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Santiago Chile, 1541–1581: A Case Study of Urban Stagnation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Joseph B. Fichandler  and
Thomas F. O’Brien Jr.
Joseph B. Fichandler
Affiliation:
University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut
Thomas F. O’Brien Jr.
Affiliation:
University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut
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Extract

Attempts to understand the nature of colonial Latin American cities have tended to focus on the role of urban centers in the process of empire building. The Spanish cities of the New World served initially as spearheads of conquest, and later as centers for the exercise of Imperial control. A particularly important aspect of this control was the effort by the Crown to limit the power of encomenderos, men whose royally granted right to use Indian labor threatened to create a local ruling class independent of Imperial power. Richard Morse has recently asserted that the patrimonial nature of many of these urban centers resulted from the efforts of the mother country to retain them in the Imperial structure against the counter-claims of the encomenderos. As for those poorer settlements on the outskirts of empire. Morse believes that the appeal of landed wealth drew many of their most prominent citizens into the countryside, leaving the cities to stagnate.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 33 , Issue 2 , October 1976 , pp. 205 - 225
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1976

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References

1 Morse, Richard M., “Trends and Issues in Latin American Urban Research, 1965–1970 (Part I),” Latin American Research Review, VI (Spring, 1971), 11 Google Scholar.

2 The Cabildo met twice a week during the early years of its existence. The number of meetings declined over the years, however. In 1588 the Cabildo met only thirty-nine times. On ten of these occasions no action whatsoever was taken. Thus, by that year the Cabildo was meeting only once every two weeks. For comparative purposes see: Moore, John P., The Cabildo in Peru Under the Hapsburgs, A Study in the Origins and Powers of the Town Council in the Viceroyalty of Peru, 1530–1700, (Durham, North Carolina, 1954), 265 Google Scholar 284.

3 “Letters of Valdivia,” translated in Richard Cunninghame Graham, Pedro de Valdivia, Conqueror of Chile, (London, 1926), 144.

4 Ibid., 162–63.

5 Letter of Franciscan friars to Philip II, January 10, 1571, Medina, José Toribio, ed., Colección de documentos inéditos para la historia de Chile, (2 d ser. 30 vols.; Santiago, Chile, 1956–000)Google Scholar, I, 327. (Here after cited as CDC.)

6 Actas del Cabildo, October 13, 1549, Medina, José Toribio, et al., eds., Collección de historiadores de Chile y de documentos relativos a la historia nacional, (49 vols.; Santiago, Chile, 1851–1953)Google Scholar, I, 215. (Hereafter cited as CHC). The Actas de Cabildo de Santiago resprinted in the CHC are the most commonly cited and readily available source for a study of the Cabildo. The Actas are the formal promulgations of the Cabildo, however, and not the actual minutes of the meetings, as they are often mistakenly cited. The invaluable minutes and notorial records are to be found in the Archivo Nacional as the Archivo de Escribanos de Santiago.

7 Galdames, Luis, A History of Chile, trans., and ed. by Cox, Issac Joslin (New York, 1941 (1906)), 41 Google Scholar.

8 Moore, Cabildo, 158.

9 Letter of Don Miguel de Olaverria to the Crown, 1594, in Gay, Cladio, Historia física y política de Chile, documentos sobre la historia, la estadistica y la geografía, 28 vols.; Santiago, Chile, 1844–1871), II, 14 Google Scholar.

10 Galdames, Chile, 48. Also see Lockhart, James, Spanish Peru, 1532–1560, A Colonial Society, (Madison, Wisconsin, 1968), 139 Google Scholar.

11 Morse, “Trends and Issues,” 9.

12 Ibid., 6.

13 Alemparte, Julio R., El Cabildo de Santiago en el siglo XVI, (Santiago, Chile, 1930), 7 Google Scholar. The other function of the Cabildo, according to Alemparte, was to register in its records the history of the city.

14 Villalobos, Nēstor Meza, Política indígena en las orígenes de la sociedad chilena, (Santiago, Chile, 1951), 30 Google Scholar.

15 Alemparte, Cabildo, 35.

16 Moore, Cabildo, 61–62.

17 With eight offices available every year for forty-one years, only sixty-five men filled a possible three-hundred and twenty-eight positions.

18 Alemparte, Cabildo, 18. The office of regidor perpetuo was often sold to augment royal income.

19 Ibid., 18. The three men appointed were Diego Garcia de Cáceres, Juan Gomez, and Rodrigo de Quīroga. Garcia, holder of a large encomienda, was regidor perpetuo from 1550 to 1553, and was elected to the post in 1555, 1556 and 1557. He was alguacil mayor in 1553, and alcalde ordinario in 1562. There are no reasons given to account for the fact that some regidores perpetuos gave up their position or lost it.

20 Ibid., 18. Alemparte notes that on several occasions the Cabildo tried, for political reasons, to increase the number of regidores to eight. They met with failure because the law of October 22, 1523 stated that principal cities of the Indies were permitted 11 regidores but lesser cities only 6.

21 Ibid., 24.

22 Morse, “Trends and Issues,” 8.

23 Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna, Historia de Santiago in Obras completas de Vicuna Mackenna, (16 vols.; Santiago, Chile, 1936–1940), X, 90. Such authors as Galdames have estimated the Spanish population in Santiago at 600 as of 1600. A rough estimate of its population as of the 1560’s would be 400. During that period Fray Gil González reported that there were 22 vecinos in Santiago (CDE, XCIV, 81; 1560’s). This would give a vecino to moredores, ratio of 1: 20. However, González included a woman and a child in his list, indicating he was not employing a strict definition of vecinos. But this guess estimate still indicates that in Santiago, the vecinos were a relatively exclusive group.

24 Alemparte, Cabildo, 24.

25 CDC, II, 165 167.

26 Quoted in Alemparte, Cabildo, 25.

27 Data for this table was drawn from the following sources: Medina, José Toribio, ed. Colección de historiadores de Chile y de documentos relativos a la historia nacional, (vols. XXII & XVII, Santiago, Chile, 1898–1899);Google Scholar Medina, , Diccionario biográfico colonial de Chile, (Santiago, Chile, 1906);Google Scholar Ojeda, Tomás Thayer, Formación de la sociedad chilena y censo de la población de Chile en los años de 1540 a 1565 con datos estadísticas biográficos étnicos y demográficas, (3 vols., Santiago, Chile, 1939–1941)Google Scholar.

28 Alemparte, Cabildo, 53–54.

29 Actas del Cabildo, March 22, 1550, CHC, I, 235–236.

30 Actas del Cabildo, November 13, 1552, CHC, I, 310.

31 Ibid., 310.

32 Alemparte, Cabildo, 28.

33 Actas del Cabildo, July, 1576, CHC, XVIII, 448–449. The purpose of this franquícias especiales was to provide for the building and maintenance of public works.

34 Actas del Cabildo, January 9, 1546, CHC, I, 113–121. Most of the ordinances are concerned with specifications for the mines, recording of ownership, etc.

35 Ibid., 113–121.

36 Actas del Cabildo, October 13, 1549, CHC, I,217.

37 Actas del Cabildo, January 14, 1550, CHC, I, 229–230. Encomendero control of the mines can be seen in the fact that the spokesman for the miners, Pedro Gómez, was a prominent encomendero.

38 Actas del Cabildo, June 29, 1550, CHC, I, 245. The fine for this offense was two-hundred pesos.

39 Actas del Cabildo, August 9, 1550, CHC, I, 252–253.

40 Actas del Cabildo, April 18, 1556, CHC, I, 517. Claim jumping appears to have been a serious problem since there was frequent legislation against it.

41 Moore, Cabildo, 215–216.

42 Alemparte, Cabildo, 55.

43 Actas del Cabildo, April 14, 1559, CHC, XVII, 66.

44 Actas del Cabildo, November 28, 1552, CHC, I, 317; Actas del Cabildo, November 19, 1555, CHC, I,497; and Actas del Cabildo, March 31, 1556, CHC, I,515.

45 Actas del Cabildo, February 17, 1559, CHC, XVII, 59.

46 Actas del Cabildo, October 13, 1549, CHC, I, 212–213.

47 Actas del Cabildo, February 11, 1575, CHC, XVII, 380. Also see Actas del Cabildo, February 10, 1576, CHC, XVII, 433, and Actas del Cabildo, May 2, 1576, CHC, XVII, 441.

48 Korth, Eugene H., Spanish Policy in Colonial Chile: the Struggle for Social Justice, 1535–1700, (Stanford, California, 1968)Google Scholar, 67 68. Gamboa had been named governor by his father-in-law, Rodrigo de Quīroga, the previous governor. He was, at the time of the petition, unconfirmed by the Crown.

49 Ibid., 67–72.

50 Actas del Cabildo, September 24, 1580, CHC, XVIII, 234.

51 CHC, XVII, 77.

52 Gay, Historia de Chile, I,192.

53 Actas del Cabildo, August 13, 1548, CHC, I,146.

54 Actas del Cabildo, January 24, 1551, CHC, I,263.

55 Actas del Cabildo, July 1, 1553, CHC, I, 352.

56 Actas del Cabildo, December 29, 1553, CHC, I, 367–368.

57 Gay, Historia de Chile, I,197.

58 Actas del Cabildo, March 14, 1577, CHC, XVII, 499.

59 Actas del Cabildo, January 8, 1583, CHC, XIX, 103.

60 Actas del Cabildo, February 2, 1583, CHC, XIX, 119.

61 Actas del Cabildo, July 17, 1576, CHC, XVII, 448–449.

62 Gay, Historia de Chile, 1,206 207.

63 Actas del Cabildo, May 20, 1580, CHC, XVIII, 206.

64 Actas del Cabildo, August 18, 1559, CHC, XVII, 87.

65 Actas del Cabildo, September 26, 1578, CHC, XVIII, 49–50.

66 Actas del Cabildo, January 31, 1578, CHC, XVIII, 8.

67 Actas del Cabildo, January 31, 1553, CHC, I, 338.

68 Actas del Cabildo, April 28, 1559, CHC, XVII, 67.

69 Letter of Nicolás de Górnica, Juan Hurtado and Juan de la Peña to Philip II, February 15, 1573, CDC, II, 6.

70 Actas del Cabildo, November 16, 1552, CHC, I, 315.

71 Actas del Cabildo, January 1, 1552, CHC, I,297.

72 Actas del Cabildo, April 21,24, & 29, 1556, CHC, 1, 519–520.

73 Actas del Cabildo, April 8, 1552, CHC, I, 291.

74 Of the eleven mill and tannery grants recorded in the Actas, seven were to encomenderos, one to a merchant and three to individuals whose status is unknown.

75 Actas del Cabildo, January 31, 1553, CHC, I,338.

76 Moore, Cabildo, 84(f).

77 Actas del Cabildo, November 3, 1551, CHC, I,278.

78 Actas del Cabildo, January 26, 1549, CHC, I, 193.

79 Actas del Cabildo, January 2, 1553, CHC, I,332.

80 Letter of Baltasar de Reinoso, Alonso González, et al., to the King, May 10, 1579, CDC, II, 407–408.

81 Lockhart, Peru, 171–172.

82 Actas del Cabildo, January 10, 1577, CHC, XVII, 487, and Actas del Cabildo, November 6, 1568, CHC, XVII, 258.

83 Actas del Cabildo, June 28, 1557, CHC, XVII, 164, and Actas del Cabildo, January 9, 1568, CHC, XVII, 199.

84 Alemparte, Cabildo, 30 (f).

85 Actas del Cabildo, February 9, 1550, CHC, I, 254–255.

86 Gay, Historia de Chile, I,201.

87 Actas del Cabildo, November 27, 1551, CHC, I,281.

88 Alemparte, Cabildo, 67.

89 Actas del Cabildo, December 21, 1569, CHC, XVII, 128, and Actas del Cabildo, February 1, 1585, CHC, XIX, 245.

90 Actas del Cabildo, July 1, 1575, CHC, XVII, 401.

91 Actas del Cabildo, August 9, 1550, CHC, I,255.

92 Actas del Cabildo, August 12, 1558, CHC, XVII, 40.

93 Actas del Cabildo, November 13, 1552, CHC, I, 307.

94 Ibid., 307.

95 Letter of Fray Gil González to Crown written in approximately 1560, Colección de documentos inéditos para la historia de España, (112 vols.: Madrid, 1842–1895), XCIV, 79 Google Scholar.

96 Simpson, Lesley Bird, The Encomienda in New Spain: The Beginning of Spanish Mexico, (2 d ed. rev.; Berkeley, California, 1950 (1929)), 153 Google Scholar.

97 Data for this table drawn from the following Actas del Cabildo: December 29, 1543, CHC, I, 104; December 10, 1548, CHC, I, 162–163; February 22, 1548, CHC, I, 140–143; January 1, 1549, CHC, I, 185–187; November 16, 1552, CHC, I, 315; January 20, 1553, CHC, I, 354–356.