Ruy Fernández de Fuenmayor

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Fernández de Fuenmayor and the second or maternal family name is Figueroa.

Ruy Fernández de Fuenmayor
Governor of Venezuela Province
In office 1637–1644
Preceded by	Francisco Núñez Melián
Succeeded by	Marcos Gedler Calatayud y Toledo
Personal details
Born	1603 Santo Domingo
Died	1651 Caracas
Nationality	Spanish

Ruy Fernández de Fuenmayor (1603 in Santo Domingo – 1651 in Venezuela) was a Spanish soldier who was governor of Venezuela Province between 1637 and 1644.

Fuenmayor was born in 1603, the son of Fernández de Fuenmayor and Juana Figueroa. He served in various positions in Spain, Puerto Rico and Hispaniola. He was General of the galleys in Hispaniola, and in 1635 led an attack on buccaneers who had settled on Tortuga, expelling them from the island for several years. In this raid, he led 250 Spanish soldiers. The Governor of Tortuga, Christopher Wormeley, made his escape. The colonists were less lucky, with 195 being hung, and thirty-nine taken prisoner, along with thirty slaves. Fuenmayor did not leave a garrison, and Tortuga was soon reoccupied by French settlers.

Fuenmayor returned to Spain, and on 26 November 1636 was appointed Governor and Captain-General of Venezuela Province, arriving there in 1637. In 1637 he arranged for transfer of the seat of the bishop of Venezuela from Santa Ana de Coro to Caracas. In 1640 the Benedictine Mauro de Tovar became bishop, and had many conflicts with Fuenmayor.

There was a great earthquake in 1641, and the Caracas council proposed moving the city to the Chacao savanna, a move that Fernandez de Fuenmayor forcibly opposed. He arranged for the fort of La Guaira, which had been destroyed by the earthquake, to be quickly rebuilt. In 1642 Fuenmayor tried unsuccessfully to regain the island of Curaçao, which the Dutch had occupied since 1634. In response, several Dutch pirates attacked Maracaibo and British pirates attacked La Guaira, but were repulsed.

Fuenmayor finished his term in office in 1644, and was succeeded by Marcos Gedler y Calatayud. He remained in Caracas for the remainder of his life. In 1651 he was killed by Fernando García Ribas, Contador of the Royal Treasury.

References

Citations

Sources

• Castilla, Lara, L. G. (1978). "Fernández de Fuenmayor, Ruy (1603-1651)". Academia de la Historia. Retrieved 2012-09-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Latimer, Jon (2009-06-01). Buccaneers of the Caribbean: How Piracy Forged an Empire. Harvard University Press. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-674-03403-7. Retrieved 2012-09-10.