Juan de Castellanos | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Juan de Castellanos (1589) | |
| Born | March 9, 1522 |
| Died | November 1606 (aged 84) |
| Language | Spanish |
| Notable work | Elegías de varones ilustres de Indias |
Juan de Castellanos (March 9, 1522 – November 1606)[1] was aSpanish poet, soldier and Catholic priest who lived in theNew Kingdom of Granada. As one of the early Spanishchroniclers he has contributed to the knowledge of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, mainly theMuisca.
Juan de Castellanos was born inAlanís,Andalusia, the son of Cristóbal Sánchez Castellanos and Catalina Sánchez.[2] He spent part of his childhood in the nearby village ofSan Nicolás del Puerto, which he later recalled as his “homeland”.[2] He received his education inSeville, where the presbiter Miguel de Heredia instructed him in grammar and letters.[2]
While still young, he embarked for theWest Indies, probably in the 1530s, in the retinue of Baltasar de León, son of the conquistadorJuan Ponce de León.[3][2] Biographical accounts differregarding the exact date of his departure:some authors place it in 1534, others in 1539 or 1540.[2] After an initial stay inPuerto Rico, he settled in the colony ofCubagua, a center of the pearl fisheries, where he took part in commercial and military activities.[3][2] During these years he had a daughter, Jerónima.[3] In the following years,he participated in several expeditions in the Caribbean regions and on the South American mainlan, including those toParia,Trinidad, and the Venezuelan coast. He was also involved in the failed expedition ofPedro de Ursúa towardOmagua andEl Dorado, later associated with the rebellion ofLope de Aguirre .[2] After various hardships, he moved toSanta Marta, in present-dayColombia, where he took part in military campaigns against Indigenous peoples, such as theTairona, and in inland expeditions with exploratory or mining purposes.[3][2] InCartagena, in 1555, he decided to pursue an ecclesiastical career.
Ordained as a priest, he served as chaplain and parish priest in the city until 1558, and then inRiohacha until 1561.[3][2] In 1562 he was appointed parish priest of the cathedral ofTunja, where in 1569 he obtained its benefice by royal decree ofPhilip II.[3] Having settled permanently in Tunja, he amassed a considerable library and landed property, leading a comfortable life and devoting himself to writing.[2] There he spend more than four decades, exercising his ministry and working on his literary works.[4][3][2]
He died in Tunja on 27 November 1607 and was buried in the parish church of Santiago in the city.[4][3][2]
While in Tunja, de Castellanos composed an epic poem,Elegías de varones ilustres de Indias. The first part of this poem appeared inMadrid in 1588, and the first three parts in 1837. It is the longest poem ever in the Spanish language: 113,609 verses.[1] TheLenox Branch of theNew York Public Library possesses a complete copy. The verse recounts successively the deeds of prominent Spaniards in America, beginning withChristopher Columbus, and includes many ethnographic and ethnological details on the colonial history of northern South America.
Castellanos' poem is the second of a series of epic compositions in Spanish treating of the early colonization of America,Ercilla'sLa Araucana being the earliest in date of publication.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Juan de Castellanos".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
Chronicles of the Indies | |
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