Saint James Matamoros the Americas as a rival force to the indigenous gods, and protector of Spaniards from the indigenous peoples of the Americas. He was depicted as a conquistador. The Order of Santiago, a Spanish order of knighthood, originates from St. James' supposed involvement at the Battle of Clavijo. A wide number of Mexican settlements were named Matamoros by Spanish settlers in honour of their patron saint. Matamoros can also be found as a Hispanic family name, for instance Miguel Matamoros. In the 1620s Spain debated who should be the country's patron—James, the current patron, or a combination of him and the
Marquess of Saint Philip the last Habsburg king Charles II, in the War of the Spanish Succession. For this reason, he had to flow in exile when the other claimant, Charles of Austria, took control over Sardinia. As an award to Bacallar's loyalty, Philip, now Philip V of Spain, made him Viscount of Fuente Hermosa and Marquess of St. Philip (as a homage to his own patron saint). Bacallar became later an important historian, linguist and political philosopher while still serving as military and diplomat. Bacallar's only surviving issue was his daughter Maria Josefa, who married Francisco Amat of an ancient and distinguished Sardinian