This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Hernando de Lerma is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
Hernando de Lerma (born November 1, 1541) was a conqueror, politician, lawyer and city founder from Seville, Spain.
On November 13, 1577, Lerma was named Governor of Tucumán, (in present Argentina) by Spanish King Philip II. Described by historians as a man of violence, de Lerma had problems with several people from the area, including fellow countrymen. Among those he persecuted were the spokesman of a Catholic bishop. He also disliked Francisco Salcedo, another Catholic man who built a church in Santiago del Estero.
Many of de Lerma's opponents ended up in jail or being killed. Salcedo retired to another city and became convalescent, but he was returned to Tucumán by de Lerma's men after he found him. In Tucumán, Salcedo was tried and jailed. A large number of Salcedo's supporters were killed.
In April of 1582, de Lerma founded the city of Salta, next to the Arenales River. He foresaw Salta as an economic center, since the Spanish government had opened seaports in Santiago de Chile, Callao and Buenos Aires. Salta's situation between the Viceroyalty of Peru and the port at the Río de la Plata river, according to de Lerma, would be an advantage for the city, as it connected the city directly with the aforementioned places, and de Lerma believed that Madrid's government would re-route their shipments through Salta. He had the city named "Lerma City on Salta Valley". Hernando de Lerma befriended Indians who populated the area, believing their hands could be of help to him. He also attracted other Spaniards to the area.
After he established the city, however, de Lerma had to face many new rivals and problems. More conquerors arrived in Salta and tried to seize the city, causing multiple feuds. The city went through many periods of disease, and it had been erected in an area with frequent tremors.
In 1584, de Lerma was arrested and sentenced to jail in Salta. He appealed, and returned to Spain to take his case to the supreme court, but his appeal was rejected and he was sent to a Spanish jail. While it is known he died in jail, the year in which he died is not known.
Historian Paul Goussac said that "de Lerma's administration was nothing but a series of criminal attempts." Salta-born historian Armando Bazan describes de Lerma "as malign as a disease" in one of his books.
External links
- Camdipsalta.gov.ar page about de Lerma, in Spanish
- Salta Tourism (in Spanish)
- Tourism (in English)
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 7 August 2008, at 21:27.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Hernando de Lerma".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.