The New Kingdom of Granada ( es, Nuevo Reino de Granada), or Kingdom of the New Granada, was the name given to a group of 16th-century Spanish colonial provinces in northern South America governed by the president of the Royal Audience of Santafé, an area corresponding mainly to modern-day Colombia. The conquistadors originally organized it as a province with a Royal Audience within the

Viceroyalty of Peru The Viceroyalty of Peru ( es, Virreinato del Perú, links=no) was a Spanish imperial provincial administrative district, created in 1542, that originally contained modern-day Peru and most of the Spanish Empire in South America, governed fro ...

despite certain independence from it. The was established by the crown in 1549. Ultimately the kingdom became the

Viceroyalty of New Granada The Viceroyalty of New Granada ( es, Virreinato de Nueva Granada, links=no ) also called Viceroyalty of the New Kingdom of Granada or Viceroyalty of Santafé was the name given on 27 May 1717, to the jurisdiction of the Spanish Empire in norther ...

first in 1717 and permanently in 1739. After several attempts to set up independent states in the 1810s, the kingdom and the viceroyalty ceased to exist altogether in 1819 with the establishment of the

United Provinces of New Granada The United Provinces of New Granada was a country in South America from 1810 to 1816, a period known in Colombian history as '' la Patria Boba'' ("the Foolish Fatherland"). It was formed from areas of the New Kingdom of Granada, roughly corres ...

History

Discovery and settlement

In 1514, the Spanish first permanently settled in the area. With Santa Marta (founded on July 29, 1525 by the Spanish '' conquistador''

Rodrigo de Bastidas Rodrigo de Bastidas (; Triana, Seville, Andalusia, c. 1465 – Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, 28 July 1527) was a Spanish conquistador and explorer who mapped the northern coast of South America, discovered Panama, and founded the city of Santa Marta. ...

) and Cartagena (1533), Spanish control of the coast was established, and the extension of colonial control into the interior could begin. Starting in 1536, the ''conquistador'' Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada explored the extensive highlands of the interior of the region, by following the

Magdalena River The Magdalena River ( es, Río Magdalena, ; less commonly ) is the main river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of ...

into the Andean cordillera. There his force defeated the powerful

Muisca The Muisca (also called Chibcha) are an indigenous people and culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia, that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish conquest. The people spoke Muysccubun, a language of the Chibchan langu ...

and founding the city of Santa Fé de Bogotá ( Bogotá) and naming the region ''El nuevo reino de Granada'', "the new kingdom of Granada", in honor of the last part of Spain to be recaptured from the Moors, home to the brothers De Quesada. After Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada left for Spain in May 1539, the reign of the colony was transferred to his brother Hernán. De Quesada, however, lost control of the province when Emperor Charles V granted the right to rule over the area to rival conquistador,

Sebastián de Belalcázar Sebastián de Belalcázar (; 1479/1480 – 1551) was a Spanish conquistador. De Belalcázar, also written as de Benalcázar, is known as the founder of important early colonial cities in the northwestern part of South America; Quito in 1534 and Ca ...

, in 1540, who had entered the region from what is today

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

, and named himself governor of

Popayán Popayán () is the capital of the Colombian department of Cauca. It is located in southwestern Colombia between the Western Mountain Range and Central Mountain Range. It has a population of 318,059 people, an area of 483 km2, is locate ...

Regularization of the government

Charles V ordered the establishment of an '' audiencia'', a type of superior court that combined

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

and

judicial The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

authority, at Santafé de Bogotá in 1549.

List of governors

Royal Audiencia

The Royal Audiencia was created by a royal decree of July 17, 1549. It was given authority over the provinces of Santa Marta, Río de San Juan, Popayán, Guayana and Cartagena de Indias. The Audiencia was charged primarily with dispensing justice, but it was also to oversee the running of government and the settlement of the territory. It held its first session on April 7, 1550, in a mansion on the Plaza Mayor (today, Plaza de Bolívar) at the site which today houses the Colombian Palace of Justice. Law VIII ("Royal Audiencia and Chancery of Santa Fe in the New Kingdom of Granada") of Title XV ("Of the Royal ''Audiencias'' and Chanceries of the Indies") of Book II of the ''Recopilación de

Leyes de las Indias The Laws of the Indies ( es, Leyes de las Indias) are the entire body of laws issued by the Spanish Crown for the American and the Asian possessions of its empire. They regulated social, political, religious, and economic life in these areas. T ...

'' of 1680—which compiles the decrees of July 17, 1549; May 10, 1554; and August 1, 1572—describes the final limits and functions of the ''Audiencia''.

In Santa Fé de Bogotá of the New Kingdom of Granada shall reside another Royal Audiencia and Chancery of ours, with a president, governor and captain general; five judges of civil cases 'oidores'' who shall also be judges of criminal cases 'alcaldes del crimen'' a crown attorney 'fiscal'' a bailiff 'alguacil mayor'' a lieutenant of the Gran Chancellor; and the other necessary ministers and officials, and which will have for district the provinces of the New Kingdom and those of Santa Marta, Río de San Juan, and of
Popayán Popayán () is the capital of the Colombian department of Cauca. It is located in southwestern Colombia between the Western Mountain Range and Central Mountain Range. It has a population of 318,059 people, an area of 483 km2, is locate ...
, except those places of the latter which are marked for the
Royal Audiencia of Quito The of Quito (sometimes referred to as or ) was an administrative unit in the Spanish Empire which had political, military, and religious jurisdiction over territories that today include Ecuador, parts of northern Peru, parts of southern Colo ...
; and of Guayana, or El Dorado, it shall have that which is not of the Audienicia of Hispaniola, and all of the Province of Cartagena; sharing borders: on the south with said Audiencia of Quito and the undiscovered lands, on the west and north with the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...
and the provinces which belong to the Royal Audiencia of Hispaniola, on the west with the one of Tierra Firme. And we order that the Governor and Captain General of said provinces and president of their Royal Audiencia, have, use and exercise by himself the government of all the district of that Audiencia, in the same manner as our
Viceroys of New Spain The following is a list of Viceroys of New Spain. In addition to viceroys, the following lists the highest Spanish governors of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, before the appointment of the first viceroy or when the office of viceroy was vacant. Mo ...
and appoint the
repartimiento The ''Repartimiento'' () (Spanish, "distribution, partition, or division") was a colonial labor system imposed upon the indigenous population of Spanish America. In concept, it was similar to other tribute-labor systems, such as the ''mit'a'' of t ...
of Indians and other offices that need to be appointed, and attend to all the matters and business that belong to the government, and that the ''oidores'' of said Audiencia do not interfere with this, and that all sign what in matters of justice is provided for, sentenced and carried out.

One further change came as part of the

Bourbon Reforms The Bourbon Reforms ( es, Reformas Borbónicas) consisted of political and economic changes promulgated by the Spanish Monarchy, Spanish Crown under various kings of the House of Bourbon, since 1700, mainly in the 18th century. The beginning of ...

of the eighteenth century. Because of the slowness in communications between Lima and Bogotá, the Bourbons decided to establish an independent

in 1717 (which was reestablished in 1739 after a short interruption). The governor-president of Bogotá became the viceroy of the new entity, with military and executive oversight over the neighboring Presidency of Quito and the provinces of Venezuela.

Administrative divisions

The New Kingdom was organized into several Governments and Provinces:

Main cities

The largest cities of the New Kingdom of Granada in the 1791 Census were # Cartagena de Indias – 154,304 # Santa Fé de Bogotá – 108,533 # Popayan – 56,783 # Santa Marta – 49,830 # Tunja – 43,850 # Mompóx – 24,332

Bibliography

* Avellaneda Navas, José Ignacio. ''The Conquerors of the New Kingdom of Granada''. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1995. * Cook, Karoline P. "Religious Identity, Race and Status in New Granada." ''Race and Blood in the Iberian World''; 3 (2012): 81. *Fisher, John R., Allan J. Keuthe, and Anthony McFarlane, eds. ''Reform and Insurrection in Bourbon New Granada and Peru''. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1990. * Graff, Gary W. "Spanish Parishes in Colonial New Granada: Their Role in Town-Building on the Spanish-American Frontier." ''The Americas'' (1976): 336-351. in JSTOR* Grahn, Lance Raymond. ''The Political Economy of Smuggling: regional informal economies in early Bourbon New Granada''. Boulder: Westview Press, 1997. *Kuethe, Allan J. ''Military Reform and Society in New Granada, 1773–1808''. Gainesville: University Presses of Florida, 1978. * Markham, Clements. ''The Conquest of New Granada'' (1912
online
*McFarlane, Anthony. ''Colombia Before Independence: Economy, Society and Politics under Bourbon Rule''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. *Phelan, John Leddy. ''The People and the King: The Comunero Revolution in Colombia, 1781''. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1978. * Ramírez, Susan Elizabeth. "Institutions of the Spanish American Empire in the Habsburg Era." in ''A Companion to Latin American History'' (2008): 106-23. * Rodríguez Freyle, Juan. ''The Conquest of New Granada''. London: Folio Society, 1961.

References

External links

The Educated Vassal in the State of the New Kingdom of Granada, and His Respective Duties
— written 1789. {{coord missing, Colombia 01 Viceroyalty of Peru * Real Audiencias Colonial Panama Colonial Venezuela History of Ecuador History of Guyana Spanish period of Trinidad and Tobago History of South America States and territories established in 1549 States and territories disestablished in 1739 Granada 17th century in Colombia 18th century in Colombia Spanish colonization of the Americas 16th-century establishments in the Spanish Empire 1549 establishments in South America 1739 disestablishments in the Spanish Empire 1549 establishments in the Spanish Empire 1739 disestablishments in South America