The Bishop's Utopia. Emily Berquist Soule

      

      The Bishop’s Utopia

      THE EARLY MODERN AMERICAS

      Peter C. Mancall, Series Editor

      Volumes in the series explore neglected aspects of early modern history in the western hemisphere. Interdisciplinary in character, and with a special emphasis on the Atlantic World from 1450 to 1850, the series is published in partnership with the USC-Huntington Early Modern Studies Institute.

      The Bishop’s Utopia

      Envisioning Improvement in Colonial Peru

      Emily Berquist Soule

      UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA PRESS

      PHILADELPHIA

      This book is made possible by a collaborative grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

      Publication of this volume was assisted by funding from the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports.

      Copyright © 2014 University of Pennsylvania Press

      All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations used for purposes of review or scholarly citation, none of this book may be reproduced in any form by any means without written permission from the publisher.

      Published by

      University of Pennsylvania Press

      Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-4112

       www.upenn.edu/pennpress

      Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper

      10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Soule, Emily Berquist, 1975–

      The bishop’s utopia : envisioning improvement in colonial Peru / Emily Berquist Soule. — 1st ed.

      p. cm. — (The early modern Americas)

      Includes bibliographical references and index.

      ISBN 978-0-8122-4591-2 (hardcover : alk. paper)

      1. Martínez Compañón y Bujanda, Baltasar Jaime, 1735–1797. 2. Martínez Compañón y Bujanda, Baltasar Jaime, 1735–1797. Trujillo del Perú a fines del siglo XVIII. 3. Indians of South America—Material culture—Peru—Trujillo (La Libertad) 4. Indians of South America—Ethnobotany—Peru—Trujillo (La Libertad) 5. Indians of South America—Peru—Trujillo (La Libertad)—Social conditions—18th century. 6. Social planning—Peru—Trujillo (La Libertad)—History—18th century. 7. Utopias—Peru—Trujillo (La Libertad)—History—18th century. 8. Natural history—Peru—Trujillo (La Libertad) 9. Material culture in art. I. Title. II. Series: Early modern Americas.

      F3611.T8S68 2014

      985'.033—dc23 2013035999

       For Zoey

      A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which Humanity is always landing. And when Humanity lands there, it looks out, and, seeing a better country, sets sail.

      —Oscar Wilde

      This trip was longer than I had thought, because there was something to do everywhere I went … and it was not easy.

      —Martínez Compañón to Viceroy Croix, 1786

      CONTENTS

       Introduction. Utopias in the New World

       Chapter 1. The Books of a Bishop

       Chapter 2. Parish Priests and Useful Information

       Chapter 3. Imagining Towns in Trujillo

       Chapter 4. Improvement Through Education

       Chapter 5. The Hualgayoc Silver Mine

       Chapter 6. Local Botany: The Products of Utopia

       Chapter 7. The Legacy of Martínez Compañón

       Conclusion. Martínez Compañón’s Native Utopia

       Afterword

       Sources and Methods

       Appendix 1. Ecclesiastical Questionnaire Sent to Priests Prior to the Visita Party’s Arrival

       Appendix 2. Natural History Questionnaire Sent to Priests Prior to the Visita Party’s Arrival

       Archives and Special Collections Consulted

       Notes

       Index

       Acknowledgments

       Illustrations

      INTRODUCTION

      Utopias in the New World

      From the moment the Spanish set foot in what would soon be known as the “New World,” they were seeking mineral wealth, neophyte Catholics, free labor, natural resources, and wondrous marvels. But above all, the first Europeans to cross the Atlantic ventured to the other side of the world in search of dreams. They envisioned shining cities of gold and palaces overflowing with jewels and silver. They dreamed of forests where rainbow-hued birds fluttered overhead. They imagined becoming little monarchs with their own kingdoms and vassals. They dreamed of their epic deeds being immortalized in history books. And some of them believed that with all this behind them, they would return to Europe and claim the international dominance that they were convinced was the destiny of Spain.

      What happened to those dreams—the civil wars between brothers, the capture and execution of kings, and the decimation of an estimated 90–95 percent of America’s original peoples—has