Early years Franquis was born in
La Orotava,
Tenerife (
Canary Islands,
Spain). In 1736, he was chosen to govern
Tlaxcala, in the modern
Mexico, by
Philip V. However, when Franquis reached the province, he learned that the position was not yet vacant, because his predecessor had not yet left his political office. Because Franquis could not take office, the
Viceroy of New Spain made him the interim governor of
Texas, since the previous governor,
Manuel de Sandoval, had left the government of the province before the king had appointed a new governor. On his trip to Texas, he passed through
Monclova, in
Coahuila, where he criticized the administration of Clemente de la Garza Falcón. Franquis questioned that Falcón was doing everything possible to defend the Spaniard populations from the Amerindians who were attacking the territory.
Administration Upon taking office, Franquis' economic mismanagement led the province to near bankruptcy. In addition, Franquis opposed almost all the missionaries and
Presidio officials working in the main regions of Texas and Coahuila (i.e.
Los Adaes and
Saltillo), causing disaffection between the governor and them. and preventing their letters from being sent because he appropriated them. In addition, he ordered the friars to fire most of the guards working on each mission. So, the guards were to be reduced from three to one per mission, even though they were very important to the missions because they contributed to the "maintaining of discipline", the "daily tasks" and to the search and recovery of the Amerindians who had escaped from the mentioned religious outposts, In April 1737, the governor ordered all the guards working in the missions to vacate them. Several month later, on June 8, 1737, San Francisco mission was abandoned and the 230 Native Americans who lived there got the freedom, while the other religious establishments had lost many Native Americans as well (including the San Juan Capristano mission, which was abandoned by most of the amerindians). Although the Viceroy ordered Franquis to return all the guards to the missions, he decided to ignore the order. In 1737, Franquis took all the Sandoval's documents and accused him of criminal actions. Sandoval was later sent to prison. Shortly thereafter, an investigation into the administration of Franquis took place, which ended on July 9, 1737.
Last years After the investigation, Franquis was imprisoned, because he was accused of imposing an authoritarian system in Texas. In September 1737, he was expelled from his position as governor and sent to San Juan Bautista, in
Nuevo Leon, but Franquis fled to
Mexico City. After submitting the official accounts of his government, Franquis was found not guilty in his trial. A little later, he settled in
Veracruz, in the modern-day Mexico, and assumed the rank of officer of the garrison of that place. Finally, he returned to Spain and rejoined to the
regiment of Savoy. The place and date of his death are not known, but it is thought that he died in Mexico or Spain. == Personal life ==