Captaincy General of Puerto Rico
Captaincy General of Puerto Rico Capitanía General de Puerto Rico | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1580–1898 | |||||||||
| Motto: "JOANNES EST NOMEN EJUS" "John is his name" | |||||||||
| Anthem: Anthem of Riego
1873-1874 | |||||||||
Viceroyalty of New Spain in 1794, with the Captaincy General of Puerto Rico shown in light pink | |||||||||
| Status | Captaincy General Autonomous Province | ||||||||
| Capital | San Juan | ||||||||
| Official languages | Spanish | ||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||||||
| Demonym(s) | Spaniard, Puerto Rican | ||||||||
| Government | Monarchy (1598-1872,1875-1898) Federal semi-presidential republic (1873–1874) | ||||||||
| King | |||||||||
• 1580-1598 | Philip II | ||||||||
• 1759-1788 | Charles III | ||||||||
• 1886-1898 | Alfonso XIII Maria Christina of Austria (Regent) | ||||||||
| Captain General | |||||||||
• 1580 | Jerónimo de Agüero Campuzano (first) | ||||||||
• 1898 | Ángel Rivero Méndez (last) | ||||||||
| Legislature | None | ||||||||
| Historical era | Early modern Europe | ||||||||
• Creation | 1580 | ||||||||
| 11 February 1873– 29 December 1874 | |||||||||
| 25 July 1898 | |||||||||
• Withdrawal of Spanish forces | 18 October 1898 | ||||||||
| Currency | Spanish real, Puerto Rican peso | ||||||||
| ISO 3166 code | PR | ||||||||
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The Captaincy General of Puerto Rico (Spanish: Capitanía General de Puerto Rico) was an administrative district of the Spanish Empire, created in 1580 to provide better military management of the main island of Puerto Rico, previously under the rule of a governor, jurisdiction of the Audiencia of Santo Domingo, and authority of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. Its creation was part of the, ultimately futile, Habsburg attempt in the late 16th century to prevent incursion into the Caribbean by competing European world powers. The institution lasted until 1898 in Puerto Rico, when an autonomous provincial government, headed by a governor-general and an insular parliament, was instituted months before Spain ceded Puerto Rico to the United States in 1898 following defeat in the Spanish–American War.