Captaincy General of Guatemala

Nicaragua, 1542–1821. Draft, not yet reviewed

It was an administrative division of the Spanish Empire, under the viceroyalty of New Spain in Central America. Through diplomacy, Arias Dávila became the colony's first governor. 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

In 1524 the conquistador Francisco Hernández de Córdoba founded two of Nicaragua's main cities: Granada on Lake Nicaragua, and then León, west of Lake Managua.
Many indigenous people were killed by European infectious diseases, compounded by neglect by the Spaniards, who controlled their subsistence. Many other indigenous peoples were captured and transported as slaves to Panama and Peru between 1526 and 1540.
In 1610, the Momotombo volcano erupted, destroying the city of León. The city was rebuilt northwest of the original, which is now known as the ruins of León Viejo.

Picture

Granada is historically one of Nicaragua's most important cities, economically and politically.

Image: Guillaume Baviere from Uppsala, Sweden, CC BY-SA 2.0, file

Sources

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