Luis Fernández de Córdoba y Arce was a Spanish sailor and military man who was Governor of Chile between May 1625 and December 1629.

A Spanish noble gentleman of El Carpio

El Carpio

El Carpio is a city located in the province of Córdoba, Spain. According to the 2006 census , the city has a population of 4,477 inhabitants.-External links:* - Sistema de Información Multiterritorial de Andalucía...

, in the Province of Cordova and member of an influential family, Luis Fernandez de Cordoba y Arce made his military career in the navy becoming a general of the Navy of the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

. After that he was given a post, by his uncle the Viceroy of Peru, Diego Fernández de Córdoba, Marquis of Guadalcázar

Diego Fernández de Córdoba, Marquis of Guadalcázar

Diego Fernández de Córdoba y López de las Roelas, Marquis of Guadalcázar and Count of Posadas , was Viceroy of Mexico from October 18, 1612 to March 14, 1621 and Viceroy of Peru from July 25, 1622 to January 14, 1629.-Early life:He was born in Seville.In 1598, aged 20, he was in Central Europe,...

. He was made general of the plaza

Plaza

Plaza is a Spanish word related to "field" which describes an open urban public space, such as a city square. All through Spanish America, the plaza mayor of each center of administration held three closely related institutions: the cathedral, the cabildo or administrative center, which might be...

 and presidio

Presidio

A presidio is a fortified base established by the Spanish in North America between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries. The fortresses were built to protect against pirates, hostile native Americans and enemy colonists. Other presidios were held by Spain in the sixteenth and seventeenth...

 of El Collo

Callao

Callao is the largest and most important port in Peru. The city is coterminous with the Constitutional Province of Callao, the only province of the Callao Region. Callao is located west of Lima, the country's capital, and is part of the Lima Metropolitan Area, a large metropolis that holds almost...

, one of the major naval bases in the Spanish Pacific

Pacific Ocean

The 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...

 at the time.

When the Marquess of Guadalcázar, heard of the death of the Governor of Chile, Pedro Osores de Ulloa

Pedro Osores de Ulloa

Pedro Osores de Ulloa was Royal Governor of the Kingdom of Chile from November 1621 to September 1624. He replaced Cristóbal de la Cerda y Sotomayor. On his death bed Osores appointed his brother-in-law Francisco de Álava y Nureña as temporary governor of the Kingdom of Chile on September 1624...

, he decided to replace the temporary governor, Francisco de Alava and Nureña. Nureña was the brother-in-law of the deceased Osores, designated by Osores during his final hours. In order to replace him the viceroy designated as temporary Governor his own nephew Luis Fernández de Córdoba y Arce, hoping that he would have occasion to display his military skills in the War of Arauco. He was later confirmed in the position by king Philip III of Spain

Philip III of Spain

Philip III , also known as Philip the Pious, was the King of Spain and King of Portugal and the Algarves, where he ruled as Philip II , from 1598 until his death...

.

From his arrival in Chile

Chile

Chile ,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...

, the governor was immediately in the most urgent situation with the Mapuche

Mapuche

The Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended...

 toqui

Toqui

Toqui is a title conferred by the Mapuche to those who are chosen as their leaders during times of war. The toqui is chosen in an assembly or parliament of the chieftains of the various clans or confederation of clans , allied during the war in question...

 Butapichún making frequent incursions into Spanish territory north of the Bio-Bio River

Bío-Bío River

The Biobío River is the second largest river in Chile. It originates from Icalma and Galletué lakes in the Andes and flows 380 km to the Gulf of Arauco on the Pacific Ocean....

. In order to contain him, the new governor divided the border into two districts; one under the command of its Maestro de Campo

Maestro de Campo

Maestro de Campo was a rank created in 1534 by the Emperor Carlos V, inferior in rank only to the Capitán General and acted as a chief of staff. He was chosen by the monarch in the Council of State, and commanded a tercio. Their powers were similar to those of the old Marshals of the Kingdom of...

 Alonso de Cordova y Figueroa

Alonso de Cordova y Figueroa

Alonso de Cordova y Figueroa Spanish soldier born in Concepción, Chile, son of Alonso de Figueroa y Córdoba and father of the historian Pedro de Cordova y Figueroa...

, and the other run by his Sargento Mayor

Sargento Mayor

Sargento Mayor was a rank immediately below that of Maestro de Campo in the Spanish tercios of the 16th and 17th centuries. Initially second in rank to a Coronel in a Colunella, the Sargento Mayor became second in rank to the Maestre de Campo after the creation of the tercios in 1534...

 Juan Fernandez Rebolledo. To each of these commanders he gave a well equipped force, so that as a mobile force it could be used in pursuing Butapichún. Despite these measures and some lucky blows against the natives, the Malón

Malón

Malón or maloca was a military raiding tactic of the Mapuche peoples from the 17th to the 19th centuries.The "maloca" among the Mapuche is described as a means of obtaining justice, by Juan Ignacio Molina:...

es of Butapichún continued. He suffered some defeats with the worst being the Battle of Las Cangrejeras.

He also suggested to the king, without success, the transfer of the Real Audiencia of Chile

Real Audiencia of Chile

Royal Audience of Santiago :-Structure:Law XII of Title XV of Book II of the Recopilación de Leyes de las Indias of 1680—which reproduces Philip IV's decree of February 17, 1609—describes the limits and functions of the Audiencia.In the city of Santiago de Chile shall...

 from Santiago

Santiago, Chile

Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...

 to Concepcion

Concepción, Chile

Concepción is a city in Chile, capital of Concepción Province and of the Biobío Region or Region VIII. Greater Concepción is the second-largest conurbation in the country, with 889,725 inhabitants...

.

Sources