CABALLERO Y GÓNGORA, ANTONIO

Spanish archbishop of Bogotá and viceroy of New Granada; b. Priego, Córdoba, 1723; d. there, March, 1796. He studied at the University of Granada. After ordination he was canon of Córdoba. He was consecrated bishop of Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico, in 1775. When transferred to Bogotá in 1778, he brought several young men from Yucatán with him to be educated there. He brought also his very rich library and a number of works of art, including paintings by Rubens and Murillo. During his archiepiscopate the insurrection of the Comuneros occurred (1781). The insurgents resolved to march to the capital to demand their objectives, almost all of which were of an economic nature (the repeal or reduction of certain taxes). Bogotá was defenseless. The archbishop arranged for both sides to sign capitulations that provided that the insurgents would disband and return to their homes. The viceroy, who was in Cartagena, failed to observe the terms and ordered the capture of some of the leaders who had been offered guarantees. The archbishop has been accused for not protesting these actions. Some have seen this as a betrayal on his part. However, as a Spaniard who had sworn fidelity to the king, he was acting in accordance with his principles. When Viceroy Torrezar Diaz Pimiento died, the archbishop was placed in charge of the viceroyalty. His zeal for science was responsible for the establishment of a botanical expedition, a scientific commission, headed by the priest José Celestino Mutis, that studied the flora of New Granada. About 1784 the viceroy moved his residence to Cartagena to defend the city from attack and from British armies. At that time he requested from the Holy See an auxiliary bishop to whom he entrusted the ecclesiastical administration. An earthquake occurred in 1785, and he gave generously of his own funds for the reconstruction of the churches. About 1787 he resigned from the see and the office of viceroy. Appointed bishop of Córdoba, he left South America in 1789.

Bibliography: j. m. pÉrez ayala, Antonio Caballero y Góngora (Bogotá 1951). p. e. cÁrdenas acosta, Los Comuneros (Bogotá 1945). g. arciniegas, Los Comuneros (new ed. Santiago 1960).

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