New Spain, Viceroyalty of
New Spain, Viceroyalty of
Viceroyalty of New Spain, the first viceroyalty created in the Americas. Antonio de Mendoza was appointed its viceroy in 1530 but did not actually occupy the position until 1535. New Spain was defined to include all of Mexico north of Chiapas, incorporating the audiencias of Mexico and Nueva Galicia and the interior provinces of the far north. For governmental purposes, the viceroy's authority theoretically extended over the Caribbean, Central America, and even the Philippines; in actual fact, however, the three jurisdictions outside of New Spain were effectively ruled by their governors and audiencias, and the viceroy concentrated on governing Mexico. Viceroys have often been portrayed as ruthless tyrants brutally repressing the indigenous population. However, twenty-first-century scholars have questioned this extreme portrait by looking at the limitations of viceregal power. With minimal resources to govern such a large territory, a viceroy could not arbitrarily impose his will. Academics have therefore studied how the government directed public rituals to symbolically establish the authority of the viceroy and the Spanish colonial state. The truth of the position probably lies between the two extremes. Beyond governance, some viceroys are also of consequence because they left behind important historical accounts. Lorenzo Suárez de Mendoza, for example, ordered the compilation of Nahua knowledge known as the Codex Mendoza, which offers a wealth of data about the pre-contact culture of Anáhuac.
VICEROYS OF NEW SPAIN
Antonio de Mendoza, 1535–1550
Luis de Velasco, 1550–1564
Audiencia, 1564–1566
Gastón de Peralta, marqués de Falces, 1566–1567
Martín Enríquez de Almansa, 1568–1580
Lorenzo Suárez de Mendoza, conde de la Coruña, 1580–1582
Luis de Villanueva y Zapata, 1582–1583
Pedro Moya y Contreras, 1583–1585
Álvaro Manrique de Zúñiga, marqúes de Villamanrique, 1585–1590
Luis de Velasco, marqués de Salinas, 1590–1595 (first term)
Gasper de Zúñiga y Acevedo, conde de Monterrey, 1595–1603
Juan Manuel de Mendoza y Luna, marqués de Montesclaros, 1603–1607
Luis de Velasco, marqués de Salinas, 1607–1611 (second term)
Francisco García Guerra, 1611–1612
Pedro de Otálora, 1612
Diego Fernández de Córdoba, marqués de Guadalcázar, 1612–1621
Diego Carrillo de Mendoza y Pimental, marqués de Gelves y conde de Priego, 1621–1624
Rodrigo Pacheco y Osorio, marqués de Cerralvo, 1624–1635
Lope Diáz de Armendáriz, marqués de Cadereyta, 1635–1640
Diego López Pacheco Cabrera y Bobadilla, duque de Escalona, 1640–1642
Juan de Palafox y Mendoza, 1642
García Sarmiento de Sotomayor, conde de Salvatierra y marqués de Sobroso, 1642–1648
Marcos de Torres y Rueda, 1648–1649
Matías de Peralta, 1649–1650
Luis Enríquez de Guzmán, conde de Alba de Liste y marqués de Villaflor, 1650–1653
Francisco Fernández de la Cueva, duque de Albuquerque, 1653–1660
Juan de Leyva y de la Cerda, marqués de Leyva, conde de Baños, 1660–1664
Diego Osorio de Escobar, 1664
Antonio Sebastián de Toledo, marqués de Mancera, 1664–1673
Pedro Núñez Colón de Portugal, duque de Veragua y marqués de Jamaica, 1673
Payo Enríquez de Rivera, 1673–1680
Tomás Antonio Manrique de la Cerda y Aragón, conde de Paredes y marqués de Laguna, 1680–1686
Melchor Portocarrero y Lasso de la Vega, conde de la Monclova, 1686–1688
Gaspar de Sandoval y de la Cerda Andoval Silva y Mendoza, conde de Galve, 1688–1696
Juan de Ortega y Montañes, 1696–1697 (first term)
José Sarmiento de Valladares, conde de Moctezuma y de Tula, 1697–1701
Juan de Ortega y Montañes, 1701–1702 (second term)
Francisco Fernández de la Cueva Enríquez, duque de Albuquerque, 1702–1711
Fernando de Alencastre Noroña y Silva, duque de Linares, 1711–1716
Baltasar de Zúñiga y Guzmán, marqués de Valero y duque de Arión, 1716–1722
Juan de Acuña y Bejarano, marqués de Casafuerte, 1722–1734
Juan Antonio de Vizarrón y Equiarreta, 1734–1740
Pedro de Castro y Figueroa, duque de la Conquista y marqués de Gracia Real, 1740–1741
Pedro Malo de Villavicencio, 1741–1742
Pedro Cebrián y Agustín, conde de Fuenclara, 1742–1746
Juan Francisco de Güemes y Horcasitas, conde de Revillagigedo, 1746–1755
Agustín de Ahumada y Villalón, marqués de las Amarillas, 1755–1760
Francisco de Echévarri, 1760
Francisco Cajigal de la Vega, 1760–1761
Joaquín de Monserrat, marqués de Cruillas, 1761–1766
Carlos Francisco de Croix, marqués de Croix, 1766–1771
Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa, 1771–1779
Martín de Mayorga, 1779–1783
Matías de Gálvez, 1783–1784
Vicente de Herrera y Rivero, 1784–1785
Bernardo de Gálvez, conde de Gálvez, 1785–1786
Eusebio Sánchez Pareja Beleño, 1786–1787
Alonso Núñez de Haro y Peralta, 1787
Manuel Antonio Flores, 1787–1789
Juan Vicente de Güemes Pacheco y Padilla, conde de Revillagigedo, 1789–1794
Miguel de la Grúa Talamanca y Branciforte, marqués de Branciforte, 1794–1798
Miguel José de Azanza, 1798–1800
Félix Berenguer de Marquina, 1800–1803
José de Iturrigaray, 1803–1808
Pedro Garibay, 1808–1809
Francisco Javier de Lizana y Beaumont, 1809–1810
Francisco Javier Venegas, 1810–1813
Félix María Calleja del Rey, marqués de Calderón, 1813–1816
Juan Ruíz de Apodaca, conde del Venadito, 1816–1821
Francisco Novella, 1821
Juan O'Donojú, 1821
See alsoAnáhuac; Audiencia; Viceroyalty, Viceroy.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Peter Gerhard, A Guide to the Historical Geography of New Spain (1972).
Additional Bibliography
Barrios, Feliciano, ed. El gobierno de un mundo: Virreinatos y audiencias en la América hispánica. Cuenca: Ediciones de la Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 2004.
Berdan, Frances F., and Patricia Rieff Anawalt. The Codex Mendoza. 4 vols. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992.
Cañeque, Alejandro. The King's Living Image: The Culture and Politics of Viceregal Power in Colonial Mexico. New York: Routledge, 2004.
John E. Kicza