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Viceroy

Representative of a monarch

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The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in place of" and the Anglo-Norman roy (Old French roi, roy), meaning "king". This denotes the position as one who acts on behalf of a king or monarch ("in place of king"). A viceroy's territory may be called a viceroyalty, though this term is not always applied. The adjectival form is viceregal, less often viceroyal. The term vicereine is sometimes used to indicate a female viceroy suo jure, although viceroy can serve as a gender-neutral term. Vicereine is more commonly used to indicate a viceroy's wife, known as the viceregal consort.

The term has occasionally been applied to the governors-general of the Commonwealth realms, who are viceregal representatives of the monarch.

The position of a viceroy is by royal appointment rather than a noble rank. An individual viceroy often also held a separate noble title, such as Bernardo de Gálvez, 1st Viscount of Galveston, who was also Viceroy of New Spain.

Spanish Empire

The title was originally used only in Catalonia by the House of Barcelona, and was applied later to the Crown of Aragon, referring at the beginning of the 14th century to the governors of Sardinia and Corsica. At the end of the 15th century, Christopher Columbus explicitly required to the kings of Spain to be appointed viceroy of the lands he might discover, this being formulated in the Capitulations. Later in the 16th Century numerous viceroys ruled over various parts of the increasingly vast Spanish Empire, which reached Europe, the Americas, and overseas elsewhere.

In Spanish ruled Europe

In Europe, until the 18th century, the Habsburg crown appointed viceroys of Catalonia, Aragon, Valencia, Navarre, Portugal during the brief period known as the Iberian Union, Sardinia, Sicily, and Naples. With the ascension of the House of Bourbon to the Spanish throne, the historic Aragonese viceroyalties were replaced by new captaincies general. At the end of War of the Spanish Succession, the Spanish monarchy was shorn of its Italian possessions. These Italian territories, however, continued to have viceroys under their new rulers for some time; Naples until 1734, Sicily until 1816 and Sardinia until 1848.

See also:
  • List of viceroys of Aragon
  • List of viceroys of Valencia
  • List of viceroys of Catalonia
  • List of viceroys of Navarre
  • List of viceroys of Sardinia
  • List of viceroys of Sicily
  • List of viceroys of Naples

In the Americas

Much of the Americas were incorporated into the Crown of Castile. With the Spanish colonization of the Americas, the institution of viceroys was adapted to govern the highly populated and wealthy regions of the north overseas: New Spain (Mexico) and the south overseas: Peru and South America. The viceroys of these two areas had oversight of the other provinces, with most North American, Central American, Caribbean and East Indies areas supervised by the viceroy in Mexico City and the South American areas by the viceroy in Lima, (excepting most of today's Venezuela, which was overseen by the high court, or Audiencia of Santo Domingo on the island of Hispaniola for most of the colonial period). These large administrative territories became known as viceroyalties (Spanish term: virreinatos). There were only two New World viceroyalties until the 18th century, when the new Bourbon dynasty established two additional viceroyalties to promote economic growth and new settlements on South America. New viceroyalties were created for New Granada in 1717 (capital, Bogotá) and the Río de la Plata in 1776 (capital, Buenos Aires).

The viceroyalties of the Spanish Americas and the Spanish East Indies were subdivided into smaller, autonomous units, the audiencias (tribunal with the authority to judge), and the captaincies general (military districts), which in most cases became the bases for the independent countries of modern Hispanic America. These units gathered the local provinces which could be governed by either a crown official, a corregidor (sometimes alcalde mayor) or by a cabildo or town council. Audiencias primarily functioned as superior judicial tribunals, but unlike their European counterparts, the New World audiencias were granted by law, both administrative and legislative powers. Captaincies general were primarily military districts set up in areas with a risk of foreign or Indian attack, although the captains general were usually given political powers over the provinces under their command. Because the long distances to the viceregal capital would hamper effective communication, both audiencias and captains general were authorized to communicate directly with the crown through the Council of the Indies. The Bourbon Reforms introduced the new office of the intendant, which was appointed directly by the crown and had broad fiscal and administrative powers in political and military issues.

The most important institution of the Spanish administration in the Indies was the viceroyalty. Although it was not an institution in itself—the principal administrative body being the Royal Audiencia—it concentrated most of the royal authority. The viceroy was the king's alter ego, enjoying extensive civil and ecclesiastical privileges until the reforms of Charles III, which reduced the powers of the viceroys by creating the office of Regent of the Royal Audiencia, who thereafter presided over the Audiencia.

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