Captaincy General of Guatemala

Guatemala, 1542–1821. Draft, not yet reviewed

It was an administrative division of the Spanish Empire, under the viceroyalty of New Spain in Central America. It included present-day Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and the Mexican state of Chiapas. In 1609 the area became a captaincy general, when the governor and Audiencia president was also granted the title of captain general to deal with foreign threats to the area from the Caribbean. The Captaincy General ended in 1821 with the signing of the Act of Independence of Central America.

Seat of power: Santiago de los Caballeros de Guatemala

Rulers

Carlos Luis de Urrutia

Captain General of Guatemala, 1818–1821

He was a Spanish military commander and colonial administrator. He was the supreme military commander of Guatemala from 1818 to 1821 and fled to Cuba when it declared independence.

Culture

King Carlos II issued a royal decree on 31 January 1676 allowing a university to be set up, and it started classes on 7 January 1681.
In 1543 the capital was again refounded several kilometres away at Antigua Guatemala. A devastating series of earthquakes destroyed the city, and it was ordered abandoned in 1776.
As part of the Bourbon Reforms in 1786 the crown established a series of intendancies in the area. These intendancies helped shape local political identity and provided the basis of the future nations of Central America.

Picture

This city was the capital of the Captaincy General of Guatemala from 1543 through 1773, with much of its Baroque-influenced architecture and layout dating from that period.

Image: Juan Francisco, CC BY-SA 2.0, file

Sources

Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.