Nueva corónica y buen gobierno

Nueva corónica y buen gobierno
Name	Nueva corónica y buen gobierno
Author	Felipe Guamán Poma de Ayala
Title orig	El primer nueva crónica y buen gobierno
Language	Spanish language
Country	Peru
Genre	Chronicle
Pub date	1615

Nueva corónica y buen gobierno is an early seventeenth‑century illustrated manuscript chronicle composed in Quechua language and Spanish language by the indigenous Andean nobleman Felipe Guamán Poma de Ayala. The work combines ethnohistorical narrative, administrative proposals, and extensive visual material to address the courts of King Philip III of Spain, Viceroyalty of Peru, and colonial administrators in Lima. It is notable for its critique of colonial officials, proposals for reform, and for being one of the most comprehensive indigenous illustrated texts from the early colonial Americas.

Background and authorship

The manuscript was prepared by Felipe Guamán Poma de Ayala, an Andean native from the region of Cusco, who identified himself through lineage connected to indigenous noble lineages and the local community of Canas. Guamán Poma composed the chronicle during a period when indigenous critics such as Bartolomé de las Casas, Guaman Poma, and others corresponded with Spanish authorities, and he drew on models including Bernardino de Sahagún's Florentine Codex, Guillaume Le Vasseur de Beauplan, and European chronicle traditions. Guamán Poma’s literacy in Spanish language and oral background in Quechua language allowed him to address a wide array of figures from King Philip III of Spain to local alcaldes and corregidores in Potosí and Arequipa.

Content and structure

The manuscript comprises a lengthy text and about 400 drawings organized into sections that mix historical narrative, juridical complaints, and administrative blueprints, influenced by models such as Antonio de Nebrija’s grammatical works and colonial administrative forms used by Viceroyalty of Peru bureaucrats. Guamán Poma opens with a genealogy and preambles invoking Inca Empire rulers like Pachacuti and Topa Inca Yupanqui, then presents conquest narratives referring to figures such as Francisco Pizarro, Diego de Almagro, Hernando Pizarro, and legal episodes connected to Lima courts. Subsequent parts set out proposed reforms for provincial governance in places like Cusco, Lima, Quito, and mining districts such as Potosí, detailing administrative roles including corregidores, encomenderos, and visita procedures akin to those overseen by Council of the Indies. The final sections include model ordinances, petitions, and didactic illustrations addressing social actors like mestizo elites, indigenous curacas, and Spanish clergy including Jesuits and Franciscans.

Historical context and purpose

Composed against the backdrop of seventeenth‑century imperial administration, the work engages controversies surrounding institutions such as the encomienda, mita, and repartimiento labor drafts in mining regions like Potosí and agrarian zones around Arequipa. Guamán Poma frames his critique within contemporary legal discourses found in the writings of Francisco de Vitoria, Hugo Grotius, and the missionary debates involving Bartolomé de las Casas and Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda, while addressing royal bodies such as the Casa de Contratación and the Council of the Indies. The chronicle’s stated purpose is a petition to King Philip III of Spain for redress, administrative reform, and humane treatment of indigenous communities in Andes provinces.

Reception and influence in colonial Peru

Responses to the manuscript in colonial Peru were limited; the immediate administrative reception by officials in Lima and the Viceroyalty of Peru yielded little reform, though the document circulated in Spanish bureaucratic networks involving the Casa de Contratación and the Council of the Indies. Over time Guamán Poma’s critique entered historiographical debates alongside works by Bartolomé de las Casas, Alonso de Ercilla, and José de Acosta, influencing later indigenous and creole accounts in regions including Chile, Bolivia, and Ecuador. The chronicle also intersects with legal petitions presented to audiencia and viceroyal institutions in Lima and Charcas.

Manuscript history and publication

The original manuscript survived in European archives after Guamán Poma sent it to Seville and Madrid for royal attention; it was later cataloged among collections in Denmark and identified in the holdings of the Royal Library of Denmark (Det Kongelige Bibliotek) in Copenhagen during the nineteenth century. Facsimile editions and transcriptions have been produced by scholars associated with institutions like the University of Copenhagen, the Biblioteca Nacional de España, and the British Museum, while modern annotated editions appeared through publishers connected to Cambridge University Press and Duke University Press. Critical editions and translations into languages such as English language, French language, German language, and Quechua language lengthened the work’s international reception.

Art and illustrations

The manuscript’s drawings provide ethnographic detail on Andean dress, ritual, and built environments and depict events such as the capture of Atahualpa, scenes at the market of Cusco, and labor in Potosí silver mines. Guamán Poma’s pictorial vocabulary combines native Andean iconography with European woodcut and manuscript conventions evident in works from Renaissance art centers and in prints circulating via Seville and Antwerp. The images function as visual arguments addressing clergy such as Franciscan order, Dominican order, and secular magistrates including alcaldes and corregidores, and they feature portraits of colonial types recognizable to audiences in Lima and the royal court.

Modern scholarship and interpretations

Scholars from institutions such as Harvard University, University of Chicago, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, and Pontifical Catholic University of Peru have examined Guamán Poma with theoretical frameworks drawing on postcolonialism, ethnohistory, and visual studies. Debates focus on authorship, intended audience, intertextuality with sources like Florentine Codex, and the manuscript’s role in indigenous literacies alongside figures like Túpac Amaru II and later Andean intellectuals. Recent work addresses provenance studies, digital humanities projects hosted by libraries such as the Royal Library of Denmark, and comparative analyses with colonial chronicles by Pedro Cieza de León and Martín de Murúa.

Category:Colonial Americas Category:Andean literature