Diego de Torres – losy niepokornego Metysa z Nowej Grenady
Diego de Torres: The life of a rebellious mestizo of New Granada

Summary/Abstract: “The Memorial of Grievances” is the most important document on Indian rights after the famous “Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies” by Bartolomé de Las Casas. But contrary to the Dominican friar’s relation, “The Memorial,” which was created a few decades later, is relatively little known and, at the same time, is written not by a Spaniard, but by a mestizo from the New Kingdom of Granada, the present-day Colombia. The life and adventures of the author of “The Memorial” – Diego de Torres – which I present in my article, could serve as a plot of a historical novel. This son of a conquistador and an Indian woman was a cacique and leader of an indigenous group of Muisca, in a small village not far from the city of Tunja; meanwhile, paradoxically, the encomendero of the same settlement was his brother, a native Spaniard. In my article I present a conflict between the two brothers, the mestizo’s imprisonment by the royal officials, his escape from prison and his meeting with King Philip II, who stood up for his mestizo subject. In order to render my portrayal of Diego de Torres realistic I referred to ancient chronicles and old documents from Colombian archives.

• Details
• Contents