Fernando de Villanueva

Fernando de Villanueva y Armendaris (died May 17, 1679) was a Spanish soldier, judge and politician who served as governor of Spanish New Mexico between 1665 and 1668.

Biography

Military Service

Fernando Villanueva y Armendaris was born in the early 17th century in San Sebastián, Quetzaltenango. He was the son of Fernando de Villanueva y Armendaris and Clara de Irigoyen. In 1630 he was enlisted in the Spanish Royal Armada of Ocean Sea. In the army, he was earning a bonus of two gold escudos. In 1634, he was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant in the army of Catalonia. He was a participant in the defence of Leocata in Catalonia against the besieging French. In April 1637, he joined the Spanish Royal Armada of the Indies, with whom he fought in the suppression of the Algarve.

He later served as a soldier in the presidio on the Caribbean island of St. Martin, rising to the rank of lieutenant and later sergeant major. On several occasions when traveling to Puerto Rico to collect supplies, Villanueva had to engage hostile forces. On another occasion, he fought against the British on the island of Anguilla and carried off two cannon.

On several occasions, Villanueva performed reconnaissance of the islands surrounding San Martin. Once, he found an enemy ship hiding in a cove in San Martin. The Governor sent him with fifteen soldiers to attack the ship. He successfully captured it, and the ship and its armaments were sold in Puerto Rico, the proceeds going to the Spanish Crown.^[1]

Early Political Career

Later, he left Saint Martin and traveled to Nueva Vizcaya (the current Chihuahua and Durango, Mexico). He was granted the titles of justicia mayor and capitán a guerra ("chief judge" and "war captain") in the Guanaceví mines and San Pedro, on the lands of the Tepehuán people. Villanueva kept peace with the Tepehuán Amerindians so he could increase the royal fifth, a tax related to mine production. When a revolt later broke out, Villanueva participated in an effort to quell the rebellion resulting in charges being filed against him. He was, though, considered a competent judge. After leaving the province, Villanueva joined the Barlovento Armada, with the goal of protecting new Spanish possessions.

The return of the Barlovento Armada to Spain allowed Villanueva to travel to Catalonia in 1644 to fight in the Thirty Years War. On March 22, 1646, he returned to the Barlovento Armada. After he arrived in Veracruz, Villanueva became ill and obtained permission from the commanding general to remain there.

On September 14, 1647, Villanueva was appointed as Mayor and War Captain in the Autlán provinces, and the ports of Christmas and the Cape. On May 14, 1651, the king rewarded his services when he recommended him to the viceroy of New Spain, the Conde de Alba de Aliste. Also, on August 25, 1653, Villanueva earned the title of captain of the presidio´s soldiers of the towns and the provinces of San Sebastian, Chiametla and Acaponeta in Nueva Vizcaya.

Later, on November 21, 1654, Villanueva traveled to Chametla and Acaponeta with a troop of soldiers from the presidio to end the war that had developed among the Amerindians of those places. Over the next two years, Villanueva inspected the villages under his jurisdiction because Jesuit priests had warned of an Amerindian rebellion.

On September 12, 1659, Villanueva was assigned as judge protector of the (Guachichiles and Tlaxcala) peoples settled in Saltillo. From November 15, 1659, he fought against the large numbers of Amerindian rebels from border areas who wanted to invade the Guachichiles territory, being responsible for securing Saltillo's royal warehouses. Villanueva sent five companies of Spanish troops and Amerindians (which he paid with his own money) to find and punish the people who started the riots. They captured only some native children, who were subsequently returned on condition that they would no longer rebel. To maintain the peace, he distributed clothes and school supplies to forty-five captives. Villanueva he left office on December 1, 1661.^[1]

Governorship of New Mexico

On January 14, 1665, as a direct result of his service as a judge protector of Guachichiles, he was appointed governor and captain general of New Mexico, replacing Juan Durán de Miranda, assuming the post of governor on March 10, 1665.^[1]

During his period in office, The Apache increased their raids against the Spaniards and the Puebloans. These raids affected especially the Piro Pueblos of the Salinas Basin, causing some to rebel. As a result, Villanueva hanged six Piros and sold others as slaves. The governor of Salinas Pueblo, the Amerindian Esteban Clemente, plotted a revolt against the Spanish throughout New Mexico on Holy Thursday. The Spanish authorities, though, discovered the plan and hanged governor Clemente.^[2]

The Puebloans also planned a revolt in an alliance the Apache, with the aim of killing the governor and the priests, and enslaving the Christianized Amerindians. The puebloans and Apaches killed five soldiers and six Christian Amerindians in the mountains of Magdalena, while another half dozen people were poisoned. After putting down the revolt, Villanueva imprisoned the conspirator chiefs and punished the people of Senecú lands and Socorro for causing the murders, and for using witchcraft and poison. Villanueva then issued a general pardon to all members of the rebellion. In addition, after returning to Santa Fe de Nueva Mexico, he visited the villages in his jurisdiction in order to leave the province in peace. He ended his government on November 29, 1668.

Because of his actions to prevent the rebellions of Amerindians, Santa Fe council suggested that he be granted the honorary title of "Restorer of the Kingdom".^[1]

Later years and Death

Later, Villanueva was elected mayor of Huauchinango, a region that stretched from the northern and northeastern Veracruz, in the present state of Pueblo. He held that position until 1678, recording tax payments of the indigenous population of Zapotitlán.

Villanueva died in Mexico City on May 17, 1679.^[1]

References