Pedro Marbán (Tiedra, January 8, 1653 - Loreto, November 28, 1713) was a Jesuit missionary and founder of several missions among the Mojeño people of Bolivia. The province of Marbán in the Bolivian province of Beni is named after him.

Early life and education

Pedro Marbán was born in Tiedra in what is now the

Valladolid province Valladolid () is a province of northwest Spain, in the central part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It has a population of 525,398 across a total of 225 municipalities, an area of , meaning a population density of 64.77 people ...

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 ...

on January 8, 1653. Marbán lost his mother at an early age, and was taken in by an aunt. His father sent him to study in Villagarcía and after he completed his studies in the humanities, sent him to

Salamanca Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...

, where some of his relatives lived. There he decided to join the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

and after being accepted he moved to the

Novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

in Villagarcía. He studied the arts in

Soria Soria () is a municipality and a Spanish city, located on the Douro river in the east of the autonomous community of Castile and León and capital of the province of Soria. Its population is 38,881 ( INE, 2017), 43.7% of the provincial populatio ...

and then was sent to

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

to teach grammar. Afterwards he completed his education in

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

. He then requested to be sent to

the Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.'' Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sin ...

. In his fourth year, Juan de Ribadeneira arrived in Spain in the role of procurator and he called Marbán to

Seville Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Guadalquivir, ...

, where the expedition was planned.

Journey to the Americas

From

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

, he was sent to

Santa Cruz de la Sierra Santa Cruz de la Sierra (; ), commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the largest city in Bolivia and the capital of the Santa Cruz Department (Bolivia), Santa Cruz department. Situated on the Pirai River (Bolivia), Pirai River in the eastern Tropical ...

, in the

Real Audiencia de Charcas The Real Audiencia of Charcas () was a Spanish '' audiencia'' with its seat in what is today Bolivia. It was established in 1559 in Ciudad de la Plata de Nuevo Toledo (later Charcas, modern-day Sucre) and had jurisdiction over the Governorate of ...

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

, together with father Cipriano Barace and José del Castillo. In 1675, the three missionaries began their journey to the

Mamoré river The Mamoré is a large river in Brazil and Bolivia which unites with the Madre de Dios River to form the Madeira, one of the largest tributaries of the Amazon. It rises on the northern slope of the Sierra de Cochabamba, east of the city of Cochaba ...

Llanos de Moxos The Llanos de Moxos, also known as the Beni savanna or Moxos plains, is a tropical savanna ecoregion of the Beni Department of northern Bolivia. Setting The Llanos de Moxos covers an area of in the lowlands of northern Bolivia, with small por ...

. In May 1675, the missionaries arrived at the port of the Guapay river (modern

Río Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Me ...

, to the east of

. There they found canoes made by the

Mojeños The Mojeños, also known as Moxeños, Moxos, or Mojos, are an indigenous peoples of Bolivia, indigenous people of Bolivia. They live in south central Beni Department, on both banks of the Mamore River, and on the marshy plains to its west, known a ...

, but they decided not to use them due to their fragility. José del Castillo, together with a Mojeño interpreter, traveled in search of better canoes and they managed to convince Mojeño leaders to receive the Jesuits, and they organized a flotilla of rowers. They arrived to the port in June, which permitted Marbán and company to continue their evangelization efforts.

Missionary work in Moxos

At the end of 1675, Marbán and company embarked on the Guapay river and began their journey up the Mamoré river. After eleven days they reached the first Mojeño settlement, marking the beginning of their missionary work in Llanos de Moxos. There they managed to contact the Maremonos, one of many Mojeños peoples. The difficult and long journey culminated in the founding of the town of

Nuestra Señora de Loreto Reducción de Nuestra Señora de Loreto (''Reduction of Our Lady of Laurel''), founded in 1610, was the first reductions established by the Jesuits in the Province of Paraguay in the Americas during the Spanish colonial period. The site is locat ...

on March 25, 1682, the first Jesuit Mission among the Moxos. The Jesuits introduced the first 86 head of cattle in Moxos, as an effort to develop the region, with the support of the Maremonos.

Leadership of Moxos mission

Marbán was designated as the superior at the mission from 1681 to 1700. During his administration ten ''reducciones'' (indigenous settlements for the purpose of religious conversion) to the west of the

Mamoré River The Mamoré is a large river in Brazil and Bolivia which unites with the Madre de Dios River to form the Madeira, one of the largest tributaries of the Amazon. It rises on the northern slope of the Sierra de Cochabamba, east of the city of Cochaba ...

. He was an active participant in teaching skills such as the construction of violins, masonry, tailoring and showmaking. He also incorporated both Spanish and Mojeño cultural traditions when composing religious songs in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, Spanish, and the Mojeño language.

Linguistic work

In 1701 he wrote the ''Arte de la lengua moxa, con su vocabulario y cathecismo'' (Grammar of the Moxa language, with a vocabulary and catechism). A facsimile reprint by

Julius Platzmann Karl Julius Platzmann (born 31 January 1832 in Leipzig; died 6 September 1902 in Leipzig) was a German botanist, artist and bibliophile who published exact facsimile editions of rare early missionary grammars of indigenous languages of the Americ ...

was printed in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

in 1895. It is one of the earliest descriptive works of an

Arawakan Arawakan (''Arahuacan, Maipuran Arawakan, "mainstream" Arawakan, Arawakan proper''), also known as Maipurean (also ''Maipuran, Maipureano, Maipúre''), is a language family that developed among ancient Indigenous peoples in South America. Branch ...

language. The book was included in the

Memory of the World Programme UNESCO's Memory of the World (MoW) Programme is an international initiative to safeguard the documentary heritage of humanity against collective amnesia, neglect, decay over time and climatic conditions, as well as deliberate destruction. It ca ...

in 2023.

Death

After more than three decades living in the Moxos region, he died in Loreto in 1713.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Arte de la lengua moxa, con su vocabulario y cathecismo - Pedro Marbán

Perfil de Pedro Marbán - Real Academia de la Historia
1653 births 1713 deaths History of Bolivia Spanish explorers of South America Spanish missions in Bolivia Jesuit history in South America