FRANQUIS DE LUGO, CARLOS BENITES
FRANQUIS DE LUGO, CARLOS BENITES (1691–?). Carlos Benites Franquis de Lugo, Spanish governor of Texas, was born at Ortoba, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands in 1691. In early manhood he moved to Havana, Cuba, where he married Ángela de Alarcón y Ocaña. In 1736 the king of Spain appointed him governor of the province of Tlaxcala. But when Franquis arrived in Mexico, that office was still held by his predecessor, so the viceroy, Archbishop Vizarron, appointed him governor ad interim of Texas to succeed Manuel de Sandoval. He arrived in San Antonio on September 26, 1736. Having "a stormy, petulant, and precipitous temper," Franquis refused to show his credentials, insulted both civil and religious authorities, and lost the respect of the missionaries at San Antonio and Los Adaes. In little more than a year as governor, 1736–37, he came near to ruining the province of Texas. He placed Sandoval under arrest, seized his papers, and brought criminal charges against him. In the ensuing investigation, Franquis himself was arrested, on July 9, 1737, for his overbearing conduct. In September 1737 he was removed from the office of governor and was retired to San Juan Bautista, where he deserted and went to Mexico City. After his trial, which lasted for several years, he became an officer of the garrison of Veracruz. He eventually returned to service in the regiment of Savoya in Spain. The date of his death is unknown, and sources conflict as to his place of death as Mexico or Spain.
Carlos E. Castañeda, Our Catholic Heritage in Texas (7 vols., Austin: Von Boeckmann-Jones, 1936–1958; rpt., New York: Arno, 1976). Margaret McGill, The Administration of Carlos Franquis de Lugo, Governor of Texas, 1736–1737 (M.A. thesis, University of Texas, 1928).
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this article.Robert Bruce Blake, "FRANQUIS DE LUGO, CARLOS BENITES," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ffr04), accessed December 09, 2013. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.