Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 11.djvu/797

 PERU

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PERU

"Conquest of Peru", II, iii). The first news of the existence of the great Empire of the Incas reached the Spaniards in the year 1511, when Vasco Nuiiez de Balboa, the discoverer of the Pacific Ocean, was en- gaged in an e>q)edition against some Indian tribes in the interior of Darien. Perhaps the glory of conquer- ing Peru would have fallen upon Balboa had not the jealousy of his chief, Pedro Arias de Avila, Governor of Panama, cut short his brilliant career. The second attempt to reach the coveted domain of the Incas was made in 1522, when Pascual de Andagoya started south from Panama, but he was compelled by ill health to return. Francisco Pizarro, after two unsuc- cessful expeditions (1524—25 and 1526-27) and a trip to Spain for the purpose of interesting Charles V in the undertaking, finally started the actual work of in- vading Peru, sailing from Panama in January, 1531. (See Pizarro, Francisco.)

When the persistent commander finally reached the country in 1532, the vast Inca empire is said to have extended over more than one-half of the entire South American continent. He found a people highly civi- lized, with excellent social and political institutions, who had developed agriculture to a remarkable degree through a splendid system of irrigation. They wor- shipped the sun as embodying their idea of a supreme being who ruled the universe. This worship was at- tended by an elaborate system of priestcraft, ritual, animal sacrifices, and other solemnities. After the conquest had been consummated (1534), Father Vi- cente Valverde, one of the five Dominicans who had accompanied the conqueror from Spain, was nomi- nated Bishop of Cuzco and soon afterwards confirmed by Paul III, his jurisdiction extending over the whole territory of the newly-conquered domain. He was assassinated by the Indians of Puna, off Guayaquil, in 1541 when returning to Spain. Upon taking Cuzco, the capital of the empire, Pizarro pro\'ided a municipal government for the city, and encouraged its settle- ent by liberal grants of lands and houses. On 5 Sept., 1538, Bishop Valverde laid the foundations of the cathedral, and later a Dominican monasterj' was erected on the site of the Incaic temple of the sun, a nunnery was established, and several churches and monasteries built. The Dominicans, the Brothers of Mercy, and other missionaries actively engaged in propagating the Faith among the natives. Besides the priests that Pizarro was required to take in his own vessels, the succeeding ships brought additional numbers of missionaries, who devoted themselves earnestly and disinterestedly to the task of spreading the religion of Christ among the Indians. Their con- duct towards them was in marked contrast to that of the conquerors, whose thirst for gold was never satiated, and who, having ransacked the villages and stripped the temples of their gold and silver orna- ments, had enslaved the Indians, forcing them to work in the mines for their benefit.

At the outset and for several years thereafter the missionaries had to labour under almost unsurmount- able obstacles, such as the uprising of the Inca Manco (a brother of Atahualpa, whom Pizarro had placed on the vacant throne) and the first civil wars among the conquerors themselves. These culminated in the execution of Diego de Almagro (1538) by order of Pizarro, and the assassination of the latter by the former's son, and were followed by other no less bloody conflicts between Cristobal Vaca de Castro (the newly-appointed governor) and Almagro's son (1.543), and Gonzalo Pizarro and Blasco Nunez de Vela, the first viceroy (1544-45). The news of this, the most formidable rebellion that had so far been recorded in the history of Spain, caused a great sensation at the Court. Father Pedro de la Gasca was selected for the delicate task of pacifying the colony. Provided with unbounded powers, Gasca reached Peru in July, 1546, and scarcely three years had elapsed when he accom-

plished the great object of his mission. Having restored peace, his next step was to ameliorate the condition of oppressed natives, in doing which he went farther than was agreeable to the wishes of the colonists. Other reforms were introduced by the far-seeing priest, thus placing the administration upon a sound basis and facilitating a more stable and or- derly government by his successors. Upon his return to Spain he was raised to the Bishopric of Palencia, which diocese he administered until 1561, when he was promoted to the vacant See of Siguenza. He died in 1567 at the age of seventy-one. Unfortunately, the disturbances of the country were renewed on the de- parture of Gasca. The most serious uprising was that

Church mt 1,\ ( MMr\\T\, xhfqdipa, Peru of Francisco Fernandez Girijn (1550-54) during the regime of the second viceroy, Antonio de Mcndoza. Gir6n's execution (Dec, 1554) put an end to the last of the civil wars among the conquerors; and through the conciliatory and energetic measures of Andr6s Hurtado de Mendoza, the third viceroy, the country was at last pacified, and the authority of Spain firmly estabhshed.

The Dominicans were the first ministers of the Gos- pel to come to Peru, and did splendid and efficient work in Christianizing the natives. They built many churches, monasteries, convents, and colleges, and acquired considerable prominence in ecclesiastical matters during the seventeenth century. Saint Rose of Lima (1586-1617), the patron of the Peruvian capital, was educated in one of their nunneries, and lived there until her death. The Franciscan fathers were also among the pioneer ini.s.sionaries of Peru, and were prominent for their unceasing labours in the remotest wilds of South America. One of them. Saint Francis Solanus, made a journey from Peru to the Paraguayan Chaco, preaching in the tribes in their own dialects (1588-89). The Franciscan churches and buildings are among the handsomest in the coun- try. Likewise, the good work of the Order of Saint Augustine stands high in the aimals of Peruvian church history. Of the-eeveral temples and convents