Melchor de Talamantes
Encyclopedia
Lima
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...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
—May 9, 1809, Veracruz
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...
), was a Roman Catholic priest, a political liberal, and a leader in Mexico's movement for independence from Spain.
At the age of 14, he entered the Royal and Military Order of Our Lady of Mercy, a religious order. He obtained his doctorate in theology from the University of San Marcos. Afterwards he was a high official in the diocese of Lima, and for two years an assistant to Peruvian Viceroy Francisco Gil de Taboada y Lemus
Francisco Gil de Taboada
Francisco Gil de Taboada y Lemos was a Spanish naval officer and colonial administrator in America. He was briefly viceroy of New Granada in 1789, and from March 25, 1790 to June 6, 1796 he was viceroy of Peru...
. During this time he came to know Doctor Hipólito Unanue
Hipólito Unanue
José Hipólito Unanue y Pavón was a physician and a Peruvian politician, active in politics in the early years after independence.-Early life:...
, a fighter for the independence of America.
In 1796 he asked for his release from the order, to become a secular priest. This was because his reading of forbidden books and his libertarian tendencies had led to difficulties with his superiors. He also asked to be transferred to Spain, by way of Mexico. The second request that was granted on September 20, 1798. He left from Guayaquil
Guayaquil
Guayaquil , officially Santiago de Guayaquil , is the largest and the most populous city in Ecuador,with about 2.3 million inhabitants in the city and nearly 3.1 million in the metropolitan area, as well as that nation's main port...
for New Spain, arriving at Acapulco
Acapulco
Acapulco is a city, municipality and major sea port in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific coast of Mexico, southwest from Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semi-circular bay and has been a port since the early colonial period of Mexico’s history...
on November 26, 1799.
Talamantes took up residence at the convent of his order in Mexico City, where he dedicated himself to reading and meditation. On October 15, 1802 he delivered the lecture Panegírico de la gloriosa Virgen y doctora Santa Teresa de Jesús, which was printed, with permission, in the same year. On November 18 in the church of the archbishop he delivered the Oración fúnebre en las exequias de los soldados españoles muertos en la guerra.
In 1806 Viceroy José de Iturrigaray
José de Iturrigaray
José de Iturrigaray was a Spanish military officer and viceroy of New Spain, from January 4, 1803 to September 16, 1808, during a period of turbulence....
commissioned him to report on the boundaries between Texas (New Spain) and Louisiana.
Talamantes began attending parties and meetings. He made friends of radical Criollos
Criollo people
The Criollo class ranked below that of the Iberian Peninsulares, the high-born permanent residence colonists born in Spain. But Criollos were higher status/rank than all other castes—people of mixed descent, Amerindians, and enslaved Africans...
, played cards, contracted debts, and neglected his religious offices. He was named censor of the Diario de México, and came to have great influence in official circles, particularly in the Ayuntamiento (city government of Mexico City). He was now the intellectual leader of the Criollo party.
In 1808, after the French invasion of Spain, the Criollos and some of the Spanish living in New Spain wanted to proclaim the independence of the colony and establish a governing junta, similar to the anti-French juntas in the mother country. On September 1, 1808, Talamantes delivered two tracts to the Ayuntamiento, in favor of separation from Spain and of the convoking of a Mexican congress. His premises were that all ties to Spain had now been broken; that regional laws had to be made, independently of the mother country; that the Audiencia could not speak on behalf of the king; and that the king having disappeared, sovereignty was now vested in the people.
His proposed congress was to represent all the provinces of New Spain. It was to be invested with the legislative authority of the new government. The courts already established were to exercise the judicial power, and Viceroy Iturrigaray was to be captain general (commander of the military) and, provisionally, chief executive. This was the government of a republic; there was no provision for a king.
Viceroy Iturrigaray was perceived to have some sympathy for this path. On the night of September 15, 1808 a group of rich Spaniards who had no such sympathy arrested the viceroy, Talamantes, and members of the Ayuntamiento. An investigation of the papers of Talamantes revealed him to be a leader in the movement. Many radical political tracts written by him were found in his house. Also many books were found, including some banned ones (for instance the works of Montesquieu and Adam Smith
Adam Smith
Adam Smith was a Scottish social philosopher and a pioneer of political economy. One of the key figures of the Scottish Enlightenment, Smith is the author of The Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations...
).
The detention of the viceroy and the others was followed by charges and cruelties. Talamantes was brought before a biased court. He was denied a lawyer. His enemies, among whom were members of his religious order, accused him of "disloyalty to the king and adhesion to the doctrines of independence". His trial lasted more than six months. He was convicted and sentenced to death, then ordered transferred to Spain for the execution of the sentence.
Fray Talamantes died of yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
in San Juan de Ulúa
San Juan de Ulúa
San Juan de Ulúa, also known as Castle of San Juan de Ulúa is a large complex of fortresses, prisons and one former palace on an island overlooking the seaport of Veracruz, Mexico.-History:...
, Veracruz as he was being transferred in chains and under guard to Spain. He was provided no medical assistance, and indeed his chains were not removed until the moment of his burial, in a common grave.
He is honored today in Mexico as one of the protomartyrs of independence.