Language and the "True Conversion" to the Holy Faith: A Document from the Archivum

Romanum Societatis Iesu, Rome, Italy

Author(s): J. Michael Francis
Source: The Americas, Vol. 62, No. 3 (Jan., 2006), pp. 445-453
Published by: Cambridge University Press
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The Americas

62:3 January 2006, 445-453

Copyright by the Academy of American

Franciscan History

LANGUAGE AND THE "TRUE CONVERSION"

TO THE HOLY FAITH:

A DOCUMENT FROM THE ARCHIVUM ROMANUM

SOCIETATIS IESU, ROME, ITALY

One of the central problems of Spanish missionary activity in the New

World was the translation of Christian concepts into native lan-

guages. The following document, housed in Rome's Jesuit archives

(ARSI), highlights both the concern and the controversy surrounding this

issue in the audiencia of New Granada (modern-day Colombia). On 25

August 1606, audiencia president Juan de Borja issued a decree requiring all

members of New Granada's clergy to provide religious instruction in the

Chibcha language. The recent arrival of a small group of Jesuits had inten-

sified a long-standing debate over how best to explain the mysteries of the

Christian faith in early-colonial New Granada. Almost three decades earlier,

in 1580, the oidor Pedro de Zorrillo, complained to the Council of the Indies

that the natives of New Granada were as ignorant (in spiritual matters) now

as they had been before the conquest. This ignorance, according to Zorrillo,

was the result of the recalcitrance of local priests, most of whom stubbornly

refused to learn native languages. Few priests spoke Chibcha and therefore

taught the doctrina in Spanish or in some cases, Latin, which the Indians

simply repeated like parrots, "como papagayos."9

In the early 1580s the audiencia attempted to remedy the situation by

forcing all of New Granada's clergy to attend Chibcha language classes. In

1582, a priest by the name of Gonzalo Bermuidez was appointed to instruct

New Granada's clergy. Classes began in early May of that year and were

held in the cathedral in Santa Fe de Bogotai.2 However, the classes do not

1 Juan Manuel Pacheco, "La evangelizaci6n del Nuevo Reino, siglo XVI," Historia extensa de
Colombia (Bogota: Ediciones Lerner, 1971), Vol. XIII, Tomo I, p. 483.

2 Bermldez assisted with the compilation of the first Chibcha dictionary and it has been suggested

that it was Bermddez who was responsible for a translation of the catechism into Chibcha. Bermidez

continued to teach Chibcha until his death in April of 1625.

445

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446 LANGUAGE AND THE "TRUE CONVERSION" TO THE HOLY FAITH

appear to have had the desired effect; in 1598 Bartolom6 Lobo Guerrero, the

newly-appointed archbishop of Santa F6, echoed Zorrillo's earlier statement,

complaining that the clergy's stubborn refusal to learn Chibcha was the main

reason for the sorry state of religious affairs in the region.3

The same year that Bermuidez was assigned to provide Chibcha lessons to

members of the clergy, superiors from the Dominican, Franciscan, and

Augustinian Orders issued statements in which they declared such linguistic

training both unnecessary and worthless. Many of the religious vehemently

opposed the establishment of a cdtedra de chibcha. They argued that the

Chibcha language was not sufficiently complex to express accurately the

mysteries and dogmas of the Christian faith.

...these dialects [are] extremely poor in vocabulary, lacking such terms as

Christ, charity, grace, contrition, penitence, etc., [and] they possess indecent

expressions for terms such as incarnation and virginity; and therefore it would

be less inconvenient to oblige the Indians to learn Spanish.4

However, such claims did not go unchallenged. Archbishop Lobo Guer-

rero dismissed the mendicants' concerns as nothing more than poor excuses

from a clergy too slothful to make even the slightest effort to learn Chibcha.5

The archbishop acknowledged that mastering Chibcha was a difficult task;

however, he was convinced that the challenge could easily be overcome

with the diligence and dedication one should expect from all friars.6 Still,

despite Lobo Guerrero's exhortations, attempts to convince the clergy of the

importance of learning native languages proved unsuccessful. Furthermore,

the mendicants expanded their criticisms beyond the earlier complaints

about the inherent limitations of the Chibcha language. They also empha-

sized that Bermddez's classes would be of only limited value because of the

linguistic diversity in the region.

According to the three superiors, the Chibcha spoken by the Indians

from Bogotai was not the same as the Chibcha spoken in Tunja. They

acknowledged that Bermlidez spoke Chibcha very well; but they added that

he spoke a unique dialect from the Valley of Ubaque (in the Province of

Santa F6), and his teachings completely ignored the dialects spoken in other

3 ARSI Novi Regni et Quito 14, 6v.

4 Humberto Triana y Antorveza, Las lenguas indigenas en la historia social del Nuevo Reino de

Granada, (Bogotai: Instituto Caro y Cuervo, 1987), p. 414.

5 ARSI Novi Regni et Quito, Vol. 14, 6v-7r.

6 ARSI Novi Regni et Quito, Vol. 14, 6v-7r.

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J. MICHAEL FRANCIS 447

areas.7 Not only that, but the superiors emphasized that no priest or friar in

either Santa F6 or Tunja, Bermuidez included, understood Chibcha well

enough to translate accurately the mysteries and truths of "the Faith."8 They

argued that it was far more important for New Granada's clergy to study

theology and to receive training in Latin than it was for them to devote their

time to learning the languages of the Indians.9

In a letter to the king dated 25 August 1606, the president of the audien-

cia Juan de Borja expressed his concern over the issue. Borja sided with the

archbishop, citing that the main obstacle to the effective conversion of the

Indians was the clergy's failure to provide religious instruction in Chibcha.

Borja applauded the cooperation of the priests and friars who diligently

worked together to produce Chibcha translations of the Creed, the Our

Father, and a brief catechism. But the translations did not satisfy everyone

and there was still overwhelming hostility to the archbishop's recent man-

date that all religious instruction must be provided in Chibcha. President

Borja wrote that the debate was not even limited to the members of the

clergy; it seemed that everyone in Santa F6 had an opinion on the issue, and

heated discussions on the topic could be heard throughout the town's

crowded streets and plazas.10

The conflict over language was undoubtedly part of a broader struggle

between secular officials and the religious orders over jurisdiction of the

native population, a struggle that certainly was not restricted to New

Granada."l And the struggle was further intensified in the 1570s following

7 Claims of linguistic diversity in Muisca territory were later reinforced by two religious chroniclers

of the seventeenth century. The Franciscan cronista Fray Pedro Sim6n wrote that there was no "common"

language in the Muisca provinces of Bogota and Tunja; rather, Sim6n claimed, natives from each town

spoke their own language. Another seventeenth-century chronicler, the mestizo Lucas Fernandez de

Piedrahita, also suggested that there was no common language in Muisca territory, a problem that he

blamed on the pre-conquest political fragmentation of Muisca cacicazgos. Unfortunately, archival evi-

dence does not clarify the matter. It is common in the colonial visitas to find the same individual serving

as lengua, or translator, throughout an entire inspection, without a single reference to regional dialects.

However, one does encounter examples that seem to offer some credence to the arguments put forward

by the mendicants. For example, in 1621 Francisco Beltrin, a mestizo who lived in the pueblo of

Guatavita (in the province of Santa F6), claimed that he could not serve as interpreter during Antonio de

Obando's inspection of Tenza (in the province of Tunja) because "the language that he speaks is differ-

ent from the one spoken [in Tenza], and he can not understand it." See AGNC Visitas de Boyaci 15, f.

195r (1621).

8 Triana, Las lenguas, p. 265.

9 Triana, Las lenguas, p. 180.

10 ARSI Novi Regni et Quito, Vol. 14, 48r-48v.

" For a brief, but succinct overview of the conflict in New Spain, see Robert Charles Padden, "The

Ordenanza del Patronazgo of 1574, An Interpretive Essay," The Americas 12, (1956), pp. 333-54.

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448 LANGUAGE AND THE "TRUE CONVERSION" TO THE HOLY FAITH

the 1574 Ordenanza del Patronazgo and the audiencia's attempt to comply

with recent mandates from Spain. In 1578 the Council of the Indies dis-

patched a royal decree to each diocese in the Indies in which it prohibited

the naming of any parish priest who did not comprehend the language of his

parishioners. Two years later, in 1580, additional orders were sent to the

audiencias of Charcas, Quito and Santa F6 to establish schools to teach

native languages. In addition to the creation of these new schools, the coun-

cil included four other instructions. First of all, it was stipulated that hence-

forth no priest was to be ordained without having studied at least one year

of the native language. Secondly, those who best understood the language

were to be given preference in terms of the benefices that were granted. Fur-

thermore, no priest from Spain, or anywhere else for that matter, was to be

appointed to a parish without having exhibited some understanding of the

local language. And lastly, it was ordered that within one year, all priests

serving in the province were to take an examination to demonstrate their lin-

guistic abilities.12

Philip III later reiterated the orders sent by his father: all clergy were to be

examined to ensure that they understood the native language spoken by their

parishioners. In 1605, a new set of competitive exams was organized in New

Granada under the supervision of the president of the audiencia, Juan de

Borja. The results of the exam proved rather damaging for the Dominicans,

and especially damaging for the Franciscans. The archbishop of Santa F6,

Bartolom6 Lobo Guerrero, was forced to remove all doctrineros incapable of

preaching and hearing confession in Chibcha. In the Province of Tunja, the

Franciscans lost authority over the doctrinas of Tiband, Icabuco, Chiribi,

Busbanza, Ocavita, Tupachoque, Beteitiva, Tibasosa and Tinjaci. Dominican

friars were removed from the doctrinas of Onzaga and Ramiriquf.13

However, it should be pointed out that not all the religious shared the

skepticism expressed by so many Franciscans, Dominicans and Augustini-

ans. The Jesuit Jos6 Dadey, for example, who arrived in New Granada from

Mexico at the end of the sixteenth century, found Chibcha a simple language

to learn and he boldly suggested that anyone could perfect it within one year

of study.14 In 1604, Dadey completed his Arte y gramdtica de la lengua

muisca, an ambitious project that most members of the clergy previously

had considered impossible because they considered Chibcha such a "horrid"

12 Alberto Lee L6pez, "Clero indigena en el Arzobispado de Santa F6 en el siglo XVI," Boletin de

Historia y Antigiiedades 50, (1963), pp. 23-24.

13 Triana, Las lenguas, pp. 456-457.

14 Triana, Las lenguas, p. 418.

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J. MICHAEL FRANCIS 449

language, difficult to pronounce and completely lacking in vocabulary.'5

Nevertheless, Dadey boasted that he had succeeded in drafting reliable

translations of certain prayers and a brief catechism into Chibcha.

Yet in spite of Dadey's efforts, and those of priests such as Gonzalo

Bermuidez, few mendicants ever learned Chibcha.16 Soon the enthusiasm for

the language and the campaign to instruct the region's clergy began to wane.

As the years passed and the native population continued its devastating

decline, attempts to provide religious instruction in Chibcha fell dramati-

cally. The language itself was changing. Even Dadey observed that Chibcha

was beginning to lose some of its "strength" and "authenticity" by the start

of the seventeenth century.17 And there were other suggestions as well that

the language spoken by the Muisca had changed dramatically by the end of

the sixteenth century; albeit, the transition was undoubtedly most evident in

and around larger Spanish settlements such as Santa F6 and Tunja, and

among Indian merchants and household servants who had daily contact with

Spaniards.'8 The increased contact between Spaniards and Indians was

beginning to produce a third language, a mixture of Spanish and Chibcha

that one contemporary disdainfully labeled "gypsy."19

Despite the efforts of some of the region's clergy, it appears that few

members of New Granada's clergy spoke Chibcha; and as the native popu-

15 Triana, Las lenguas, p. 418.

16 According to the President of the audiencia, Juan de Borja, in 1606 only a handful of mendicants

had learned Chibcha. They were the Franciscans Luis de Mejorada and Nicolas de Troya; Gaspar de

Alvarado and Vicente Mallol from the Order of St. Augustine; the Dominicans Juan de Avalos and

Bernardo de Lugo, and the Jesuits Juan Antonio, Martin Vasquez, Father Joseph (probably Jos6 Dadey)

and Juan Baptista. Borja also mentioned the secular priests Pedro Gutierrez and Gonzalo Bermddez, as

well as the encomendero Diego Romero de Aguilar, and the interpreters for the audiencia, Juan de Lara

and Juan de Septlveda, as those who were most capable of translating the doctrina into Chibcha.

17 Triana, Las lenguas, p. 167.

18 Although we have yet to uncover sufficient evidence to support such a conclusion, the linguistic

changes were probably the result of a "massive borrowing" of Spanish nouns, a process so convincingly

described in James Lockhart's wonderful examination of Nahua society under colonial rule. See James

Lockhart, The Nahuas After the Conquest, (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1992).

19 Triana, Las lenguas, p. 167. Most Indians in the Province of Tunja continued to speak only

Chibcha during the sixteenth century. As Juan Villamarin discovered for the Province of Santa F6, the

majority of Indians who testified during sixteenth-century visitations could only speak Chibcha and thus

always had to testify with the assistance of a translator. See Juan A. Villamarin, "Encomenderos and Indi-

ans in the Formation of Colonial Society in the Sabana de Bogota, Colombia, 1537-1740," Ph.D. Dis-

sertation. Brandeis University, 1972, p. 122. And according to the 1610 Descripcidn de Tunja, "Spanish

is generally spoken in this city, except amongst the Indians, who speak their own languages; and those

[Indians] who serve Spaniards speak Spanish, some better than others, until they become ladinos." See

Luis Duque G6mez, "Tribus indigenas y sitios arqueol6gicos," Historia extensa de Colombia (Bogota:

Ediciones Lerner, 1967), Vol. I, Tomo II, p. 545.

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450 LANGUAGE AND THE "TRUE CONVERSION" TO THE HOLY FAITH

lation continued its disastrous decline throughout the sixteenth and early-

seventeenth centuries, less emphasis was placed on forcing the clergy to

learn Chibcha. Royal legislation from the middle of the seventeenth century

only serves to confirm that reality. A royal decree issued in April of 1641

ordered that henceforth Chibcha should no longer be used and that all Indi-

ans should be instructed in Spanish. The decree justified the decision to

force the Muisca to learn Spanish with a reference to the practices carried

out by the Inca: ". .. well, was it not in the time of the Inca that it was oblig-

atory for all [subjects] to learn Quechua? And they learned it."20

J. MICHAEL FRANCIS

University of North Florida

Jacksonville, Florida

THE DOCUMENT

Decree from the President [Juan de Borja21] of the [New Kingdom] of Granada con-

cerning religious instruction in the language of the Indians-25 August 1606 (ARSI,

Novi Regni et Quitensis, Vol. 14, No. 6, ff. 48r-50r)

In the city of Santa Fe in the New Kingdom of Granada of the Indies and Ocean Sea,

on 05 August 1606, don Juan de Borja of his majesties council, president, governor

and captain general of this New Kingdom of Granada [issued the following decree]

[President Borja] stated that having been informed by the fathers of the Company

of Jesus, who, since their arrival in this city have been full of zeal for the spiritual

well-being of the natives of these provinces and for their true conversion to our holy

faith-that one of the principal reasons why the Indians [of New Granada] have not

converted is because they have received religious instruction in the Spanish lan-

guage. This is a great obstacle; and desiring to remedy the damage as expeditiously

as possible, [the Jesuits here] have conformed to the same methods adopted by the

holy church in the Kingdoms of Peru and New Spain, where the holy gospel is so

deeply entrenched and widely spread, and by which method the natives [of those

provinces] have come to a true understanding of our holy Catholic faith. With the

20 Triana, Las lenguas, p. 231. One of the reasons for the shift in policy by the middle of the seven-

teenth century is the dramatic demographic decline of Tunja's native population, which at the time of the

conquest exceeded 200,000. However, over the next century the Indian population suffered a precipitous

decline, falling to about 65,000 by 1602. And unlike other regions of the New World that saw hints of

population recovery as early as the final decade of the sixteenth century, Tunja's Indian population con-

tinued to decline, falling to just below 50,000 when Juan de Valcaircel conducted his extensive inspec-

tion of the province in 1635-1636. For a detailed survey of demographic change in the province of Tunja

between 1537 and 1636 see J. Michael Francis "Poblaci6n, enfermedad y cambio demogrnfico, 1537-

1636. Demograffa hist6rica de Tunja: Una mirada critica," Fronteras de la historia 7 (2002), pp. 15-95.

21 Juan de Borja served as president of the audiencia of New Granada for more than two decades,

from 1605 to 1628.

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J. MICHAEL FRANCIS 451

assistance of the professor (catedrdtico) of the Chibcha language and other experts

in it, and under the license of doctor don Bartolomd Lobo Guerrero, Archbishop of

the said New Kingdom, they [the Jesuits] have translated from Spanish to Chibcha,

the general language of the Indians of this province of Santa Fe de Bogota, the

Creed, the Our Father, Hail Mary and salve Regina, the ten commandments of

God's law, the works of charity, and a brief catechism in the form of questions and

answers, that contains the articles of our holy faith. All of this was so carefully put

together so that with ease it could be taught and universally preached. And although

the archbishop ordered that a diligent examination of the text be carried out, the said

translation was approved and [Lobo Guerrero] ordered that all natives be instructed

by it. The result was that some people claimed that it was impossible to convey the

terms and meaning of the Spanish language into the language of the natives. [These

people] started rumors and sparked disturbances in the streets of this city, in which

people of every social class and rank (todos estados y condici6n) took part, men and

women. They debated the accuracy and consonance of the said translation, some

approving it and others condemning it. This has been a great disservice to God and

to this republic, because many of the said Indians, as barbarous and ignorant people,

could not comprehend that the difference of opinion was about the nature of the said

translation, and not about the substance and unity of the doctrine. All of these diffi-

culties then were enough to impede the course and resolution that was being carried

out in the teaching of the doctrine. And his lordship, wishing to avoid such a grave

injustice, having understood that the said obstacles were notoriously malicious, ulti-

mately decided to order to the royal houses in his presence and the presence of the

other members of the royal audiencia, the prelates from the [religious] orders and

other religious and members of the clergy who possess the knowledge of the said

language. On 24 of this present month and year [the following] people gathered:

friar Luis de Mejorada Provincial of the Order of San Francisco and friar Vicente

Mallol Provincial of the Order of San Agustin, Diego de Torres Provincial of the

Company of Jesus, maestro friar Pedro Leonardo from the Order of San Agustin,

friar Juan de Avalos, and friar Bernardo de Lugo from [the Order] of Santo

Domingo, Juan Antonio, rector of the Company, and Martin Vasquez, father Joseph

and Juan Baptista, religious of the said Company, friar Nicolas de Troya from the

Order of San Francisco and friar Gaspar de Alvarado from the Order of San Agustin,

Pedro Gutierrez, priest, Gonzalo Bermuidez, professor of the language of the

natives, Diego Romero de Aguilar resident and encomendero in this city, Juan de

Lara and Juan de Sepuilveda, interpreters for the royal audiencia. In the presence of

everyone gathered, father Joseph from the Company of Jesus began to read, phrase

by phrase, the said doctrine, which he had written in a notebook. [As he read] the

said prelates and theologians would explain the significance and the necessary pro-

nunciation of each clause. At some points, the said professor (Gonzalo Bermidez)

and the others referred to [above] who knew the said language would confer among

themselves about the meaning of a very few words and phrases, substituting some

words for better ones, until they heard the entire doctrine translated. And each one

of the said linguists stated independently that it seemed that the translation was

accurate and [that it] carried the same meaning as the original Spanish clauses that

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452 LANGUAGE AND THE "TRUE CONVERSION" TO THE HOLY FAITH

the theologians spoke, in the best possible way in such a barbarous and inadequate

language as is that of the said Indians. They [added that] they could not do any

better. Having concluded the gathering, his lordship ordered that another meeting be

arranged today with the same people as well as Francisco de Estrada and Diego

Maldonado, regidores in this city of Santa Fe and in their name, and [the names] of

those who assembled at the first [meeting], and in my presence as royal scribe,

having all gathered together, father Joseph read in the presence of everyone the

translated doctrine. Having listened and understood it, his lordship ordered the royal

scribe to issue an oath in his presence to all the said prelates, theologians and cler-

gymen. Having taken the oath in accordance with the law, the theologians stated that

the clauses and propositions and doctrine that they spoke in Spanish were Catholic,

and that as such they have been translated [into Chibcha] with the same meaning [as

the Spanish], so that [the translation] could be used for teaching and for prayer.

Fathers Joseph and Juan Baptista of the Company of Jesus stated that as people who

are both theologians and linguists they assisted in making the translation, which was

well and faithfully done, and that one can and must use it to teach the Indians. And

Gonzalo Bermudez, professor, friar Bernardo de Lugo, friar Nicolis de Troya, friar

Gaspar de Alvarado, Pedro Gutierrez, priest, Diego Romero de Aguilar, Juan de

Lara and Juan de Septilveda interpreters for the Audiencia, under oath declared that

from what God has led them to understand, they submit and yield to the holy church

and to the opinion and judgment to those who understand better. because they are

not theologians in the sense that they can judge this matter, and to those who are not

[theologians], it seemed that the words are well and faithfully translated, and that

they conform to the meaning of the [Spanish] phrases that are plainly (en romance)

stated in the doctrine. And with this the Indians will not continue to live so blindly

and idolatrous.

Having seen all this, his lordship [issued the following statement], having recog-

nized that this path is the most certain and advantageous for the conversion of the

natives that one could find, and that from now on one can hope that they do not

[continue to] wander so far from the faith and gospel with the blindness with which

they have lived until now:

[Borja] said to the assembly and congregation that the great care and rigorous exam-

ination he saw them devote to its translation, has set them on the right path, and is

of the best possible benefit for the said natives. And it is right and just that [the

translation] come from such erudite, pious, and religious men as those who con-

tributed to [its content]. As is the custom bestowed and given through the royal title

of patronage, as the one who holds the highest office in these provinces, and in

accordance with what the Archbishop has already ordered regarding this matter: it

is ordered and I order that the said translation of the Christian doctrine which is to

be used to teach and to preach to the Indians is the one written and declared in ten

pages, marked on the first line of each page by his lordship's signature. [It is ordered

that it] be publicly proclaimed, and that it be received, guarded, and observed, and

that no person of any status, pre-eminence or rank can oppose it, either through

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J. MICHAEL FRANCIS 453

word or by any other means. [This applies] especially to those who are entrusted

with the religious instruction of the Indians who [must use this translation] and no

other, to teach and instruct from this day forward the matters of our holy catholic

faith. And that no persons violate this decree, on punishment of two hundred ducats

and one year of exile from the kingdom for each offence. And for those entrusted

with the execution [of this decree] let the punishment be two hundred lashes. So that

this [decree] become publicly-known and no one can claim ignorance, let it be pro-

claimed in this public court and to the royal officials whose charge it is to make pay-

ments to the priests who serve the Crown's [encomiendas] in the audiencia that they

not pay the priest's wages without first presenting certification from local corregi-

dor in which it is made clear [to the priest] that he teach the doctrine to the Indians

of that town in the language [conveyed] in the translation. Corregidores are ordered

to take the same care in the payments they make to priests who serve [all other]

encomiendas, with the warning that those who do not act in accordance of this

decree will be fined by the court and his majesty double [the amount that others are

fined]. And let it be known to the said corregidores that in their residencias it be

asked specifically about this issue, and that they be charged if it becomes evident

that they ignored [the decree].

In the meantime, that His Majesty grant license so that the said doctrine be printed,

it is ordered and I order that all the copies that be made be authorized by the [audi-

encia's] scribe [Hernando de Angulo], or by the archbishop's notary, and that they

be accurately copied by the said professor [Gonzalo Bermidez]. And from this

decree [I order] that copies are made for all of those who attended this meeting who

requests one, and thus it was approved and signed by don Juan de Borja, and I, Her-

nando de Angulo, was present.

And I Hernando de Angulo, scribe to the king, our lord of this New Kingdom of

Granada. I made this true and reliable copy from the original that I keep in my

power, these four pages that I correctly and faithfully copied from the original, in

the city of Santa Fe on 09 September 1606, and in good faith I sign my name as tes-

timony to its veracity.

Hernando de Angulo

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