FORTRESSES AND STABLE BORDERS IN THE COLONIAL PARAGUAY IN THE 17TH AND 18TH CENTURIES. THE CASTLE OF SAN AGUSTÍN DE ARECUTACUÁ

Abstract

The Governorate of Paraguay was a particular fact in the strategy for the control of the Hispanic American territory. The threat of the indigenous peoples forced the colonial administration to redefine its borders while the population settled and depopulated the peripheral areas. To that end, castles and forts were built to control the territory in diverse periods. In this article it is studied the castle of San Agustín de Arecutacuá as an example of this situation, developing its building history from documents extracted from the Archivo Nacional de Asunción.