Gaspar de Carvajal
Encyclopedia
Gaspar de Carvajal was a Spanish
Dominican
missionary to the New World
, known for chronicling some of the explorations of the Amazon
.
the expedition of Gonzalo Pizarro
, governor of Quito
, which was searching for La Canela
, the supposed "Land of Cinnamon", to the east of Quito.
The expedition, under difficult conditions, crossed the Andes
and into the Amazonian jungle
, an inhospitable territory devoid of provisions. Gonzalo Pizarro
ordered his second in command, Francisco de Orellana
to follow the Napo River
with fifty men, in order to find its mouth. The hope was that the men would be able to find provisions and bring them back in the small boat in which they went. Orellana reached the confluence of the Napo and Trinidad, but he didn't find provisions. Unable to return because of the current, he decided to continue following the river, until he reached the estuary of the Amazon in 1542.
This work remained obscure for a long period, being published only in 1895 by the Chilean José Toribio Medina
. Parts of Relación, in addition to interviews of Orellana and some of his men, were used by Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo in his Historia general y natural de las Indias ("General and Natural History of the Indies"), which was written in 1542, but not published until 1855. In 1934, Relación was again published, this time extensively revised by a H. C. Heaton. It is in a large extent due to Relación that Friar Carvajal is remembered in history.
Father Carvajal's diary of the Orellana expedition has achieved prominence recently. For over four centuries, scholars dismissed its reports of large cities, well developed roads, monumental construction, fortified towns, and dense populations. It was thought that the acidic soils of Amazonia could not support the level of agriculture necessary to support such a civilization. His writings were largely dismissed as fabrications and propaganda.
New archeological finds in the 21st century have verified much of his diary. This is a developing story, but our understanding of pre-Columbian Amazonia is being revolutionized. Father Carvajal's writings are being scrutinized for important clues on this lost civilization and for planning future archeological digs. They stand as the most valued contemporary chronicle of the pre-Columbian Amazonia culture, written before it disappeared and its works reclaimed by the jungle.
. In this post, he was chosen to arbitrate between the viceroy
, Blasco Núñez Vela
, and the auditors of the Real Audiencia in 1544. Unfortunately, the mediation seems to have been unfruitful. After the pacification of Peru, he was sent by his superiors as a missionary to Tucumán, being named the protector of the Indians in that area.
He worked for years in the region, achieving the conversion of the majority of indigenous people. In 1553 he was instituted as the prior
of the convent of Huamanga and provincial
of Tucumán. He brought a number of Dominicans to the province, with whose help he founded various reducciones de indios and nine Spanish municipalities. He was chosen to be provincial of Peru in 1557, dedicating two years to the organization of the province and the two following ones to the visiting of the most remote territories and the founding of new convents. There is evidence of a letter written by Carvajal to the king, informing him of the abuses that were being committed against the Indians in the mines of Peru, and asking for his intervention on their behalf. This shows a general attitude towards the Indians consistent with the doctrine of his brother Dominican Bartolomé de las Casas
.
In 1565 Carvajal was chosen as a representative of his province before the Spanish court and to the Pope, but it is likely that he never crossed the ocean. He died in Lima in 1584.
's 1972 film Aguirre, the Wrath of God
has an appearance of Gaspar de Carvajal (as played by actor Del Negro) as chaplain and chronicler of the mad descent of the Amazon by Lope de Aguirre
. This expedition, which took place in 1561 (almost twenty years after that of Orellana), was the source of inspiration for the movie. Additionally, Carvajal is depicted as being killed by natives. However, the film included many situations and persons from the chronicle of Carvajal, which is to say, from the expedition of Orellana.
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
Dominican
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
missionary to the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
, known for chronicling some of the explorations of the Amazon
Amazon Basin
The Amazon Basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries that drains an area of about , or roughly 40 percent of South America. The basin is located in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Venezuela...
.
Arrival in the New World and the Amazonian Expedition
De Carvajal was born in Trujillo. After entering the Dominican order in Spain, he set out for Peru in 1533, dedicating himself to the conversion of the Indians. In 1540, Carvajal joined as a chaplainChaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
the expedition of Gonzalo Pizarro
Gonzalo Pizarro
Gonzalo Pizarro y Alonso was a Spanish conquistador and younger paternal half-brother of Francisco Pizarro, the conqueror of the Inca Empire...
, governor of Quito
Quito
San Francisco de Quito, most often called Quito , is the capital city of Ecuador in northwestern South America. It is located in north-central Ecuador in the Guayllabamba river basin, on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active stratovolcano in the Andes mountains...
, which was searching for La Canela
La Canela
La Canela, the Valley of Cinnamon, is a legendary location in South America. As with El Dorado, its legend grew out of expectations aroused by the voyage of Columbus...
, the supposed "Land of Cinnamon", to the east of Quito.
The expedition, under difficult conditions, crossed the Andes
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
and into the Amazonian jungle
Amazon Rainforest
The Amazon Rainforest , also known in English as Amazonia or the Amazon Jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America...
, an inhospitable territory devoid of provisions. Gonzalo Pizarro
Gonzalo Pizarro
Gonzalo Pizarro y Alonso was a Spanish conquistador and younger paternal half-brother of Francisco Pizarro, the conqueror of the Inca Empire...
ordered his second in command, Francisco de Orellana
Francisco de Orellana
Francisco de Orellana was a Spanish explorer and conquistador. He completed the first known navigation of the length of the Amazon River, which was originally named for him...
to follow the Napo River
Napo River
The Napo is a tributary to the Amazon River that rises in Ecuador on the flanks of the volcanoes of Antisana, Sincholagua and Cotopaxi.The total length of 1075 km. Catchment area of 100,518 square kilometers...
with fifty men, in order to find its mouth. The hope was that the men would be able to find provisions and bring them back in the small boat in which they went. Orellana reached the confluence of the Napo and Trinidad, but he didn't find provisions. Unable to return because of the current, he decided to continue following the river, until he reached the estuary of the Amazon in 1542.
The Relación and Carvajal's mark on history
Caravajal, who was one of the survivors of the expedition, narrated the events in his work Relación del nuevo descubrimiento del famoso río Grande que descubrió por muy gran ventura el capitán Francisco de Orellana ("Account of the recent discovery of the famous Grand river which was discovered by great good fortune by Captain Francisco de Orellana"). In it, the friar recorded the dates of the expedition as well as a large number of notes of ethnological interest such as the sizes and dispositions of the indigenous peoples which occupied the banks of the river, their tactics of war, rituals, customs, utensils, and the like.This work remained obscure for a long period, being published only in 1895 by the Chilean José Toribio Medina
José Toribio Medina
José Toribio Medina Zavala was a Chilean bibliographer, prolific writer, and historian. He was of Basque descent.-Biography:...
. Parts of Relación, in addition to interviews of Orellana and some of his men, were used by Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo in his Historia general y natural de las Indias ("General and Natural History of the Indies"), which was written in 1542, but not published until 1855. In 1934, Relación was again published, this time extensively revised by a H. C. Heaton. It is in a large extent due to Relación that Friar Carvajal is remembered in history.
Father Carvajal's diary of the Orellana expedition has achieved prominence recently. For over four centuries, scholars dismissed its reports of large cities, well developed roads, monumental construction, fortified towns, and dense populations. It was thought that the acidic soils of Amazonia could not support the level of agriculture necessary to support such a civilization. His writings were largely dismissed as fabrications and propaganda.
New archeological finds in the 21st century have verified much of his diary. This is a developing story, but our understanding of pre-Columbian Amazonia is being revolutionized. Father Carvajal's writings are being scrutinized for important clues on this lost civilization and for planning future archeological digs. They stand as the most valued contemporary chronicle of the pre-Columbian Amazonia culture, written before it disappeared and its works reclaimed by the jungle.
Later career amongst the Indians
Upon his return to Peru, Carvajal was chosen as subprior of the Convent of San Rosario in LimaLima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
. In this post, he was chosen to arbitrate between the viceroy
Viceroy
A viceroy is a royal official who runs a country, colony, or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in the place of" and the French word roi, meaning king. A viceroy's province or larger territory is called a viceroyalty...
, Blasco Núñez Vela
Blasco Núñez Vela
Blasco Núñez Vela y Villalba was the first Spanish viceroy of Peru, from May 15, 1544 to January 18, 1546. He was charged by King Charles I with the enforcement of the controversial New Laws, which dealt with the failure of the encomienda system to protect the indigenous people of America from the...
, and the auditors of the Real Audiencia in 1544. Unfortunately, the mediation seems to have been unfruitful. After the pacification of Peru, he was sent by his superiors as a missionary to Tucumán, being named the protector of the Indians in that area.
He worked for years in the region, achieving the conversion of the majority of indigenous people. In 1553 he was instituted as the prior
Prior
Prior is an ecclesiastical title, derived from the Latin adjective for 'earlier, first', with several notable uses.-Monastic superiors:A Prior is a monastic superior, usually lower in rank than an Abbot. In the Rule of St...
of the convent of Huamanga and provincial
Provincial superior
A Provincial Superior is a major superior of a religious order acting under the order's Superior General and exercising a general supervision over all the members of that order in a territorial division of the order called a province--similar to but not to be confused with an ecclesiastical...
of Tucumán. He brought a number of Dominicans to the province, with whose help he founded various reducciones de indios and nine Spanish municipalities. He was chosen to be provincial of Peru in 1557, dedicating two years to the organization of the province and the two following ones to the visiting of the most remote territories and the founding of new convents. There is evidence of a letter written by Carvajal to the king, informing him of the abuses that were being committed against the Indians in the mines of Peru, and asking for his intervention on their behalf. This shows a general attitude towards the Indians consistent with the doctrine of his brother Dominican Bartolomé de las Casas
Bartolomé de Las Casas
Bartolomé de las Casas O.P. was a 16th-century Spanish historian, social reformer and Dominican friar. He became the first resident Bishop of Chiapas, and the first officially appointed "Protector of the Indians"...
.
In 1565 Carvajal was chosen as a representative of his province before the Spanish court and to the Pope, but it is likely that he never crossed the ocean. He died in Lima in 1584.
In popular culture
Werner HerzogWerner Herzog
Werner Herzog Stipetić , known as Werner Herzog, is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and opera director.He is often considered as one of the greatest figures of the New German Cinema, along with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Margarethe von Trotta, Volker Schlöndorff, Werner...
's 1972 film Aguirre, the Wrath of God
Aguirre, the Wrath of God
Aguirre, the Wrath of God is a 1972 West German adventure film written and directed by Werner Herzog. Klaus Kinski stars in the title role. The soundtrack was composed and performed by German progressive/Krautrock band Popol Vuh...
has an appearance of Gaspar de Carvajal (as played by actor Del Negro) as chaplain and chronicler of the mad descent of the Amazon by Lope de Aguirre
Lope de Aguirre
Lope de Aguirre was a Basque Spanish conquistador in South America. Nicknamed El Loco, 'the Madman', Aguirre is best known for his final expedition, down the Amazon river, in search of the mythical El Dorado...
. This expedition, which took place in 1561 (almost twenty years after that of Orellana), was the source of inspiration for the movie. Additionally, Carvajal is depicted as being killed by natives. However, the film included many situations and persons from the chronicle of Carvajal, which is to say, from the expedition of Orellana.
External links
- Gaspar de Carvajal at the Catholic EncyclopediaCatholic EncyclopediaThe Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia and the Original Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language encyclopedia published in the United States. The first volume appeared in March 1907 and the last three volumes appeared in 1912, followed by a master index...