Luis Jeronimo Fernandez de Cabrera Bobadilla Cerda y Mendoza, cuatro conde de Chinchon (1589, Madrid—October 28, 1647, Madrid) was a Spanish nobleman and captain general and viceroy of Peru, from January 14, 1629 to December 18, 1639. His wife, Ana de Osorio Fernandez de Cabrera y Bobadilla, condesa de Chinchon (1599-1625), is credited (probably incorrectly) as being one of the first Europeans to be treated with quinine, and as the person who introduced that medicine into Europe.
Birth
Fernandez de Cabrera Bobadilla was born in Madrid in 1589 (or perhaps 1590), into a family close to the Spanish throne. His parents were Diego Fernandez de Cabrera, third Count of Chinchon and Ines Pacheco, the daughter of the marquis of Villena and duke of Escalona, Diego Lopez Pacheco, and Luisa Bernarda de Cabrera Bobadilla, third marquesa of Moya. Don Luis's parents were first cousins.
Viceroy of Peru
He became viceroy of Peru in 1629. During his government, he suppressed an insurrection of the Uru and Araucano Indians. He also sent out the third expedition to explore the Amazon River, under Cristobal de Acuna. (It was part of the return leg of the expedition of Pedro Teixeira.) He expanded the colonial navy and fortified the port of Callao.
Among his other official acts were the prohibition of direct trade between Peru and New Spain (Mexico) and the persecution of Portuguese Jews, the principal traders in Lima.
He also founded two chairs of medicine in the University of San Marcos.
Quinine
In an account published in 1663 by Sebastiano Bado, an Italian, the following claim was made.
In 1638, the Countess of Chinchon became severely ill with tertian fever (malaria). Juan Lopez de Canizares, governor of Loxa, wrote the viceroy, explaining that he had recently been cured by the bark of the quinaquina tree, and recommending the same remedy to the vicereine. The governor was summoned to Lima, the medicine was administered, and the countess was cured. In 1639, according to Bado, the countess returned to Spain, bringing a large quantity of the bark with her. This was the first introduction of quinine into Europe.
However, the official diary of Viceroy Fernandez de Cabrera was discovered in 1930. This diary contradicts many of the claims made by Bado. It states that Ana de Osorio, the first countess of Chinchon, died in Spain at least three years before her husband was named viceroy of Peru. It was the second countess, Francisca Henriquez de Ribera, who accompanied the count to South America, where she enjoyed excellent health. The count himself had several episodes of fever, but was never treated with bark. Neither did the second countess ever returned to Spain; she died in the port of Cartagena, Colombia during the return voyage.
In light of these much later revelations, Bado's account is now discredited among historians. Jesuit Barnabe de Cobo (1582-1657), who explored Mexico and Peru, is now credited with taking cinchona bark to Europe. He brought the bark from Lima to Spain, and afterwards to Rome and other parts of Italy, in 1632.
Carolus Linnaeus called the genus of quinine-producing trees Cinchona in honor of the countess.
See also Jesuit's bark.
Return to Spain
At the conclusion of his term as viceroy in 1639, Fernandez de Cabrera returned to Spain, where he became a counselor of state and accompanied King Philip IV of Spain on campaign in Navarre, Aragon and Valencia. He died in 1647 in Madrid.
External links
Other pages about Colonial Peru
-Alonzo de Alvarado -Ana Francisca de Borja y Doria -Ana de Castro -Andres Hurtado de Mendoza -Antonio de Mendoza -Antonio de Morga -Balconies of Lima -Baltasar de la Cueva Enriquez -Battle of Sangarara -Bernardo de Iturriaza -Blasco Nunez Vela -Cabildo (council) -Carmine Nicolao Caracciolo -Cathedral of Lima -Comentarios Reales de los Incas -Convento de San Francisco -Cristobal Ramirez de Cartagena -Cristobal Vaca de Castro -Diego Ladron de Guevara -Diego Lopez de Zuniga y Velasco -Diego Morcillo Rubio de Aunon -Diego Nunez de Avendano -Diego Quispe Tito -Diego de Almagro -Diego de Benavides y de la Cueva -Fernando Torres de Portugal y Mesia -Francisco Ruiz Lozano -Francisco de Borja y Aragon -Francisco de Toledo, Count of Oropesa -Garcia Hurtado de Mendoza, Marquis of Canete -Government Palace (Peru) -Hans Heinrich Bruning Brookstedt -Hernando de Luque -Historic Centre of Lima -Jose Antonio de Areche -Jose Antonio de Mendoza -Jose de Armendariz -Juan Jimenez de Montalvo -Juan Pizarro II -Lima City Walls -Luis Jeronimo Fernandez de Cabrera -Manuel de Oms y de Santa Pau -Mateo de la Mata Ponce de Leon -Melchor Bravo de Saravia -Melchor Linan y Cisneros -Melchor de Navarra y Rocafull -Miguel Nunez de Sanabria -Osambela House -Pedro Alvarez de Toledo y Leiva -Pedro Antonio Fernandez de Castro -Pedro Bohorquez -Pedro de la Gasca -San Telmo (ship) -Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire -Torre Tagle Palace -Tupac Amaru II -Turibius of Mongrovejo -Viceroyalty of Peru
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Luis_Jeronimo_Fernandez_de_Cabrera
