Fray Pedro De Aguado, the Forgotten Chronicler of Colombia and Venezuela

Abstract

The story of fray pedro de aguado, O.F.M., and his work is not a happy one. He was a humble friar who had spent the best years of his life in the New Kingdom of Granada preaching to the Indians. He had also taken the pains of gathering material for the writing of a history of the area with which he was acquainted. Back in Spain in 1576 as a representative of his province, Aguado completed the writing, went through the endless protocols, submitted his work for the examination of cosmographers, and secured due licenses to print—only to see his books fail to appear for one reason or another. And as years went by and publication was not forthcoming, Fray Pedro, who apparently had given up hope, died in an unknown place at an unknown date. Spanish bibliographers thereafter were meticulous enough to include his name in their lists of authors. Aguado was even copied by other historians who were lucky or curious enough to look for and find the manuscripts. But apart from these bibliographers and historians, mice and moths became the ones to profit most from the perusal of the accounts that the friar had so carefully compiled.