Juan Jufré de Loayza y Montesa (1516–1578) was a Spanish

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

who participated in the 1541 expedition of

Pedro de Valdivia Pedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva (; April 17, 1497 – December 25, 1553) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' and the first royal governor of Chile. After having served with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in ...

to Chile. He was the first

alcalde ''Alcalde'' (; ) is the traditional Spanish municipal magistrate, who had both judicial and Administration (government), administrative functions. An ''alcalde'' was, in the absence of a corregidor (position), corregidor, the presiding officer o ...

Santiago, Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

(in 1541) and held the position of governor of the

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

province of Cuyo. He founded the city of San Juan de la Frontera and re-founded the city of Mendoza.

Career

Jufré was born in Medina de Rioseco, a municipality of

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

, to Francisco Jufré de Loayza and Cándida de Montesa. In 1538, he arrived in the Americas with Captain Juan Martin de Candia, and they traveled from

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, soon moving to Chile with Captain

. He was present at the foundation of Santiago and in the first campaigns against the natives. Jufré accompanied

Pedro de Villagra Pedro de Villagra y Martínez (1513 in Mombeltrán, Ávila Province – September 11, 1577 in Lima, Peru, Lima) was a Spanish soldier who participated in the conquest of Chile, being appointed its Royal Governor of Chile, Royal Governor between 15 ...

when he returned to fight in the civil war in Peru against Gonzalo Pizarro in 1547 and 1548. After his return, Jufré engaged in the

Arauco War The Arauco War was a long-running conflict between colonial Spaniards and the Mapuche people, mostly fought in the Araucanía region of Chile. The conflict began at first as a reaction to the Spanish conquerors attempting to establish cities a ...

, becoming captain and justice of the

Arauco Province Arauco Province () is one of three provinces of the Chilean region of Bío Bío. It spans a coastal area of just south of the mouth of the Biobío River, the traditional demarcation between the nation's major natural regions, Zona Central and ...

. After the death of Valdivia in

Tucapel Tucapel is a town and commune in the Bío Bío Province, Bío Bío Region, Chile. It was once a region of Araucanía named for the Tucapel River. The name of the region derived from the rehue and aillarehue of the Moluche people of the ar ...

(1553), he aided the population in the south with food; in 1554 he crushed a rebellion of the Promaucaes in Gualemo on the Lontué River (now the province of

Curicó Curicó () is a city located in Chile's central valley and serves as the capital of the Curicó Province, which is part of the Maule Region. Positioned between the provinces of Colchagua and Talca, the region stretches from the Pacific Ocean ...

). Jerónimo de Vivar
Crónica y relación copiosa y verdadera de los reinos de Chile
ARTEHISTORIA REVISTA DIGITAL; Crónicas de América Jufré later fought against

Lautaro Lautaro (Anglicized as 'Levtaru') ( " swift hawk") (; 1534 – April 29, 1557) was a young Mapuche toqui known for leading the indigenous resistance against Spanish conquest in Chile and developing the tactics that would continue to be empl ...

and participated in the campaigns of García Hurtado de Mendoza. He held a role in the refounding of Concepción in 1559. When Francisco de Villagra became governor of Chile, Jufré was named Lieutenant Governor of the Province of Cuyo in 1561 and founded the city of San Juan de la Frontera and refounded Mendoza. Returning in 1562 because of the new Mapuche revolt, he became lieutenant of

Governor of Chile The royal governor of Chile ruled over the Spanish colonization of the Americas, Spanish colonial administrative district called the Captaincy General of Chile, and as a result the royal governor also held the title of a captain general. There w ...

and organized aid for the war in the south. He continued participating in the war for more than a decade. In the Cabildo of Santiago (the municipal city council) Jufré held various positions, such as

(magistrate) and

regidor A regidor (plural: ''regidores'') is a member of a council of municipalities in Spain and Latin America. Portugal also used to have the same office of ''regedor''. Mexico In Mexico, an ayuntamiento (municipal council) is composed of a municipa ...

in the decades between 1550 and 1570. In addition, in 1556 he was royal alferiz of the city, between 1562 and 1563 he was its

corregidor Corregidor (, , ) is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Philippines, and is considered part of Cavite City and thus the province of Cavite. It is located west of Manila, the nation's capi ...

and he represented it in 1568 before the

Real Audiencia A ''Real Audiencia'' (), or simply an ''Audiencia'' (), was an appellate court in Spain and its empire. The name of the institution literally translates as Royal Audience. The additional designation ''chancillería'' (or ''cancillería'', Catala ...

established in Concepcion.

Accomplishments

Jufré made a fortune developing important economic activities in Chile. He built the first shipyard next to the Maule River, in his

encomienda The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish Labour (human activity), labour system that rewarded Conquistador, conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. In theory, the conquerors provided the labourers with benefits, including mil ...

of Pocoa. He planted the first vineyards in his encomienda of Macul near Santiago where he made wine that he sold in Peru along with other goods. Trade was conducted on his own ships. In 1553, he established a mill on the

Mapocho River The River Mapocho () ( Mapudungun: ''Mapu chuco'', "water that penetrates the land") is a river in Chile. It flows from its source in the Andes mountains onto the west and divides Chile's capital Santiago in two. Course The Mapocho begins at the ...

and later a textile factory amid his two encomiendas (Mataquito and Peteroa) on the banks of the Mataquito River. He died in Santiago in 1578 and was buried at the Church of Santo Domingo.

References

Sources

* José Toribio Medina
Diccionario Biográfico Colonial, Imprenta Elzeviriana, Santiago, 1906
*José Toribio Medina: Colección de documentos inéditos para la historia de Chile, Tomo XV, VALDIVIA. Y SUS COMPAÑEROS VIII, Imprenta Elzeviriana, Santiago, 1898.
I—Probanza de los méritos y senidos del general Juan Jufré en el descubrimiento y población de las provincias de Chile. (Archivo de Indias, Patronato, 1-5-32/16), pg. 5-216

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jufre, Juan 1516 births 1578 deaths People from Medina de Rioseco 16th-century Chilean people Spanish conquistadors People of the Arauco War 16th-century Spanish people Spanish city founders