FRANCISCO DE TOLEDO: BIOGRAPHY AND WORKS - HISTORY - 2025

Francisco de Toledo (1515 - 1582) was a Spanish aristocrat and soldier known for having been the fifth viceroy of Peru, from 1569 to 1581. He was one of the most talented and energetic administrators of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. Although he did a series of works on behalf of the American peoples, he was controversial for some of his inhumane actions against the Indians.

On the other hand, he enacted administrative reforms that changed the relationship between the Spanish government and the indigenous people. With its policies of so-called “reductions”, Toledo concentrated on relocating a large part of the indigenous population of Peru to areas where they had better living conditions.

Unidentified painter, via Wikimedia Commons

Francisco de Toledo was known for being a supreme organizer of the immense viceroyalty; It managed to grant it an adequate legal structure and, in addition, it strengthened the important institutions of the Spanish colony that operated for 200 years.

In addition, he was known for ending the life of the last Inca of Vilcabamba, known by the name of Túpac Amaru.

Biography

Early life

Francisco de Toledo was born on July 15, 1515 in Oropesa, Spain, under the name of Francisco Álvarez de Toledo y Figueroa. He was a descendant of an illustrious and noble family, known as "Álvarez de Toledo", which was related to both the Dukes of Alba and the royal family of Spain.

When his mother died, his aunts Mary and Elizabeth were responsible for his education. He was the fourth and last son of Francisco Álvarez de Toledo y Pacheco, II Count of Oropesa, and María Figueroa y Toledo.

At the age of 8 he moved to the court of King Carlos I of Spain and became the monarch's favorite assistant. Thanks to this, Toledo acquired a great knowledge of imperial affairs: he learned Latin, history, rhetoric, theology, and polite manners.

Carlos I also acted as emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, with the title of Carlos V. Toledo carried out various military actions for the Holy Empire under the orders of the monarch and emperor.

Toledo's work with King Carlos I of Spain

In 1530, when Toledo turned 15 years old, King Carlos I accepted him into his home. He accompanied him until the last moments of the monarch's life.

The relationship between Toledo and Carlos I was characterized by being a prudent policy, supported by Machiavellianism and the tendency to seek a balance between the two. This served as a reference for the government work of Toledo.

For that reason, in 1535 at 23, he was entrusted with the title of knight of the Order of Alcántara; a religious and military order.

The first military action by Toledo was the conquest of Tunis for the Holy Empire, in the year 1535. Such action ended in the triumph of the imperial troops over the Ottoman Turks.

Toledo accompanied the king on a tour of Europe, in which Carlos challenged Francisco I of France and unleashed a war with that country between 1536 and 1537.

Later, Toledo continued to serve in the imperial arms and participated in the boards and councils.

After the turbulent attack by the Ottoman Turks, Protestantism took place in Germany (a region in imperial orbit) and precisely around that time Toledo supported the actions of the King and Emperor Charles.

Last years with King Carlos I of Spain

Toledo managed to deal with issues in Hispanic America related to the legal status that Indians should have.

He was in Valladolid when the friar Bartolomé de las Casas presented to the board of theologians the text of A Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies and learned of the wording of the New Laws of the Indies that caused a stir in Peru.

In 1543, Toledo left Barcelona to move with Emperor Charles V to Italy and Germany during one of the wars against France, participating in the battles of Gelderland and Düren.

The abdication of Carlos I took place in the year 1556, so Toledo and the former monarch traveled to Spain on their way to the Yuste Monastery; however, he entered the castle of Jarandilla de la Vera. Both were welcomed by the IV Count of Oropesa, Fernando Álvarez de Toledo and Figueroa (nephew of Francisco de Toledo).

The stay in the castle of Jarandilla lasted a few months, while the works of the Yuste Monastery, the final resting place of Carlos I, were completed. Both Toledo and his nephew served until his death in 1558.

Between 1558 and 1565 he remained in Rome, where he participated in the Statutes of the Order as Attorney General.

Appointment and travel through the Americas

Toledo was appointed viceroy by Felipe II after serving as administrator in the Royal Court in 1569. Although he inherited a chaotic situation in Peru, he conceived an ambitious program in the country. On May 8 of that same year, Toledo finally landed in the Americas, specifically in Cartagena de Indias.

The Viceroyalty of Peru was the second of the four viceroyalties that Spain created to govern its dominions in the Americas. The viceroyalty initially included all of South America, except for the coast of what is now Venezuela.

After disembarking in Cartagena, he expelled a group of French. He also carried out other social works for the benefit of the people, such as the construction of a special hospital for sick sailors.

When he landed in Panama, he ordered the construction of roads and counteracted other problems in the region.

Finally, on November 30, 1569, he arrived in Peru for the installation of the viceregal government. He stayed in Lima for a year with the intention of overcoming the adversities that he encountered when he arrived in the region, among them the disregard of the regulations of the authorities and the different rebellions between the Spanish, Indians and Creoles.

Role as Viceroy

During his time in Lima, Toledo devoted himself to regularizing the kingdom's political, civil, and ecclesiastical institutions. He appointed new municipal officials for villages that had long lacked.

Among others, he established boundaries between judicial districts and supervised the establishment of the Inquisition in Peru with the purpose of expanding the true knowledge of God, as well as protecting Catholic beliefs from so-called false doctrines.

Toledo's desire to learn about the viceroyalty situations led him from Lima on an extensive inspection visit at the end of the year 1570. The journey lasted a total of five years and it is estimated that he managed to cover approximately 8,800 kilometers.

One of the central issues that the viceroy dealt with on the inspection trip and, indeed, during his long stay in Peru, was the production of precious metals, particularly silver; production that came to lead in the world.

Toledo was able to introduce a new method of smelting silver ore in order to increase its production with the application of an amalgamation process, which involved the use of mercury.

Execution of Túpac Amaru

The execution of the Inca Túpac Amaru was carried out in the year 1571, according to historical records of the time. His execution was carried out for allegedly murdering a group of priests in Vilcabamba, Ecuador.

The execution of Túpac Amaru was one of the few actions that left an unfavorable image of Toledo. Many witnesses affirmed the innocence of Túpac Amaru and, in fact, many pleaded with the viceroy to be tried in Spain before making such a decision.

Otherwise, other people claimed that Túpac Amaru had started the rebellion and that Toledo tried by peaceful means to resolve the differences.

Last years of his government and death

After several refusals by Toledo to hand over the position of viceroy, King Felipe II decided to remove him from his position to be replaced by Martín Enríquez de Almansa.

The clashes with the Church, with civilians, added to his poor health were the reasons why they asked him several times to give up.

Toledo remained in office until the arrival of the new viceroy; however, he left Lima for Spain before the viceroy arrived. Toledo left early to prevent the charges against him from being read, caused by his actions during his tenure as viceroy.

When he finally arrived in Europe, he appeared before King Felipe II, who did not give him the recognition that Toledo expected; The king demanded his decision to end the life of the rebellious Inca as well as the persecution of his family.

Toledo was blamed for not returning taxes to Spain, in addition to having some inconsistency in viceregal books; for this reason, he was transferred to Spain in 1581 to be imprisoned. On April 21, 1582, Francisco de Toledo died of natural causes.

Works in your government

Religion and education

At that time, the Church was powerful and strongly associated with the civil government. Toledo worked hard to improve the condition of the secular and regular clergy, who were in a state of decline when they arrived in Peru.

Among the measures he took, the expansion to religious education stands out, in addition to punishing the immoral behavior of the clergy and enforcing office duties.

The improvement and promotion of education in the viceroyalty were the main concerns of Toledo. The university consisted of a simple secondary school run by the Dominican Order.

In this sense, Toledo withdrew the school from the control of the Order, reorganized its courses, made donations to benefit the university, and elected new members. Such actions laid the foundations of the fame of the University of San Marcos, starting in 1570.

Ordinances

During the viceroyalty of Toledo, he promulgated the so-called "Toledo Ordinances" for the benefit of the colonial government. The ordinances consisted of a compendium of legal regulations, which explained that the viceroy should be the owner of absolute power and representative of the King of Spain.

Such ordinances, drawn up by professional jurists of the time, regulated all the legal aspects of the viceroyalty: the administrations of justice, agricultural and mining work, taxes, town councils and a series of measures that the viceroy had to comply with.

The executions of these ordinances were extremely thorough; they were applied for 200 years. In fact, its ordinances gave it the qualification of "viceregal solón".

Works of public interest

During his stay as viceroy, he was immersed in many public works constructions such as bridges, hydraulic works, roads, as well as the construction and repairs of buildings. The cities became a subject of interest to Toledo.

Mining situation

One of the central issues Toledo addressed was that of inspection tours and the boom in the production of precious metals, particularly silver.

To do this, it applied a new amalgam technique in the refinement of silver, which considerably increased the production volume of this mineral in Peru. In a short time, silver production increased fivefold; it went from two hundred thousand pesos a year to one million pesos.

Toledo complied with the claims of the commercial sector and ordered the opening of a house for the smelting of the currency, which is why the so-called "Potosí Mint" was opened. The construction was built in a period of three years.

Demographic ordering

Toledo was in charge of carrying out a demographic arrangement in the cities of Peru, which were based on strategically locating the local indigenous groups.

From this successful demographic arrangement, the Indians were able to settle comfortably in reductions: they enjoyed squares, churches and councils just for themselves.

To achieve this, Toledo created the so-called "Republic of Indians", which had approximately 400 families and public institutions much healthier than the original ones, adapted to their customs, beliefs and indigenous idiosyncrasies.

Before the measure taken by Toledo, the natives were scattered throughout the territory; however, it should facilitate the roles of priests and authorities and adapt them to the new viceroyalty and public policies.

Defense of the Indians

Toledo largely established the rights of the Indian subjects of the Crown against Spanish invasions on their people and other property. In this sense, he punished the mistreatment of the Indians by the Spanish laity.

In addition, he conducted an extensive census of the Indians to determine the numbers available for work and carefully fixed the amount and type of tribute that the Indians had to pay.

References

1. Francisco de Toledo, Wikipedia in English, (nd). Taken from Wikipedia.org
2. Francisco De Toledo, Encyclopedia Website, (nd). Taken from encyclopedia.com
3. Viceroyalty of Peru, Encyclopedia Britannica, (nd). Taken from britannica.com
4. Francisco de Toledo, Biographies and Lives Portal, (nd). Taken from biografiasyvidas.com
5. Francisco de Toledo, Wikipedia in Spanish, (nd). Taken from wikipedia.org