Jorge de Villalonga, segundo conde de la Cueva (born 1664) was a Spanish lawyer, general and the first official viceroy of

New Granada New Granada may refer to various former national denominations for the present-day country of Colombia: *New Kingdom of Granada, from 1538 to 1717 *Viceroyalty of New Granada, from 1717 to 1810, re-established from 1816 to 1822 *United Provinces of ...

, from November 25, 1719 to May 11, 1724.

Biography

Villalonga was a knight of the

Sovereign Military Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic lay religious ...

. In the army, he rose to the rank of lieutenant general. He was a member of the council of war and a solicitor in the

Kingdom of Majorca The Kingdom of Majorca (, ; ; ; ) was an insular realm off the east coast of modern day Spain, which included the islands of Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The islands were conquered from the Almohad Caliphate by James I of Aragon, ...

. In Madrid, he married his niece Catalina María de Villalonga y de Velasco, daughter of his brother Francisco. In 1708 he was placed in charge of the port and presidio of

Callao Callao () is a Peruvian seaside city and Regions of Peru, region on the Pacific Ocean in the Lima metropolitan area. Callao is Peru's chief seaport and home to its main airport, Jorge Chávez International Airport. Callao municipality consists ...

, Peru. On December 15, 1718 while he was serving as head of the army in Peru, he received the news that he had been named the first official viceroy of the recently created Viceroyalty of New Granada. The new colony included the present-day countries of Venezuela, Colombia, Panama and Ecuador. Until May 27, 1717, this territory had been 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 ...

. Villalonga made a long overland trip to take up his new post, stopping on the way in

Quito Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, P ...

and

Popayán Popayán () is the capital of the Colombian department of Cauca. It is located in the Pubenza Valley in southwestern Colombia between the Western Mountain Range and Central Mountain Range. The municipality has a population of 318,059, an a ...

. On December 17, 1718, he made a great impression on the inhabitants of Santa Fe de

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

by the great pomp of his formal entrance into the capital. His lifestyle thereafter continued to contrast greatly with the poverty of most of the inhabitants of the city. The viceroy had specific orders to clean up the disorder and corruption rampant among the royal officials of the colony. In 1722 he brought charges against the accountant Domingo de Mena. Nevertheless, his administration was known for its arbitrariness and corruption. Villalonga's instructions also specified that he was to prevent the development of wine-making and textile industries in the colony, in order to protect the Spanish industries from the competition. In November 1720, Spanish forces attacked the long-time Dutch settlement in

Tucacas Tucacas is a northern coastal town of Venezuela. It is located in the state of Falcón. Geography Tucacas is surrounded by two rivers making access from the interior of Venezuela difficult. It is at an elevation of 1m. History In 1693 a large ...

, on the coast of what is now Venezuela. This was a center of the contraband trade. It was largely destroyed by the Spanish, including a synagogue that was located there. In 1721, following orders from the cabinet in Madrid, Villalonga expelled all foreigners, both residents and temporary visitors, not excluding men married to women born in the colony. He took direct control of the treasury. He improved the civil registry and aided in the foundation of the Jesuit college in the city of

Santa Fe de Antioquia Santa Fe de Antioquia is a municipality in the Antioquia Department, Colombia. The city is located approximately north of Medellín, the department capital. The population was 23,216 at the 2018 census. History Founded in 1541 by Jorge Robled ...

. Viceroy Villalonga sent repeated recommendations to the Crown to abolish the viceroyalty and reestablish the earlier government under Peru, for the sake of economy. He argued that the colony was too poor to support viceregal government, there being few Spaniards and many Indians within its borders. In September 1723, three years into Villalonga's administration, the King

Philip V Philip V may refer to: * Philip V of Macedon (221–179 BC) * Philip V of France (1293–1322) * Philip II of Spain, also Philip V, Duke of Burgundy (1526–1598) * Philip V of Spain Philip V (; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was List of Sp ...

issued the order to do that. The reunification took effect on May 11, 1724. Villalonga left Bogotá on May 31 of that year. The two colonies remained reunited until 1740, when the Viceroyalty of New Granada was established once again, this time permanently.

External links

Short biography from EncartaArchived
2009-10-31)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Villalonga, Jorge de 1664 births Year of death missing Viceroys of New Granada Spanish generals