this congress or the governing junta, and before the approach of the enemy Cortés de Madariaga fled to

. In 1820 Cortés de Madariaga joined the expedition of General Montilla against Riohacha and

Santa Marta Santa Marta (), officially the Distrito Turístico, Cultural e Histórico de Santa Marta (), is a port List of cities in Colombia, city on the coast of the Caribbean Sea in northern Colombia. It is the capital of Magdalena Department and the fou ...

, and fixed his residence there, while

, which had become his second home, was occupied by the Spaniards. When they evacuated the Caracas in June 1821, Cortés de Madariaga, offended at not being summoned, remained in Riohacha until his death.

Notes

References

* Attribution *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cortes De Madariaga, Jose 1784 births 1826 deaths Venezuelan activists People from Caracas People of the Venezuelan War of Independence University of Chile alumni Venezuelan Roman Catholic priests 19th-century Chilean Roman Catholic priests