Chronicle of Peru

Title History

As the researcher Matikoren pointed out, the title of the entire work was to be “ Historia de la tierra del Perú ” ( History of the Land of Peru ), as followed from the contract concluded by the author with the publisher on the issue of the first part, but in the process of publishing the whole book received the title Crónica del Perú ^[1] . The same name is given in the Prologue of the first part.

Author

Aptly named “the preeminent chronicler of India ” Pedro Cieza de Leon shares this primacy with captain don Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdés , who, “twice crossing the Ocean, after titanic trials and labors, reported to Don Julio Dehador,“ to Spain and the natural wonders of America, the history of the Conquest, and the intentions and interests of those who brought it to the end "” ^[2] .

In his short life, he wrote a vast work that is fundamental to the study of the history of South America.

Being simultaneously a soldier, traveler, priest and human scientist, Cieza de Leon tried to thoroughly find out about any event, using not only documents, but also his own observations and a survey of the local population. At the same time, he almost always cited various points of view (both popular opinions and knowledge of experts in his field), or one, if it was more reliable, all of which puts the work of Ciez de Leon in a special series of books that are credible and are a valuable source for modern scientists.

The author, who was distinguished by a measured and verified rhythm of the narration, can be considered a magnificent story-teller, with a clearly pronounced critical method, when he, without hesitation, declares the iniquities perpetrated by the Spaniards against the Indians. He also celebrates the civil, religious and military art of the Inca Empire .

In truth, few people in the world, in my opinion, had a better rule than the Incas.

- Cieza de Leon, Pedro. Chronicle of Peru. Part one. Chapter LXI.

Cieza did not speak local Indian languages, although he knew many words, but he had excellent assistants and advisers in this matter, for example, the monk Domingo de Santo Thomas (who compiled the first grammar and the Quechua dictionary).

His works are considered “the most original and most important about America ever written in Spanish historiography, the work of the author of a special, prolific, learned and tireless observer ” ^[3] .

At the same time, Cieza de Leon, another chronicler - Pedro Pizarro , who published his chronicle 20 years after Cieza, accused him of collecting information from people who, wanting to get into the chronicle, paid 200–300 ducats , and that Cieza did not personally see what was happening, but only learned from the mouth of other people; since, as Pedro Pizarro added, “ in truth, I do not know that he was one of those first to come to this kingdom ... ” ^[4] .

The book, published by Martin Montes de Oca in Seville (sometimes: Martin de Montesdeoka) in the amount of 1050 or 1100 copies, carries a title that explains what it will be about: “The first part of the Chronicles of Peru telling about the establishment of provincial boundaries: their description; about laying new cities; about the customs and customs of the Indians; and about other notable things. Performed by Pedro de Cieza de Leon, a resident of Seville. 1553 " ^[5] . The publication has engraved letters , prints and inserted vignettes .

The “ Chronicle of Peru ” itself, superbly planned and structured, consists of four parts:

First part, 1553

The first part of the Chronicle consists of a general geographical overview, a description of the customs of the Indians, and the founding of the Spaniards of cities in Peru, Popejana, Charcas and Chile.

In turn, the first part is divided into:

• Title page.
• A page written by Prince Philip and signed by Juan Vazquez.
• Exactly the same page (that is, it is repeated twice, but the text is not the same in size).
• Dedication to Prince Philip.
• The preface of the author (Prologue) - it contains a brief content of the book, as well as the division of the book into parts and the names of all the books and parts.
• The content of the first part (List of Chapters - 121 chapter).
• List of typos and errors found in the publication.
• Text consisting of 121 chapters. At the end of the text is information about the publisher (" printed in Seville in the house of Martin de Montesdoc ") and the date of publication ("March 15, 1553").

The distribution of the first part of the Chronicles of Peru is known from Cieza's testament: in Medina del Campo, Juan de Espinosa sold one hundred thirty copies, in Toledo thirty - Juan Sanchez de Andrade, and eight - Diego Gutierrez from Los Rios de Córdoba. Juan de Cazalla from Seville contracted to sell more than one hundred copies. Books were also sent to Honduras and Santo Domingo ^[2] .

Second part, 1554 [1877] year

The second part of the Chronicles of Peru : “ about the rule of the Inca Yupnakov (!) [Instead of Yupangov]”, in all subsequent editions referred to as “ About the Dominion of the Inca Yupanqui ” ( Madrid , 1877 ) is a fundamental chronicle about the period of the Incan rule in Peru . Almost all of this part, as the famous historian Marco Jimenez de la Espada later remarked, “was fraudulently appropriated by one of our most famous chroniclers: a literary crime, which had as a consequence that the humble and hardworking soldier, conquistador and explorer from the first who bypassed the whole country, which he described and delved into all events, which he described in his remarkable work, which, before anyone else was able to understand and organize the mysterious chronicles of the times preceding the Conquest, turned out to be replaced He who, until today, had a palm among those who wrote about Peruvian antiquities, Ynca Garsilaso de la Vega to compile his own Genuine Comments ^[6] .

About Inca Sovereignty, Raul Porras Barrenechea said: “ Delights as in such a turbulent time as the years from 1548 to 1550, when Cieza was in Peru, he was able to write a work so thorough, so reliably and reliably documented, and such maturity, about the history and regulations of the Incas. The history of the Incas was born an adult at Cieza. No one can dispute his primacy over the Inca state. The history of the Castilian chronicler immediately introduced the Incas into world history. ” ^[2]

This part was not published during the life of the author, and as Cieza pointed out in his will: “I also order another book, written by me, and containing a chronicle about inga and about those who opened and conquered the pen, that if any of my executors will want to publish it, then let it take it and use it, and benefit from the publication, and if they do not want it, then order them to be sent to the bishop chiap [sa] to court, and give it to him with the obligation that he published her " ^[7] . For unknown reasons, the Bishop of Chiapas Bartolome de Las Casas did not become interested in the manuscripts of Cieza, after which they disappear for a long time. It is only known that at one time the manuscripts were kept by the inquisitor of Seville, Andres Gasco, and then by the royal chronicler Juan Paez de Castro.

Escorial Library Manuscript

The manuscript of this second part in the XIX century was kept in the Library of the Escorial , and was published in 1877 . It lacked several chapters: first, second, most of the third, part fifty-quarter (?) And, perhaps, fifty-fifth.

Manuscript of the Vatican Library

Another manuscript of the second part of the Chronicle was discovered in the 1980s by the researcher Francesca Cant in the Apostolic Library of the Vatican . In the Vatican manuscript, on the first page of the text relating to the Second Part, the right upper quarter is missing and, therefore, the numbering is missing. It should be noted, however, that the following sheet is numbered as sheet 3. In this case, the only sheet missing is sheet 1. Relying on the average size of the chapters in Part Two, it could be argued that the head from which a part of the extensive fragment is formed corresponds to sheet 2 r.-v. [front and back], there will be neither chapter I nor chapter III, according to the numbering given by Marcos Jiménez de la Espada based on the fact that in chapter C [that is, Sotoy] from Part One, Cieza wrote: “ Many of these Indians tell how they heard from their old people that in ancient times there was a great flood and [it was] the way I describe it in the third chapter of the Second Part. And they explain that their ancestors are from hoary antiquity, about whose origin they tell so many sorts of words and fables, [and] if they are, then I certainly want to stop and write about it, because some say that they came from the source, others are from the rock, others are from the lakes . ” Still, one might think of a plausible error in printing (where the typographer can read the “third” instead of the “first”) or only an approximate (or confused) quotation from Cieza himself, who in his First Part, in chapter LXIII wrote: “ although I did much of this and talked with men of scientists and inquisitive ones, I could not find out about the origin of these [or the Indians of Peru] or their beginnings, [...] although in the Second Part, in the first chapter, I write that I could find out about it . " The Vatican manuscript, however, does not allow for the detection of absolute certainty in connection with this (although there is a hypothesis that it was not all two chapters of Part Two that were lost, but only a fragment of Chapter I).

In the same manuscript two other sheets are missing: sheet 63 rv, and sheet 64 rv. The text corresponding to these two sheets was also missing in the copies used by González de la Rosa and Jiménez de la Espada (that is, in the manuscript of the Escorial), which in their respective editions rewrote the fragment of the sheet 65 r without a sequence. after Chapter LIV, probably incomplete (see sheet 62 v). Aranibar, on the advice of Jimenez de la Espada, who pointed out the obviousness of the problem that the text of Cieza represented in this place, gave the fragment corresponding to the sheet of 65 r., Its own numbering and title ("Chapter LV. About how spoke from Cusco Tupac Inga, and about the victory that was won over the stakes. ”In this connection, in the chapter LIV or LV, information about the death of Pachacuti Ingi Yupangi is omitted .

The owner of both manuscripts (Vitakanska and Escorial) was, according to the registers of the libraries of José Sancho Rayón.

Copies of the second part are also kept in the Academy of History of Madrid and in the Public Library of New York (Lennox Collection).

Third part

The third part is an extensive narrative in which the Discovery and Conquest of Peru is described, although only a small part of it is preserved, which became known in 1946 thanks to the Lima newspaper El Mercurio Peruano and the researcher Rafael Loredo, who discovered it in the Escorial Library (Madrid, Spain), but not all the chapters he managed to publish then, as well as a few years later, Carmelo Sáenz de Santa María. And only in 1979 the full edition was published in Rome when Francesca Cantту discovered a new manuscript in the Vatican Library (obviously, it got there long ago, when the personal library of Queen Christina of Sweden was transferred to the Vatican ). The same researcher prepared the complete works of Cieza de Leon in the Pontifical Catholic University in Peru.

A significant part of the manuscript was also included in his “ General History ” by Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas , since he held the position of Chief Chronist of India .

Some passages of the third part of the Chronicle were published by Marcos Jimenez de la Espada in Relaciones Geográficas de Indias ( 1897 , volume IV).

Part Four

The fourth part of the Chronicle : "The civil wars in Peru ", the most extensive. It is divided into five books:

• • The War of Salinas , about the confrontation of Francisco Pizarro and Diego de Almagro , ends with his death.
  • The Chupass War , which briefly expounded Pizarro’s last years, the rule of Vaca de Castro and the defeat of Diego de Almagro's Younger .
  • " The war in Quito ", which tells about the rebellion of enkomendero under the command of Gonzalo Pizarro and the death of the Vice-King Blasco Nuñez Vela .

These three books were published in the XIX century , and it is not known whether the author finished the last two:

• • " War in Warino ".
  • " The war in Hakihaguana ."

No manuscripts of the last two books were found. Perhaps the premature death did not allow him to finish them, but this is only a guess.

Manuscripts of Part Four

One manuscript of the first book of the Fourth Part is known - The War in Salinas , located in the library of the Hispanic Society of America . Another manuscript in the 20th century was kept by Marquis de la Fuensanta del Valle and José Sancho Rayon, editors of la Colección de Documentos Inéditos para la Historia de España .

The manuscript of the second book, The Chupass War , dates back to the 16th century and is kept in the Library of the Royal Palace in Madrid .

“ The war in Quito ” is known in two manuscripts: one is incomplete — it is kept in the Library of the Royal Palace in Madrid, and the other is complete in the Hispanic Society of America . A modern copy is also kept in the New York Public Library ( Rich Collection ).

Two additions to the Chronicle

In the Prologue to the First Part of the Chronicle of Cieza, he reports that he also compiled two comments on his book:

Having finished with these books, of which the fourth part consists, I made two additions: one about the affairs that happened in the kingdom of Peru after the foundation of the audience, and up to the moment when the president left her. The second is about his arrival in [the province] Tierra Firme . And about the death committed by the Contreras (los Contreras) to the Bishop of Nicaragua , and how they entered the Panama with a "tyrannical" plan, they grabbed a lot of gold and silver. And about the battle given to them by the inhabitants of Panama around the city, where many were captured and killed, and others were put on trial. And how the treasures returned. I conclude [this second addendum] with a description of the revolts in Cusco and the arrival of Marshal Alonso de Alvarado, sent by the lords of Oidors to deal with them. And about the entry in the kingdom of the viceroy of the radiant and very prudent man don Antonio de Mendoza (Antonio de Mendoςa).

- Cieza de Leon, Pedro. Chronicle of Peru. Part one. Prologue of the author.

It is believed that he still did not have time to write these comments, since in the will he mentioned the need to keep three books of the Fourth part for 15 years (they are also known now), but he did not report on the fourth and fifth books of the Fourth part and two appendices .

In other languages

The main editions of his works:

• Parte primera de la Chrónica del Perú. Que tracta la demarcación de sus prouincias: la descripción dellas. Las fundaciones de las nuevas ciudades, los ritos y costumbres de los Indios, y otras cosas estrañas dignas de ser sabidas, por Martín de Montesdoca, Sevilla, 1553.
• La Chrónica del Perú nuevamente escrita por…, Martín Nucio, Amberes, 1554. Parte primera de la Chrónica del Perú ... Añadiose de nueuo la description y traga de todas las Indias, condo de la dadas las indias, condo de la martera de las mantas de elas de riadas de las de riadas de las de riadas de las de riadas de los de rio de las de rio de rio de riadas de los de rio de rio de ... , Amberes [al fin, Impresso en Anvers por Iuan Lacio MDLIIII], 1554.
• Parte primera de la Chrónica del Perú ... Por Juan Bellero, a la enseña del Salmón, Amberes [al fin: Impresso en Anvers por Iuan Lacio MDLIIII], 1554.
• La historia de los incas o Segunda parte de la Crónica del Perú, versión y prólogo de Manuel González de la Rosa, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Londres [edición que no llegó a circular; existen al menos dos ejemplares en pruebas, unos de ellos en la Biblioteca Nacional de Madrid, y otro en la de la Universidad de Yale], 1873.
• Segunda parte de la crónica del Perú: qua trata del señorío de los Incas yupan de yos sus grandes hechos y gobernación escrita por Pedro de Cieza de León. Ed. y pról. de Marcos Jiménez de la Espada, Biblioteca Hispano-Ultramarina, la publica Marcos Jiménez de la Espada, Madrid, Imprenta Manuel Ginés Hernández, 1880, 279, 140 pp.
• Señorío de los Incas, ed. y est. prel. de Carlos Araníbar, Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, Lima, 1967.
• En Obras completas, ed. y est. de Carmelo Sáenz de Santa María, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Instituto Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo, Madrid, 1984.
• Crónica del Perú. Segunda parte, ed. pról. y Notas de Francesca Cantü, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú y Academia Nacional de la Historia, Lima, 1985.
• Pedro de Cieza de León e il Descubrimiento y Conquista del Perú, ed. y est. prel. de Francesca Cantü, Istituto Storico Italiano per l'etá Moderna e Contemporanea, Roma, 1979.
• Crónica del Perú. Tercera parte, ed. pról. y Notas de Francesca Cantü, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú y Academia Nacional de la Historia, Lima, 1987.
• Guerras civiles del Perú ..., I. Guerra de las Salinas, publicada ... conforme al manuscrito coetáneo propiedad de los señores Marqués de la Fuensanta del Valle y D. José Sancho Rayón, Colección de Documentos Inéditos para la Historia de iñaé, let. 1877.
• Tercero Libro de las Guerras Civiles del Perú, el cual se llama la Guerra de Quito ..., ed. y est. prel. de Marcos Jiménez de la Espada, Biblioteca HispanoUltramarina, Madrid [edición incompleta, sólo considera 53 capítulos provenientes del manuscrito incompleto existente en la Biblioteca de Palacio Real de Madrid], 1877.
• Guerras civiles del Perú ... II. Guerra de Chupas, publicada.
• Guerra de Quito ..., ed. de M. Serrano y Sanz, Nueva Biblioteca de Autores Españoles, T. 15, Madrid, 1909.
• Crónica del Perú. Cuarta parte, vol. I., Guerra de las Salinas, ed. y est. prel. de Pedro Guíbovich, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú y Academia Nacional de la Historia, Lima, 1991.
• Crónica del Perú. Cuarta parte, vol. II, Guerra de Chupas, ed. y est. Prel de Gabriela Benavides de Rivero, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú y Academia Nacional de la Historia, Lima, 1994.
• Crónica del Perú. Cuarta parte, vol. III, Guerra de Quito, edición y est. prel. de Laura Gutiérrez Arbulú, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú y Academia Nacional de la Historia, Lima, 1994.
• Cieza de Leon, Pedro. Descubrimiento y conquista del Perú. Edición de Carmelo Sáenz de Santa María. Madrid: Dastin Historia, 2000.

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  Foundation of the first Spanish cities in Peru. Pedro Cieza de Leon . Chronicle of Peru, Chapter VIII. 1553 .

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  The construction of fortress walls. Pedro Cieza de Leon. Chronicle of Peru, Chapter XII. 1553 .

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  Communication Indians with the devil. Pedro Cieza de Leon . Chronicle of Peru, Chapter XV. 1553 .

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  Indian human sacrifices. Pedro Cieza de Leon . Chronicle of Peru, Chapter XIX. 1553 .

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  The first European image of the Incas . Pedro Cieza de Leon . Chronicle of Peru, Chapter XXXVIII. 1553 .

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  The life of the Indians. Pedro Cieza de Leon . Chronicle of Peru, Chapter XLIV. 1553 .

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  The worship of the great emerald indians. Pedro Cieza de Leon . Chronicle of Peru, Chapter L. 1553 .

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  Heavenly punishment, fallen on Indians. Pedro Cieza de Leon . Chronicle of Peru, Chapter LII. 1553 .

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  City of Cusco . Pedro Cieza de Leon . Chronicle of Peru, Chapter XCII. 1553 .

• José Roberto Paez. Pedro Cieza de Leon. (Neopr.) www.kuprienko.info (November 23, 2009). - Abridged translation by V.N.Talakh from the Spanish edition "Biblioteca Ecuatoriana Minima. Cronistas coloniales. Segunda Parte". Quito - Ecuador, 1960. pp.33-50. The appeal date is November 23, 2009. Archived August 24, 2011.
• Raúl Aguilar Rodas. Pedro de Cieza de León y la historia de Colombia. (Neopr.) www.dialnet.uniroja.es (2000). - Boletín de historia y antigüedades, ISSN 0006-6303, Vol. 87, Nº 810, 2000, pags. 561-590. The date of circulation is October 10, 2009. Archived January 31, 2012.
• F. Esteve Barba. Historiografia Indiana (Grandes Manuales). - 2nd ed. - Madrid: Gredos, 1964. - 756 p. - ISBN 84-249-3113-0 .
• Garrain Villi, Luis José. Extremadura y América. Príncipe de los cronistas de Indias. - Mérida: Extremadura Enclave 92, 1991.
• Gutierrez Macias, Valeriano. Por tierras de la Baja Extremadura. - Cáceres, 1978.
• González Porto-Bompiani. Diccionario literario de obras y personajes de todos los tiempos y de todos los países. - Barcelona: Montaner y Simón, 1959.

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