Royal Veragua

Royal Veragua (Spanish: Veragua real) was a territory of the Crown of Castile in the early colonial period in the New World. It included the Caribbean slopes from the Río Sixaola (the present boundary with Costa Rica) to the island Escudo de Veraguas, in what is now Panama. Beyond the later point, the Duchy of Veragua, erected in 1537 for the heirs of Christopher Columbus, began.

Both territories had earlier formed part of the Gobernación de Veragua, or Veragua colombina (Colombian Veragua). At the conclusion of the long-running lawsuits between Columbus and his heirs and the Crown of Castille, the Duchy of Veragua was created (1537), with Columbus's grandson Admiral Luis Colón y Toledo as the first duke. The remaining territory of the Gobernación, extending along the Caribbean coast from Escudo de Veraguas to Cabo Gracias a Dios remained under royal jurisdiction and was renamed Royal Veragua. (Columbus's heirs had claimed the entire territory.)

Royal Veragua had an ephemeral existence. In 1540 it was combined with other territories on the Pacific slope belonging to Castilla de Oro to create the Province of Nuevo Cartago y Costa Rica.

A province of the Republic of Panama is named Veraguas.

References

This article is a free translation of the Spanish Wikipedia article es:Veragua real.