Melchor Bravo de Saravia
Encyclopedia
Soria
Soria is a city in north-central Spain, the capital of the province of Soria in the autonomous community of Castile and León. , the municipality has a population of c. 39,500 inhabitants, nearly 40% of the population of the province...
, 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...
—1577, Soria) was a Spanish 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...
, interim viceroy of Peru
Peru
Peru , 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 Royal Governor of Chile
Royal Governor of Chile
The Royal Governor of Chile ruled over the Spanish colonial administrative district known as the Kingdom of Chile. This district was also called the Captaincy General of Chile, and as a result the Royal Governor also held the title of a Captain General...
.
Early career
He was the son of Juan de Saravia and María Mayor de Vera y Morales. In 1538 he completed his studies at the College of BolognaBologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
. He entered the royal service as oidor (judge) in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
. In 1547 he was named to the Audiencia of Granada. In 1549 he was transferred to America in order to found the Audiencia 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...
. Later he was transferred to Lima
Lima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
, where Pedro de La Gasca
Pedro de la Gasca
Pedro de la Gasca was a Spanish bishop, diplomat and the second viceroy of Peru, from April 10, 1547 to January 27, 1550....
had reinstalled the Audiencia in 1549. As president of the Audiencia in Lima he occupied the position of interim Viceroy of Peru from July 1552 to July 1556.
During this time, the Audiencia had to combat the major rebellion of Francisco Hernández Girón
Francisco Hernández Girón
Francisco Hernández Girón, born in Cáceres, Extremadura, died in Lima on December 7, 1554, was a Spanish conquistador.Hernández Girón arrived in Peru in 1535 with, among others, the future governor Blasco Núñez Vela. In the ensuing struggle for power between the Pizarro brothers and the Almagristas...
. Bravo de Saravia is seen as being one of the major contributors to the eventual defeat and punishment of the rebels, due to his great activity and service during that time.
As governor of Chile
The Audiencia turned over its governance to the new viceroy of Peru, Andrés Hurtado de Mendoza, 3rd Marquis of CañeteAndrés Hurtado de Mendoza, 3rd Marquis of Cañete
Andrés Hurtado de Mendoza y Cabrera, 3rd Marquis of Cañete was a Spanish military officer and, from June 29, 1556 to his death on March 30, 1561, the fifth Viceroy of Peru.-Origins and military career:...
, in 1556. By a royal decree in 1565, King Philip II
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
created the Audiencia of Concepción
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...
in Chile. This was intended primarily as a means of ending the on-going Arauco War
Arauco War
The Arauco War was a conflict between colonial Spaniards and the Mapuche people in what is now the Araucanía and Biobío regions of modern Chile...
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...
s. Besides the usual judicial functions of an audiencia, it was also intended to have governmental functions.
The Audiencia was installed in August 1567, and in September the king named Bravo de Saravia to take over the civil and military government of Chile, with the title of governor. He arrived from Lima in 1568, and served in that position until 1575, when he was replaced by Rodrigo de Quiroga
Rodrigo de Quiroga
Rodrigo de Quiroga López de Ulloa was a Spanish conquistador of Galician origin. He was twice the Royal Governor of Chile.-Early life:...
.
In the conduct of the war, he was not very successful. In January 1569 the Spanish were defeated by the Mapuches at the Battle of Catirai
Battle of Catirai
Battle of Catirai on January 7, 1569 between the Mapuche army of Toqui Llanganabal and the Spanish army led by Martín Ruiz de Gamboa that resulted in a Mapuche victory.-History:...
. In response, Bravo organized the delivery of supplies to the besieged forts and ordered the evacuation of Arauco
Arauco, Chile
Arauco is a city and commune in Chile, located in Arauco Province in the Biobio Region. The meaning of Arauco means Chalky Water in Mapudungun. The region was a Moluche aillarehue...
and Cañete. He asked for military assistance from Spain and also asked to be relieved of his office.
Disaster and renewed war
On February 8, 1570 a strong earthquake destroyed Concepción1570 Concepción earthquake
The 1570 Concepción earthquake occurred at 9:00, on February 8, 1570. The strong earthquake destroyed Concepción, Chile. It was accompanied by a tsunami, and aftershocks were felt for months. No lives were lost, but every house was destroyed...
. It was accompanied by a tsunami
Tsunami
A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
, and aftershocks were felt for months. No lives were lost, but every house was destroyed. Because of a delay between the earthquake and the tsunami, the population was able to escape to higher ground. Nevertheless, they thought the end of the world had arrived.
In the middle of 1570 the reinforcements solicited from Spain arrived in Lima, and in the following spring Bravo reinitiated hostilities with the Indigenous in Chile. Again, defeats followed for the Spanish. Captain Gregorio de Oña was surprised by the Mapuches near the fort of Purén
Purén
Purén is a city and commune in Malleco Province of Araucanía Region, Chile. It is located in the west base of the Nahuelbuta mountain range . The economical activity of Purén is based in forest exploitation and agriculture...
. The governor sent more troops to the south, including his son Ramiro. Again, the Spanish (about 160 of them this time) were taken by surprise near Purén. After this defeat Bravo decided to turn over the military command to Lorenzo Bernal del Mercado
Lorenzo Bernal del Mercado
Lorenzo Bernal del Mercado was a Spanish captain who was one of the more successful soldiers in the Arauco War in Chile rising to the rank of Maestre de Campo and temporary Capitán General of the Captaincy General of Chile....
and retain only his civil functions.
In 1571 the bishopric of La Imperial
La Imperial, Chile
La Imperial or Ciudad Imperial was a city founded by Pedro de Valdivia on April 16, 1552 and named in honor of the Emperor Charles V. It was abandoned on April 5, 1600 and destroyed as a result of the Mapuche Uprising of 1598 during the War of Arauco. The ruins were called Antigua Imperial...
was created. The first bishop was the Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
Antonio de San Miguel, who arrived in Chile after being consecrated in Lima. San Miguel was opposed to the forced labor being extracted from the Indigenous people, the encomienda
Encomienda
The encomienda was a system that was employed mainly by the Spanish crown during the colonization of the Americas to regulate Native American labor....
system, and the Arauco War, on which he blamed all the misfortunes of the colony. His influence was such that in 1572 King Philip II replaced the forced labor of the Indians with a monetary tax.
During this time construction began on the church of San Francisco in 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...
.
Criticism of his government
There was much criticism of Bravo de Saravia, of both his military and civil abilities. In 1567 Bishop San Miguel described Chile as a "lost land" and informed the king that the governor had transferred the encomienda of Francisco de Villagra to his own son, instead of to Villagra's widow, the rightful heir. Juan López de Porres accused Bravo of corruption and of being a friend to base individuals and an enemy of the conquistadors and the nobles. In October 1569 Fray Antonio de Carvajal complained to Philip II that Bravo did not follow the advice of the experienced conquistadors, and led the Spanish troops from defeat to defeat. Citing the advanced age of the governor, Fray Carvajal asked that the position be given to García Hurtado de Mendoza.Overwhelmed by the criticism, Bravo made his defense to the king and accused the Audiencia of intriguing against him. Nevertheless, he asked again to be relieved of his office. This time Philip accepted his resignation, in 1573. Bravo returned to Spain two years later, and died in his native city in 1577. He was interred in the principal church in Soria.