Andrés Rodríguez de Villegas

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Andrés Rodríguez de Villegas
Nicolás Ponce de León
Personal details
Born1580
Saint Augustine, Florida

Andrés Rodríguez de Villegas (1580–1631) was a Spanish soldier who served as governor and

Isla Margarita, Venezuela (1619–1626) and as governor of Spanish Florida
(1630–1631).

Biography

Early years

Andrés Rodríguez de Villegas was born in 1580, in San Juan, Puerto Rico;[1][2] he was the son of Antonio Rodríguez de Villegas, a hidalgo, oidor and licentiate (holder of an advanced university degree).[3]

In 1604, Villegas joined the infantry of the

captain (Capitán de navío), rising to the rank of "Admiral" (Almirante) of the South Sea (Pacific Ocean).[4][5]

In 1607, Rodríguez's oldest brother, Antonio Rodríguez de Villegas, was appointed commissioner by the

Juan de Mendoza y Luna, to ascertain the cause of the death of the captain general of the Philippines, Pedro Bravo de Acuña, in exchange for the office of interim governor.[3]

Political career

Governor of the province of Margarita

Fortress of Araya

Villegas was appointed governor of

Isla de Margarita, Venezuela, and arrived there on June 6, 1619.[6] Taking office on August 1,[5] he wrote immediately to King Philip III to inform him of the neglected defenses of Araya and the pressing need to improve them, as Dutch interlopers were extracting large amounts of salt from the nearby salt pans.[7]

The Dutch attacked the Araya Peninsula twice in 1620, but were repulsed by Spanish forces, as had happened previously in November 1605.[8][9] On January 15, 1622, a number of Dutch boats came to Araya to load cargoes of salt, followed by a fleet of 27 Dutch ships which set about building two forts and saltworks, an event which coincided with a decree by Madrid to construct fortifications to defend the salt pans.[10][11][12] On 22 February Villegas decided to immediately leave Pampatar with reinforcements of 20 soldiers and 12 Waikerí bowmen under his command to engage the Dutch troops at Santiago. The soldiers refused to join him, however, when he launched his attack, and seeing the main Dutch party land to the eastward, he abandoned the attempt; his troops were able, however, to prevent the Dutch from landing at the harbor of Pueblo de la Mar, with several Dutch soldiers being killed.[13] By a royal decree of March 13, 1622, construction of the fortress at Araya was to proceed.

On 30 November 1622, a fleet of 43 Dutch ships attacked Araya to halt construction of the Spanish fortress and seize the peninsula. After two months of fighting, the invasion fleet was expelled by Spanish forces on January 13, 1623.[10]

Plan of the castle of Araya, c. 1636

On April 24, 1623, Villegas met with the governor of

Crown, but the one submitted by Roda prevailed. On May 15, Rodríguez sent a letter with the plan for the project. By January 1625 he had built the first bastion of the Real Fortaleza de Santiago de Arroyo de Araya (Royal Fortress of Santiago of Arroyo of Araya), but on February 6 he wrote the king that the structure had collapsed because its foundations were too close to the beach, exposing them to undermining by ocean waves.[15]

Villegas relinquished command of Margarita Island to Garcia Álvarez de Figueroa, on June 1, 1625.[15] According to the Royal Court, he was a just governor and zealous in administrative affairs.[15]

Governor of La Florida and last years

On June 23, 1630, Andrés Rodríguez de Villegas was appointed governor of

Eugenio Espinosa. They governed provisionally until they were replaced by Luis de Horruytiner, who governed from July 29, 1633 to 1638.[17]

Andrés Rodríguez de Villegas died in office as governor of La Florida

St. Augustine
, capital of Spanish Florida, of unknown causes.

References

  1. ^ Alejandro Tapia y Rivera (1854). Biblioteca historica de Puerto-Rico: que contiene varios documentos de los siglos XV, XVI, XVII y XVIII. Marquez. p. 478.
  2. ^ Figueroa, Loida; "Breve historia de Puerto Rico" (in English: Brief History of Puerto Rico). Vol. 1, Editorial Edil, 1976. Page 108.
  3. ^
    ISSN 1132-8312
    . Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  4. ^ Boletín de la Academia Nacional de la Historia. Academia Nacional de la Historia–Colombia. 1968. p. 489.
  5. ^
    ISBN 978-980-222-217-9
    .
  6. ^ Isla, sol y leyenda. Editorial Arte. 1966. p. 107.
  7. ^ Ossott, Willy. 1969. "Castillos coloniales Araya - La Asunción - Pampatar Venezuela". Publicaciones de la Junta de Fomento Turístico de la Corporación Venezolana de Fomento. Caracas-Venezuela. Page 166.
  8. ^ British Library. Department of Manuscripts (1907). Catalogue of Additions to the Manuscripts in the British Museum. British Library. p. 21.
  9. ^ Centro de Estudios y Experimentación de Obras Públicas de España. "Puertos y fortificaciones en América y Filipinas. Actas del seminario, 1984" (in English: Center for Studies and Experimentation of Public Works of Spain in "Ports and Fortifications in America and the Philippines. Proceedings of the Seminar). Editorial C.E.E.O.P, 364 pages, 1985. Page p. 353.
  10. ^ a b Herrero Sánchez, Manuel; "La explotación de las salinas de punta Araya. Un factor conflictivo en el proceso de acercamiento hispano-neerlandés, 1648-1677" (in English: The Exploitation of the Saltpans of the Araya Peninsula. A Conflicting Factor in the Hispanic-Dutch Approach, 1648-1677). Number 14, Editorial Complutense de Madrid, 1993. Pages 173-194.
  11. ISBN 978-980-388-358-4
    .
  12. ^
    ISBN 978-84-936789-6-8
    .
  13. ^ http://zeerovery.nl/history/margrita.htm The Attack on the Island Margarita
  14. ISBN 978-1-59884-100-8
    .
  15. ^ a b c Morón, Guillermo; en "Historia de Venezuela. La estructura provincial" (in English: Venezuela's history. The provincial structure). Editorial Italgráfica, año 1971. Page 34.
  16. ^ John E. Worth (2017). "The Governors of Colonial Florida, 1565-1821". uwf.edu. Archived from the original on September 17, 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  17. ^
    ISBN 978-0-8203-1712-0
    .

External links
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