Fr. Pedro Aguado, missionary in favour of the governor Baamonde de Lugo in Cartagena de Indias

Abstract

Fr. Pedro Aguado, Franciscan friar, superior in the New Kingdon of Granada, proctor of that province to the Court of Spain, born in Valdemoro (Madrid) and autor of the Recopilación Historial, visited the territory of Cartagena de Indias at least three times. In 1576 he wrote a memorial on the territory of Cartagena, which is a model of knowledge and councelling about the way to convert the Indians into Christians, summarized in ten points. The main obstacle to the mission were the encomenderos, who not only abused the Indians in the perceptions of tributes, but also tolerated drunkenness, bad conduct and idolatries so long as they paid the excessive tributes and handed no incrimination. Another obstacle to the preaching and religious practices resided in the people’s dispersion and the necessary concentration in townships. To the clergy in charge of Indians recommended to avoid charging excessive stipends, practice which discourage the practice of the sacraments and, likewise encouraged them to live in communal dwellings, a totally utopic purpose given the great dispersion of the native population. These objectives were not at hand if there were not an understanding with the civil authority, in this case the governor of the province, Francisco Baamonde de Lugo, between 1571 and 1574, to which he supported openly in spite of the amount of charges in private and public affairs against him in economic, fiscal and political matters. Was this attitude of Aguado due to some council of the Archbishop of Bogotá, Fr. Luis de Zapata, member likewise of the Franciscan order? For the moment this far we have got.