Lope García De Castro
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Lope García de Castro (1516 - 8 January 1576) was a Spanish colonial administrator, member of the Council of the Indies and of the Audiencias of
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 ...
and
Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...
. From September 2, 1564, to November 26, 1569, he was interim viceroy of
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 ...
.


Biography

He was born at Villanueva de Valdueza. In 1563 he was sent to Panama by the Council of the Indies to apply the Council's decision to end the Audiencia of Guatemala and attach that territory to the Audiencia of Panama. He sailed from Spain on October 8, 1563, arriving in Panama in 1564. He served as governor of Panama until continuing on to Lima. In February 1564, Peruvian Viceroy
Diego López de Zúñiga y Velasco Diego is a Spanish masculine given name. The Portuguese equivalent is Diogo. The etymology of Diego is disputed, with two major origin hypotheses: ''Tiago'' and ''Didacus''. The name also has several patronymic derivations, listed below. ...
died suddenly or was killed. The president of the Audiencia of Lima, Juan de Saavedra briefly served as interim viceroy. García de Castro was sent from Panama to take over the positions of governor, captain general, and president of the Audiencia. He was in effect interim viceroy. He arrived in Lima on September 22, 1564, and served until 1569. The Indians of Peru had an oral tradition referring to Pacific islands known to Hahuachimbi and Ninachumbi. These mythical islands came to the attention of the Spanish in Peru, and even before their discovery were known as the
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...
(named for the biblical king) or the Islands of Gold. Viceroy García de Castro decided to send a naval expedition to the west to investigate whether these islands were real. He wrote to King Philip II that he was sending his nephew, Alvaro de Mendaña de Neira, with 100 men. The expedition consisted of two ships. It discovered
Wake Island Wake Island (), also known as Wake Atoll, is a coral atoll in the Micronesia subregion of the Pacific Ocean. The atoll is composed of three islets – Wake, Wilkes, and Peale Islands – surrounding a lagoon encircled by a coral reef. The neare ...
and the Solomon Islands. He suspected the Inca of plotting rebellion in Chile and Argentina. After discovering some evidence to support this, he ordered all horses and firearms confiscated from the Indians. In 1567 an expedition under Captain Martín Ruiz de Gamboa was sent to subdue the island of Chiloé (Chile). Ruiz met little resistance. He founded the city of Castro there, named for Viceroy García de Castro. On August 21, 1565, King Philip created a royal mint in Lima, at the urging of a previous viceroy,
Diego López de Zúñiga y Velasco Diego is a Spanish masculine given name. The Portuguese equivalent is Diogo. The etymology of Diego is disputed, with two major origin hypotheses: ''Tiago'' and ''Didacus''. The name also has several patronymic derivations, listed below. ...
, but it was in existence only briefly. He died at
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 ...
in 1576.


External links


Brief biography
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(brief)

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The founding of the city of Castro (Chiloé)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia de Castro, Lope 1516 births 1576 deaths People from El Bierzo Royal governors of Panama Viceroys of Peru Spanish city founders People of the Spanish colonial Americas 16th-century South American people 16th-century Peruvian people University of Salamanca alumni Academic staff of the University of Salamanca