Religion in the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (modern Argentina) saw great changes from the religious uses at the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, in the wake of the great social upheavals that took place during the Argentine War of Independence. Although the war was not a religious war, and both patriots and royalists were equally Christian, it was influenced by the ideas of the Age of Enlightenment. The relation with the Holy See through Spain was cut, until being restored by Juan Manuel de Rosas.
During the colonial times, the local clergy was concerned because religious people appointed from Spain were privileged over locals, regardless of their merits. [1] Religious people were more literate and illustrated than the average people in the viceroyalty, and had easier access to restricted books, such as those of the Age of Enlightenment. Those books were not limited to theological ones. [2] This illustration started during the reign of Charles III of Spain. [3]
Most prelates supported the British invasions of the Río de la Plata. Friar Ignacio Grela promoted at the cathedral the strengthening of the British influence, as well as the bishop Benito Lué y Riega. [4] On the contrary, they stayed silent after the liberation of the city by Santiago de Liniers. [5] When Ferdinand VII of Spain was overthrown during the Peninsular War, they supported the Retroversion of the sovereignty to the people principle.
Twenty-seven religious people attended the May 22 open cabildo to decide the fate of viceroy Cisneros. Benito Lue y Riega was a vocal opposer of his destitution, but seventeen of them voted for the end of his mandate and a military expedition to the other cities. At the end of it, the priest Manuel Alberti was appointed to the Primera Junta. [6] Lue y Riega accepted the authority of the junta, but the Junta did not trust him completely, and prevented him from taking a trip across the cities in order to watch him in Buenos Aires. [7] The distrust towards him extended to the supporters of the new government, generating incidents. As a result, he was prevented from making public appearances at his church. [8]
The regular clergy took advantage of the revolution and the cut off relations with Spain, and requested promotions and benefices to the new government. People at lower ranks declared themselves patriots suffering injustices, in order to get government protection. [9] The junta considered some cases, but eventually condemned the clergy that defied their religious authorities. [10] Nevertheless, a violent night incident against Antonio Palavecino forced the military to intervene, and the junta started to monitor more carefully the activities inside convents.
Manuel José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano y González, usually referred to as Manuel Belgrano, was an Argentine economist, lawyer, politician, and military leader. He took part in the Argentine Wars of Independence and created the Flag of Argentina. He is regarded as one of the main Libertadores of the country.
The May Revolution was a week-long series of events that took place from May 18 to 25, 1810, in Buenos Aires, capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. This Spanish colony included roughly the territories of present-day Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and parts of Brazil. The result was the removal of Viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros and the establishment of a local government, the Primera Junta, on May 25. It was the first successful revolution in the South American Independence process.
Cornelio Judas Tadeo de Saavedra y Rodríguez was a military officer and statesman from the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. He was instrumental in the May Revolution, the first step of Argentina's independence from Spain, and was appointed president of the Primera Junta.
Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros y de la Torre (1756–1829) was a Spanish naval officer born in Cartagena. He took part in the Battle of Cape St Vincent and the Battle of Trafalgar, and in the Spanish resistance against Napoleon's invasion in 1808. He was later appointed Viceroy of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, replacing Santiago de Liniers. He disestablished the government Junta of Javier de Elío and quelled the Chuquisaca Revolution and the La Paz revolution. An open cabildo deposed him as viceroy during the May Revolution, but he attempted to be the president of the new government junta, thus retaining power. The popular unrest in Buenos Aires did not allow that, so he resigned. He was banished back to Spain shortly after that, and died in 1829.
The United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, earlier known as the United Provinces of South America, a union of provinces in the Río de la Plata region of South America, emerged from the May Revolution in 1810 and the Argentine War of Independence of 1810–1818. It comprised most of the former Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata dependencies and had Buenos Aires as its capital.
Juan José Castelli was an Argentine lawyer. He was one of the leaders of the May Revolution, which started the Argentine War of Independence. He led an ill-fated military campaign in Upper Peru.
Miguel de Azcuénaga was an Argentine brigadier. Educated in Spain, at the University of Seville, Azcuénaga began his military career in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata and became a member of the Primera Junta, the first autonomous government of modern Argentina. He was shortly exiled because of his support to the minister Mariano Moreno, and returned to Buenos Aires when the First Triumvirate replaced the Junta. He held several offices since then, most notably being the first Governor intendant of Buenos Aires after the May Revolution. He died at his country house in 1833.
The Paraguay campaign (1810–11) was the attempt by a Buenos Aires-sponsored militia, commanded by Manuel Belgrano, to win the royalist Intendency of Paraguay for the cause of May Revolution. In Paraguay it is considered as their War of Independence. The first battles fought were the Battle of Campichuelo and Battle of Campo Maracana, in which Argentinians claimed victory. However, they were completely vanquished in the subsequent Battle of Paraguarí and Battle of Tacuarí. The campaign ended in a military failure and Paraguay broke its links with the Spanish crown just two months after Belgrano's withdrawal, starting its course towards full independence.
Juan Larrea was a Spanish businessman and politician in Buenos Aires during the early nineteenth century. He headed a military unit during the second British invasion of the Río de la Plata, and worked at the Buenos Aires Cabildo. He took part in the ill-fated Mutiny of Álzaga. Larrea and Domingo Matheu were the only two Spanish-born members of the Primera Junta, the first national government of Argentina.
Pascual Ruiz Huidobro, was a Spanish soldier in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, who fought against the British invasions of the Río de la Plata as Governor of Montevideo.
Domingo Bartolomé Francisco Matheu was a Spanish-born Argentine businessman and politician. He was a member of the Primera Junta, the first national government of modern Argentina, and the second president in the end of the Junta Grande from August to September 1811.
Gregorio Funes, also known as Deán Funes, was an Argentine clergyman, educator, historian, journalist and lawmaker who played a significant role in his nation's early, post-independence history.
Colonial Argentina is designated as the period of the History of Argentina when it was an overseas colony of the Spanish Empire. It begins in the precolumbian age of the indigenous peoples of Argentina, with the arrival of the first Spanish conqueror.
The Argentine War of Independence was fought from 1810 to 1818 by Argentine patriotic forces under Manuel Belgrano, Juan José Castelli and José de San Martín against royalist forces loyal to the Spanish crown. On July 9, 1816, an assembly met in San Miguel de Tucumán, declared full independence with provisions for a national constitution.
The dissolution of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata was the independence and breaking up of the Spanish colony in South America. Most of the viceroyalty is now part of Argentina, and other regions belong to Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.