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Institutional Rivalries, Jurisdictional Disputes, and Vested Interests in the Viceroyalty of Peru: José de Antequera and the Rebellion of Paraguay

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

James S. Saeger
James S. Saeger*
Affiliation:
Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
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Extract

The Rebellion of Paraguay (1721–1735) reveals much about imperial administration in eighteenth century Spanish South America. It demonstrates the contradictions built into an imperial structure in which a variety of people and groups with conflicting vested interests tried to influence policy. In the case of Paraguay, this situation contributed directly to rebellion. Although it sprang immediately from local economic grievances, the Rebellion was also caused by a jurisdictional dispute over who should direct the affairs of Paraguay, the audiencia of Charcas or viceroy of Peru. It thus raised the question of whom local inhabitants should obey when their superiors disagreed.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 32 , Issue 1 , July 1975 , pp. 99 - 116
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1975

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References

1 The Rebellion is usually called “The Revolt of Antequera and the comuneros,” but this designation is misleading. It implies that the role of José de Antequera y Castro, governor of Paraguay from 1721–1725, was of paramount importance. Actually it was limited by the orders of his superiors in Chuquisaca and by the demands of his Paraguayan followers. In the second place, to call the Paraguayan dissidents “comuneros” without translation or explanation is to give the movement a title associated with other, different movements in Spain and elsewhere in America and also a modern, proletarian connotation, which is unwarranted.

2 These were grievances harbored by the inhabitants of the civil province of Paraguay against the commercial practices of the adjacent mission province of Paraguay. They included the Jesuits’ monopoly over the labor of the approximately 100,000 Guaraní Indian residents of the missions; their privileged position in the commerce of the Plata area and with Europe; their acquisition of lands coveted by Paraguayans; and their refusal to share their successful enterprises; Archivo General de Indias, Seville, Spain, Audiencia de Charcas (hereafter AGI, Charcas), Legajo 323. Auto del cabildo, Asunción, August 7, 1724; “Copia del informe que hizó el general D. Mathías de Anglés y Gortari … sobre los puntos, que han sido la causa de las discordias sucedidas en la Ciudad de la Asunción … y motivaron la persecución de D. Josef de Antequera de parte de los Regulares de la Compañía,” pieza IV of Colección general de documentos que contiene los sucesos tocantes á la segunda época de los conmociones de los Regulares de la Compañía en el Paraguay y señaladamente la persecución que hicieron a don Josef de Antequera y Castro (hereafter Anglés y Gortari, “Informe”), (Madrid, 1769), passim.

3 Zinny, Antonio, Historia de los gobernantes del Paraguay, 1535–1887 (Buenos Aires, 1887), pp. 95–104 Google Scholar; Lozano, Pedro, Historia de las revoluciones del Paraguay (Buenos Aires, 1905), Vol. I, pp. 7–16 Google Scholar; Charlevoix, Pierre, The History of Paraguay (London, 1767), Vol. II, pp. 134–137 Google Scholar; Astraín, Antonío, Historia de la Compañía de Jesús en la asistencia de España (Madrid, 1925), Vol. VII, pp. 479–565 Google Scholar; Warren, Harris Gaylord, Paraguay: An Informal History (Norman, Okla., 1949), pp. 81–100 Google Scholar; Zubizarreta, Carlos, Historia de mi ciudad (Asunción, 1964), pp. 154–160.Google Scholar

4 See Parry, J. H., The Sale of Public Office in the Spanish Indies under the Hapsburgs (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1953), passimGoogle Scholar; Angles y Gortari, “Informe,” pp. 19–20, 23; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 205. Real Cédula de Merced de Gobernador del Paraguay; Madrid, June 3,1711.

5 The encomienda survived and encomenderos were powerful in eighteenth century Paraguay. Efforts to abolish the system began with Governor Pinedo in the 1770’s; Archivo Nacional de Asunción, Asunción, Paraguay, (hereafter ANA), Sección Historia, Vol. 142, No. 4. Carta de Agustín Fernando Pinedo a S.M., Asunción, January 29, 1777.

6 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 321. Auto de Joseph Delgado, Asunción, September 15, 1719; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 205. Juan de Mena informa a S.M., Asunción, October 12, 1720; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 321. Mandato del gobernador, Asunción, May 19, 1720.

7 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 321. Mandamiento de prisión de Joseph de Avalos y Mendoza por el gobernador, Asunción, February 13, 1719; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 321. Auto del gobernador, Asunción, September 14, 1719; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 321. Diego de los Reyes y Balmaseda da cuenta a S.M., Asuncion, November 29, 1720; “Memoria adjustado de D. Joseph de Antequera,” Pieza I of Colección general de documentos, pp. 1–3.

8 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 321. Carta de Ignacia del Valle a la Audiencia de la Plata, Asunción, October 9, 1719; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 321. Carta de Joseph García Miranda a la Audiencia de la Plata; Asunción, May 29, 1720; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 205. Carta de Domingo de Irasusta a la Audiencia de la Plata, Asunción, September 30, 1720; “Memorial ajustado,” pp. 9–15.

9 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 321. Carta de Joseph García Miranda a la Audiencia de la Plata, Asunción, May 29, 1720; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 206. Decreto de la Audiencia de la Plata, Plata, January 23, 1720; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 321. Respuesta del fiscal protector, Plata, January 16, 1720; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 321. Diego de los Reyes da cuenta a S.M., Asunción, November 29,1720; “Memorial ajustado,” pp. 3–7.

10 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 205. Carta de Domingo de Irasusta a S.M., Asunción, September 30,1720; Quevedo, Roberto, Antequera: historia de un silencio (Asunción, 1970), pp. 41–42.Google Scholar

11 At this time the presidente of the Audiencia was Gabriel Antonio Matienzo and the oidores included Gregorio Nuñez de Rojas, Juan Bravo del Rivero, Francisco Sagardia y Palencia, and Baltasar de Lerma y Salamanca.

12 This was only a legal technicality to replace Reyes. That he had a Paraguayan wife was no secret in Spain. The royal cédulas and consultas of the Council of the Indies concerning Reyes’ appointment indicate that this was of no concern to king and council.

13 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 206. La Audiencia de la Plata informa a S.M., Plata, December 7, 1725. Later the audiencia shifted its position. It claimed that Reyes’ removal was for other, valid charges more serious than his marital status. Reyes was a bad governor, and the other allegations against him were in fact more serious. But the mechanism which caused his removal was the combination of his marriage and office holding.

14 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 321. Auto de la Audiencia de la Plata, Plata, November 5, 1720; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Provisión de la Audiencia de la Plata, Plata, November 18, 1720; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Auto de la Audiencia de la Plata, Plata, November 20, 1720.

15 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 324. Provisión de la Audiencia de la Plata, Plata, January 15, 1721; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 321. Respuesta fiscal, Plata, November 14, 1721; ANA, Actas del Cabildo de la Asunción, No. 16, pp. 361–62. Título de gobernador del Paraguay, Lima, Aprii 24,1721.

16 Astraín, Historia de la Compañía de Jesús, VII, p. 510; “Memorial ajustado,” pp. 35–174.

17 Lending money to governors was one of the Company’s principal means of strengthening alliances; Magnus Mörner, Political and Economic Activities of the Jesuits in the La Plata Region: The Hapsburg Era (Stockholm, 1953), p. 208.

18 C. R. Boxer, Salvador de Sa and the Struggle for Brazil and Angola, 1602–1686 (London, 1952), pp. 70 71.

19 Lozano, Revoluciones, I, pp. 12–16; “Carta Segunda, Política y Legal Satisfaccion del Señor Doctor D. Joseph de Antequera y Castro, a la Carta-Respuesta del Ilustrisimo Señor Maestro Don Fray Joseph de Palos, Obispo Taliense y Coadjutor de Paraguay” (hereafter Antequera, “Satisfacción”), Lima, January 30, 1728, Pieza III of Colección general de documentos, pp. 245–250; Angles y Gortari, “Informe,” p. 6.

20 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Carta del obispo de Buenos Aires al virrey, Buenos Aires, July 28, 1722; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Carta de Juan de Mena a S.M., Carcel de Corte de Lima, January 10, 1728; Lozano, Revoluciones, I, pp. 32–37.

21 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Carta del obispo de Buenos Aires al virrey, Buenos Aires, July 28, 1722; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Despacho del virrey a la Audiencia de la Plata, Lima, October 13, 1721; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Despacho del virrey a la Audiencia de la Plata, Lima, March 3, 1722.

22 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Carta de Carlos de los Reyes al gobernador de Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, December 18, 1723; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Carta de la Audiencia de la Plata al virrey, Plata, October 11, 1723; ‘Memorial ajustado,” p. 175.

23 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Decreto del virrey, Lima, October 9, 1721; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Decreto del virrey, Lima, February 26, 1722.

24 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Carta de la Audiencia de la Plata al virrey, Plata, October 11, 1723; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Carta de Carlos de los Reyes al gobernador de Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, December 18, 1723; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Petición de Carlos de los Reyes al gobernader de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, November 17, 1723.

25 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Carta del cabildo al virrey, Asunción, November 29, 1722; “Memorial ajustado,” pp. 175–189.

26 Lozano, Revoluciones, I, pp. 36–38.

27 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 324. Declaración de Pedro del Casal, Buenos Aires, December 11, 1724; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Carta de Esteban Urizar al virrey, Salta, October 4, 1723; “Memorial ajustado,” p. 190; Angles y Gortari, “Informe,” pp. 41–44.

28 Morcillo, of course, appointed Antequera governor in April, 1721, before Carlos de los Reyes arrived to plead his father’s case; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 324. Relación del Marqués de Casa Concha al virrey, Lima, February 5, 1729; Quevedo, Antequera, pp. 42–43; Astraín, Historia de la Compañía de Jesús, VII, pp. 511–14. Antequera frequently cited this appointment but apparently placed little value on it. He felt his strongest claim rested on the confidence of the members of the audiencia.

29 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 325. Carta de la Audiencia de la Plata al virrey, Plata, October 11, 1723; Lozano, Revoluciones, I, pp. 47–50.

30 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 324. Carta de Diego de los Reyes al Padre Policarpo Dufo, Itapúa, October 17, 1722; Lozano, Revoluciones, I, pp. 47–52; Antequera, “Satisfacción,” p. 69; “Memorial ajustado,” pp. 175–77.

31 See Biblioteca Nacional, Madrid, Spain (Ms/1863460). Relación … sobre la muerte que se dio a Dn. Joseph de Antequera y Dn. Juan de Mena, Lima, 1731.

32 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 324. Carta del P. Luís de la Roca a Baltasar García Ros, Santos Apóstoles, January 4, 1724; “Memorial ajustado,” pp. 176–79; Angles y Gortari, “Informe,” p. 60; Lozano, Revoluciones, I, pp. 59–60.

33 Richard M. Morse, “The Heritage of Latin America,” in Louis Hartz, The Founding of New Societies (New York, 1964), p. 157.

34 Lynch, John, Spanish Colonial Administration, 1782–1810. The Intendant System in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata (London, 1958), pp. 237–242 Google Scholar; Lorente, Sebastián, Historia del Perú bajo los Borbones, 1700–1821 (Lima, 1871), pp. 34–42 Google Scholar; Ugarte, Rubén Vargas, Historia del Perú; virreinato (siglo XVIII), 1700–1790 (Lima, 1956), pp. 67–122 Google Scholar; de Mendiburu, Manuel, Diccionario histórico-biográfico del Perú, VIII (Lima, 1934), pp. 16–28 Google Scholar: Haring, Clarence H., The Spanish Empire in America (New York, 1947), pp. 89–101.Google Scholar

35 Ibid., [Lionel] Cecil Jane, Liberty and Despotism in Spanish America (Oxford, 1929), p. 59.

36 “Memorial ajustado,” pp. 179–205.

37 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Despacho del virrey a la Audiencia de la Plata, Lima, October 13, 1721.

38 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Carta de la Audiencia de la Plata al virrey, Plata, December 19, 1721.

39 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Decreto del virrey, Lima, February 27, 1722. The hypocrisy of Morcillo’s argument should have been funny, but nobody was laughing. Antequera, of course, was the logical successor. He was qualified and was also the viceroy’s original choice; Quevedo, Antequera, pp. 31–43.

40 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Carta de la Audiencia al virrey, Plata, May 13, 1722; “Memorial ajustado,” pp. 179–183.

41 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Carta del virrey a la Audiencia de la Plata, Lima, July 9, 1722.

42 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Decreto del virrey, Lima, February 22, 1723.

43 Ibid.

44 Ibid.

45 Ibid.

46 i.e., 1) That the charges against Reyes were proved; 2) that he had already completed his five-year term; and 3) that the viceroy had already appointed his successor, who was presently serving.

47 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Provisión de la Audiencia de la Plata, Plata, March 13, 1723; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Auto de la Audiencia de la Plata, Plata, March 22, 1723.

48 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Carta de la Audiencia de la Plata al virrey, Plata, March 13, 1723.

49 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Decreto del virrey, Lima, May 10,1723.

50 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 324. Carta del virrey a la Audiencia de la Plata, Lima, May 26, 1723; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Decreto del virrey, Lima, June 7, 1723; Zinny, Gobernantes del Paraguay, pp. 99–100.

51 Lozano, Revoluciones, I, pp. 91–93; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Declaración de Julián Guerrero, Corrientes, September 5, 1724; ANA, Actas del Cabildo, No. 17 II. Petición de Miguel Garay al cabildo, Asunción, July 31, 1723; “Memorial ajustado,” pp. 190–191.

52 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Testimonio de Joseph de Picolomini, Corrientes, August 22, 1723; “Memorial ajustado,” p. 192.

53 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Instrucción de lo que ha de observar Baltasar García Ros, Buenos Aires, October 16, 1723; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Auto de Baltasar García Ros, Corrientes, September 1, 1724; Zinny, Gobernantes del Paraguay, pp. 99–100.

54 ANA, Actas del Cabildo, No. 17 II. Auto del cabildo, Asunción, December 11, 1723; Antequera, “Satisfacción,” pp. 176–178; Anglés y Gortari, “Informe,” pp. 41–42; Lozano, Revoluciones, I, pp. 106–114; ANA, Actas del Cabildo, No. 17 II. Auto público y cabildo abierto, Asunción, December 13, 1723.

55 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Auto de Baltasar García Ros, Corrientes, September 1, 1724; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 324. Carta de Matías de Silva a Baltasar García Ros, Asunción, December 25, 1723; ANA, Actas del Cabildo, No. 17 II. Auto del cabildo, Asunción, January 7, 1724; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Memorial de Juan de Mena, Lima, 1727; Lozano, Revoluciones, I, pp. 114–117.

56 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Carta de Esteban Urizar al virrey, Salta, October 4, 1723; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Decreto del virrey, Lima, January 11, 1724; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Carta de Bruno de Zavala a Pablo Benítez, Buenos Aires, April 12, 1724; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Declaración de Baltasar García Ros, Corrientes, September 2, 1724.

57 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Auto del cabildo, Asunción, August 7, 1724; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 324. Carta de Miguel Garay, Ramón de las Llanas, Juan de Mena, Joseph de Urrunaga, Juan de Orrego y Antonio Ruiz de Arellano a la Audiencia de la Plata, Asunción, November 13,1724; Lozano, Revoluciones, I, pp. 148–165.

58 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Carta de Pablo Restivo a Tomás de Rosa, escrita desde el camino que va del Paraguay, August 28, 1724; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. Declaración de Baltasar García Ros, Corrientes, September 2, 1724; Lozano, Revoluciones, I, pp. 165–169, 191.

59 Lorente, Historia del Perú bajo los Borbones, pp. 34–42, John Preston Moore, The Cabildo in Peru under the Bourbons (Durham, N.C., 1966), pp. 79–81; José de Armendáriz, Marqués de Castelfuerte, “Relación del estado de los reynos del Peru,” Vol. III of Manuel Fuentes, ed., Memorias de los virreyes que han gobernado el Perú durante el tiempo del coloniaje español (Lima, 1859), passim.

60 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 217. Acuerdo del virrey y la Audiencia de los Reyes, Lima, July 6, 1724; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 324. Carta del virrey a la Audiencia de la Plata, Lima, July 14, 1724; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 324. Despacho del virrey a Bruno de Zavala, Lima, July 18, 1724; AGI, Charcas, Legajo 324. Carta de Bruno de Zavala al cabildo de la Asunción, Buenos Aires, October 23, 1724.

61 AGI, Charcas Legajo 217. Carta del virrey a S.M., Lima, November 1, 1724; ANA, Actas del Cabildo, No. 17 II, Auto del cabildo, May 19, 1725; Zubizarreta, Historia de mi ciudad, pp. 171–172,177.

62 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 324. Provisión de la Audiencia de la Plata, Plata, February 26, 1725; Lozano, Revoluciones, I, pp. 355–357; Armendáriz, “Relación,” p. 304; Vargas Ugarte, Historia del Perú; virreinato (siglo XVIII), p. 135.

63 Antequera, “Satisfacción,” pp. 243–245.

64 AGI, Charcas, Legajo 323. La Audiencia de la Plata informa a S.M., Plata, September 28,1724.

65 In 1730 Paraguay again revolted, and Castelfuerte had Antequera executed in Lima in July, 1731. Paraguayans expelled the Jesuits from Asunción in 1732. Finally Bruno de Zavala pacified the province in 1735; ANA, Actas del Cabildo, No. 18. Auto del cabildo, December 28, 1730; Lozano, Revoluciones, II, passim. The Jesuits were “peremptorily expelled from the Indies in 1767 in by far the most extreme measure taken against the orders.” John J. TePaske, “The Collapse of the Spanish Empire,” Lex et Scientia; The International Journal of Law and Science, X (January-June, 1974), 41.