Fray García Guerra (''also Francisco García Guerra''), OP (c. 1547 in Frómista, Palencia, Spain – February 22, 1612 in
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
), archbishop of Mexico and viceroy of
New Spain
New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the A ...
. He held the former office from December 3, 1607, and the latter from June 19, 1611. He still occupied both offices at the time of his death in 1612.
Biography
He became a Dominican in the Spanish monastery of San Pablo de Valladolid, where he served as prior and principal of the province. In 1607 Philip III named him archbishop of Mexico.
In 1611 a letter was received in Mexico City from Spain ordering the sitting viceroy,
Luis de Velasco, marqués de Salinas
Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archa ...
to return to Spain to take charge of the
Council of the Indies
The Council of the Indies ( es, Consejo de las Indias), officially the Royal and Supreme Council of the Indies ( es, Real y Supremo Consejo de las Indias, link=no, ), was the most important administrative organ of the Spanish Empire for the Amer ...
, and directed García Guerra to fill the position of viceroy until the appointment of another. The letter stipulated that Velasco was to remain in charge of the viceregal government until his actual departure from the colony. Velasco left the city on June 10, 1611, and Archbishop Guerra retired to
Tacubaya
Tacubaya is a working-class area of west-central Mexico City, in the borough of Miguel Hidalgo, consisting of the '' colonia'' Tacubaya proper and adjacent areas in other colonias, with San Miguel Chapultepec sección II, Observatorio, Daniel G ...
to await the news of his sailing from
Veracruz
Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...
.
This news was received on June 18, 1611, and on the following day Guerra made his solemn entry into the capital. He was mounted on a fiery charger, beneath a canopy whose poles were carried by the councilors of the city, on foot and dressed in crimson velvet. Accompanying the archbishop were the members of the Audiencia and the tribunals, the royal officials, and the noblest and richest residents of the colony. The procession stopped first at the cathedral, where a solemn Te Deum was sung, and then passed to the viceregal palace, where Guerra officially took office.
As viceroy, he worked to find funds to improve the drainage system of Mexico City, the desagüe. He received a scientific report from the noted mathematician Ildefonso Arias that the project could not succeed because of the subterranean connection to the Río Acolhuacán.
He also attempted to restore ownership of land to Indians, where it had been usurped. He was not successful either, due to his short time in office and the strong opposition of the holders of
encomienda
The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish labour system that rewarded conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. The labourers, in theory, were provided with benefits by the conquerors for whom they laboured, including military ...
s and
latifundio
A ''latifundium'' (Latin: ''latus'', "spacious" and ''fundus'', "farm, estate") is a very extensive parcel of privately owned land. The latifundia of Roman history were great landed estates specializing in agriculture destined for export: grain, o ...
s, landed estates.
On August 26, 1611, an earthquake caused much damage in the capital, and some damage in the provinces. Many buildings were destroyed.
Not long after becoming viceroy, Guerra suffered an injury in the descent from his coach. He was operated on without success, and he died on February 22, 1612. He was interred with much ceremony in the cathedral of Mexico City. After his death, the Audiencia assumed the government, pending the arrival of his replacement. A few days later the Audiencia suppressed a supposed conspiracy of blacks to kill whites that was take place on Holy Thursday of 1612, hanging 29 men and four women.Ida Altman, Sarah Cline, and Javier Pescador, ''The Early History of Greater Mexico.'' Pearson 2003, 251.
While bishop, he was the principal consecrator of
Alonso de Peralta
Alonso de Peralta (died 1614) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of La Plata o Charcas (1609–1614). ''(in Latin)''
* "Guerra, García," ''Enciclopedia de México'', v. 6. Mexico City, 1988.
* García Puron, Manuel, ''México y sus gobernantes'', v. 1. Mexico City: Joaquín Porrua, 1984.
* Orozco Linares, Fernando, ''Gobernantes de México''. Mexico City: Panorama Editorial, 1985, .