I'm interested in accounts (long or short, doesn't matter) of Spanish settlers who returned from Spain's American colonies, and especially New Spain, to the Iberian peninsula in the period 1600-1700. I realize personal accounts form a limited category within the overall body of colonial documentation, so any leads are most appreciated. Gracias!
There is an account of a catalan friar od Spain, discalced carmelite, that visited convent of his order in the seventeenth century, and he write a chronicle of his trip and his experiences in Mexico. This is an article, with a pdf link. I hope can be helpful for your work.
[43] “Itinerario a Indias (1673-1679) del Padre Isidro de la Asunción”, Monte Carmelo, 70 (1962), pp. 257-264.
https://castellinterior.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/pdf-43.pdf
Hello Mercè,
this was very helpful, thanks much for the link. Interestingly enough, I have a couple of other similar sources also from friars, but nothing really so far from lay persons in comparable detail, at least not for the whole journey.
Saludos, Michael
This is the story of a female conquistador who returned to Europe during the seventeenth century after partaking in numerous adventures in New Spain.
http://www.amazon.com/Lieutenant-Nun-Memoir-Basque-Transvestite/dp/0807070734/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1458189392&sr=8-1&keywords=lieutenant+nun
Thanks Jacob. This is one of the more bizarre among the many bizarre stories of Spanish adventurers (voluntary or by accident) in the New World, though it is set primarily in Chile. Still, I'll look at what s/he has to say about the return journey from South America. Thanks again, Michael
Perhaps some names and leads in Pierre Chaunu, Séville et l'Atlantique (1550-1650), Paris, 1959, 2 vol., 2262 p.
An old book but a great classic : it has probably been translated in english.
And maybe can you ask some questions to a french medievist, Christophe Maneuvrier (Caen University), very interested in this topic.
You can write him on my part : [email protected]
He works sometimes in this field with other french and european historians.
Merci beaucoup, Bruno.
I'm winding my way through Chaunu's monumental Sevilla work right now.
Dis you try "God faith annd truthful ignorance"?
About the adventurous life of Catalina de Erauso pointed by Jacob Grandstaff, there are many information here http://www.euskomedia.org/aunamendi/77884 and here http://www.euskomedia.org/aunamendi/39681. In fact, she was ensign. That´s her usual name in articles, movies, etc... "Catalian de Erauso, la monja alférrez". That is: "Catalina de Erauso: the ensign nun".
That article about the wars betwenn basques and other spaniards when Catalina was overthere should be an interesting source of information: http://www.acuedi.org/ddata/9665.pdf.
There is an historical novel, "Potosí", but very politically biased towards extreme basque nationalism.
I expect that these will be useful data for you. By the way: thank you for the endorsment.
Best R.
Hola Carlos,
I'm still in source collecting mode for some parts of the project, but I have made a note of Erauso. Thanks for the additional info.
Speaking of Basques, one person I'm particularly interested in is Vicente de Zaldívar, who in 1602-4 went all the way from New Mexico to Madrid and back to try and get some Crown support and reinforcements for his uncle's (Juan de Oñate, another Basque by descent) New Mexico colonization venture. I've already tracked some of Zaldivar's stages on this journey, including his return trip - Sombrerete, México, Casa de Contratación in Sevilla, Madrid. He was very fast/lucky by the standards of the time.
He is one of several historic figures whose respective journeys should give an idea of the effort it took - not to mention some really hair-raising adventures to survive - to travel from the remote fringes of Spanish North America to Madrid in the 1600s.
Gracias de nuevo y saludos, Michael
Hi, Michael. Really nice story, very common among XVIIth century basques. Carry on and good luck!
You´re welcome and best R. or, in basque tongue, ez horregatik eta ondo izan : )
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