Juan Rodríguez Freyle (also written as Juan Rodríguez Freile), (

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

New Kingdom of Granada New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

, 25 April 1566 - Bogotá, 1642) was an early writer in the New Kingdom of Granada, the Spanish colonial territory of what today is

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

. The son of a soldier in the army of Pedro de Ursúa, Rodríguez Freyle knew the ''cacique'' of Guatavita and the founder of Bogotá:

Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada y Rivera, also spelled as Ximénez and De Quezada, (; 1509 – 16 February 1579) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador in northern South America, territories currently known as Colombia. He explored the territory n ...

. His major work '' El Carnero'' is a collection of stories, anecdotes and rumours about the early days of the New Kingdom of Granada and the demise of the

Muisca Confederation The Muisca Confederation was a loose confederation of different Muisca rulers (''zaques'', ''zipas'', ''iraca'', and ''tundama'') in the central Andes, Andean highlands of what is today Colombia before the Spanish conquest of the Americas, Spanis ...

. It is one of the most important sources for the sixteenth century Spanish period of present-day Colombia. Juan Rodríguez Freyle was married to Francisca Rodríguez and died in Bogotá in 1642.

Biography

Juan Rodríguez Freyle was born in Bogotá, the capital of the New Kingdom of Granada, as son of Juan Freyle and Catalina Rodríguez. The Freyles were originally from

Alcalá de Henares Alcalá de Henares () is a Spanish municipality of the Community of Madrid. Housing is primarily located on the right (north) bank of the Henares River, Henares. , it has a population of 193,751, making it the region's third-most populated Municip ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and of good standing.Biography Juan Rodríguez Freyle
- Banco de la República Little is known about his life, but he didn't have a full education and sources state he learned how to read from Gonzalo García Zorro, seven times mayor of Bogotá between 1544 and 1564. Rodríguez Freyle studied at the San Luis seminary for two years, where he was expelled for including the nickname for the archbishop Zapata as Sabata.Biography Juan Rodríguez Freyle
- Pueblos Originarios Freyle enrolled in expeditions to submit the indigenous groups Timaná ( Huila) and Pijao, the latter under command of president Juan de Borja. He got to know conquistador, founder and first mayor of Bogotá

who died in 1579, and the ''

cacique A cacique, sometimes spelled as cazique (; ; feminine form: ), was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, who were the Indigenous inhabitants of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles at the time of European cont ...

'' of Guatavita. Later, he remained six years in Spain as secretary of oidor Alonso Pérez Salazar. During his time in Spain from 1585 to 1591, he witnessed the attack on

Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...

by the

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...

in 1587.''El Carnero'' - semilla de nuestro periodismo
- El Tiempo Upon the death of Pérez Salazar, Rodríguez Freyle found himself in economical problems and in a country far away from his birth nation. He returned to the New Kingdom of Granada and settled for a while in

Cartagena de Indias Cartagena ( ), known since the colonial era as Cartagena de Indias (), is a city and one of the major ports on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Region of Colombia, Caribbean Coast Region, along the Caribbean Sea. Cartagena's past ...

. After his time in Cartagena, Juan Rodríguez Freyle traveled along the

Magdalena River The Magdalena River (, ; less commonly ) is the main river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of its lower reaches, ...

back to his birthplace and dedicated himself to

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

in Guatavita, Cundinamarca. Back in Bogotá, in 1603 or 1604 he married Francisca Rodríguez and as it seems worked in the office for the collection of taxes. In his free time, he started to write. Of Rodríguez Freyle is said that he was an educated man and fond of literature.

''El Carnero''

In the last years of his life, between 1636 and 1638, Rodríguez Freyle wrote his magnum opus: ''El Carnero, El Carnero - Conquista y descubrimiento del Nuevo Reino de Granada de las Indias Occidentales del Mar Océano, y Fundación de la ciudad de Santafé de Bogotá, primera de este reino donde se fundó la Real Audiencia y Cancillería, siendo la cabeza se hizo su arzobispado'', about the first List of conquistadors in Colombia, conquistadors in Colombia, among which his father, Juan Freyle, soldier under Pedro de Ursúa. The work is one of the most extensive sources about the

Spanish conquest of the Muisca The Spanish conquest of the Muisca took place from 1537 to 1540. The Muisca people, Muisca were the inhabitants of the central Andes, Andean highlands of Colombia before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. They were organised in a loose M ...

. Rodríguez Freyle wrote this book based on his friendship with the ''cacique'' of Guatavita, one of the major rulers of the

. Juan Rodríguez Freyle lived in Guasca, Cundinamarca, close to

sacred Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

Lake Guatavita. ''El Carnero'' was mentioned in the historical literature for the first time in 1785 and not fully published until 1859. ''El Carnero'' ("The Sheep") is regarded as the most important source for the historical events in the early colonial times of what later would become Colombia. Researcher Carlos Rey Pereira published his PhD in 2000 about the work, where he assessed the validity of the events described as a mixture of common opinions and rumours. Rodríguez Freyle filled the gaps between two other early Spanish chroniclers: Pedro Simón and Juan de Castellanos. Other critical reviews of the book mention the viewpoint of the writer; child of an

encomendero The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish labour system that rewarded conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. In theory, the conquerors provided the labourers with benefits, including military protection and education. In pr ...

and conquistador. Rey Pereira quotes scholar David Bost:

"Modern scholarship has shown that such a confluence of what we now term history and fiction was common during this period. Historical writers frequently relied upon recourses from literary models to invest their accounts with a more expressive language. There was often no clear distinction between the two forms of writing with regard to truth or reliability; it was not uncommon for historians like Rodríguez Freyle or Pedro Simón to create portraitures and characterizations with little or no textual evidence. Historians were free to speculate about people and occurrences; their narratives thus reflect frequent turns toward an imaginative, inventive depiction of the American scene."Bost, 1990, p.169

Notes

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* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez Freyle, Juan 1566 births 1642 deaths People from the New Kingdom of Granada 16th-century writers 17th-century writers Scholars of the Muisca civilization

Biography

''El Carnero''

See also

Notes

References

Bibliography