Destruction Of Seven Cities
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The Destruction of the Seven Cities () is a term used in Chilean
historiography Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term ":wikt:historiography, historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiog ...
to refer to the destruction or abandonment of seven major Spanish outposts in
southern Chile Southern Chile is an informal geographic term for any place south of the capital city, Santiago, or south of Biobío River, the mouth of which is Concepción, about {{convert, 200, mi, km, sigfig=1, order=flip south of Santiago. Generally citie ...
around 1600, caused by the
Mapuche The Mapuche ( , ) also known as Araucanians are a group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging e ...
and
Huilliche The Huilliche (), Huiliche or Huilliche-Mapuche are the southern partiality of the Mapuche macroethnic group in Chile and Argentina. Located in the Zona Sur, they inhabit both Futahuillimapu ("great land of the south") and, as the Cunco or Ve ...
uprising of 1598. The Destruction of the Seven Cities, in traditional historiography, marks the end of the
Conquest Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or Coercion (international relations), coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or ...
period and the beginning of the proper colonial period. The Destruction of the Seven Cities had a long-lasting impact on the history of the Mapuche and the
history of Chile The territory of Chile has been populated since at least 3000 BC. By the 16th century, Spanish invaders began to raid the region of present-day Chile, and the territory was a colony from 1540 to 1818, when it gained Chilean War of Independence, i ...
, determining the shape of future Colonial Spanish–Mapuche relations, e.g. by causing the development of a Spanish–Mapuche frontier.


Course of events

Decades prior to these events, some
conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...
s and settlers recognised the fragility of Spanish rule in southern Chile. In 1576, Melchior Calderón wrote to the
king of Spain The monarchy of Spain or Spanish monarchy () is the constitutional form of government of Spain. It consists of a Hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarch who reigns as the head of state, being the highest office of the country. The Spanish ...
arguing for diminishing the number of cities in southern Chile by merging them, he proposed to merge Concepción,
Angol Angol is a commune and capital city of the Malleco Province in the Araucanía Region of southern Chile. It is located at the foot of the Cordillera de Nahuelbuta and next to the Vergara River, that permitted communications by small boats to the ...
, and
Tucapel Tucapel is a town and commune in the Bío Bío Province, Bío Bío Region, Chile. It was once a region of Araucanía named for the Tucapel River. The name of the region derived from the rehue and aillarehue of the Moluche people of the ar ...
into one and La Imperial and Villarrica into another one.Guarda 1978, p. 41 The revolt was triggered by the news of the
Battle of Curalaba The Battle of Curalaba ( ) was a battle and an ambush in 1598 when Mapuche people led by Pelantaru defeated Spanish conquerors led by Martín García Óñez de Loyola at Curalaba, southern Chile. In Chilean historiography, where the event is ...
on 23 December 1598, where the vice
toqui Toqui (or Toki) (Mapudungun for ''axe'' or ''axe-bearer'') is a title conferred by the Mapuche (an indigenous Chilean and Argentines, Argentinian people) on those chosen as leaders during times of war. The toqui is chosen in an assembly or parl ...
Pelantaru Pelantaro or Pelantarú (; from ) was one of the vice toquis of Paillamachu, the ''toqui'' or military leader of the Mapuche people during the Mapuche uprising in 1598. Pelantaro and his lieutenants Anganamon and Guaiquimilla were credited wit ...
and his lieutenants,
Anganamón Anganamón, also known as ''Ancanamon'' or ''Ancanamun'', Vicente Carvallo y Goyeneche ''Descripcion histórico-jeográfica del Reino de Chile, TOMO I''; ''Coleccion de historiadores de Chile, Tomo VIII'', IMPRENTA DE LA LIBRERÍA DEL MERCURIO de A ...
and Guaiquimilla, with three hundred men ambushed and killed the Spanish governor
Martín García Óñez de Loyola Don Martín García Óñez de Loyola ( – December 24, 1598) was a Spanish-Basque soldier and Royal Governor of Colonial Chile. He was the grand-nephew of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits. Óñez de Loyola first gained r ...
and nearly all his companions.Bengoa 2003, pp. 320–321. Over the next few years, the Mapuche were able to destroy or force the abandonment of many cities and minor settlements including all seven of the Spanish cities in Mapuche territory south of the Biobío River: Santa Cruz de Coya (1599), Santa María la Blanca de Valdivia (1599, reoccupied in 1602 and abandoned again in 1604), San Andrés de Los Infantes (1599), La Imperial (1600), Santa María Magdalena de Villa Rica (1602), San Mateo de Osorno (1603), and San Felipe de Araucan (1604).Villalobos ''et al.'' 1974, p. 109.


Death toll and fate of captives

Contemporary chronicler Alonso González de Nájera writes that Mapuches killed more than 3,000 Spanish and took over 500 women as captives. Many children and Spanish clergy were also captured. Skilled artisans, renegade Spanish, and women were generally spared by the Mapuches. In the case of the women it was, in the words of González de Nájera, "to take advantage of them" (Spanish: ''aprovecharse de ellas''). While some Spanish women were recovered in Spanish raids, others were set free only in agreements following the Parliament of Quillín in 1641. Some Spanish women became accustomed to Mapuche life and stayed voluntarily among the Mapuche. The Spanish understood this phenomenon as a result either of women's weak character or their shame at having been abused. Women in captivity gave birth to a large number of
mestizo ( , ; fem. , literally 'mixed person') is a term primarily used to denote people of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry in the former Spanish Empire. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturall ...
s, who were rejected by the Spanish, but accepted among the Mapuches. These women's children may have had a significant demographic impact on Mapuche society, which had been ravaged by war and epidemic disease. The capture of women during the Destruction of the Seven Cities initiated a tradition of abductions of Spanish women in the 17th century by Mapuches.


Aftermath


Central Chile becomes the Spanish heartland

The collapse of the Spanish cities in the south following the
battle of Curalaba The Battle of Curalaba ( ) was a battle and an ambush in 1598 when Mapuche people led by Pelantaru defeated Spanish conquerors led by Martín García Óñez de Loyola at Curalaba, southern Chile. In Chilean historiography, where the event is ...
(1598) meant, for the Spaniards, the loss of their main sources of gold and indigenous labor.Salazar & Pinto 2002, p. 15. After those dramatic years, the colony of Chile became concentrated in
Central Chile Central Chile (''Zona central'') is one of the five natural regions into which CORFO divided continental Chile in 1950. It is home to a majority of the Chilean population and includes the three largest metropolitan areas—Santiago, Valparaí ...
, which was increasingly populated, explored and economically exploited.Villalobos ''et al''. 1974, pp. 160-165. Much land in Central Chile was cleared with fire during this period. On the contrary, open fields in southern Chile were overgrown as indigenous populations declined due to diseases introduced by the Spanish and intermittent warfare.Otero 2006, p. 25. The loss of the cities meant Spanish settlements in Chile became increasingly rural, with the
hacienda A ''hacienda'' ( or ; or ) is an estate (or '' finca''), similar to a Roman '' latifundium'', in Spain and the former Spanish Empire. With origins in Andalusia, ''haciendas'' were variously plantations (perhaps including animals or orchards ...
growing in economic and social importance. The establishment of a Spanish-Mapuche frontier in the south made Concepción assume the role of "military capital" of Chile. This informal role was given by the establishment of the Spanish Army of Arauco in the city which was financed by a payments of silver from
Potosí Potosí, known as Villa Imperial de Potosí in the colonial period, is the capital city and a municipality of the Potosí Department, Department of Potosí in Bolivia. It is one of the list of highest cities in the world, highest cities in the wo ...
called
Real Situado The ''real situado'' ( Spanish for: royal appropriated funds or royal allocated funds) was the Spanish term for revenues that the viceroyalties of Peru, New Spain, New Granada, and Rio de la Plata sent to finance colonial frontier defenses again ...
. Santiago located at some distance from the war zone remained the political capital since 1578.


Chiloé, ''Indios reyunos'', Carelmapu and Calbuco

When Valdivia and Osorno were destroyed, Spanish settlers and loyal
yanakuna Yanakuna were originally individuals in the Inca Empire who left the ayllu system and worked full-time at a variety of tasks for the Inca, the ''quya'' (Inca queen), or the religious establishment. A few members of this serving class enjoyed high s ...
marched south, evading hostile
Cuncos Cuncos, Juncos or Cunches is a poorly known subgroup of Huilliche people native to coastal areas of southern Chile and the nearby hinterland. Mostly a historic term, Cuncos are chiefly known for their long-running conflict with the Spanish durin ...
and Huilliches. Reaching Chacao Channel next to Chiloé, the refugees were assigned to two new settlements, Calbuco and Carelmapu. Yanakuna loyal to the Spanish in these difficult times were rewarded with exemption from
encomienda The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish Labour (human activity), labour system that rewarded Conquistador, conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. In theory, the conquerors provided the labourers with benefits, including mil ...
labour, and formed into a militia with a salary from the
Real Situado The ''real situado'' ( Spanish for: royal appropriated funds or royal allocated funds) was the Spanish term for revenues that the viceroyalties of Peru, New Spain, New Granada, and Rio de la Plata sent to finance colonial frontier defenses again ...
. Thus, they became known as '' Indios reyunos'', literally meaning "Royal Indians" or "Kingly Indians". 300 of the initial 600 indios reyunos settled in Calbuco. The Destruction of the Seven Cities reduced the settlements at Chiloé to an exclave, cut off from the remainder of Spanish Chile. The region, therefore, developed as an isolated and highly peripheral Spanish outpost.


Dutch interest in Valdivia

The abandoned city of Valdivia turned into an attractive site for Spain's enemies to control since it would allow them to establish a base amidst Spain's Chilean possessions. Recognizing this situation the Spanish attempted to reoccupy Valdivia in the 1630s but were thwarted by hostile Mapuches.Bengoa 2003, pp. 450–451. The Dutch briefly occupied Valdivia in 1643. Having been told that the Dutch had plans to return to the location, the Spanish viceroy in Peru sent 1,000 men in twenty ships (and 2,000 men by land, who never made it) in 1644 to resettle Valdivia and fortify it.Robbert Koc
The Dutch in Chili
at coloniavoyage.com
Kris E. Lan
Pillaging the Empire: Piracy in the Americas, 1500-1750
1998, pages 88-92


Spanish reflections on the war

The precarity of Spanish control over Chile in the 17th century prompted comparison to the Eighty Year's War, with Chile, in the view of Diego de Rosales, having turned into an "Indian Flanders" (''Flandes indiano''). '' Purén indómito'', a contemporary literary chronicle (1598–1600) which describes the events surrounding the Destruction of the Seven Cities, is notable for its realistic and unvarnished commentary, and for its criticism of both Spanish and Mapuche actions. ''Purén indómito'', along with the military analysis presented by '' La guerra de Chile'' (published in 1647), challenged the prevailing Spanish tendency to view of the conquest of Chile as an "epic" series of "victories".Eduardo Barraza Jara. ''De "La Araucana" a "Butamalón". El discurso de la conquista y el canon de la literatura chilena''. Prólogo de Gilberto Triviños. Claudio Wagner (editor). Valdivia: Anejo 17 de ''
Estudios Filológicos ''Estudios Filológicos'' is an academic journal published by the Humanities and Philosophy Faculty of the Southern University of Chile. It covers a wide range of linguistics and literature-related topics, primarily on issues that are relevant to ...
'', 2004, p.204.


See Also

*
Arauco War The Arauco War was a long-running conflict between colonial Spaniards and the Mapuche people, mostly fought in the Araucanía region of Chile. The conflict began at first as a reaction to the Spanish conquerors attempting to establish cities a ...


References


Sources

* * * Diego de Rosales, ''Historia General del Reino de Chile, Flandes Indiano'', 3 tomos. Valparaíso 1877 - 1878. *
''Historia general de el Reyno de Chile: Flandes Indiano'' Vol. 2Libro V La Ruina de las Siete Ciudades
* Crescente Errázuriz
''Seis años de la historia de Chile: 23 de diciembre de 1598- 9 de abril de 1605: memoria histórica'', Impr. Nacional, Santiago de Chile, 1881.
* ''Atlas de Historia de Chile'', Editorial Universitaria, pg. 48 * * Salazar, Gabriel; Pinto, Julio (2002). ''Historia contemporánea de Chile III. La economía: mercados empresarios y trabajadores.''
LOM Ediciones LOM Ediciones («Lom», means in yaghan language: «sun») is a Chilean press based in Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It ...
. . * Villalobos, Sergio; Silva, Osvaldo; Silva, Fernando; Estelle, Patricio (1974). ''Historia De Chile'' (14th ed.).
Editorial Universitaria Editorial Universitaria is Chilean university press based in Santiago. It was established in 1947 with funds from private people and from the University of Chile. During its existence, it has published the works of generations influential Chilean sc ...
. . * *Otero, Luis (2006). ''La huella del fuego: Historia de los bosques nativos. Poblamiento y cambios en el paisaje del sur de Chile''. Pehuén Editores. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Destruction Of The Seven Cities Arauco War Battles of the Arauco War 1590s in the Captaincy General of Chile 1600s in the Captaincy General of Chile Huilliche history Indigenous rebellions against the Spanish Empire Populated places destroyed during wars