Don Manuel de Oms y Santa Pau, 1st Marquess of Castelldosrius, Grandee of Spain (sometimes ''marqués de Castell dos Rius'') (1651 – 24 April 1710) was a Spanish diplomat, man of letters, and colonial official. From July 7, 1707 to April 22, 1710, he was viceroy of

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

Before becoming viceroy

Manuel de Oms y de Santa Pau was born in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

and belonged to a noble family of

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

. He was governor of

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from 1677 and ambassador to Portugal from 1681. In 1698, Charles II, the last

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

king of Spain, named him ambassador to the court of

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

in Paris. Oms was a francophile who favored the Bourbons in the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

. During the war, he took the part of the Duke of Anjou, the future

Philip V of Spain Philip V (; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was List of Spanish monarchs, King of Spain from 1 November 1700 to 14 January 1724 and again from 6 September 1724 to his death in 1746. His total reign (45 years and 16 days) is the longest in the ...

. He it was who informed the French king that Charles had named the Duke of Anjou as his heir, with the words ''Señor, desde este momento no hay Pirineos'' ("Lord, from this moment there are no more Pyrenees."). Charles II granted him the title of Marquess of Castelldosrius in 1696, and a Grandeeship, which was later attached to the title. As a reward for his support, the Philip V named him viceroy of Peru in 1704, although he did not occupy the post until 1707.

As viceroy of Peru

He took up his position as viceroy on July 7, 1707. He was able to send back an enormous sum of money (1,600,000 pesos) to the king to cover some of the costs of the war. This was possible in part because of the discovery of the mines in Caraboya. The collection of the money caused many protests, especially among the merchants, who brought suit against the viceroy many times in the ''Tribunal del Consulado''. The merchants also opposed his opening of the port 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 ...

to French shipping. To this problem were added others: the increase in French contraband and the English attacks on the coast, especially those of Charles Wager and Thomas Colb in 1708 and those of

Woodes Rogers Woodes Rogers ( – 15 July 1732) was an English sea captain, privateer and colonial administrator who served as the List of governors of the Bahamas, governor of the Bahamas from 1718 to 1721 and again from 1728 to 1732. He is remembered ...

between 1709 and 1711. To deal with the attacks, the viceroy tried to form a navy, recruiting men by means of a levy. In 1709 he was accused of embezzlement and dealing in contraband. French merchandise had saturated the market, but most of it was landed at Pisco without duty being paid. (Pisco was a small port about 200 km south of Lima.) Members of the viceroy's family were apparently involved in the contraband. He was nearly stripped of his office, but the favor of the king and the large amounts of money he was remitting to Spain worked in his favor. His property in Catalonia was, however, confiscated, but was returned to his heirs in 1714. He did reach an agreement with the merchants, whereby in return for their financial help he would expel the French from the viceroyalty. This was not a success, because the treasure ships he sent back from Panama to Spain thereby lost the protection of the French and were vulnerable to the English established in

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Culture

He was an educated and cultured man, and a man of letters. He translated the hymns of

Saint Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest, the foremost Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the Western tradition. A Doctor of the Church, he wa ...

and wrote the dramas ''El Mejor Escudo de Perseo'' and ''Triunfos del Amor y del Poder'' and the comic sketch ''A cantar un villancico''. He founded a literary academy on September 23, 1709 and promoted weekly literary discussions in the palace that attracted some of Lima's best writers. These included the famous

Criollo Criollo or criolla (Spanish for creole) may refer to: People * Criollo people, a social class in the Spanish colonial system. Animals * Criollo duck, a species of duck native to Central and South America. * Criollo cattle, a group of cattle bre ...

scholar Pedro Peralta y Barnuevo. He was the patron of several Indigenous poets. He introduced French and Italian fashions in the viceroyalty and composed some musical work. The Italian musician Rocco Cerruti (1688–1760) had arrived in Peru with the viceroy.

Death

Manuel de Oms y de Santa Pau died of illness in Lima on April 24, 1710. His heart was returned to Spain, and his body was entombed in San Francisco (Lima). Miguel Núñez de Sanabria, president of the '' Audiencia'' of Lima took over governmental functions on an interim basis.

References

External links

Manuel de Oms y de Santa Pau, marqués de Castelldosrius
2009-11-01) at MSN Encarta

The Hispanic Society of America - where his papers are archived
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oms y de Santa Pau, Manuel de 1651 births 1710 deaths Marquesses of Spain Viceroys of Peru Grandees of Spain Ambassadors of Spain to France