OPHIR DE ESPAÑA & FERNANDO DE MONTESINOS’S DIVINE DEFENSE OF THE SPANISH COLONIAL EMPIRE: A MYSTERIOUS ANCESTRAL MERGING OF PRE-INCA AND CHRISTIAN HISTORIES by NATHAN JAMES GORDON A.A., Mt. San Jacinto College, 2006 B.A., University of Colorado, 2010 M.A., University of Colorado, 2012 A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Colorado in partial fulfillment of the requirment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Spanish and Portuguese 2017 This thesis entitled: Ophir de España & Fernando de Montesinos’s Divine Defense of the Spanish Colonial Empire: A Mysterious Ancestral Merging of pre-Inca and Christian Histories written by Nathan James Gordon has been approved for the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Andrés Prieto Leila Gómez Gerardo Gutiérrez Núria Silleras-Fernández Juan Dabove Date The final copy of this thesis has been examined by the signatories, and we find that both the content and the form meet acceptable presentation standards of scholarly work in the above mentioned discipline. ii ABSTRACT Gordon, Nathan James (Ph.D., Spanish Literature, Department of Spanish and Portuguese) Ophir de España & Fernando de Montesinos’s Divine Defense of the Spanish Colonial Empire: A Mysterious Ancestral Merging of pre-Inca and Christian Histories Thesis directed by Associate Professor Andrés Prieto Over the last two centuries, Books I and III of Ophir de España: Memorias historiales y políticas del Perú (1644) by Fernando de Montesinos have been generally overlooked. The cause of this inattention is associated with the mysterious and unique pre-Columbian historical account from Book II, which affords the most extensive version of Andean genealogy. Due to the excitement of Book II, colonial scholars have predominantly concentrated on thoroughly exploring the theoretical depths of the colonial manuscript selection. While all preceding studies are estimable and invaluable, this dissertation seeks to reunify Ophir de España by placing Book II back into its original context alongside Books I and III and by demonstrating that the text should be understood as a complementary component that supports Montesinos’s theses. As the entirety of Ophir de España and some of Montesinos’s other correlative works are evaluated, the true authorial design of the chronicle is revealed. Although the primary goal of Ophir de España is obvious, in that it centers on defending the legal rights of Spain in the New World, the major objective of this dissertation is to explain why Montesinos felt it was necessary to come to Spain’s defense during the seventeenth century when it had already ruled America for nearly one hundred years. iii During the course of this study, Nathan J. Gordon establishes that Montesinos wrote Ophir de España because he was concerned with the financial demise of Spain, which was rooted in a number of social, political, and economic problems: the disarray of the American mining industry, the decline of proper precious metal exports and imports, enduring the various expensive international and domestic conflicts, the corruption of bankers and creditors, along with the civil unrest of Peruvian landowners, merchants, clergymen, and nobles. As a passionate metallurgist and mineralogist, Montesinos was actively searching for ways to resolve Spain’s economic dilemma while simultaneous profiting from his efforts. Almost all of his research and writings focused on this undertaking, from mining instructional manuals, mining codification, and amalgamation practices, to protecting the legal rights of the Spanish Empire in the New World, with Ophir de España serving as a culmination to his work. iv DEDICATION This doctoral thesis is dedicated to Stephanie, my exemplary eternal companion, who lifted me up when I was weary, to Matthew, Elaine, Nancy, and Moroni, who always believed in me, and to my wonderful and inspirational mother, Nancy, who constantly taught me to reach for the stars. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to recognize the outstanding faculty and staff in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Colorado at Boulder. I am deeply grateful to each one of you who carefully guided and taught me how to become an academic. In particular, I give thanks to Andrés Pireto for the many professional and scholarly lessons that he taught me, specifically his encouragment for me to work with Ophir de España. Likewise, I genuinely appreciate the benevolence and direction of Núria Silleras-Fernández, as well as the resourcefulness and profound pedagogical knowledge of Anne Becher. To my closest collegues, Dulce Aldama, Carlos van der Linde, Harrison Meadows, and Mark Pleiss, thank you for the countless private conversations we shared where you counceled me and offered reassurance. Concering my research, I was able to unearth the AAL documents, in part, thanks to a research grant provided by LASC support at the University of Colorado and the Tinker Foundation. During my visit to the Archivo Arzobispal de Lima, Laura Gutiérrez and Melecio Tineo Morón patiently coached me through their catalogs. I would like to personally thank Laura for her transcription of these documents. Finally, none of this would have been possible without that unceasing love and support of all my family members. I am endebted to each one of you. vi CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION: The Production, Response, and Theories of Ophir de España ……...1 Publications, Critics, and Interpretations of Book II ………………………..……..6 Problems with Trusting the Authenticity of Book II ……………………..………13 Objectives and New Approach to Ophir de España ……………………..………20 II. CHAPTER 1: Ophir de España: Reunifying Montesinos’s Books …………………..…27 Transcribing Ophir de España ……………………………………………..…….28 Obstacle 1: Hand Variability ………………………………………...……30 Obstacle 2: Linguistic variability …………………………….………...….36 Obstacle 3: Multilingualism ……………………………….…………...….41 Obstacle 4: Facsimiles ………………………………………………...…..42 Solutions and Conclusion ……………………………………………...….42 Manuscripts and Summaries of the Prologue, Book I, and Book III ……….........43 Montesinos’s Manuscripts …………………………………………….......44 Summaries of the Prologue, Book I, and Book III of Ophir de España ......49 A Biblical Andean Past ………………………………………………...….64 Additional Non-Biblical Supportive Themes ……………...………...……73 Conclusion …………………………………………………………...……75 III. CHAPTER 2: Fernando de Montesinos, Science, and his Authorial Motivation …...77 Fernando de Montesinos’s Biography …………………………………………..78 Montesinos and Metallurgy ……………………………………………………100 Ophir de España and Montesinos’s Scientific Arguments ………………….…111 vii Conclusion ………………………………………………………………..……127 IV. CHAPTER 3: Economic Crisis, the Peruvian Mining Industry, and International Conflicts during the Seventeenth Century ………………………………………………..………129 Economic Crisis in Spain ……………………………………………..……...…132 Problems Surrounding the Administration of Peruvian Mines …………..……..144 Montesinos’s Scattered and Explicitly Expressed Concerns from his Writings ..150 How Ophir de España Attempts to Safeguard Spain’s Financial Wellbeing …..158 V. CONCLUSIONS …………………………………………………………………..…..163 VI. WORKS CITED …………………………………………………………………….....174 viii TABLES Table 1. A biblical comparison with Book II from Ophir de España ………………………….69 ix FIGURES Figure 1. Folio 3 from Book I of Ophir de España. This is Montesinos’s handwriting, the first hand. Courtesy of the Biblioteca Universidad de Sevilla ……………..…32 2. Folio 52 from Book I of Ophir de España. This is the second dominant hand. Courtesy of the Biblioteca Universidad de Sevilla …………………………….…34 3. Folio 146 from Book III of Ophir de España. This is the third dominant hand. Courtesy of the Biblioteca Universidad de Sevilla …………………………….…35 4. Various folio selections from Ophir de España. Courtesy of the Biblioteca Universidad de Sevilla ………………………………………………………...….37 5. Various folio selections from Ophir de España. Courtesy of the Biblioteca Universidad de Sevilla ……………………………………………………………38 6. Various folio selections from Ophir de España. Courtesy of the Biblioteca Universidad de Sevilla …………………………………………...……………….38 7. Various folio selections from Ophir de España. Courtesy of the Biblioteca Universidad de Sevilla ……………………………………………………..…….39 8. Various folio selections from Ophir de España. Courtesy of the Biblioteca Universidad de Sevilla ………………………………….……………………......40 9. Select folios from Autos Alonso de Alarcon albaçea de Melchior Ramirez difunto contra el liçenciado don Fernando de Montesinos sobre mas de quatro mil pesos proçedidos de mercadurias quel dicho difunto le remitio para que vendiese. Courtesy of the Archivo Arzobispado de Lima ……………………………………………………………..41 10. Folio 106 from Book III of Las memorias antiguas y nuevas del Pirú. This is the frontispiece of Anales del Perú, section two. Courtesy of the Biblioteca Nacional de España……………………………………………………46 11. Folio 1 and the frontispiece from Ophir de España. Courtesy of the Biblioteca Universidad de Sevilla ……………………………………………………………48 12. The first folio of Alonso de Alarcon’s petition in Lima on 21 April 1637. Courtesy of Archivo Arzobispado de Lima………………………………………84 x 13. Montesinos’s first petition. Courtesy of Archivo Arzobispado de Lima ………...........87 14. The first folio of Jusepe Nuñez de Prado’s final plea. Courtesy of Archivo Arzobispado de Lima …………………………....……………………….……..8 xi INTRODUCTION THE PRODUCTION, RESPONSE, AND THEORIES OF OPHIR DE ESPAÑA Among the most fascinating facets of colonial Latin American literature