Adelantado
Encyclopedia
Adelantado was a military title held by some Spanish
conquistador
es of the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries.
Adelantados were granted
directly by the Monarch the right to become governor
s and justices
of a specific region, which they charged with conquering, in exchange for funding and organizing the initial explorations, settlements and pacification of the target area on behalf of the Crown of Castile
. These areas were usually outside of the jurisdiction of an audiencia or viceroy
, and adelantados were authorized to communicate directly with the Council of the Indies.
. The term comes from the phrase por adelantado (Spanish
: "in advance", although translations stating "one who goes before" and "the forward man" are also found), which in turn is a calque
of the Arabic
term al-muqaddám. As early as the 11th century a few Castilian and Navarrese
documents use the word, but do not specify the powers or duties of the office.
The earliest definitely known adelentado was appointed in 1253 in the recently conquered territory of "La Frontera" (Andalusia
). It was during this time that the Siete Partidas
, commissioned by Alfonso X
, more precisely identified the powers of the office. That law code created the office of an adelantado mayor, who was at the same time an intermediary appellate judge, located in the judicial hierarchy between local justices and the king's court, and an executive officer, who as a direct representative of the king, was charged with implementing royal orders in his assigned area. Most appointees were from the upper nobility or the royal family. After success in Andalusia, the institution was introduced in the northern areas of the peninsula, merging with, and becoming indistinguishable from an older judicial office, the merino.
and was modified over time. During the colonization of the Americas
and Spanish East Indies
(Asia), each charter specified different powers to each adelantado, sometimes in a vague manner, which often lead to confusion, as in the case between Juan de Oñate
and the Viceroy of New Spain. The title was also granted both as an inheritable title and one that lasted for one life only. With the publication of the Ordinances Concerning Discoveries (Ordenanzas de descubrimientos, nueva población y pacificación de las Indias) in 1573, the attributes of adelantados became regularized, although the title was granted with much less frequency after this date, especially since the institutions of audiencias, governors and viceroys had been developed. Nevertheless, the Ordinances are useful because they illustrate the faculties adelantados often had. The Ordinances established that adelantados, in their capacity as governors and justices of the new territories, had the right to hear civil and criminal cases in appeal, to name the regidores and employees of the cabildos
of any towns founded, to name interim treasury officials, to issue ordinances on the use of land and mines, to establish districts, and to organize militia
s and name their captains.
The first use of the title adelantado in the Americas was by Bartolomeo Columbus
, brother of Christopher Columbus
, who governed Hispaniola
under this title during his brother's absence from 1494 to 1498. It was later inherited by Diego Colón
after much litigation. Other conquistadors who were granted the title, include:
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
conquistador
Conquistador
Conquistadors were Spanish soldiers, explorers, and adventurers who brought much of the Americas under the control of Spain in the 15th to 16th centuries, following Europe's discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus in 1492...
es of the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries.
Adelantados were granted
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...
directly by the Monarch the right to become governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
s and justices
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
of a specific region, which they charged with conquering, in exchange for funding and organizing the initial explorations, settlements and pacification of the target area on behalf of the Crown of Castile
Crown of Castile
The Crown of Castile was a medieval and modern state in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accession of the then King Ferdinand III of Castile to the vacant Leonese throne...
. These areas were usually outside of the jurisdiction of an audiencia or viceroy
Viceroy
A viceroy is a royal official who runs a country, colony, or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in the place of" and the French word roi, meaning king. A viceroy's province or larger territory is called a viceroyalty...
, and adelantados were authorized to communicate directly with the Council of the Indies.
The reconquista
The term has its origins in the reconquistaReconquista
The Reconquista was a period of almost 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in retaking the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula broadly known as Al-Andalus...
. The term comes from the phrase por adelantado (Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
: "in advance", although translations stating "one who goes before" and "the forward man" are also found), which in turn is a calque
Calque
In linguistics, a calque or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal, word-for-word or root-for-root translation.-Calque:...
of the Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
term al-muqaddám. As early as the 11th century a few Castilian and Navarrese
Kingdom of Navarre
The Kingdom of Navarre , originally the Kingdom of Pamplona, was a European kingdom which occupied lands on either side of the Pyrenees alongside the Atlantic Ocean....
documents use the word, but do not specify the powers or duties of the office.
The earliest definitely known adelentado was appointed in 1253 in the recently conquered territory of "La Frontera" (Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
). It was during this time that the Siete Partidas
Siete Partidas
The Siete Partidas or simply Partidas was a Castilian statutory code first compiled during the reign of Alfonso X of Castile , with the intent of establishing a uniform body of normative rules for the kingdom. The codified and compiled text was originally called the Libro de las Leyes...
, commissioned by Alfonso X
Alfonso X of Castile
Alfonso X was a Castilian monarch who ruled as the King of Castile, León and Galicia from 1252 until his death...
, more precisely identified the powers of the office. That law code created the office of an adelantado mayor, who was at the same time an intermediary appellate judge, located in the judicial hierarchy between local justices and the king's court, and an executive officer, who as a direct representative of the king, was charged with implementing royal orders in his assigned area. Most appointees were from the upper nobility or the royal family. After success in Andalusia, the institution was introduced in the northern areas of the peninsula, merging with, and becoming indistinguishable from an older judicial office, the merino.
Overseas
The term adelantado continued to be used in the conquest of the Canary IslandsCanary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
and was modified over time. During the colonization of the Americas
Spanish colonization of the Americas
Colonial expansion under the Spanish Empire was initiated by the Spanish conquistadores and developed by the Monarchy of Spain through its administrators and missionaries. The motivations for colonial expansion were trade and the spread of the Christian faith through indigenous conversions...
and Spanish East Indies
Spanish East Indies
Spanish East Indies was a term used to describe Spanish territories in Asia-Pacific which lasted for three centuries . With the seat of government in Manila, the territory encompassed the Philippine Islands, Guam and the Mariana Islands, the Caroline Islands, and for a period of time, parts of...
(Asia), each charter specified different powers to each adelantado, sometimes in a vague manner, which often lead to confusion, as in the case between Juan de Oñate
Juan de Oñate
Don Juan de Oñate y Salazar was a Spanish explorer, colonial governor of the New Spain province of New Mexico, and founder of various settlements in the present day Southwest of the United States.-Biography:...
and the Viceroy of New Spain. The title was also granted both as an inheritable title and one that lasted for one life only. With the publication of the Ordinances Concerning Discoveries (Ordenanzas de descubrimientos, nueva población y pacificación de las Indias) in 1573, the attributes of adelantados became regularized, although the title was granted with much less frequency after this date, especially since the institutions of audiencias, governors and viceroys had been developed. Nevertheless, the Ordinances are useful because they illustrate the faculties adelantados often had. The Ordinances established that adelantados, in their capacity as governors and justices of the new territories, had the right to hear civil and criminal cases in appeal, to name the regidores and employees of the cabildos
Cabildo (council)
For a discussion of the contemporary Spanish and Latin American cabildo, see Ayuntamiento.A cabildo or ayuntamiento was a former Spanish, colonial administrative council that governed a municipality. Cabildos were sometimes appointed, sometimes elected, but were considered to be representative of...
of any towns founded, to name interim treasury officials, to issue ordinances on the use of land and mines, to establish districts, and to organize militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
s and name their captains.
The first use of the title adelantado in the Americas was by Bartolomeo Columbus
Bartolomeo Columbus
Bartholomew Columbus was an explorer and the younger brother of Christopher Columbus.In the 1470s Bartholomew was a mapmaker in Lisbon, the principal center of cartography of the time, and conceived with his brother the "Enterprise of the Indies", a scheme to reach the Orient and its lucrative...
, brother of Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
, who governed Hispaniola
Hispaniola
Hispaniola is a major island in the Caribbean, containing the two sovereign states of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The island is located between the islands of Cuba to the west and Puerto Rico to the east, within the hurricane belt...
under this title during his brother's absence from 1494 to 1498. It was later inherited by Diego Colón
Diego Colón
Diego Columbus was the 2nd Admiral of the Indies, 2nd Viceroy of the Indies and 3rd Governor of the Indies. He was the firstborn son of Christopher Columbus and wife Filipa Moniz Perestrelo, and was born in 1479/1480 in Porto Santo, Portugal or 1474 in Lisbon, Portugal. He died February...
after much litigation. Other conquistadors who were granted the title, include:
- 1512: Juan Ponce de LeónJuan Ponce de LeónJuan Ponce de León was a Spanish explorer. He became the first Governor of Puerto Rico by appointment of the Spanish crown. He led the first European expedition to Florida, which he named...
for FloridaSpanish FloridaSpanish Florida refers to the Spanish territory of Florida, which formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and the Spanish Empire. Originally extending over what is now the southeastern United States, but with no defined boundaries, la Florida was a component of...
and Biminí, renewed in 1524 for his son, Luis. - 1514: Vasco Núñez de BalboaVasco Núñez de BalboaVasco Núñez de Balboa was a Spanish explorer, governor, and conquistador. He is best known for having crossed the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean in 1513, becoming the first European to lead an expedition to have seen or reached the Pacific from the New World.He traveled to the New World in...
for the South SeaPacific OceanThe Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. - 1518: Ferdinand MagellanFerdinand MagellanFerdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer. He was born in Sabrosa, in northern Portugal, and served King Charles I of Spain in search of a westward route to the "Spice Islands" ....
for the Spice IslandsMaluku IslandsThe Maluku Islands are an archipelago that is part of Indonesia, and part of the larger Maritime Southeast Asia region. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone...
, and Diego Velázquez de CuéllarDiego Velázquez de CuéllarDiego Velázquez de Cuéllar was a Spanish conquistador. He conquered and governed Cuba on behalf of Spain.-Early life:...
for YucatánYucatánYucatán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Yucatán is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 106 municipalities and its capital city is Mérida....
and CozumelCozumelCozumel is an island in the Caribbean Sea off the eastern coast of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, opposite Playa del Carmen, and close to the Yucatan Channel. Cozumel is one of the ten municipalities of the state of Quintana Roo...
. - 1527: Pánfilo de NarváezPánfilo de NarváezPánfilo de Narváez was a Spanish conqueror and soldier in the Americas. He is most remembered as the leader of two expeditions, one to Mexico in 1520 to oppose Hernán Cortés, and the disastrous Narváez expedition to Florida in 1527....
for FloridaSpanish FloridaSpanish Florida refers to the Spanish territory of Florida, which formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and the Spanish Empire. Originally extending over what is now the southeastern United States, but with no defined boundaries, la Florida was a component of...
. - 1529: Francisco PizarroFrancisco PizarroFrancisco Pizarro González, Marquess was a Spanish conquistador, conqueror of the Incan Empire, and founder of Lima, the modern-day capital of the Republic of Peru.-Early life:...
for PeruPeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, and Pedro de MendozaPedro de MendozaPedro de Mendoza y Luján was a Spanish conquistador, soldier and explorer, and the first adelantado of the Río de la Plata.- Setting sail :...
for ArgentinaArgentinaArgentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. - 1530: Pedro de AlvaradoPedro de AlvaradoPedro de Alvarado y Contreras was a Spanish conquistador and governor of Guatemala. He participated in the conquest of Cuba, in Juan de Grijalva's exploration of the coasts of Yucatan and the Gulf of Mexico, and in the conquest of Mexico led by Hernan Cortes...
for GuatemalaGuatemalaGuatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
. - 1535: Pedro Fernández de LugoPedro Fernández de LugoPedro Fernández de Lugo was the second adelantado of the Canary Islands and governor of Tenerife and La Palma, a title confirmed again by Charles I of Spain, in Barcelona, on August 17, 1519. It was an inherited title...
for Santa MartaSanta MartaSanta Marta is the capital city of the Colombian department of Magdalena in the Caribbean Region. It was founded in July 29, 1525 by the Spanish conqueror Rodrigo de Bastidas, which makes it the oldest remaining city in Colombia...
(as son of Alonso Fernández de LugoAlonso Fernández de LugoJavier Alonso Luis Fernández de Lugo was a Spanish military man, conquistador, city founder, and administrator. He conquered the islands of La Palma and Tenerife for the Castilian Crown; they were the last of the Canary Islands to be conquered by Europeans. He was also the founder of the towns...
, Adelantado of TenerifeTenerifeTenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands, it is also the most populated island of Spain, with a land area of 2,034.38 km² and 906,854 inhabitants, 43% of the total population of the Canary Islands. About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, the...
and La PalmaLa PalmaLa Palma is the most north-westerly of the Canary Islands. La Palma has an area of 706 km2 making it the fifth largest of the seven main Canary Islands...
, he was a second-generation adelantado). - 1537: Hernando de Soto for FloridaSpanish FloridaSpanish Florida refers to the Spanish territory of Florida, which formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and the Spanish Empire. Originally extending over what is now the southeastern United States, but with no defined boundaries, la Florida was a component of...
. - 1540: Álvar Núñez Cabeza de VacaÁlvar Núñez Cabeza de VacaÁlvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was a Spanish explorer of the New World, one of four survivors of the Narváez expedition...
for Río de la Plata. - 1549: Pedro de ValdiviaPedro de ValdiviaPedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva was a Spanish conquistador and the first royal governor of Chile. After serving with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in 1534, where he served as lieutenant under Francisco Pizarro in Peru, acting as his second in command...
for ChileChileChile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
. - 1565: Pedro Menéndez de AvilésPedro Menéndez de AvilésPedro Menéndez de Avilés was a Spanish admiral and explorer, best remembered for founding St. Augustine, Florida in 1565. This was the first successful Spanish foothold in La Florida and remained the most significant city in the region for several hundred years. St...
for FloridaSpanish FloridaSpanish Florida refers to the Spanish territory of Florida, which formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and the Spanish Empire. Originally extending over what is now the southeastern United States, but with no defined boundaries, la Florida was a component of...
. - 1571: Miguel López de LegazpiMiguel López de LegazpiMiguel López de Legazpi , also known as El Adelantado and El Viejo , was a Spanish conquistador who established one of the first European settlements in the East Indies and the Pacific Islands in 1565. He is the first Governor-General in the Philippines...
for the PhilippinesSpanish East IndiesSpanish East Indies was a term used to describe Spanish territories in Asia-Pacific which lasted for three centuries . With the seat of government in Manila, the territory encompassed the Philippine Islands, Guam and the Mariana Islands, the Caroline Islands, and for a period of time, parts of...
.