Presidio

The Goliad presidio in Texas.
The Canada presidio in New Mexico.
The Terrenate presidio in Arizona.
The San Diego presidio in California.

A presidio (from the Spanish, presidio, meaning "jail" or "fortification"[1]) is a fortified base established by the Spanish in areas under their control or influence. The term is derived from the Latin word praesidium meaning protection or defense.

In the Americas, the fortresses were built to protect against pirates and hostile Native Americans, as well as colonists from enemy nations. In the Mediterranean and the Philippines, the presidios were outposts of Christian defense against Islamic raids. The presidios of Spanish-Philippines in particular, were centers where the martial art of Arnis de Mano was developed, combining Filipino, Latin-American and Spanish fighting techniques.[2] Later in western North America, with independence, the Mexicans garrisoned the Spanish presidios on the northern frontier and followed the same pattern in unsettled frontier regions like the Presidio de Sonoma, at Sonoma, California and the Presidio de Calabasas, in Arizona.

In western North America, a rancho del rey or king's ranch would be established a short distance outside a presidio. This was a tract of land assigned to the presidio to furnish pasturage to the horses and other beasts of burden of the garrison. Mexico called this facility "rancho nacional".[3]

Mediterranean

Italy:

North Africa:

Greece:

United States

South Carolina:[4]

Georgia:[4]

Florida:[4]

Louisiana:

Texas:

New Mexico:

Arizona:

California:

Interior of the reconstructed chapel of the Santa Barbara Presidio

Mexico

Sonora:

Durango:

Chihuahua:

Coahuila:

Philippines

This is a map outlining the general locations of the Spanish "Presidios" built in the Philippines during the 1600s, according to the book: "Fortress of Empire by Rene Javellana, S. J. 1997"

Luzon:

Visayas:

Mindanao:

Further reading

References

Gerald, Rex 1968 Spanish Presidios of the Late Eighteenth Century in Northern New Spain. Museum of New Mexico Press, Santa Fe.

  1. ↑ RAE.
  2. ↑ "Real Fighting". Web.archive.org. 2008-02-21. Archived from the original on February 21, 2008. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  3. ↑ Ranchos of California: Extracts from: Grants of land in California made by Spanish or Mexican authorities, by Cris Perez Boundary Determination Office State Lands Commission Boundary Investigation Unit August 23, 1982. Berkeley Library website.
  4. 1 2 3 Childers, Ronald Wayne (2004). "The Presidio System in Spanish Florida 1565-1763". Historical Archaeology. 38 (3): 24–32. JSTOR 25617178.
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