Governorate of Chiloe

The Governorate of Chiloe was a political and military subdivision of the Spanish Empire in the Chiloe Archipelago of southern Chile, existing from 1567 until the Chilean annexation of the islands. It depended at first on the Captaincy General of Chile, and in the late eighteenth century passed directly under the Viceroyalty of Peru. Its de jure northern limit was the Bueno River, on the mainland frontier with Valdivia, while in practice its authority covered the archipelago, the shore forts and settlements north of the Chacao Channel and, for a time, the mission of Nahuel Huapi. The capital was Castro until 1768, when the seat of government was moved to Ancud, a fortified port founded after the earlier settlement had been destroyed in 1600. The governor was appointed by the governor of Chile and later by the viceroy of Peru, with royal confirmation. The islands were among the last royalist strongholds in South America: after the wars of independence the governor Antonio de Quintanilla held out until 1826, when he surrendered to Chilean forces and the archipelago was incorporated into the republic. The governorate's institutions and fortifications left a lasting mark on the archipelago's culture and settlement pattern.