presence of Governor Manzanedas and many other
prominent citizens and high officials of the island. After an
examination of the previously drafted plan a Plaza des Armas, or
military parade-ground was the first to be decided upon; then the
principal streets of the city were traced. Two days later an altar and a
cross were raised on the square destined for the church, and Bishop D.
Diego Evelino de Compostela blessed the spot, said mass over it and with
the aid of Governor Manzanedas laid the first stone of the temple which
was to have for its patron saint San Carlos Borromeo. On the following
day the governor went to Punta Gorda on the north side of the bay and
selected a place for the fort which was to be built. When the structure
was completed it was in his honor given the name San Severino. The
industry of the residents, the fertility of the soil and the unusually
favorable location of the port made the small town grow within a few
years into one of the most important cities of the island. Subsequently
Matanzas developed to such size and prominence that it is to-day ranking
next to Havana both in population and in commerce.

The administration of Manzanedas was toward the end disturbed by the
scandalous dispute between the governor Villalobas and the Licentiate
Roa, Lieutenant Auditor of the Royal Audiencia (a court of appeals in
the West Indies). The affair created a great deal of sensation at the
time, because it threatened to divide the population into hostile
factions. Villalobas was charged with having allowed his adherents to
call themselves Villalobistas, in opposition to those of Lieutenant Roa,
who promptly assumed the name Roistas. Controversies and quarrels arose
and grew to such alarming proportions that civil war seemed imminent.
The two rivals fought each other mercilessly, until Roa fled to Madrid,
where he died in exile. Villalobas justly feared that the report of
these disturbances would damage his reputation at the court of Madrid
and was taken dangerously sick. The Audiencia of Santo Domingo which had
instituted an inquiry into the matter discharged Villalobas from his
office. An Oidor (hearer or judge) of the Audiencia, D. Diego Antonio
Oviedo y Banos was appointed to hear the arguments of the case. But
Villalobas, a broken old man, was so grieved by the disgrace that he
survived the ordeal only a few days. The administration of Governor
Manzanedas came to an end in the year 1695 when he was appoi