A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory.
The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in place of" and the Anglo-Norman roy (Old French roi, roy), meaning "king". This denotes the position as one who acts on behalf of a king or monarch ("in place of king"). A viceroy's territory may be called a viceroyalty, though this term is not always applied. The adjectival form is viceregal, less often viceroyal."Viceroyal, a", The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. 1989, OED Online, Oxford University Press, 4 April 2000 <http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50277245> The term vicereine is sometimes used to indicate a female viceroy suo jure, although viceroy can serve as a gender-neutral term. Vicereine is more commonly used to indicate a viceroy's wife, known as the viceregal consort.
The term has occasionally been applied to the governors-general of the Commonwealth realms, who are viceregal representatives of the monarch.
The position of a viceroy is by royal appointment rather than a noble rank. An individual viceroy often also held a separate noble title, such as Bernardo de Gálvez, 1st Viscount of Galveston, who was also Viceroy of New Spain.
Spanish Empire
The title was originally used only in Catalonia by the House of Barcelona, and was applied later to the Crown of Aragon, referring at the beginning of the 14th century to the governors of Sardinia and Corsica. At the end of the 15th century, Christopher Columbus explicitly required to the kings of Spain to be appointed viceroy of the lands he might discover, this being formulated in the Capitulations. Later in the 16th Century numerous viceroys ruled over various parts of the increasingly vast Spanish Empire, which reached Europe, the Americas, and overseas elsewhere.
In Spanish ruled Europe In Europe, until the 18th century, the Habsburg crown appointed viceroys of Catalonia, Aragon, Valencia, Navarre, Portugal during the brief period known as the Iberian Union, Sardinia, Sicily, and Naples. With the ascension of the House of Bourbon to the Spanish throne, the historic Aragonese viceroyalties were replaced by new captaincies general. At the end of War of the Spanish Succession, the Spanish monarchy was shorn of its Italian possessions. These Italian territories, however, continued to have viceroys under their new rulers for some time; Naples until 1734, Sicily until 1816 and Sardinia until 1848.
See also: List of viceroys of Aragon List of viceroys of Valencia List of viceroys of Catalonia List of viceroys of Navarre List of viceroys of Sardinia List of viceroys of Sicily List of viceroys of Naples
In the Americas Much of the Americas were incorporated into the Crown of Castile. With the Spanish colonization of the Americas, the institution of viceroys was adapted to govern the highly populated and wealthy regions of the north overseas: New Spain (Mexico) and the south overseas: Peru and South America. The viceroys of these two areas had oversight of the other provinces, with most North American, Central American, Caribbean and East Indies areas supervised by the viceroy in Mexico City and the South American areas by the viceroy in Lima, (excepting most of today's Venezuela, which was overseen by the high court, or Audiencia of Santo Domingo on the island of Hispaniola for most of the colonial period). These large administrative territories became known as viceroyalties (Spanish term: virreinatos). There were only two New World viceroyalties until the 18th century, when the new Bourbon dynasty established two additional viceroyalties to promote economic growth and new settlements on South America. New viceroyalties were created for New Granada in 1717 (capital, Bogotá) and the Río de la Plata in 1776 (capital, Buenos Aires).
The viceroyalties of the Spanish Americas and the Spanish East Indies were subdivided into smaller, autonomous units, the audiencias (tribunal with the authority to judge), and the captaincies general (military districts), which in most cases became the bases for the independent countries of modern Hispanic America. These units gathered the local provinces which could be governed by either a crown official, a corregidor (sometimes alcalde mayor) or by a cabildo or town council. Audiencias primarily functioned as superior judicial tribunals, but unlike their European counterparts, the New World audiencias were granted by law, both administrative and legislative powers. Captaincies general were primarily military districts set up in areas with a risk of foreign or Indian attack, although the captains general were usually given political powers over the provinces under their command. Because the long distances to the viceregal capital would hamper effective communication, both audiencias and captains general were authorized to communicate directly with the crown through the Council of the Indies. The Bourbon Reforms introduced the new office of the intendant, which was appointed directly by the crown and had broad fiscal and administrative powers in political and military issues.
The most important institution of the Spanish administration in the Indies was the viceroyalty. Although it was not an institution in itself—the principal administrative body being the Royal Audiencia—it concentrated most of the royal authority. The viceroy was the king's alter ego, enjoying extensive civil and ecclesiastical privileges until the reforms of Charles III, which reduced the powers of the viceroys by creating the office of Regent of the Royal Audiencia, who thereafter presided over the Audiencia.
+Viceroyalty1492–15361535–17171717–17231723–17391739–1824 Viceroyalty of the Indies, Islands and Tierra Firme(1492–1536) Viceroyalty of New Spain (1535–) Viceroyalty of New Spain (Continued) Viceroyalty of New Spain (Continued) Viceroyalty of New Spain (–1821) Viceroyalty of Peru (1542–) Viceroyalty of New Granada (1717–1723) Viceroyalty of Peru (Continued) Viceroyalty of New Granada (1739–1812; 1816–1822) Viceroyalty of Peru (Continued) Viceroyalty of Peru (–1824) Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata (1776–1811)
See also: Viceroyalty of the Indies (later called the West Indies) (1492–1535) Viceroyalty of New Spain (1535–1821) – List of viceroys of New Spain Viceroyalty of Peru (1542–1824) – List of viceroys of Peru Viceroyalty of New Granada (1717–1819) – List of viceroys of New Granada Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata (1776–1814) – List of viceroys of the Río de la Plata
Portuguese Empire India From 1505 to 1896 Portuguese India – including, until 1752, all Portuguese possessions in the Indian Ocean, from southern Africa to Southeast Asia and Australasia – was governed alternatively by either a viceroy (Portuguese vice-rei) or governor and commission located in the capital of Goa. The government started seven years after the discovery of sea route to India by Vasco da Gama, in 1505, under the first viceroy, Francisco de Almeida (b.1450–d.1510). Initially, King Manuel I of Portugal tried to distribute power with three governors in different areas of jurisdiction: a government covering the area and possessions in East Africa, Arabian Peninsula and Persian Gulf, overseeing up to Cambay (Gujarat); a second one ruling the possessions in India (Hindustan) and Ceylon; and a third one from Malacca to the Far East.O Secretário dos despachos e coisas da Índia pero d´Alcáçova Carneiro, p.65, Maria Cecília Costa Veiga de Albuquerque Ramos, Universidade de Lisboa, 2009 (In Portuguese) <http://repositorio.ul.pt/bitstream/10451/3387/1/ulfl080844_tm.pdf > However, Governor Afonso de Albuquerque (1509–1515) centralized the post into a plenipotentiary office, which it remained after his tenure. The typical duration in office was usually three years, although powerful viceroys might extend their tenure; of the thirty-four governors of India in the 16th century, only six had longer mandates.Diffie, Bailey W. and George D. Winius (1977), "Foundations of the Portuguese Empire, 1415–1580", p.323-325, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. David Tan . List of governors of Portuguese India (1505–1961)
Portugal During some periods of the Iberian Union, between 1580 and 1640, the king of Spain, who was also king of Portugal, appointed viceroys to govern Portugal itself, as the king had multiple realms throughout Europe and delegated his powers to various viceroys.
Brazil
After the end of the Iberian Union in 1640, the governors of Brazil that were members of the Portuguese high nobility started to use the title of Viceroy.A. J. R. Russell-Wood,"The Portuguese empire, 1415–1808: a world on the move", p. 66, JHU Press, 1998, Brazil became a permanent Viceroyalty in 1763, when the capital of the State of Brazil (Estado do Brasil) was transferred from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro.Boris Fausto, "A concise history of Brazil", p.50, Cambridge University Press, 1999,
British Empire
India
Following adoption of the Government of India Act 1858, which transferred control of India from the East India Company to the British Crown, the Governor-General as representing the Crown became known as the Viceroy. The designation Viceroy, although it was most frequently used in ordinary parlance, had no statutory authority, and was never employed by Parliament. Although the Proclamation of 1858 announcing the assumption of the government of India by the Crown referred to Lord Canning as "first viceroy and governor-general", none of the warrants appointing his successors referred to them as viceroys, and the title, which was frequently used in warrants dealing with precedence and in public notifications, was basically one of ceremony used in connection with the state and social functions of the sovereign's representative. The governor-general continued to be the sole representative of the Crown, and the government of India continued to be vested in the Governor-General-in-Council.Imperial Gazetteer of India (new ed.), Vol. 4, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1909, vol 4, p. 16.
The viceroys reported directly to the secretary of state for India in London and were advised by the Council of India. They were largely unencumbered in the exercise of their authority and were among the most powerful men on earth in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, ruling over an entire subcontinent with a large military force at their disposal in the form of the Indian Army.Imperial Gazetteer of India (new ed.), Vol. 4, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1909, vol 4, p. 31. Under the terms of the Government of India Act 1919, viceroys shared some limited aspects of their authority with the Central Legislative Assembly, one of the first steps in the establishment of Indian home rule. This process was accelerated by the Government of India Act 1935 and ultimately led to the independence of India and Pakistan as dominions in 1947. Both countries finally severed complete ties with Britain when they became republics – India as a secular republic in 1950 and Pakistan as an Islamic republic in 1956.
Alongside the Commander-in-Chief, India, the viceroy was the public face of the British presence in India, attending to many ceremonial functions as well as political affairs. As the representative of the emperors and empress of India, who were also the kings and queens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the viceroy served as the grand master of the two principal orders of chivalry of British India: the Order of the Star of India and the Order of the Indian Empire.