Manuel Antonio Flores
Encyclopedia
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
, 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 20, 1799, Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
) was a general in the Spanish navy
Spanish Navy
The Spanish Navy is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces, one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Armada is responsible for notable achievements in world history such as the discovery of Americas, the first world circumnavigation, and the discovery of a maritime path...
and viceroy of New Granada
Viceroyalty 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...
(1776 - November 26, 1781) and New Spain
New Spain
New Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...
(August 17, 1787 to October 16, 1789).
Early career
Flores entered the royal navy of Spain, where he commanded various ships of war fighting pirates, in both the Mediterranean and in Spanish possessions in America. He distinguished himself for his valor as well as his knowledge, and was made a knight of the military Order of Calatrava. He became commandant of the Naval Department at el FerrolFerrol, A Coruña
Ferrol , sometimes in Spanish El Ferrol, is a city in the province of A Coruña in Galicia, located on the Atlantic coast in north-western Spain...
, a major naval base, shipbuilding center and arsenal in northwestern Spain. He served in that position for four years (1771-75).
Flores was named viceroy of New Granada, and sailed to take up the position on December 3, 1775. He served in this capacity for 11 years and 5 months. He was well liked in New Grenada. He resigned in 1787, citing ill health. However, his resignation was apparently motivated by dissatisfacton of José de Gálvez
José de Gálvez
José de Gálvez y Gallardo, marqués de Sonora was a Spanish lawyer, a colonial official in New Spain and ultimately Minister of the Indies . He was one of the prime figures behind the Bourbon Reforms...
, Minister of the Indies, and Archbishop Antonio Caballero y Góngora
Antonio Caballero y Góngora
Antonio Caballero y Góngora was a Spanish Roman Catholic prelate and, from 1782 to 1789, viceroy of New Granada....
of Bogotá.
As Viceroy of New Spain
In 1787 he was named viceroy of New Spain and president of the Audiencia of Mexico. He arrived in VeracruzVeracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...
on July 18, 1787 and took possession of his new offices in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
on August 17.
In office, he raised three new battalions of volunteers, those of Mexico, Nueva España, and Puebla. He refused to share his authority with Francisco Mangino, who had been named superintendent of New Spain (1787). He sent 50,000 pesos annually to New York, on orders of the Crown, for businesses there.
He intervened in a dispute between missionaries and the military governor of California. He arranged that the sons of the largest landowners of the colony be given high positions in the colonial army. In 1788 he arranged with the Spanish government to bring in 11 German miners from Dresden to teach Mexican miners recent technical advances in metallurgy.
During his administration the Real Estudio Botánico opened. On April 28, 1788, the distinguished Mexican historian and Jesuit Francisco Javier Alegre
Francisco Javier Alegre
Francisco Xavier Alegre was a Jesuit scholar, translator, and historian of New Spain.-Life:Alegre was born in Veracruz, New Spain. He studied philosophy in the Royal College of San Ignacio in Puebla, then canon and civil law in Mexico City and theology in Angelópolis...
died in exile in Bologna. On June 4, 1788, the expedition of Esteban José Martínez sailed from San Blas, Nayarit
San Blas, Nayarit
San Blas is both a municipality and municipal seat located on the Pacific coast of Mexico in the state of Nayarit.-City:San Blas is a port and a popular tourist destination, located about 100 miles north of Puerto Vallarta, and 40 miles west of the state capital Tepic. The town has a population of...
, in the Princesa
La Princesa (1778)
La Princesa was a Spanish frigate or corvette built at the Spanish Navy base at San Blas and launched in 1778. She is sometimes called a frigate and sometimes a corvette...
to explore the North Pacific coast. This expedition sailed as far as the Bering Strait
Bering Strait
The Bering Strait , known to natives as Imakpik, is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia, the easternmost point of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, USA, the westernmost point of the North American continent, with latitude of about 65°40'N,...
. On August 12, 1788, Lorenzo de Zavala
Lorenzo de Zavala
Manuel Lorenzo Justiniano de Zavala y Saenz was a 19th-century Mexican politician. He served as finance minister under President Vicente Guerrero. A colonizer and statesman, he was also the interim Vice President of the Republic of Texas, serving under interim President David G...
was born in Yucatán. He was later vice-president of the independent Republic of Texas
Republic of Texas
The Republic of Texas was an independent nation in North America, bordering the United States and Mexico, that existed from 1836 to 1846.Formed as a break-away republic from Mexico by the Texas Revolution, the state claimed borders that encompassed an area that included all of the present U.S...
.
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...
died on December 14, 1788, after a long reign. The sumptuous obsequies after his death cost the treasury of New Spain a great deal. Viceroy Flores was personally very affected, because Charles III had been his protector.
The Audiencia informed the Crown of Flores's failing health, and he was ordered to step down because of it. He was granted six months' additional pay to cover his expenses on the return to Spain. He returned there on October 16, 1789, where he was awarded the Cross of the Order of Charles III and named honorary captain general of the navy. He died in Madrid on March 20, 1799.