Manuel de Oms y de Santa Pau, primer marques de Castelldosrius (sometimes marques de Castell dos Rius) (* 1651, Barcelona, † 24 April 1710, Lima), was a Spanish diplomat, man of letters, and colonial official. From July 7, 1707 to April 22, 1710, he was viceroy of Peru.
Before becoming viceroy
Manuel de Oms y de Santa Pau belonged to a noble family of Catalonia. He was governor of Tarragona from 1677 and ambassador to Portugal from 1681. In 1698, Charles II, the last Habsburg king of Spain, named him ambassador to the court of Louis XIV in Paris. Oms was a francophile who favored the Bourbons in the War of the Spanish Succession. During the war, he took the part of the Duke of Anjou, the future Philip V of Spain. He it was who informed the French king that Charles had named the Duke of Anjou as his heir, with the words Senor, desde este momento no hay Pirineos ("Lord, from this moment there are no more Pyrenees.").
As a reward for his support, the Philip V named him viceroy of Peru in 1704, although he did not occupy the post until 1707.
As viceroy of Peru
He took up his position as viceroy on July 7, 1707. He was able to send back an enormous sum of money (1,600,000 pesos) to the king to cover some of the costs of the war. This was possible in part because of the discovery of the mines in Caraboya. The collection of the money caused many protests, especially among the merchants, who brought suit against the viceroy many times in the Tribunal del Consulado. The merchants also opposed his opening of the port of Callao to French shipping.
To this problem were added others: the increase in French contraband and the English attacks on the coast, especially those of Charles Wager and Thomas Colb in 1708 and those of Woodes Rogers between 1709 and 1711. To deal with the attacks, the viceroy tried to form a navy, recruiting men by means of a levy.
In 1709 he was accused of embezzlement and dealing in contraband. French merchandise had saturated the market, but most of it was landed at Pisco without duty being paid. (Pisco was a small port about 200 km south of Lima.) Members of the viceroy's family were apparently involved in the contraband. He was nearly stripped of his office, but the favor of the king and the large amounts of money he was remitting to Spain worked in his favor. His property in Catalonia was, however, confiscated, but was returned to his heirs in 1714.
He did reach an agreement with the merchants, whereby in return for their financial help he would expel the French from the viceroyalty. This was not a success, because the treasure ships he sent back from Panama to Spain thereby lost the protection of the French and were vulnerable to the English established in Jamaica.
Culture
He was an educated and cultured man, and a man of letters. He translated the hymns of Saint Thomas Aquinas and wrote the dramas El Mejor Escudo de Perseo and Triunfos del Amor y del Poder and the comic sketch A cantar un villancico. He founded a literary academy on September 23, 1709 and promoted weekly literary discussions in the palace that attracted some of Lima's best writers. These included the famous Criollo scholar Pedro Peralta y Barnuevo. He was the patron of several Indigenous poets. He introduced French and Italian fashions in the viceroyalty and composed some musical work.
The Italian musician Rocco Cerruti (1688-1760) had arrived in Peru with the viceroy.
Death
Manuel de Oms y de Santa Pau died of illness in Lima on April 24, 1710. His heart was returned to Spain, and his body was entombed in San Francisco (Lima). Miguel Nunez de Sanabria, president of the Audiencia of Lima took over governmental functions on an interim basis.
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
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