The Governorate of Maynas (), also known as the Province of Maynas (), was one of the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

s established at the eastern part of the

Real 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 ...

during the 17th century, first as part of the

Viceroyalty of Peru The Viceroyalty of Peru (), officially known as the Kingdom of Peru (), was a Monarchy of Spain, Spanish imperial provincial administrative district, created in 1542, that originally contained modern-day Peru and most of the Spanish Empire in ...

and later as part of the

Viceroyalty of New Granada The Viceroyalty of the New Kingdom of Granada ( ), also called Viceroyalty of New Granada or Viceroyalty of Santa Fe, was the name given on 27 May 1717 to the jurisdiction of the Spanish Empire in northern South America, corresponding to modern ...

until its reincorporation to Peru through the ''

real cédula The ''real cédula'' (;Vda. de Don Joaquin Ibarra ), also called a ''real despacho'' (), was, in Spanish law during the ''ancien régime'', a dispatch from the king of Spain, issued by some council or superior court at the request of the king or ...

'' of July 15, 1802, as the

General Command of Maynas The General Command of Maynas was a governorate and general command of the Spanish Empire that existed from 1802 to 1822. It replaced the governorates of Quijos and Maynas, excluding the latter's village of Papallacta. History The territory w ...

History

The first governor of Maynas was , who in 1619 obtained the authorization and assistance necessary for the formation of a new government from the

. On December 9, 1619, the act of founding the city of San Francisco de Borja was signed; In 1634 the foundation was completed and the city council, councilors and other officials were elected. He divided the Maynas Nation into 24 ''

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 ...

s''. In 1637, the governor of Maynas, Vaca de la Cadena, obtained the first

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

from Quito. The priests Cuxia and Cueva were appointed by provision of the Audiencia of Quito, after consultation with the

bishop of Quito The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Quito is the Catholic archdiocese in the capital city of Ecuador, Quito. It was established as the Diocese of Quito on 8 January 1545, before being elevated to archdiocese level on January 13, 1848 b ...

, as the founders of the

Mainas missions The Mainas (or Maynas) missions refers to a large number of small missions the Jesuits established in the western Amazon region of South America from 1638 until 1767, when the Jesuits were expelled from Latin America. Following the Jesuit expu ...

with the Curato de Borja as a stopover, where they arrived on February 6, 1638. The Jesuits of Quito began the missions in the governorate and then spread along the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

and

Ucayali The Ucayali River (, ) is the main headstream of the Amazon River. It rises about north of Lake Titicaca, in the Arequipa region of Peru and becomes the Amazon at the confluence of the Marañón close to Nauta city. The city of Pucallpa is lo ...

rivers. In 1656, the governorate, dependent on the Audiencia of Quito, was to include the city of San Francisco de Borja and all the provinces, nations and rivers, where the so-called Quito Jesuits, were founding the missions. By this decision, the governorate included the

Ucayali River The Ucayali River (, ) is the main headstream of the Amazon River. It rises about north of Lake Titicaca, in the Arequipa region of Peru and becomes the Amazon at the confluence of the Marañón river, Marañón close to Nauta city. The city of ...

in a general and indefinite manner, because since previous years the Jesuits had spread along the Ucayali River to the high grasslands whose possession was ratified by King Charles II, according to the ''

'' of 1689, which declares: Based on the conformity of the facts of the conquest of the missionaries of Quito, the governorate extended over the

to the area occupied by the nations of the Campas (or Cambas) Indians, that is, bathed by the Paucartambo, Santa Anna, Urubamba, Apurimac and Jauja, that is, up to the boundaries of the

Real Audiencia of Charcas The Real Audiencia of Charcas () was a Spanish '' audiencia'' with its seat in what is today Bolivia. It was established in 1559 in Ciudad de la Plata de Nuevo Toledo (later Charcas, modern-day Sucre) and had jurisdiction over the Governorate o ...

, today

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

. The viceroy of Peru not only did not provide help to the Jesuits but was their greatest opponent, so much so that the King of Spain Charles II intervened through the Royal Decree of 1689 in defense of the rights of the Jesuits of Quito and the Presidency of Quito. In 1685 Father

Samuel Fritz Samuel Fritz Society of Jesus, SJ (9 April 1654 – 20 March 1725, 1728 or 1730) was a Bohemian Jesuit missionary, noted for his exploration of the Amazon River and its Amazon basin, basin. He spent most of his life preaching to Indigenous pe ...

, who was one of the Quito Jesuits of German origin, had spread throughout the

to near the mouths of the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

; but he was stripped of his Great Omagua Missions by the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

. In 1698 Father Richter and the clergyman Bárgez were martyred. In the context of the difficulties in sending religious to the Marañón and the pressures to repatriate them to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, the decision was made to intervene from the Court of

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. A Father Procurator was in charge of recruiting people, providing them with resources and faculties. Despite the adversities, in September 1684, Father Manuel Rodríguez assigned seven Jesuits to Quito, among whom Juan Gastel of

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and Enrique Richter of

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

stood out. His mission in Marañón, starting in August 1685, focused on carrying out missionary conquests that surpassed the previous ones. The Jesuits faced challenging conditions, such as isolation, the

tropical climate Tropical climate is the first of the five major climate groups in the Köppen climate classification identified with the letter A. Tropical climates are defined by a monthly average temperature of or higher in the coolest month, featuring hot te ...

, and hostility from the local population. Juan Gastel was sent to Borja, Samuel Fritz to the Omaguas mission in the Amazon, and Enrique Richter to the Alto Ucayali Reductions. The Jesuit missions in Maynas, at the end of the 17th century and beginning of the 18th century, housed more than a thousand people, but climatic difficulties, diseases, isolation and the hostility of the indigenous people hindered their development, despite the efforts of the missionaries from Quito, Cuenca and Loja. Comparatively, these Amazonian missions faced greater challenges compared to the

Jesuit missions among the Guaraní The Jesuit missions among the Guaraní were a type of settlement for the Guaraní people ("Indians" or "Indios") in an area straddling the borders of present-day Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay (the Triple Frontier, triple frontier). The missions ...

, whose populations ranged between 36,000 and 141,000 people between 1643 and 1732, respectively. On December 12, 1744, upon the death of the governor of Toledo, the Jesuits obtained from the Presidency of Quito the suppression of the Maynas governorate. A senior justice, Francisco Matías de Rioja, was chosen for Borja. This provision was approved by the

viceroy of New Granada Spanish viceroys of the colonial Viceroyalty of New Granada (1717–1819) located in northern South America. Introduction The former territory within the Viceroyalty of New Granada corresponds to present day Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Ven ...

on November 28, 1746, and by 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 ...

in 1748. In 1745 a Royal Provision ordered: "that the jurisdiction of the

Napo River The Napo River () is a tributary to the Amazon River that rises in Ecuador on the flanks of the east Andean volcanoes of Antisana, Sincholagua and Cotopaxi. The total length is . The river drains an area of ca 103,000 km2. The mean annual dis ...

be added to the Government of Quijos" that is, reincorporate to Quijos the territory of lower Napo that belonged to it through a ''cédula''. On May 1, 1754, according to Basabé's Report, Maynas was only a possession and the territory of Bajo Napo was reincorporated into the Government of Quijos. The Royal Decree of September 2, 1772 provided: It is known that as a consequence of the

Esquilache Riots The Esquilache Riots () occurred in March 1766 during the rule of Charles III of Spain. They were directly sparked by a series of measures by Leopoldo de Gregorio, Marqués de Esquilache aiming to diminish the use of traditional apparel that ...

, it was decided to expel the Jesuits, something that affected the missions that were deployed in this governorate. Regarding the expulsion, there is testimony about the journey and the adventures that the Jesuits had to endure towards Europe, especially those who were in the missions, such as that documented through a letter from missionary Javier Crespo to Spanish functionary . As a consequence of this, in 1773 the king of Spain appointed Juan Francisco Goméz de Arce governor of Maynas. On February 15, 1779, the Council studied the project of erecting "an episcopal village in the City of

Huánuco Huánuco (; ) is a city in central Peru. It had a population of 196,627 as of 2017 and in 2015 it had a population of 175,068. It is the capital of the Huánuco Region and the Huánuco District. It is the seat of the diocese of Huánuco. The met ...

", "whose jurisdiction would embrace the entire border of those mountains of Tarma de Cajamarquilla...; it was resolved to consult if it was not of the case to be established "by placing a Bishop who has residence in the City of Borja ..report whatever is offered and appears." The

Royal Decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, royal figure, or other relevant authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislative laws, or customary l ...

of July 12, 1790 ordered the Maynas Missions to be handed over to the Franciscans of Quito. On March 24, 1794, Calvo's appointment clearly and explicitly distinguished the military government from the political government. In 1802 by Royal Decree, the governorate of Maynas was segregated from the Viceroyalty of New Granada and formed an integral part of the

with which, after the

Peruvian War of Independence The Peruvian War of Independence () was a series of military conflicts in Peru from 1809 to 1826 that resulted in the country's independence from the Spanish Empire. Part of the broader Spanish American wars of independence, it led to the dis ...

, it became part of the territory of the

Protectorate of Peru A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over most of its int ...

and its subsequent republic, being the focus of a longstanding dispute between the governments of Peru and

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

until the signing of the

Brasilia Presidential Act The Brasilia Presidential Act (, ), also known as the Fujimori–Mahuad Treaty (), is an international treaty signed in Brasília by the then President of Ecuador, Jamil Mahuad and then President of Peru, Alberto Fujimori, which effectively put a ...

in 1998.

List of governors

The following is a list of governors (''gobernadores'') since 1715: *1716: Luis de Itúrbide *1736: Juan Antonio de Toledo *1768: Joseph Antonio de Larrazabal *1765: Antonio de la Peña *1773: Juan Francisco Gómez de Arce *1778: Ramón García de León y Pizarro *1784: Francisco de Requena *1793: Juan Tomás de Córdova *1794: Diego Calvo *1809: Antonio Rafael Alvarez *1812: Tomás Costa Romero *1814: José Noriega *1819: José Rafael Caraveo

References

{{coord missing, Peru Governorates of the Spanish Empire Ecuador–Peru relations Subdivisions of the Viceroyalty of Peru

History

List of governors

See also

References