Unlike many other chroniclers
of his time, Bartolomé de las Casas was more of a defender of Native American
peoples during the initial stage of Spanish rule in the Americas. He criticizes
Spanish colonists for their physical and mental abuse of natives. His Abridged Apologetic History was
published in 1536, and as such it is one of the earlier chronicles of the 16th
century. Today his opinions are regarded as exaggerated by some, but he was essentially
justified in writing opprobria against the Spanish and was indeed not the only
one, as Waman Poma de Ayala also informs us of many instances of colonial abuse committed by the European invaders. This extracts provides a
description of Inca temples, notice how he employs the word "templo" as opposed to "mezquita" (mosque) as used by José de Acosta; in contrast, de las Casas's register is in a much more agreeable and humane tone, we can actually see that he respects the culture in which he is writing about.
Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, Abridged apologetic history.
[A description of the
Inca temples in Cuzco]
“Titus Livy, regarding
Jupiter, mentions that he had his abode worked in gold and the walls with gold
leaf both covered o closed, but says nothing about there having been have been
gold upon the pavement or the floor. Regarding the temples of Peru we know with
certainty to be true that not only the abode and the walls were covered and overlaid
in gold, but that the floor on which they tread was covered and worked in fine
gold. And it is worth noting that these sheets of gold, of which Titus Livy
says covered the walls of that grand temple of Jupiter, in Latin usually mean “thin
leaves, like the leaves we call Milanese;
but the pieces that adorned those Peruvian temples were leaves that couldn’t of
weighed (even at their heaviest) ten castellanos[1],
rather they were slabs measuring three palm’s length and a good two palms[2]
wide and a finger[3]
high, having the dimension of the backrests on our chairs, with each one
weighing fifty castellanos, as has
been stated. And so, what comparison can there be with the wealth and
magnificence of that grand temple that Titus Livy and all the others so greatly
esteemed, among which existed at the most, between three to five that we find highly
celebrated among the idolaters and ancient gentiles, with the temple of great
majesty which I had encountered in the province of Pasto, approaching the
province of Quito? Wherein even now, one can observe the markings of the gold
and silver slabs upon the walls, where all of them appear to have been covered
in gold and silver, where there was also an enormous abundance of gold and
silver vases for the wines and other items pertaining to the sacrifices and
worship in the temple. Such were things never before in the world seen or heard
of among the ancient gentiles, with respect to the number, quantity, diversity,
dimensions, greatness and wealth of them, and such were all of the Sun Temples
furnished”.
[1] gold coin
used in Spain during the middle ages. The
DRAE defines thusly: «Cincuentava parte del marco oro, equivalente a ocho
tomines o a unos 46 dg.». [“One fiftieth of a part of the golden mark,
equivalent to eight tomins or around 46 decigrams”].
[2] a «jeme» (from the Latin semis,
“half”) is unit of measurement starting from the tip of the thumb to the tip of
the index finger both extended as far as possible, usually around six inches or
6.2 inches. Unfortunately the term has no exact equivalent in English, the
somewhat similar terms hand and span referring the measurements starting
from the thumb to the side of the palm and from the tip of the thumb to the
little finger respectively. A palm measures three inches in English units, so rendering
jeme as “two palms” seemed more appropriate
than just saying “six inches”. (Note from translator).
[3] unit of
measurement consisting of the width of a human finger, defined by Webster’s
Dictionary as “nearly an inch”, around ¾ of an inch. This measurement is also
known as a digit.
[texto original]
«De aquél de Júpiter dice Tito Livio que tenía el zaquizamí
labrado de oro y las paredes con hojas de oro cubiertas o cerradas, pero que
hubiese[1]
oro en el pavimento o suelo no dice nada. De los templos del Perú sabemos de
cierto ser verdad que no sólo el zaquizamí y las paredes estaban cubiertas y
enforradas [2]de
oro, pero el suelo sobre que se andaba era de oro fino cubierto y aforrado. Y
es aquí de notar que las láminas de oro, de que dice Tito [3]Livio
que estaban cubiertas las paredes de aquel templo de Júpiter, significan en
latín comúnmente hojas delgadas, como las hojas que llamamos de Milán; pero las piezas de que estaban
cubiertos aquellos templos del Perú no eran hojas que pudiera pesar cada una,
cuando más pesara, diez castellanos, sino eran planchas de tres palmos de largo
y de un jeme bueno de ancho y de un dedo de grueso o de alto, de la hechura de
los espaldares [4]de
nuestras sillas de espaldas, que cada una pesaba quinientos castellanos, como
queda declarado.
¿Y qué comparación puede haber de la riqueza y magnificencia
de aquel templo que así encarece Tito Livio y de todos los demás, que fueron,
cuando muchos, tres o cuatro o cinco los que hallamos muy celebrados entre los
idólatras y gentiles antiguos, al templo de gran majestad que había pasada la
provincia de Pasto, hacia la de Quito, del cual agora se ven [5]aún
las señales de las planchas de oro y plata en las paredes, donde parece haber
estado todas chapadas y cubiertas de oro y plata, donde también hubo [6]grandísima
copia de vasijas de oro y de plata para los vinos y las otras cosas de los
sacrificios y servicios del templo? Las cuales era cosa nunca en el mundo vista
ni oída entre los antiguos gentiles, según el número, cantidad, diversidad,
hechura y grandeza y riqueza dellas, de que estaban todos los templos del sol
proveídos».
-Fray Bartolomé de las Casa, Apologética historia sumaria (1536).
[1] 1536: «hobiese».
[2] «enforradas»: cubiertas o
superpuestas.
[3] 1536: «Titu».
[4] «espaldares»: respaldos.
[5] 1536: «veen».
[6] 1536: «hobo».
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