Juan Núñez de la Peña
Encyclopedia
Juan Núñez de la Peña was a Spanish historian. Born in San Cristóbal de La Laguna
, he studied Latin
and the humanities
in the college of San Agustín de La Laguna
and was subsequently ordained priest. He worked in Toledo
as a notary before returning to the Canary Islands
.
There he began to compile and preserve for posterity municipal, notarial, and ecclestiastic documents that allowed him to write a history of the islands, called Conquista y antigüedades de las islas de la Gran Canaria y su descripción, con muchas advertencias de sus privilegios, conquistadores, pobladores y otras particularidades en la muy poderosa isla de Tenerife, dirigido a la milagrosa imagen de Nuestra Señora de Candelaria. This work was published in 1676, with a second edition with corrections published three years later.
In it, he examined the Guanche people
as well as the genealogies of the European families on the islands. For his work he was honored with a pension of 200 pesos and with the title of cronista general de los reinos de Castilla y León ("General Chronicler of the Kingdoms of Castile and León
").
San Cristóbal de la Laguna
San Cristóbal de La Laguna is a city and municipality in the northern part of the island of Tenerife in the Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, on the Canary Islands . The city is third-most populous city of the archipelago and second-most populous city of the island. It is a suburban area of the...
, he studied Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
and the humanities
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
in the college of San Agustín de La Laguna
University of La Laguna
The University of San Fernando de La Laguna, also known as the ULL is situated in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, on the island of Tenerife. It is the oldest university in the Canary Islands, and has the highest student population of any university in these islands. It is also considered the most...
and was subsequently ordained priest. He worked in Toledo
Toledo, Spain
Toledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...
as a notary before returning to the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
.
There he began to compile and preserve for posterity municipal, notarial, and ecclestiastic documents that allowed him to write a history of the islands, called Conquista y antigüedades de las islas de la Gran Canaria y su descripción, con muchas advertencias de sus privilegios, conquistadores, pobladores y otras particularidades en la muy poderosa isla de Tenerife, dirigido a la milagrosa imagen de Nuestra Señora de Candelaria. This work was published in 1676, with a second edition with corrections published three years later.
In it, he examined the Guanche people
Guanches
Guanches is the name given to the aboriginal Berber inhabitants of the Canary Islands. It is believed that they migrated to the archipelago sometime between 1000 BCE and 100 BCE or perhaps earlier...
as well as the genealogies of the European families on the islands. For his work he was honored with a pension of 200 pesos and with the title of cronista general de los reinos de Castilla y León ("General Chronicler of the Kingdoms of Castile and León
Castile and León
Castile and León is an autonomous community in north-western Spain. It was so constituted in 1983 and it comprises the historical regions of León and Old Castile...
").