Juan de Torrezar Díaz Pimienta (sometimes ''Juan de Torrezal Díaz Pimienta'') (died 11 June 1782 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 ...

) was a Spanish military officer and colonial official. He was twice governor of

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 ...

, after which he was promoted to viceroy 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 ...

Background

He was a brigadier in the royal army and a knight of the Order of Carlos III. In 1779 he was promoted to field marshal. He was governor of the province of Cartagena two times. The first time was from 12 May 1774 to 14 September 1780, the second was from 1 May 1781 to 21 April 1782. During his government, Lieutenant Antonio de Latorre founded 43 pueblos, in which 41,000 persons were settled. One of these was

Montería Montería () is a municipality and city located in northern Colombia and the capital of the Departments of Colombia, Department of Córdoba Department, Córdoba. The city is located away from the Caribbean sea, by the Sinú River. The city and r ...

As viceroy of New Granada

He took possession of his new office on 1 April 1782, still in Cartagena. Before leaving that city, he announced a generous amnesty for those charged in the

Revolt of the Comuneros The Revolt of the Comuneros (, "War of the Communities of Castile") was an uprising by citizens of Crown of Castile, Castile against the rule of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles I and his administration between 1520 and 1521. At its hei ...

. On 21 April he left Cartagena to take up his new position in Santafé de Bogotá, the capital of the viceroyalty. He was already old and infirm, although he had recently married a 17-year-old Cartagena native, María de Salas. His predecessor,

Manuel Antonio Flórez Manuel Antonio Flórez Maldonado Martínez Ángulo y BodquínReal Academia de la historiaDiccionario Bibliográfico español - Manuel Antonio Flórez/ref> (in full, ''Manuel Antonio Flórez Maldonado'') (May 27, 1723, in Seville, Spain – March ...

, a popular viceroy who had served more than 11 years in the office, had apparently been forced to resign by

José de Gálvez José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced ...

, Minister of the Indies in Spain, and

Antonio Caballero y Góngora Antonio Caballero y Góngora (in full, ''Antonio Pascual de San Pedro de Alcántara Caballero y Góngora'') (24 May 1723 in Priego de Córdoba, Córdoba, Spain – 24 March 1796 in Córdoba) was a Spanish Roman Catholic prelate in the coloni ...

, Archbishop of Bogotá. Torrezal Díaz was received along the way at Honda by Archbishop Caballero y Góngora. A great banquet was held in his honor. It was said that the archbishop, who was present at the banquet, did not eat. Torrezal Díaz did, however. He arrived at the capital one week later (7 June). He was very sick and died in agony four days after his arrival. Some believed that he had been poisoned by the archbishop. The official report of his death said he died of infection. A sealed royal document intended to beopened only in the event of his death identified Archbishop Caballero y Góngora as his replacement.

References

* Restrepo Sáenz, José María. ''Biografías de los mandatarios y ministros de la Real Audiencia, 1671-1819''. Bogotá, Academia Colombiana de Historia, 1952.

External links

EncartaArchived
2009-10-31)

The supposed plot of the archbishop
{{DEFAULTSORT:Torrezal Diaz Pimienta, Juan de Viceroys of New Granada Spanish generals Year of birth missing 1782 deaths 1780s in the Viceroyalty of New Granada