captain general

▪ Spanish history

Spanish  Capitán General,  

      in colonial Spanish America, the governor of a captaincy general, a division of a viceroyalty. Captaincies general were established districts that were under serious pressures from foreign invasion or Indian attack. Although under the nominal jurisdiction of their viceroys, captains general, because of their special military responsibilities and the considerable distance of their territories from the viceregal capital, became virtual viceroys, having a direct relationship with the king and the Council of the Indies, in Madrid.

      Like the heads of other major divisions of a viceroyalty, captains general presided over the regional audiencia (court and administrative board) but generally did not participate in its strictly judicial functions unless they were trained in the law.

      The first captaincy general created was Santo Domingo (1540), which included the coast of Venezuela. The second, Guatemala (1560), had jurisdiction over Central America; shortly thereafter, New Granada was formed, roughly comprising the modern nations of Colombia and Ecuador; Venezuela was added to New Granada in 1739, when it was made a viceroyalty. In the colonial reorganization of the 18th century, when the independence of captaincies general from viceregal jurisdiction was even more accentuated, three additional ones were created: Cuba (1764; including the Louisiana Territory acquired from France in 1763), Venezuela (1777), and Chile (1778).

      A somewhat similar captaincy system was also adopted by the Portuguese in their colonial possessions, especially Brazil, where the recipient of a captaincy was initially called a donatário.

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