Pedro Simón

Not to be confused with Pedro Simon.
Fray Pedro Simón
Painting of Pedro Simón (1941)
Painting of Pedro Simón (1941)
Born1574
San Lorenzo de la Parrilla, Spain
Diedca. 1628
Ubaté, New Kingdom of Granada
LanguageSpanish
SubjectMuisca religion, mythology, History of Colombia and Venezuela
Notable workNoticias historiales de las conquistas de Tierra Firme en las Indias occidentales (1626)

Fray Pedro Simón (San Lorenzo de la Parrilla, Spain, 1574 - Ubaté, New Kingdom of Granada, ca. 1628) was a Spanish franciscan friar, professor and chronicler of the indigenous peoples of modern-day Colombia and Venezuela, at the time forming the New Kingdom of Granada. Pedro Simón is one of the most important Muisca scholars forming the basis for later scholars such as Lucas Fernández de Piedrahita,[1] Alexander von Humboldt,[2] Javier Ocampo López[3] and many others.

Biography

Pedro Simón studied in Cartagena, Spain and went to Cartagena de Indias in 1603.[4] Simón accompanied Juan de Borja and described his war against the Pijao in 1608.[5] On June 3, 1623, he was named Custodio de la Provincia Franciscana del Nuevo Reino de Granada ("custodian of the franciscan province of the New Kingdom of Granada").[5][6]

In this year he started writing his most notable work Noticias historiales de las conquistas de Tierra Firme en las Indias Occidentales, published in Cuenca, Spain in 1626[4][7] or 1627.[5][6] Later editions were published in Bogotá in 1882–1892, 1953, 1963 and 1982. One part has been published in English under the title "Expedition of Pedro de Ursua and Lope de Aguirre" (London, 1861)[4] and 2010.[8] After finishing this work, Simón settled in the San Diego convent in Ubaté, Cundinamarca, where he died between October 1626 and May 7, 1628.[5][6]

See also

References

  1. ^ Fernández de Piedrahita, 1688
  2. ^ Humboldt, 1807
  3. ^ Ocampo López, 2013, p.9
  4. ^ a b c (in Spanish) Biography Pedro Simón - Biografías y Vidas
  5. ^ a b c d (in Spanish) Biography Pedro Simón - Cervantes Institute
  6. ^ a b c (in Spanish) Biography Pedro Simón - Pueblos Originarios
  7. ^ Simón, 1626
  8. ^ The Expedition of Pedro de Ursua and Lope de Aguirre in Search of El Dorado and Omagua in 1560–1 - Translated from Fray Pedro Simon's Sixth Historical Notice of the Conquest of Tierra Firme by William Bollaert

Bibliography

  • Fernández de Piedrahita, Lucas (1688), Historia general de las conquistas del Nuevo Reino de Granada (in Spanish), retrieved 2016-07-08
  • Humboldt, Alexander von (1807), "VI", Sitios de las Cordilleras y monumentos de los pueblos indígenas de América - Calendario de los indios muiscas - Parte 1 - Views of the Cordilleras and Monuments of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas - Muisca calendar - Part 1 (in Spanish), Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango, retrieved 2016-07-08
  • Ocampo López, Javier (2013), Mitos y leyendas indígenas de Colombia - Indigenous myths and legends of Colombia (in Spanish), Bogotá, Colombia: Plaza & Janes Editores Colombia S.A., pp. 1–219, ISBN 978-958-14-1416-1
  • Simón, Pedro (1892) [1626], Noticias historiales de las conquistas de Tierra Firme en las Indias occidentales (1882-92) vol.1-5 (in Spanish), retrieved 2016-07-08