- José de Armendáriz
José de Armendáriz y Perurena, primer marqués de Castelfuerte (sometimes "marqués de Castel-Fuerte") (b.
Ribagorza ,Navarre ; d. 1740, probably inMadrid ) was a Spanish soldier and colonial administrator. FromMay 14 ,1724 toFebruary 4 ,1736 he was viceroy ofPeru .Early career
He entered the military and fought in the
War of the Spanish Succession , on the side ofPhilip V of Spain . He saw action in the campaigns inNaples ,Sardinia , Rosellón andCatalonia , and in the siege ofGibraltar . Philip granted him the title of marquess of Castelfuerte onJune 5 ,1711 . He was governor ofTarragona and captain general ofGuipúzcoa . He was a member of theOrder of the Golden Fleece and theOrder of Santiago . [http://www.somosprimos.com/spsep02.htm]As viceroy of Peru
In 1723 Philip named him viceroy of Peru, a position which he took up in May of the following year. His term in office was distinguished by a campaign against fraud and corruption in the government, and reform of the royal treasury and tax collection. He took steps to strengthen the "mita", the forced labor of Indigenous in the silver mines, and thus to stimulate the production of the metal. He sent to jail the Count of San Juan de Lurigancho, director of the mint, as well as the assayer, for producing false coins. In order to fight smuggling (especially of silver), he reorganized the navy and fortified the coasts.
He reestablished the system whereby Inca nobles who could prove their ancestry were recognized as hijosdalgos of Castile. This led to a frenzy on the part of the Indigenous nobility to legitimate their status.
In 1724 society in Lima discovered an exotic drink — coffee. One patron commented, "The new drink is as bitter as the new viceroy".
The Comunero Revolt in Paraguay
During this time the Comunero Revolt broke out in Paraguay. The governor of Paraguay,
Diego de los Reyes Balmaceda , was an unpopular supporter of theJesuit s. A predecessor of Viceroy Armendáriz,Carmine Nicolao Caracciolo , sent an inspector there in 1721 to look into the matter. The inspector wasJosé de Antequera y Castro . Antequera, however, gained the support of the comuneros, challenged royal authority, imprisoned Reyes Balmaceda and expelled theJesuit s. (The Jesuits were unpopular because they sheltered many Indians from forced labor.) Antequera defeated a royalist force fromBuenos Aires under García Ros.In 1724, Armendáriz, now the viceroy in Lima, ordered Buenos Aires governor
Bruno Mauricio de Zabala to suppress the rebellion and send Antequera to Lima for trial. Antequera's followers deserted him, and he was forced to flee to a convent in Cordóba in March 1725. He was arrested atChuquisaca in Charcas, and taken to Lima. He was eventually brought to trial, and in 1731 he was beheaded. However another revolt broke out in Paraguay in 1730, underFernando Mompó de Zayas . Mompó asserted the sovereignty of the people over the king.Armendáriz faced other rebellions as well. The first uprising of the
Chiriguano s, led by Aruma, occurred in 1727. In 1730 there was an insurrection in Oropesa, led by the Mestizo Alejo Calatayud. [http://perso.wanadoo.es/remilitari/cronolog/hispamerica.htm]End of his term
In 1736 Armendáriz turned over the office to his successor,
José Antonio de Mendoza Caamaño y Sotomayor , marqués de Villagarcía. The ex-viceroy returned to Spain and became captain of the king's guard. He died in 1740 without descendants.External links
*es icon [http://es.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761592942/Jos%C3%A9_de_Armend%C3%A1riz_marqu%C3%A9s_de_Castelfuerte.html Short biography]
* [http://san.beck.org/11-3-LatinAmerica1580-1763.html About the insurrection in Paraguay]
*es icon [http://redalyc.uaemex.mx/redalyc/pdf/126/12631210.pdf His administration]
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