Juan de Castellanos (March 9, 1522 – November 1606)
[Juan de Castellanos]
- Boyacá Cultural was a
Spanish poet, soldier and Catholic priest who lived in the
New Kingdom of Granada
The New Kingdom of Granada ( es, Nuevo Reino de Granada), or Kingdom of the New Granada, was the name given to a group of 16th-century Spanish colonial provinces in northern South America governed by the president of the Royal Audience of Santa ...
. As one of the early Spanish
chroniclers he has contributed to the knowledge of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, mainly the
Muisca.
Biography
De Castellanos was born in
Alanís
Alanís is a municipality in Seville
Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, i ...
,
Sevilla,
Spain. He travelled to
America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
before 1545 as a
cavalry
Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...
soldier, and acquired some property on
Cubagua island in the
Pearl Coast
A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium car ...
. Abandoning the military profession, he became a secular priest in
Cartagena and, declining the positions of
canon and treasurer, went as
curate
A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...
to
Tunja. There he composed his epic poem, ''
Elegías de varones ilustres de Indias'', the first part of which appeared in
Madrid in 1588, and the first three parts in 1837. It is the longest poem ever in the Spanish language: 113,609 verses.
[ The Lenox Branch of the ]New York Public Library
The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...
possesses a complete copy. The verse recounts successively the deeds of prominent Spaniards in America, beginning with Christopher Columbus, and is an interesting source for the colonial history of northern South America, including many details of ethnography and ethnology.
De Castellanos was among the earliest conquistador
Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, O ...
es and was acquainted with nearly every prominent leader of the time. He relies to some extent upon Oviedo
Oviedo (; ast, Uviéu ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains the city. Oviedo is located ap ...
for many details, stating that Oviedo communicated to him verbally what he knew by personal experience of the settlement at Cartagena. Castellanos' poem is the second of a series of epic compositions in Spanish treating of the early colonization of America, Ercilla's '' La Araucana'' being the earliest in date of publication.
De Castellanos died in Tunja, Boyacá, New Kingdom of Granada
The New Kingdom of Granada ( es, Nuevo Reino de Granada), or Kingdom of the New Granada, was the name given to a group of 16th-century Spanish colonial provinces in northern South America governed by the president of the Royal Audience of Santa ...
in 1606.
Trivia
* A university in Tunja, the ''Fundación Universitaria Juan de Castellanos'', is named in honour of Juan de Castellanos.Website Fundación universitaria Juan de Castellanos
/ref>
See also
* '' Elegías de varones ilustres de Indias''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castellanos, Juan de
16th-century Colombian poets
Colombian male poets
Muisca scholars
1522 births
1606 deaths
Epic poets