Abstract

NEGRO TUA, Sandra. Exile, Distress and Nostalgia in the Chronicle of Father Manuel Uriarte, Missionary in Maynas (1750-1767). Apuntes [online]. 2007, vol.20, n.1, pp.92-107. ISSN 1657-9763.

The arrival of the Jesuits to the Amazon forest of the Vicero-yalty of Peru in 1638 originated the establishment of the mission of Maynas. Through the hundred and thirty years of their stay, the missionaries founded more than a hundred towns in which they tried to subdue the natives belonging to an extraordinarily complex and varied cultural universe. This situation -combined with others of political and geographical nature- transformed the mission into the most complex and unstable of all the evangelization projects carried out by the Jesuits in Spanish America. The present contribution describes and analyzes through the chronicle of father Manuel Uriarte the final phase of this mission. Undoubtedly it was a moment of deep crisis due to the shortage of missionaries, the extended scourge of various plagues and the cyclic desertions of the natives to the depths of the forest. When the announcement of the expulsion arrived, our chronicler did not lose his spirit and continued up to the last instant building churches and calming down the inhabitants, who felt frightened because of the incoming news. In the narration -at first sight scattered and chaotic- we clarified the feelings of resignation and obedience of the twenty-one Jesuits of Maynas set against the inevitable. These feelings were always accompanied by an intense suffering, caused by the obligation to abandon of their dear spiritual sons and daughters. In spite of all, Uriarte never lost the hope to be able to return to his beloved missions.

Keywords : Chronicle; Subduing; Territory; Expulsion; Emotional Perceptions.

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