New Kingdom of Granada

Later, the kingdom became the core region of the Viceroyalty of New Granada, first established in 1717, and permanently established in 1739. Before that, New Granada was part of the Viceroyalty of Peru. After its separation from the Viceroyaly of Peru, New Granada became one of the constituent kingdoms within the newly created Viceroyalty of New Granada, which also included at various moments the similarly ranked kingdoms of Quito, Tierra Firme and Venezuela. After several attempts to set up independent states in the 1810s, the kingdom and the viceroyalty ceased to exist altogether around 1819 with the establishment of the first Republic of Colombia.

• Native Name — Nuevo Reino de Granada Nuevo Reyno de Granada • Conventional Long Name — New Kingdom of Granada • Common Name — New Granada • Empire — Spain • Status — * Realm of Castile (15501715) Realm of Spain (17151821) • Official Languages — Spanish • Languages Type — Indigenous languages • Languages — * Chibchan languages • Arawakan languages • Cariban languages • Chocoan languages • Barbacoan languages • Religion — Catholicism • Era — Spanish colonization of the Americas • Year Start — 1550 • Date Start — October 12, • Year End — 1821 • Date End — September 27, • Event1 — Viceroyalty established • Date Event1 — May 27, 1717 • Event3 — Viceroyalty suppressed; kingdom autonomous again • Date Event3 — November 5, 1723 • P1 — Muisca Confederation • P2 — Pijao people • P3 — Tairona • P4 — Paez people • P5 — Quimbaya • P6 — Province of Tierra Firme • P7 — Providence Island colony • S1 — Viceroyalty of New Granada • Symbol Type — Arms of Santa Fe de Bogotá • Capital — Santa Fe de Bogotá • Government Type — * Colonial Province (1538–1550) • Colonial Kingdom (1550–1717) • Colonial Viceroyalty (1717–1723) • Colonial Kingdom (1723–1739) • Colonial Viceroyalty (1739–1810) • Title Leader — King • Leader1 — Kings of Spain • Title Deputy — Viceroy • Deputy1 — Viceroys of New Granada • Stat Year1 — 1650 • Stat Pop1 — 750,000 (Inc. Popayán Province) • Currency — Real • Today — Colombia Panama • Legislature — Council of the Indies

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.

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.

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.

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. In Santa Fé de Bogotá of the New Kingdom of Granada shall reside another Royal Audiencia and Chancery of ours, with a president, governor and captain general; five judges of civil cases [oidores], who shall also be judges of criminal cases [alcaldes del crimen]; a crown attorney [fiscal]; a bailiff [alguacil mayor]; a lieutenant of the Gran Chancellor; and the other necessary ministers and officials, and which will have for district the provinces of the New Kingdom and those of Santa Marta, Río de San Juan, and of Popayán, except those places of the latter which are marked for the Royal Audiencia of Quito; and of Guayana, or El Dorado, it shall have that which is not of the Audienicia of Hispaniola, and all of the Province of Cartagena; sharing borders: on the south with said Audiencia of Quito and the undiscovered lands, on the west and north with the North Sea and the provinces which belong to the Royal Audiencia of Hispaniola, on the west with the one of Tierra Firme. And we order that the Governor and Captain General of said provinces and president of their Royal Audiencia, have, use and exercise by himself the government of all the district of that Audiencia, in the same manner as our Viceroys of New Spain and appoint the repartimiento of Indians and other offices that need to be appointed, and attend to all the matters and business that belong to the government, and that the oidores of said Audiencia do not interfere with this, and that all sign what in matters of justice is provided for, sentenced and carried out. 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.

(The president of the Royal Audiencia of Bogotá was also governor general of the New Kingdom of Granada.) • Vacant between 1550 and 1564 • Andrés Díaz Venero de Leiva (1564–1574) • Francisco Briceño (1574–1575) • Lope Díez de Aux y Armendáriz (1578–1580) • Francisco Guillén Chaparro • Antonio González (1590–1597) • Francisco de Sande (1597–1602) • Juan Buenaventura de Borja y Armendia (1605–1628) • Sancho Girón de Narváez (1630–1637) • Martín de Saavedra Galindo de Guzmán (1637–1645) • Juan Fernández de Córdoba y Coalla (1645–1652) • Dionisio Pérez Manrique de Lara (1654–1659, 1660) • Diego de Egües y Beaumont (1662–1664) • Diego del Corro y Carrascal (1666–1667) • Diego de Villalba y Toledo (1667–1671) • Melchor Liñán y Cisneros (1671–1674) • Francisco Castillo de la Concha y Bracamonte (1679–1685) • Gil de Cabrera y Dávalos (1686–1691, 1694–1703) • Diego Córdoba Lasso de la Vega (1703–1710, 1711–1712) • Francisco de Otero y Cossío (1710–1711) • Francisco Meneses Bravo de Saravia (1712–1715) • Francisco del Rincón (1717–1718) • Antonio de la Pedrosa y Guerrero (1718–1719) • Jorge de Villalonga (1719–1723), also Viceroy of New Granada • Antonio Manso Maldonado (1724–1731) • Rafael de Eslava (1733–1737) • Antonio González Manrique (1738) • Francisco González Manrique (1739–1740)

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: Provinces subject to the Real Audiencia of Santa Fe in New Granada (1550–1821) • Name — Capital — Established — Part of New Granada — Notes • From — To • Flag_of_Cross_of_Burgundy.svg Antioquia — Antioquia — Became part of New Granada after its foundation in 1569. It became autonomous in 1810 and was briefly reincorporated into New Granada between 1816 and 1819. • Flag_of_Cross_of_Burgundy.svg Borja — Borja — Originally part of the Real Audiencia of Quito. It was briefly ruled from the Real Audiencia of Santa Fe during the brief suppression of the Real Audiencia of Quito. • Flag_of_Cross_of_Burgundy.svg Caguán — Caguán — Established after the foundation of the city of Espíritu Santo del Caguán, somewhere along the Caguán River. The city was abandoned and the province abolished in 1695. • Flag_of_Cross_of_Burgundy.svg Caracas — Caracas — Originally part of the Real Audiencia of Santo Domingo. It was briefly ruled from the Real Audiencia of Santa Fe and then returned to the jurisdiction of Santo Domingo. • Flag_of_Cross_of_Burgundy.svg Cartagena — Cartagena — Came under the jurisdiction of New Granada in 1550. It became autonomous in 1810 and was briefly reincorporated into New Granada between 1816 and 1819. • Flag_of_Cross_of_Burgundy.svg Casanare — Pore — Became part of New Granada after its foundation in 1588. It became autonomous in 1810 and was never reconquered during the Spanish Reconquest of New Granada. • Flag_of_Spain_(1701–1760).svg Chocó — Quibdó — Became part of New Granada after its foundation in 1726. It became autonomous in 1810 and was briefly reincorporated into New Granada between 1816 and 1819. • Flag_of_Cross_of_Burgundy.svg Cumaná — Cumaná — Originally part of the Real Audiencia of Santo Domingo. It was ruled twice from Santa Fe but it was ultimately transferred to the Real Audiencia of Caracas in 1776. • Flag_of_Spain_(1701–1760).svg Darién — Yaviza — Originally part of the Real Audiencia of Panamá. It was transferred to the Real Audiencia of Santa Fe after the abolition of the Real Audiencia of Panamá in 1751. • Flag_of_Cross_of_Burgundy.svg Girón — Girón — Became part of New Granada after its foundation in 1631. The Province of Pamplona succeeded that of Girón after the capital was moved from Girón to Pamplona. • Flag_of_Cross_of_Burgundy.svg Guayana — Angostura — Originally part of the Real Audiencia of Santo Domingo. It was ruled twice from Santa Fe but it was ultimately transferred to the Real Audiencia of Caracas in 1776. • Flag_of_Cross_of_Burgundy.svg Guayaquil — Guayaquil — Originally part of the Real Audiencia of Quito. It was briefly ruled from the Real Audiencia of Santa Fe during the brief suppression of the Real Audiencia of Quito. • Flag_of_Cross_of_Burgundy.svg Jaén — Jaén — Originally part of the Real Audiencia of Quito. It was briefly ruled from the Real Audiencia of Santa Fe during the brief suppression of the Real Audiencia of Quito. • Flag_of_Cross_of_Burgundy.svg Mariquita — Mariquita — Became part of New Granada after its foundation in 1550. It became autonomous in 1810 and was briefly reincorporated into New Granada between 1816 and 1819. • Flag_of_Spain_(1701–1760).svg Maracaibo — Maracaibo — Originally part of the Real Audiencia of Santo Domingo. It was briefly ruled from Santa Fe but it was ultimately transferred to the Real Audiencia of Caracas in 1776. • Flag_of_Cross_of_Burgundy.svg Margarita — La Asunción — Originally part of the Real Audiencia of Santo Domingo. It was briefly ruled from the Real Audiencia of Santa Fe and then returned to the jurisdiction of Santo Domingo. • Flag_of_Cross_of_Burgundy.svg Mérida — Mérida — Became part of New Granada in 1717. The Province of Maracaibo succeeded that of Mérida after the capital was moved from Mérida to Maracaibo. • Flag_of_Cross_of_Burgundy.svg Muzo — Muzo — Became part of New Granada after its foundation in 1575. The province was later abolished and reincorporated into the Province of Tunja in 1649. • Flag_of_Cross_of_Burgundy.svg Neiva — Neiva — Became part of New Granada after its foundation in 1610. It became autonomous in 1810 and was briefly reincorporated into New Granada between 1816 and 1819. • Flag_of_Spain_(1785–1873,_1875–1931).svg Pamplona — Pamplona — Became part of New Granada after its foundation in 1795. It became autonomous in 1810 and was briefly reincorporated into New Granada between 1816 and 1819. • Flag_of_Cross_of_Burgundy.svg Panamá — Panamá — Originally part of the Real Audiencia of Panamá. It was transferred to the Real Audiencia of Santa Fe after the abolition of the Real Audiencia of Panamá in 1751. • Flag_of_Cross_of_Burgundy.svg Popayán — Popayán — Originally part of the Real Audiencia of Quito. It was briefly ruled from the Real Audiencia of Santa Fe during the brief suppression of the Real Audiencia of Quito. • Flag_of_Cross_of_Burgundy.svg Quijos — Baeza — Originally part of the Real Audiencia of Quito. It was briefly ruled from the Real Audiencia of Santa Fe during the brief suppression of the Real Audiencia of Quito. • Flag_of_Cross_of_Burgundy.svg Quito — Quito — Originally part of the Real Audiencia of Quito. It was briefly ruled from the Real Audiencia of Santa Fe during the brief suppression of the Real Audiencia of Quito. • Flag_of_Cross_of_Burgundy.svg Santa Fe — Santa Fe — Became part of New Granada after its foundation in 1550. It became autonomous in 1810 and was briefly reincorporated into New Granada between 1816 and 1819. • Flag_of_Cross_of_Burgundy.svg Santa Marta — Santa Marta — Came under the jurisdiction of New Granada in 1550. It became autonomous in 1810 and was briefly reincorporated into New Granada between 1816 and 1819. • Flag_of_Spain_(1785–1873,_1875–1931).svg Socorro — Socorro — Became part of New Granada after its foundation in 1795. It became autonomous in 1810 and was briefly reincorporated into New Granada between 1816 and 1819. • Flag_of_Cross_of_Burgundy.svg Trinidad — San José — Originally part of the Real Audiencia of Santo Domingo. It was briefly ruled from the Real Audiencia of Santa Fe and then returned to the jurisdiction of Santo Domingo. • Flag_of_Cross_of_Burgundy.svg Tunja — Tunja — Came under the jurisdiction of New Granada in 1550. It became autonomous in 1810 and was briefly reincorporated into New Granada between 1816 and 1819. • Flag_of_Cross_of_Burgundy.svg Veraguas — Veraguas — Originally part of the Real Audiencia of Panamá. It was transferred to the Real Audiencia of Santa Fe after the abolition of the Real Audiencia of Panamá in 1751. • Flag_of_Cross_of_Burgundy.svg Yaguarzongo — Valladolid — Originally part of the Real Audiencia of Quito. It was briefly ruled from the Real Audiencia of Santa Fe during the brief suppression of the Real Audiencia of Quito.