Antonio Caballero y Góngora
Encyclopedia
Priego
Priego is a municipality located in the province of Cuenca, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2004 census , the municipality has a population of 1,052 inhabitants....
, Córdoba
Córdoba, Spain
-History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...
, Spain
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...
– March 24, 1796, Córdoba) was a Spanish Roman Catholic prelate and, from 1782 to 1789, viceroy of New Granada.
In Spain and New Spain
Antonio Caballero was born into an Hidalgo family in Córdoba. His parents were Juan Caballero y Espinar and Antonia de Góngora. He studied first in Córdoba. At the age of 15 he received a scholarship to study theology in the Colegio de San Bartolomé y Santiago in GranadaGranada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
. He continued his studies at the Colegio Imperial de Santa Catalina, graduating in 1744. He was ordained a priest on September 19, 1750. About this time he wrote a biography of the Granadan poet José Antonio Porcel y Salablanca.
In 1753 he was named canon of the cathedral of Córdoba, where he remained until 1775. He was a cultured man and a lover of the arts. He collected paintings by Velázquez, Rubens, Titian, etc., and his library contained the most modern works on all branches of knowledge. He was also a numismatist
Numismatics
Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, and related objects. While numismatists are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, the discipline also includes the broader study of money and other payment media used to resolve debts and the...
.
He was named bishop of Mérida in Yucatán
Yucatán
Yucatán 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....
in 1775. He brought with him 38 crates of books, rich ornaments, paintings and coins. He reorganized the Colegio de San Pedro, which had fallen on hard times since the expulsion of the Jesuits.
Archbishop of Bogotá
In 1777 he was named archbishop of Santa Fé de Bogotá, New GranadaViceroyalty of New Granada
The Viceroyalty of New Granada was the name given on 27 May 1717, to a Spanish colonial jurisdiction in northern South America, corresponding mainly to modern Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela. The territory corresponding to Panama was incorporated later in 1739...
, by King Charles III
Charles III of Spain
Charles III was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to 1788. He was the eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, the Princess Elisabeth Farnese...
, and confirmed by the pope. He arrived there on March 5, 1778. There he worked assiduously and successfully to pacify the rebels of the Comunero Revolt
Revolt of the Comuneros (New Granada)
The Revolt of the Comuneros was an uprising by the inhabitants of the Viceroyalty of New Granada against the Spanish authorities in 1781. While underlying causes may have been economic, ideas of freedom and self-government were expressed...
. For his services, King Charles subsequently made him a member of the Order of Carlos III and viceroy of the colony of New Granada.
He did much important pastoral work. He reformed the system of tithes and founded the sees of Mérida
Mérida, Mérida
Santiago de los Caballeros de Mérida, Venezuela, is the capital of the municipality of Libertador and the state of Mérida, and is one of the principal cities of the Venezuelan Andes...
(Venezuela) and Cuenca
Cuenca, Ecuador
Cuenca is the capital of the Azuay Province. It is located in the highlands of Ecuador at about 2500 m above sea level...
(Quito). He was unsuccessful in founding a see at Antioquia and in placing the diocese of Panama under the jurisdiction of Bogotá (instead of Lima). Neither was he able to organize a provincial council of New Granada, as he had hoped.
In 1780 the Comunero Revolt broke out in New Granada, almost at the same time as the revolt of Túpac Amaru
Túpac Amaru
Túpac Amaru, also called Thupa Amaro , was the last indigenous leader of the Inca state in Peru.-Accession:...
in Peru. This was largely a reaction against the new system of taxes ordered by Charles III. To institute these reforms, the Crown sent Juan Francisco Gutiérrez de Piñeres to the colony in 1777, with the title of visitador (inspector). He established a tobacco monopoly, prohibiting its cultivation in certain regions, such as Socorro
Socorro, Santander
Socorro is a town and municipality in the Santander Department in northeastern Colombia. It was founded in 1681 by Don José de Archila and Don José Díaz Sarmiento.The town was very influential in the history of Colombia...
and Chiriquí Province
Chiriquí Province
Chiriquí is a province of Panama, it is located on the western coast of Panama, and it is also the second most developed province in the country, after the Panamá Province. Its capital is the city of David. It has a total area of 6,490.9 km², with a population of 416,873 as of the year 2010...
. He set taxes on playing cards and aguardiente, organized the tax office, and set up customs offices in Cartagena and Bogotá.
The revolt began in Simacota
Simacota
Simacota is a town and municipality in the Santander Department in northeastern Colombia....
, and included Mestizos, Criollos
Criollo people
The Criollo class ranked below that of the Iberian Peninsulares, the high-born permanent residence colonists born in Spain. But Criollos were higher status/rank than all other castes—people of mixed descent, Amerindians, and enslaved Africans...
and Indigenous. About 20,000 men marched on the capital to demand the repeal of the new taxes, defeating colonial troops along the way. Viceroy Manuel Antonio Flores
Manuel Antonio Flores
Manuel Antonio Flores Maldonado Martínez Ángulo y Bodquín was a general in the Spanish navy and viceroy of New Granada and New Spain .-Early career:Flores entered the royal navy of Spain, where he commanded various...
had left the capital for Cartagena to defend against an expected attack there by the British. Visitador Gutiérrez de Piñeres was forced to flee before the Comuneros. The Audiencia and the archbishop formed a delegation to meet with the rebels. The meeting was held at Zipaquirá
Zipaquirá
Zipaquirá is a municipality and city of Colombia in the department of Cundinamarca. Its neighboring municipalities are Tausa and Cogua to the north; Nemocón, Gachancipá and Sopó to the east; Cajicá and Tabio to the south; and Subachoque and Pacho to the west. Its seat of municipal government is 49...
, only 60 km from the capital.
The rebels demanded the elimination of the new taxes and reductions in the old ones. Archbishop Caballero convinced the members of the Audiencia to accept all the terms. An agreement was reached on June 7, 1781, and the archbishop swore on the gospels to uphold it. The rebels dispersed. Nevertheless, once back in Bogotá the Audiencia and the archbishop repudiated the agreement. The Comuneros rose again, but with less success. They were violently suppressed, and their leaders captured and executed.
Viceroy Manuel de Flores resigned on November 26, 1781 and was replaced by Juan de Torrezar Díaz Pimienta
Juan de Torrezar Díaz Pimienta
Juan de Torrezar Díaz Pimienta was a Spanish military officer and colonial official. He was twice governor of Cartagena de Indias, after which he was promoted to viceroy of New Granada.-Background:He was a brigadier in the royal army and a knight of the Order of Carlos III...
, governor of Cartagena. However Torrezar died on June 11, 1782, only four days after arriving in the capital. A sealed letter opened after his death directed that the new, interim viceroy should be Archbishop Caballero.
Viceroy of New Granada
It thus fell to Caballero to pacify the viceroyalty. He promulgated a pardon granted by the king, expanded and improved the colonial army, and sent Franciscan missionaries to the affected provinces to preach peace and obedience to the king. He also requested the Crown to abolish the recent reforms, including the creation of intendencias in the colony. New Granada become the only Spanish territory in America were they were not established.His efforts to modernize the viceroyalty were of great importance. He stimulated the economy, industry and the arts, and greatly assisted the Royal Botanical Expedition of 1783, under José Celestino Mutis
José Celestino Mutis
-External links:*** at The Catholic Encyclopedia official site...
. In 1782 and 1783 he had to deal with an epidemic of smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
. In 1783 the interim character of his appointment was removed, and he became viceroy in his own right. In October 1784 he went to Cartagena to settle the Indian population in towns, and to suppress an Indigenous rebellion in Darién
Darien
Darien is a masculine name; variants include Darian and Darion. Darien may refer to:-Panama:*Darién Gap, border area between Panama and Colombia*Darién National Park*Darién Province*Gulf of Darién*Santa María la Antigua del Darién, town founded in 1510...
and promote colonization there. The latter project was not successful. He founded new missions in Casanare
Casanare
* Casanare Department a subdivision of the country of Colombia* Los Llanos del Casanare a province of the Viceroyalty of New Granada* Casanare River a tributary of the Meta River in Colombia* Casanare, Colombia a city in Colombia on the Casanare River...
and San Martín
San Martín
-People:*José de San Martín, national hero of Argentina, an 18th-century general and the main leader of the southern part of South America's struggle for independence from Spain...
.
In 1787 he asked to be relieved of his positions, and the king granted his request the following year. In 1788 he was appointed bishop of Córdoba. He sailed for Spain in April 1789. In Córdoba, he founded the School of Fine Arts and donated his art collection to the city. He died there in 1796.
The genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Gongora
Gongora
Gongora, abbreviated Gga in horticultural trade, is a member of the Orchid family . It consists of 65 species known from Central America, Trinidad, and tropical South America, with most species found in Colombia...
, a type of orchid, is named after him.