Historical Figures

Melchor de Liñán y Cisneros

Melchor de Liñán y Cisneros, ecclesiastical dignitary, temporarily ran the command as XXI Viceroy of Peru . Son of don Francisco Liñán de Cisneros and doña Isabel González, he was related by his paternal lineage to the great cardinal of the Catholic kings, Jiménez de Cisneros. He was born in Tordelaguna (Castilla) in 1629 and studied at the University of Alcalá de Henares until obtaining a doctorate in Theology. After receiving priestly orders he was appointed curate of the parish of Santa María de Buitrago. In 1660 he moved to the town and court of Madrid, where he was in charge of the parish of San Salvador and served as qualifier of the Holy Office. The brilliance with which he carried out such responsibilities must have constituted the "springboard" for his brilliant ecclesiastical and civil career in the Indies. He moved to the new continent in 1665 with the dignity of bishop of Santa Marta and two years later he was transferred to the episcopal chair of Popayan. He was almost immediately appointed interim governor of the new kingdom of Granada and president of the Santa Fe audience (1670), with the express order of initiating a residence trial against his predecessor, General Villalba y Toledo. In September 1671 the titles that promoted him to the archbishopric of Charcas were dispatched, taking possession of this seat on August 12, 1675.
he finally deserved from the Crown the call to exercise the most important ecclesiastical dignity in South America:the archbishopric of Lima . Liñán was officially received in the metropolitan council of this city on February 13, 1678, being him the eighth holder of the chair. Just then the slander and (unfounded) accusations against the Viceroy Count of Castellar were at their peak, which moved the court to order his immediate dismissal from the government and his replacement by the Archbishop of Lima. Thus came to command, for the first time in the series of rulers of the viceroyalty, a man of the church, although only on an interim basis.
For three years and four months (1678-1681) it fell to don Melchor de Liñán y Cisneros to carry out the viceregal office. At this time the observance of the compilation of Laws of the Indies began, promulgated in 1680, and there was a need to provide for the defense of the coast against the depredations of the English pirates Watling and Sharp. In addition, the viceroy promoted the expulsion of the Portuguese who had taken possession of the so-called Sacramento colony in the Río de la Plata. He took care of the solemnity of the ceremonies celebrating the beatification of Toribio Alfonso de Mogrovejo (1679) and, through letters and pastoral edicts, he reformed life in the nunneries, in order to safeguard morale and reduce the abundance of maids. For the rest, his performance as prelate was characterized by detachment and austerity. Due to his enlightened merits, he was awarded the honorary appointment of Advisor to His Majesty and the title of Count of Puebla de los Valles, which Don Melchor preferred to assign to one of his brothers (1691).
He continued to govern the Archdiocese of Lima until June 28, 1708, the date on which he ceased to exist, at the age of 78 . His body rests in a tomb placed next to the main Gospel of the Sagrario parish church, which he built at his own expense after the earthquake of 1687.


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