Don Martín García Óñez de Loyola ( – December 24, 1598) was a Spanish-

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

soldier and Royal Governor of Colonial Chile. He was the grand-nephew of Saint

Ignatius of Loyola Ignatius of Loyola ( ; ; ; ; born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Basque Spaniard Catholic priest and theologian, who, with six companions, founded the religious order of the S ...

, the founder of the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

. Óñez de Loyola first gained renown by capturing

Inca The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...

leader Túpac Amaru, which put an end to the

Neo-Inca State The Neo-Inca State, also known as the Neo-Inca state of Vilcabamba, was the Inca state established in 1537 at Vilcabamba, Peru, Vilcabamba by Manco Inca Yupanqui (the son of Inca emperor Huayna Capac). It is considered a rump state of the Inca ...

. He later fought 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 ...

after being appointed the Governor of Chile. He was defeated and killed by

Mapuche The Mapuche ( , ) also known as Araucanians are a group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging e ...

warriors at the

Battle of Curalaba The Battle of Curalaba ( ) was a battle and an ambush in 1598 when Mapuche people led by Pelantaru defeated Spanish conquerors led by Martín García Óñez de Loyola at Curalaba, southern Chile. In Chilean historiography, where the event is ...

, which paved the way for the

Destruction of the Seven Cities The Destruction of the Seven Cities () is a term used in Chilean historiography to refer to the destruction or abandonment of seven major Spanish outposts in zona Sur, southern Chile around 1600, caused by the Mapuche and Huilliche people, Huil ...

Early life

As a young man in 1568, he arrived in

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 ...

at the side of the new

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 ...

Francisco de Toledo, Count of Oropesa Francisco Álvarez de Toledo ( Oropesa, 10 July 1515 – Escalona, 21 April 1582), also known as ''The Viceroyal Solon'', was an aristocrat and soldier of the Kingdom of Spain and the fifth Viceroy of Peru. Often regarded as the "best of P ...

, as captain of the guard. In 1572, he headed the military expedition against Túpac Amaru, the last descendant of the

Incas The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The Inca civilisation rose fr ...

resisting foreign domination. Flanked by Indian allies Francisco Chilche and Francisco Cayo Topa, Óñez de Loyola led a successful action of an advance column which fell upon the camp of the Inca and captured him. For this feat, he gained the rank of ''

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 ...

'' in a number of Peruvian towns, entitling him to their goods and labor. He also married to

Beatriz Clara Coya Beatriz Clara Coya (1556 – 1600) was a princess (ñusta) of the Inca Empire. She was born to Sapa Inca Sayri Túpac (r 1545–1561) and Cusi Huarcay. She married Martín García Óñez de Loyola and was the mother of Ana María de Loyola Coya. ...

, daughter of Inca ruler Sayri Túpac and niece of Túpac Amaru. With these recommendations, the king named him governor of the Río de la Plata and Paraguay in 1592. However, just before he assumed the position, Philip II designated him

Royal 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 ...

, as he was considered the officer most apt to finish the

Governor of Chile

Óñez de Loyola arrived in Chile on September 23, 1592 and was determined to pacify the Arauco. To this end he immediately set out for Concepción at the head of 110 troops which he had gathered at the capital. However, he realized that with such scarce resources he would not be able to achieve his objective and requested reinforcements from Peru. However, the appearance 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 ...

pirate

Richard Hawkins Admiral Sir Richard Hawkins (or Hawkyns) (c. 1562 – 17 April 1622) was a 17th-century English seaman, explorer and privateer. He was the son of Admiral Sir John Hawkins. Biography He was from his earlier days familiar with ships and the ...

alarmed the authorities in Peru and their reinforcements were recalled for the defense of Peru itself. Hawkins also attacked Chile during his campaigns, assaulting Valparaiso for example, where he captured a ship. The governor did not receive the requested soldiers, but members of the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

and Augustinian orders did arrive. The first would have great importance for later events in the colonization of Chile, until they were eventually expelled. The governor decided that he could not wait any longer and in 1594 began a campaign to the south with the small contingent that he had assembled. He founded a fort at Santa Cruz de Óñez in May 1594, near the confluence of the Bio-Bio and Laja Rivers in Catiray, where gold mines were located on the Rele River. The fort was elevated to the rank of city in 1595 giving it the name of Santa Cruz de Coya. Three years later a group of 140 reinforcements arrived, but these were not enough.

Death

The governor was in La Imperial when news arrived that the

s had renewed their attacks against

Angol Angol is a commune and capital city of the Malleco Province in the Araucanía Region of southern Chile. It is located at the foot of the Cordillera de Nahuelbuta and next to the Vergara River, that permitted communications by small boats to the ...

. In order to reinforce the city, he set out with 50 men on December 21, 1598. After two days they arrived at a place called ''Curallaba'' or ''Curalava'' (the broken rock), on the banks of the Lumaco River, where they rested without taking any precautions against attack. On the nights of the 23rd and 24th the natives approached the camp, and with shouts and the sounds of horns they attacked the Spanish. Óñez de Loyola and a pair of soldiers at his side fought but finally succumbed to the spears of the natives. In the melee almost all the Spaniards died, save a cleric named Bartolomé Pérez, who was taken prisoner, and a soldier named Bernardo de Pereda, who received 23 wounds on his body and was left for dead but improbably survived. The Mapuches then initiated a general uprising which destroyed all the cities in their homeland south of the Biobío River. They kept the head of Óñez de Loyola, giving it back years later to the governor Alonso García de Ramón.

References

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Onez De Loyola, Martin Garcia Royal governors of Chile Spanish city founders People of the Arauco War People killed in the Arauco War Spanish generals Spanish military personnel killed in action People from Azpeitia 16th-century Spanish people 1540s births 1598 deaths

Early life

Governor of Chile

Death

See also

References

Sources