Alonso de Ercilla
Encyclopedia
Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga (August 7, 1533 – November 29, 1594) was a Spanish
nobleman, soldier and epic poet from the Basque Country. While in Chile (1556–63) he fought against the Araucanian
s, and there he began the epic poem La Araucana
, considered the greatest Spanish historical poem. This heroic work in 37 cantos is divided into three parts, published in 1569, 1578, and 1589. It tells of the courageous insurrection of the Araucanians and also relates the history of Chile and of contemporary Spain.
and made young Alonso a page to the heir-apparent, Prince Philip (afterwards King Philip II
). Ercilla received a very thorough education, for, besides having the most learned teachers, he enjoyed the advantages of very extensive travelling and of living at court where he came in contact with high personages. When he was only fifteen he accompanied Philip through Italy and Germany; and their travels lasted three years. Later, Ercilla accompanied his mother to Bohemia where he left her and then visited Austria, Hungary, and other countries. Returning to Spain, he soon started out again with Philip. In this capacity Ercilla (sometimes spelled Arcilla) visited Italy
, Germany
and the Netherlands
, and was present in 1554 at the marriage of his master to Queen Mary I of England
.
In London he made the acquaintance of Jerónimo de Alderete
(1555), whose stories of his thrilling adventures in the New World so fired Ercilla's imagination that he determined to accompany Alderete to the New World. He therefore obtained leave from Philip, and they set sail for America, 15 October 1555. Soon after their arrival, however, Alderete died (near Panamá, April, 1556). Ercilla continued on his way to Peru, and in 1557 hearing that an expedition was preparing to subdue the Araucanians of Chile
, he joined the forces of García Hurtado de Mendoza, who had recently been appointed Governor of Chile
.
He distinguished himself in the ensuing campaign; but, having quarrelled with a comrade, he was condemned to death in 1558 by his general, García Hurtado de Mendoza. The sentence was commuted to imprisonment, but Ercilla was speedily released and fought at the Battle of Quipeo (December 14, 1558).
In 1556 Ercilla arrived in Peru
and accompanied Don García Hurtado de Mendoza, recently named Governor and Commander-in-chief
of Chile, where the Araucanos had revolted. Apparently he remained in Chile seventeen months, between 1557 and 1559. He participated in the battles of Lagunillas, Quiapo and Millarapue, and witnessed the death of Caupolicán
, protagonist of La Araucana
. This is an epic poem of military exaltation in 37 cantos, where the narrator relays the most significant facts of the Arauco War
against the Araucanos (mapuche
s) and which he began to write during the campaign.
In March 1558 Don García founded the city of San Mateo de Osorno
and while their neighbours were preoccupied with the celebrations in the new city Don García left by a secret entrance, disguised by a helmet with closed visor, accompanied by Alonso de Ercilla and Pedro of Eyrie. They were confronted by Juan de Pineda
, an old enemy of Alonso de Ercilla, and there was a fight. Don García was warned of the situation.
Alonso de Ercilla ran to a church and looked for asylum. The governor imprisoned both duellists and condemned them to be executed on the following day. However, many people considered the sentence unjust and tried to persuade Don García Hurtado de Mendoza to reprieve them. The preparations for the execution continued and all hope of saving them was lost. Then two women, one Spanish and another Native American, approached the house of Don García, entering by the window, and managed to convince the governor to spare the lives of both. Alonso de Ercilla was imprisoned for three months and soon afterwards was exiled to Peru.
, Germany and Bohemia
. In 1570, he married Doña María de Bazán, a woman of illustrious family and of intellectual attainments and, after other diplomatic missions, settled permanently in Spain in 1577. In 1571 he was made a knight
of the Order of Santiago
, and in 1578 he was employed by Philip II on a mission to Zaragoza
. He complained of living in poverty but left a modest fortune, and was obviously disappointed at not being offered the post of secretary of state. Ercilla's later years were saddened by the loss of his only son, and his own death occurred in Madrid in 1594.
, an epic poem of thirty-seven cantos, describing the difficulties encountered by the Spaniards during the insurrection in Arauco, and the heroic deeds of the natives as well as his companions. The epic partakes of the character of history, and the author adheres with such strict fidelity to the truth, that subsequent historians characterize his work as thoroughly trustworthy. In it the difficult art of story-telling is carried to perfection. Places are admirably described, dates are given with accuracy, and the customs of the native faithfully set forth, giving to the narrative animation and colouring.
The poem was published in three parts, of which the first, composed in Chile and first appearing in 1569, is a versified narrative adhering strictly to historic fact; the second, published in 1578, is encumbered with visions and other romantic machinery; and the third, which appeared in 1589-1590, contains, in addition to the subject proper, a variety of episodes mostly irrelevant. Withall, many scholars consider it the most successful Renaissance epic in the Classical mode written in Spanish. The best editions are those published by the Spanish Academy in 1776 and 1828.
(1867), Jules Verne
wrote, "Araucania is populated by the Mapuche, the native Chilean race extolled in verse by the poet Ercilla".
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
nobleman, soldier and epic poet from the Basque Country. While in Chile (1556–63) he fought against the Araucanian
Mapuche
The Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended...
s, and there he began the epic poem La Araucana
La Araucana
La Araucana is an epic poem in Spanish about the Spanish conquest of Chile, by Alonso de Ercilla; it is also known in English as The Araucaniad...
, considered the greatest Spanish historical poem. This heroic work in 37 cantos is divided into three parts, published in 1569, 1578, and 1589. It tells of the courageous insurrection of the Araucanians and also relates the history of Chile and of contemporary Spain.
Biography
Ercilla was born into a spanish noble family. His father was Fortuño García de Ercilla, and his mother Doña Leonor de Zúñiga. In 1548, after his father's death, his mother became lady-in-waiting to the Infanta MaríaMaria of Spain
Archduchess Maria of Austria was the spouse of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia and Hungary. She was the daughter of Emperor Charles V and twice served as regent of Spain.-Life:...
and made young Alonso a page to the heir-apparent, Prince Philip (afterwards King Philip II
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
). Ercilla received a very thorough education, for, besides having the most learned teachers, he enjoyed the advantages of very extensive travelling and of living at court where he came in contact with high personages. When he was only fifteen he accompanied Philip through Italy and Germany; and their travels lasted three years. Later, Ercilla accompanied his mother to Bohemia where he left her and then visited Austria, Hungary, and other countries. Returning to Spain, he soon started out again with Philip. In this capacity Ercilla (sometimes spelled Arcilla) visited Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, and was present in 1554 at the marriage of his master to Queen Mary I of England
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
.
In London he made the acquaintance of Jerónimo de Alderete
Jerónimo de Alderete
Jerónimo de Alderete y Mercado was a Spanish conquistador who was later named governor Chile, but died before he could assume his post.-Early life:...
(1555), whose stories of his thrilling adventures in the New World so fired Ercilla's imagination that he determined to accompany Alderete to the New World. He therefore obtained leave from Philip, and they set sail for America, 15 October 1555. Soon after their arrival, however, Alderete died (near Panamá, April, 1556). Ercilla continued on his way to Peru, and in 1557 hearing that an expedition was preparing to subdue the Araucanians of Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, he joined the forces of García Hurtado de Mendoza, who had recently been appointed Governor of Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
.
He distinguished himself in the ensuing campaign; but, having quarrelled with a comrade, he was condemned to death in 1558 by his general, García Hurtado de Mendoza. The sentence was commuted to imprisonment, but Ercilla was speedily released and fought at the Battle of Quipeo (December 14, 1558).
In 1556 Ercilla arrived in Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
and accompanied Don García Hurtado de Mendoza, recently named Governor and Commander-in-chief
Commander-in-Chief
A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...
of Chile, where the Araucanos had revolted. Apparently he remained in Chile seventeen months, between 1557 and 1559. He participated in the battles of Lagunillas, Quiapo and Millarapue, and witnessed the death of Caupolicán
Caupolican
Caupolicán was a Toqui, the military leader of the Mapuche people of Chile, that commanded their army during the first Mapuche rising against the Spanish conquistadors from 1553 to 1558....
, protagonist of La Araucana
La Araucana
La Araucana is an epic poem in Spanish about the Spanish conquest of Chile, by Alonso de Ercilla; it is also known in English as The Araucaniad...
. This is an epic poem of military exaltation in 37 cantos, where the narrator relays the most significant facts of the Arauco War
Arauco War
The Arauco War was a conflict between colonial Spaniards and the Mapuche people in what is now the Araucanía and Biobío regions of modern Chile...
against the Araucanos (mapuche
Mapuche
The Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended...
s) and which he began to write during the campaign.
Osorno, Chile
Osorno is a city and commune in southern Chile and capital of Osorno Province in the Los Lagos Region. It had a population of 145,475, as of the 2002 census...
and while their neighbours were preoccupied with the celebrations in the new city Don García left by a secret entrance, disguised by a helmet with closed visor, accompanied by Alonso de Ercilla and Pedro of Eyrie. They were confronted by Juan de Pineda
Juan de Pineda
Juan de Pineda was a writer and a historian of the Spanish Golden Age.After graduating from the University of Salamanca in 1540, he became a Franciscan....
, an old enemy of Alonso de Ercilla, and there was a fight. Don García was warned of the situation.
Alonso de Ercilla ran to a church and looked for asylum. The governor imprisoned both duellists and condemned them to be executed on the following day. However, many people considered the sentence unjust and tried to persuade Don García Hurtado de Mendoza to reprieve them. The preparations for the execution continued and all hope of saving them was lost. Then two women, one Spanish and another Native American, approached the house of Don García, entering by the window, and managed to convince the governor to spare the lives of both. Alonso de Ercilla was imprisoned for three months and soon afterwards was exiled to Peru.
Later life
After Ercilla's return to Spain in 1562, he made several diplomatic journeys to Austria, where his mother was a maid of honor at the imperial court, and also visited Italy, FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Germany and Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
. In 1570, he married Doña María de Bazán, a woman of illustrious family and of intellectual attainments and, after other diplomatic missions, settled permanently in Spain in 1577. In 1571 he was made a knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
of the Order of Santiago
Order of Santiago
The Order of Santiago was founded in the 12th century, and owes its name to the national patron of Galicia and Spain, Santiago , under whose banner the Christians of Galicia and Asturias began in the 9th century to combat and drive back the Muslims of the Iberian Peninsula.-History:Santiago de...
, and in 1578 he was employed by Philip II on a mission to Zaragoza
Zaragoza
Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...
. He complained of living in poverty but left a modest fortune, and was obviously disappointed at not being offered the post of secretary of state. Ercilla's later years were saddened by the loss of his only son, and his own death occurred in Madrid in 1594.
Works
Ercilla's great work is La AraucanaLa Araucana
La Araucana is an epic poem in Spanish about the Spanish conquest of Chile, by Alonso de Ercilla; it is also known in English as The Araucaniad...
, an epic poem of thirty-seven cantos, describing the difficulties encountered by the Spaniards during the insurrection in Arauco, and the heroic deeds of the natives as well as his companions. The epic partakes of the character of history, and the author adheres with such strict fidelity to the truth, that subsequent historians characterize his work as thoroughly trustworthy. In it the difficult art of story-telling is carried to perfection. Places are admirably described, dates are given with accuracy, and the customs of the native faithfully set forth, giving to the narrative animation and colouring.
The poem was published in three parts, of which the first, composed in Chile and first appearing in 1569, is a versified narrative adhering strictly to historic fact; the second, published in 1578, is encumbered with visions and other romantic machinery; and the third, which appeared in 1589-1590, contains, in addition to the subject proper, a variety of episodes mostly irrelevant. Withall, many scholars consider it the most successful Renaissance epic in the Classical mode written in Spanish. The best editions are those published by the Spanish Academy in 1776 and 1828.
In literature
In his novel In Search of the CastawaysIn Search of the Castaways
In Search of the Castaways is a novel by the French writer Jules Verne, published in 1867–1868. The original edition, published by Hetzel, contains a number of illustrations by Édouard Riou. In 1876 it was republished by George Routledge & Sons as a three volume set titled "A Voyage Round The World"...
(1867), Jules Verne
Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
wrote, "Araucania is populated by the Mapuche, the native Chilean race extolled in verse by the poet Ercilla".
See also
- Pedro de ValdiviaPedro de ValdiviaPedro Gutiérrez de Valdivia or Valdiva was a Spanish conquistador and the first royal governor of Chile. After serving with the Spanish army in Italy and Flanders, he was sent to South America in 1534, where he served as lieutenant under Francisco Pizarro in Peru, acting as his second in command...
- Francisco de VillagraFrancisco de VillagraFrancisco de Villagra Velázquez was a Spanish conquistador, and three times governor of Chile.-Early life:Born at [Santervás de Campos], he was the son of Alvaro de Sarría and Ana Velázquez de Villagra, who were not married. For this reason he took the name of his mother...
- Jerónimo de AldereteJerónimo de AldereteJerónimo de Alderete y Mercado was a Spanish conquistador who was later named governor Chile, but died before he could assume his post.-Early life:...
- Garcia Hurtado de Mendoza
- Arauco WarArauco WarThe Arauco War was a conflict between colonial Spaniards and the Mapuche people in what is now the Araucanía and Biobío regions of modern Chile...
- Mapuche peopleMapucheThe Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended...
- Lautaro
- CaupolicánCaupolicanCaupolicán was a Toqui, the military leader of the Mapuche people of Chile, that commanded their army during the first Mapuche rising against the Spanish conquistadors from 1553 to 1558....
- ColocoloColocolo (tribal chief)Colocolo was a Mapuche leader in the early period of the Arauco War. He was a major figure in Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga's epic poem La Araucana, about the early Arauco War. In the poem he was the one that proposed the contest between the rival candidates for Toqui that resulted in the choice of...