New Kingdom of Granada

History

European colonization

Main article: Spanish conquest of the Muisca

In 1514, the Spanish first permanently settled in the area. With Santa Marta (founded on July 29, 1525, by the Spanish conquistador Rodrigo de Bastidas) and Cartagena (1533), Spanish control of the coast was established, and the extension of colonial control into the interior could begin. Starting in 1536, the conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada explored the extensive highlands of the interior of the region by following the Magdalena River into the Andean cordillera. There his force defeated the powerful Muisca and founded the city of Santa Fe de Bogotá, naming the region El nuevo reino de Granada, "the new kingdom of Granada", in honor of the last part of Spain to be recaptured from the Moors, home to the brothers de Quesada. After Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada left for Spain in May 1539, the reign of the colony was transferred to his brother Hernán. De Quesada, however, lost control of the province when Emperor Charles V granted the right to rule over the area to rival conquistador Sebastián de Belalcázar in 1540, who had entered the region from what is today Ecuador, and named himself governor of Popayán.

Regularization of the government

Charles V ordered the establishment of an audiencia, a type of superior court that combined executive and judicial authority, at Santa Fe de Bogotá in 1549.

Demographics

In 1650, the population of the New Kingdom of Granada (including the Province of Popayán) was estimated to be around 750,000, with Indians numbering 600,000 people, or 80% of the population. This is far lower than the Pre-Columbian population in which the population was estimated at 6,000,000 people.

List of governors

Real Audiencia

The Real Audiencia was created by a royal decree of July 17, 1549. It was given authority over the provinces of Santa Marta, Río de San Juan, Popayán, Guayana and Cartagena de Indias. The Audiencia was charged primarily with dispensing justice, but it was also to oversee the running of government and the settlement of the territory. It held its first session on April 7, 1550, in a mansion on the Plaza Mayor (today, Plaza de Bolívar) at the site which today houses the Colombian Palace of Justice.

Law VIII ("Royal Audiencia and Chancery of Santa Fe in the New Kingdom of Granada") of Title XV ("Of the Royal Audiencias and Chanceries of the Indies") of Book II of the Recopilación de Leyes de las Indias of 1680—which compiles the decrees of July 17, 1549; May 10, 1554; and August 1, 1572—describes the final limits and functions of the Audiencia.

One further change came as part of the Bourbon Reforms of the eighteenth century. Because of the slowness in communications between Lima and Bogotá, the Bourbons decided to establish an independent Viceroyalty of New Granada in 1717 (which was re-established in 1739 after a short interruption). The governor-president of Bogotá became the viceroy of the new entity, with military and executive oversight over the neighboring Presidency of Quito and the provinces of Venezuela.

Administrative divisions

The Kingdom of New Granada was made up of the various Spanish colonial provinces that were administered under the authority of the Real Audiencia of Santa Fe de Bogotá. Some of those provinces are listed in the following table:

References

• The Educated Vassal in the State of the New Kingdom of Granada, and His Respective Duties — written 1789.

References

1. Rosenblat, 1954: 59
2. (1995). "The conquerors of the New Kingdom of Granada". University of New Mexico Press.
3. "The New Kingdom of Granada and Spanish Colonialism".
4. Rosenblat, 1954: 59
5. "Caída de la población indígena en Colombia, 1500-1630: tres escenarios". [[Bank of the Republic (Colombia).
6. "New Kingdom of Granada".
7. Spain. (1680). "Recopilación de las Leyes de Indias. Titulo Quince. De las Audiencias y Chancillerias Reales de las Indias". Madrid.
8. Kessler, P. L.. "American Colonies - New Granada".