Jump to content

Presidio

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected fromPresidios)
For other uses, seePresidio (disambiguation).
Peñafiel Castle,both Arab and Spanish fortification

Apresidio(jail, fortification)[1]was a fortified base established by theSpanish Empirebetween the 16th and 18th centuries in areas under their control or influence. The term is derived from theLatinwordpraesidiummeaningprotectionordefense.

In theMediterraneanand thePhilippines,the presidios were outposts of the Christian defense against Islamic raids. In the Americas, thefortresseswere built to protect against raids bypirates,rival colonial powers, andNative Americans.

Later in western North America, with independence, the Mexicans garrisoned the Spanish presidios on the northern frontier and followed the same pattern in unsettled frontier regions such as thePresidio de Sonoma,atSonoma, California,and thePresidio de Calabasas,inArizona.

In western North America, arancho del reyorking's ranchwould be established a short distance outside a presidio. This was a tract of land assigned to the presidio to furnish pasturage to the horses and other beasts of burden of the garrison. Mexico called this facility "rancho nacional".[2] Presidios were only accessible to Spanish military and soldiers.

Canada

[edit]

Chile

[edit]
Further information:La Frontera, ChileandArmy of Arauco

Italy

[edit]
Main article:State of the Presidi

Several fortresses formerly held by theRepublic of Sienawere acquired by Spain following the latter's demise, by treaty betweenPhilip II of SpainandCosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscanyon 3 July 1557, to form what became known as theEstado de los Presidios.They were held by Spain until theWar of the Spanish Succession,when they came under Austrian ownership, and were administered fromNaples.

Mexico

[edit]

Few presidios were established in the present-day desert frontier regions in northern Mexico to control and confine the existing rebellious indigenous tribes.[3]Captured indigenous warriors were confined and enslaved at the presidio.[4]Presidios was used to protect the colonial silver ship from rebellious raids from Indians inCamino Real de Tierra Adentro,mainly inZacatecasandGuanajuato,starting new settlements.

Aguascalientes

[edit]
  • The Presidio de las Bocas and laterPresidio de las Bocas de Gallardo,founded in 1570 inAsientos.Today reconverted into thehacienda de Santa María de Gallardo.
  • The Presidio de Ciénega Grande, founded in 1570 inAsientos.Today reconverted into thehacienda Ciénega Grande.

Baja California Sur

[edit]

Chihuahua

[edit]

Coahuila

[edit]

Durango

[edit]

Guanajuato

[edit]

Hidalgo

[edit]
  • The Presidio de San Francisco, founded in 1522 inZimapán

Jalisco

[edit]
  • The PresidioJamay,founded in 1529.
  • The Presidio Ojuelos, founded in 1570, which developed into the city ofOjuelos.
  • The Presidio de Santa María de los Lagos, founded in 1563 inLagos de Moreno.
  • El Fuerte de la Isla, founded in 1817 inMezcala Island[es].

Nuevo León

[edit]

Querétaro

[edit]

San Luis Potosí

[edit]
  • The Presidio de Santiago de Los Valles de Oxitipa, founded in 1533 inCiudad Valles

Sonora

[edit]

Zacatecas

[edit]
  • The Presidio Tlaltenango, founded in 1530 inTlaltenango.
  • The Presidio Xuchipilan, founded in 1530 inJuchipila.
  • The Presidio de Espíritu Santo de Guadalajara (1532–1533) near the present-dayNochistlán,destroyed by theTlaltenangoCaxcan in 1533.
  • The Presidio de Fresnillo, founded in 1554 inFresnillo.
  • The Presidio de Jerez de la Frontera, founded in 1570 inJerez de García Salinas.
  • The Presidio Palmillas (1570–?), near the present-dayOjocaliente.
  • The Presidio Malpaso, founded reconverting anestanciain 1580 inVillanueva.Today theformer hacienda de Malpaso.
  • The Presidio de San Pedro de Chalchihuites, founded in 1591 inChalchihuites.
  • The Presidio de Sacramento y Real de Minas de Ojocaliente de Bastidas, founded in 1620 inOjocaliente.

North Africa

[edit]
Main article:European enclaves in North Africa before 1830
Royal Walls of Ceuta

After theGranada Warand the completion of the SpanishReconquista,theCatholic Monarchstook their fight across theStrait of Gibraltar,as the Portuguese had done several generations earlier with the conquest ofCeutain 1415. The establishment of Spanish military outposts on the North African coast echoed earlier endeavors by theKingdom of Sicilyin the 12th century (and again inDjerbaunderFrederick III of Sicily) and theKingdom of Francein the 13th century (Eighth Crusadeof 1270). During the period ofIberian Unionbetween 1580 and 1640, the Spanish Crown gained Ceuta and the Portuguese outposts on the Atlantic Coast, such asTangier,Mazagão/El JadidaandCasablanca;but of these, it only retained Ceuta by theTreaty of Lisbon (1668).

The Spanish North Africanpresidiosare listed here in geographical sequence, from West to East, and including neither Spain's Atlantic settlements in the Moroccan far South (e.g.Santa Cruz de la Mar Pequeña) nor outposts gained after 1830 (e.g. theChafarinas Islands).

Philippines

[edit]
Main article:Spanish colonial fortifications in the Philippines
Map of the Presidios built in the Philippines during the 1600s, inFortress of Empireby Rene Javellana, S. J. (1997)

Luzon

[edit]

Mindanao

[edit]

Visayas

[edit]

United States

[edit]

Arizona

[edit]
Presidio Santa Cruz de Terrenate,Arizona

California

[edit]

Florida

[edit]

Source:[7]

  • The Presidio San Augustin, founded in 1565, which developed into the city ofSt. Augustine,ceded toGreat Britainin 1763, regained 20 years later, and transferred to the United States in 1821
  • The Presidio San Mateo, founded in 1565 on the ruins ofFort Carolinenear today'sJacksonville,recaptured and destroyed by the French in 1568
  • The PresidioAis,founded in 1565 on theIndian River Lagoon,abandoned after one month
  • The Presidio Santa Lucia, founded in 1565 nearCape Canaveral,abandoned four months later
  • The Presidio San Antonio de Padua, founded in 1566 atCalos,capital of theCalusa,abandoned in 1569
  • The PresidioTocobaga,founded in 1567 onTampa Bay,destroyed by the Tocobagas within ten months
  • The PresidioTequesta,founded in 1567 on the site of what is now Miami, abandoned in 1568
  • ThePresidio Santa Maria de Galve,founded in 1696, nearFort Barrancasat present-dayNaval Air Station Pensacola;captured by French in 1719, Spanish relocated to Presidio Bahía San José de Nueva Asturias (see below)
  • The Presidio Bahía San José de Valladares, founded in 1701 onSt. Joseph Bay,captured by French in 1718
  • The Presidio San Marcos de Apalachee, founded in 1718 at the existing port of San Marcos, which developed into the town ofSt. Marks,ceded to Great Britain in 1763, regained 20 years later, and transferred to the United States in 1821
  • The Presidio Bahía San José de Nueva Asturias, founded in 1719 onSt. Joseph Point,abandoned when Spanish regained Pensacola Bay area from French in 1722, Spanish relocated to Presidio Isla Santa Rosa Punta de Siguenza (see below)
  • The Presidio Isla Santa Rosa Punta de Siguenza, founded in 1722 onSanta Rosa Island,destroyed by a hurricane in 1755, Spanish relocated to Presidio San Miguel de Panzacola (see below)
  • The Presidio San Miguel de Panzacola, founded in 1755, which developed into the city ofPensacola,ceded to Great Britain in 1763, regained 20 years later, and transferred to the United States in 1821

Georgia

[edit]

Source:[7]

Louisiana

[edit]

New Mexico

[edit]
Presidio Santa Cruz de la Cañada,New Mexico

South Carolina

[edit]
  • The PresidioSanta Elena,founded in 1566 onParris Island,destroyed by Native Americans in 1576, re-established in 1577, abandoned in 1587[7]

Texas

[edit]
Presidio La BahíainGoliad

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^"presidio — Diccionario de la lengua española, Edición del Tricentenario".RAE(in Spanish).RetrievedOctober 28,2017.
  2. ^"Ranchos of California: Extracts from: Grants of land in California made by Spanish or Mexican authorities, by Cris Perez Boundary Determination Office State Lands Commission Boundary Investigation Unit August 23, 1982. Berkeley Library website".Archived fromthe originalon February 2, 2009.RetrievedApril 17,2011.
  3. ^"Spanish policymakers also decided to set up a line of presidios stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific. This presidial line was very close to today's international border between Mexico and the United States." Reséndez, Andrés. The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America (p. 198). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Kindle Edition.
  4. ^"As the eighteenth century unfolded, military garrisons and soldiers superseded the missions as the lynchpins of Spain's efforts to stabilize the frontier. With the new approach came new forms of coercion. The word “presidio” captures the dual purpose of garrison and prison. "Reséndez, Andrés. The Other Slavery: The Uncovered Story of Indian Enslavement in America (p. 205). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Kindle Edition.
  5. ^abcSheridan, Thomas E. (26 May 2016).Landscapes of Fraud: Mission Tumacácori, the Baca Float, and the Betrayal of the O'odham.University of Arizona Press. p. 29.ISBN978-0-8165-3441-8.
  6. ^"San Felipe de Gracia Real de Terrenate – Tumacácori National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)".www.nps.gov.Retrieved12 February2024.
  7. ^abcChilders, Ronald Wayne (2004). "The Presidio System in Spanish Florida 1565–1763".Historical Archaeology.38(3): 24–32.doi:10.1007/BF03376651.JSTOR25617178.S2CID160809833.

References and further reading

[edit]
  • Gerald, Rex E. (1968).Spanish Presidios of the Late Eighteenth Century in Northern New Spain.Santa Fe, NM: Museum of New Mexico Press.
  • Javellana, Rene, S. J.Fortress of Empire.Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1997.
  • Moorhead, Max L.The Presidio: Bastion of the Spanish Borderlands.Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1975.
  • Williams, J. S. "Appendix: Presidios of Northern New Spain".Historical Archaeology38, 2004.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Presidio&oldid=1242585544"