Write a comment
José Fernando de Abascal was the Viceroy of Peru during 1806-1816

José Fernando de Abascal (1743-1821)

Viceroy of Peru during 1806-1816

  • Militarian
  • Viceroy
Born
1743
Died
1821

Abascal was born into a noble family and was a Spanish military officer and colonial administrator in America. At the age of 19, he entered the army. After serving for 20 years, they promoted him to colonel, and later in the war against France, to brigadier. In 1796 he took part in the defense of Havana against the British.

Three years later he was named commanding general and intendant of Nueva Galicia (western Mexico). He took up that office in 1800. In 1804 he was named viceroy of Río de la Plata in Buenos Aires.

He governed Peru during a period when Spain’s authority and political control of its vast American colonial empire began to be seriously challenged for the first time. When Abascal became Viceroy in 1806, Lima symbolized the bulwark of Spanish colonial power in Latin America as it had for nearly three centuries.

José Fernando de Abascal was the Viceroy of Peru during 1806-1816
José Fernando de Abascal was the Viceroy of Peru during 1806-1816

Its bureaucracy was enormous and so committed to loyalty to the Spanish crown that Lima was called “little Madrid” throughout the Americas. In 1809, Abascal suppressed a revolution against Spanish authority sparked by rebels from Chile and Ecuador. The liberal Constitution of 1812 in Spain temporarily silenced the royalist cause in Peru. From 1812 to 1816, Peruvian patriots gained new members to their cause of political independence.

Abascal’s successor as Viceroy, Joaquin de Pezuela, inherited the staggering challenge of fighting General José de San Martín’s army of liberation, which landed in Pisco and fought its way northward to Lima.

Say something here...
characters left
or post as a guest
All comments MUST be in English and will be moderated before publishing.
They will appear below within 24 hours.
Loading comment... The comment will be refreshed after 00:00.

Be the first to comment.

Peru Newsflash

Peru Event Calendar

Latest Content...

Latest Video

Maria Reiche - Memories

Maria Reiche - Memories

Submitted by: Tintin
05 December 2021

Long Reads...

  • Peruvian Archaeology

    The Mystery of the Nazca Lines in Peru

    In the 1920s, when people first flew across southern Peru, they made an astonishing discovery. Stretching below them,…
  • Peruvian Personalities & Founders

    Francisco Pizarro González (1474-1541)

    Francisco Pizarro, a peasant from Spain, was one of the least well-equipped conquerors in history. However, in the name…
  • Peruvian Archaeology

    The colorful Fabrics and Textiles of Peru

    Europe’s first knowledge of Peruvian textiles was acquired following the Spanish invasion of Peru in 1532, when the…
  • Peruvian Legends, Myths & Tales

    The Jeweled Frog and the Condor

    By a quiet pond, at the side of a cloud-topped mountain in Peru, lived a small green frog and his large green family.…
  • Peru Info

    Peruvian Economy

    The Peruvian economy is an emerging, social market economy highly dependent on foreign trade and classified as an upper…