Governorate of Terra Australis Gobernación de la Terra Australis | |||||||||||||||
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| 1539–1555 | |||||||||||||||
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![Map of the Spanish Governorate of Terra Australis (1539-1555),[1] later it was incorporated into the Governorate of Chile[2][3][4][5]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aGovernorate_of_Terra_Australis_(1539-1555)%2c_Spain.svg) | |||||||||||||||
| Status | Governorate of theCrown of Castile | ||||||||||||||
| Official languages | Spanish | ||||||||||||||
| Religion | Catholicism | ||||||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||||
| Governor | |||||||||||||||
• 1539-1540 | Pedro Sancho de la Hoz | ||||||||||||||
• 1540-1553 | Pedro de Valdivia | ||||||||||||||
• 1554-1555 | Jerónimo de Alderete | ||||||||||||||
| Historical era | Spanish Empire | ||||||||||||||
• Created by Capitulación de Pedro Sancho de la Hoz | 1539 | ||||||||||||||
• Incorporated to theGovernorate of Chile | 1555 | ||||||||||||||
| Currency | Escudo | ||||||||||||||
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TheGovernorate of Terra Australis[2] orGovernorate of Pedro Sancho de la Hoz was aSpanish Governorate of theCrown of Castile created in 1539[3] which was granted toPedro Sánchez de la Hoz[6][7][4][8][9][10] and consisted, according to the Spanish Royal Decrees, in all the territories to the south of theStrait of Magellan until theSouth Pole,[11][12] and, to the east and west, the borders were the ones specified in the treaties ofTordesillas[13][14] andZaragoza, respectively, claiming also the unexplored parts which were theorized as part of theTerra Australis hypothetical continent.[6][3] The Spanish legal domain was transferred to theGovernorate of Chile[12] by ordering the governors to explore and conquer the lands to the south of the strait.[5]
The geographical knowledge of the time was such thatTierra del Fuego was considered part of the hypothetical continent.[15] In 1603, AdmiralGabriel de Castilla,[16][17] who leftValparaíso to reconnoiter the coasts ofChile, reached the southwest coast, reaching the 64th degree south, and it was not until 1616 thatCape Horn was discovered.[2]
After the discovery of theStrait of Magellan in 1520, cartographers were convinced of the ancient theory of Claudio Tolomeo about the existence of a continent around the South Pole. Maps and charts were published on the basis that Tierra del Fuego was the discovered part of that continent.[6] Exploring and conquering theTerra Australis was an objective of the Hispanic Monarchy from 1539.[18]
The Governorate was created by KingCharles V, establishing theadelantado Pedro Sánchez de la Hoz as its firstgovernor,captain general, andchief justice as soon as he took possession of the assigned territories.
Firstly, I give you license and power to the said Pero Sancho de Hoz so that for us, and in our name and that of the royal crown of Castile, you may sail with the said ships that you thus offer to make for the said South Sea, where the said marquises don Francisco Pizarro, and adelantado don Diego de Almagro, and don Pedro de Mendoza, and Francisco de Camargo have the said governorships, to the said strait of Magellan, and the land that is on the other side of it; and on your way or return, you will discover all that coast on the side of the said strait, without entering into the limits and place of the islands and land that are given in government to other people to conquer, and to govern, nor to rescue, except for the sustenance of the people you will carry, so long as you do not touch the limits and demarcation of the Most Serene King of Portugal, our brother, nor theMalucos, nor the limits which, by the last contract and commitment, were given to the Most Serene King. Item, we promise you that, made the said discovery of the other part of the said strait, or of some island that is not in a foreign place, we will do you the mercy of your services; and while we are informed of what you will thus discover, you will be our governor of it. [...] Date in Toledo on the 24th day of January of the month of 1539 years.[3]
— King Charles I of Spain
However, this did not materialize, and the adelantado ceded his rights on August 2, 1540, toPedro de Valdivia while both were inAtacama[19] after having been pardoned multiple times by the latter after de la Hoz tried to assassinate him.[20][21][22]
Valdivia was the governor of Terra Australis before being appointed governor of Chile, a Governorate that in its beginnings covered from the 27th degree south latitude to the Strait of Magellan, as a result of this, his interest arose to explore the pass and merge Chile with the Governorate of Terra Australis. In 1553, the already governor of Chile sentJerónimo de Alderete to theIberian Peninsula, with the mission of obtaining an extension of his governorship and joining it to the one he had obtained from Sancho de Hoz, Valdivia died on December 25 of the same year.[3]
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Jerónimo de Alderete achieved his mission at the Court by obtaining the territories south of the strait for himself, requesting the territories immediately south of the Strait of Magellan while Valdivia's death was not yet known. Alderete's request covered "from the said Strait of Magellan along the coast of the southern sea up to three hundred leagues, with all that the said strait lasts", it is estimated that Valdivia authorized Alderete to make this request.[3]
The monarchs granted the extension of Valdivia's governorship to the Strait of Magellan and Alderete's petition in two royal decrees of September 29, 1554, in the one referring to the southern territory it says: "It has seemed to us to grant as we hereby grant to the said Captain Geronimo de Alderete the governorship of the land that as the said strait is on the other side of the said Strait of Magellan". After this, the Council of the Indies would draw the limits of the portion of the Terra Australis granted to Alderete, complementing the details in question by means of a capitulation.[3]
However, the news of the death of Pedro de Valdivia reached the Iberian Peninsula and with this, Alderete inherited all the territory of the Governorate of Terra Australis (not only the one he requested) and on May 29, 1555, he obtained through another royal decree the provinces of Chile, its Patagonian territories, in addition to incorporating the territories of Terra Australis to the kingdom of Chile of which he was also named governor. In this document he was asked to: "take possession in our name of the lands and provinces that fall within the demarcation of the Crown of Castile, on the other side of the said strait".[3]
At the end of 1554 King Charles I sends a letter to the Council of the Indies expressing: "and with regard to the land on the other side of the Strait of Magellan, which we have also given and granted in governorship to the said Geronimo de Alderete, we have ordered him, for the reasons that have been written to you, to send some ships from the said province of Chile to take notice and report on the quality and usefulness of that land, since for the present he is not to go in person or go to conquer or populate it, because at present, having to attend to what is in Chile, the one and the other could not be done, and the other could not be done, the one and the other could not be done together".[3]
In the eight-month period between September 1554 and May 1555, the regions of the Terra Australis requested by Alderete near the Strait of Magellan were under a ruler different from that of Chile, to later be definitively incorporated into the latter once Alderete was named governor of Chile. On April 7, 1556, during his return trip, he died of yellow fever inPanama.[8]
His successor,García Hurtado de Mendoza, sentJuan Ladrillero, in1558 to take possession of both shores of the Strait of Magellan. WhenFrancisco de Villagra was appointed, he was also asked to take possession of the lands south of the Strait in the Royal Decree that appointed him, leaving the south pole as the southern limit of the Governorate of Chile, based on the title transferred from the Governorate of Terra Australis.[12][5]
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After the territorial division of South America between Spain andPortugal, the Peruvian Hispanic administration was divided into six entities:
This territorial division set the basis for the Hispanic administration of South America for several decades. It was formally dissolved in 1544, when King Charles I sent his personal envoy,Blasco Núñez Vela, to govern the newly foundedViceroyalty of Peru that replaced the governorates.
Borders of the Governorate of Terra Australis | |
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After the discovery of the Strait of Magellan (1520), geographers and cartographers were more convinced than ever of the ancient theory of Claudio Tolomeo, who maintained that a continent did exist around the South Pole. They published maps and charts based on the hypothesis that Tierra del Fuego was the beginning of that Terra Australis. The first person ever to have rights over these lands was Pedro Sancho de la Hoy, who received them through a special decree signed by Emperor Charles V on 24 January 1539. This decree gave to de la Hoy all territories to the south of the Strait of Magellan, including Antarctica. During the next two centuries, several other de-crees by the Spanish sovereign confirmed that all lands to the south of the Drake Passage were part of the Kingdom of Chile.
1539, en las que se nombró a Pedro Sancho de Hoz, Gobernador de las tierras al otro lado del Estrecho de Magallanes, refiriéndose a lo que se denominaba Terra Australis y que se suponía se prolongaba hasta el Polo y más allá.
Terra Australis (the southern land), south of the Magellan Strait to the South Pole, in 1539 and Chilean governors during the colonial period had territorial jurisdiction over the Antarctic (Paravic Valdivia, 1988).
quinta gobernación llamada Terra Australis. Esta gobernación abarcaba desde la ribera sur del Estrecho de Magallanes hasta el polo; es decir, la parte más austral del continente. Sin embargo, se renunció a esta capitulación y fue cedida a favor de la Gobernación de Chile (véase Mapa 3)
Terra Australis existía y que buena parte de ella se situaba al occidente de la línea de Tordesillas, que dividía las colonias de España y Portugal. En 1539, Carlos V concedió esa Terra Australis a Pedro Sancho de Hoz
Es en relación con los propósitos políticos de llenar el espacio territorial adquirido en los acuerdos castellano-portugueses y el control del estratégico estrecho de Magallanes que debe asumirse el objetivo de alcanzar la Terra Australis a partir de 1539. A su vez si estos objetivos políticos se relacionan con la idea imperial de Carlos V
En 1554 el conquistador Pedro de Valdivia, que ya tenía a cargo la Gobernación de Chile, logró que el Consejo de Indias traspasara los derechos de Nueva León y de Terra Australis al territorio colonial chileno.
