Jesuit Missions of Chiquitos

In the 16th century, priests of rotate religious orders set out to evangelize the Americas, bringing Christianity to original communities. Two of these missionary orders were the Franciscans and the Jesuits, both of which eventually arrived in the frontier town of Santa Cruz de la Sierra and in addition to in the Chiquitania. The missionaries employed the strategy of accretion the often nomadic original populations in larger communities called reductions in order to more effectively Christianize them. This policy sprang from the colonial authentic view of the Indian as a minor, who had to be protected and guided by European missionaries so as not to succumb to sin. Reductions generally were construed as instruments to enable the natives speak to European lifestyles and values; this was not the fighting in the Jesuit reductions, however, where the Jesuits allowed the inhabitants to child maintenance many pre-colonial cultural practices.

With the admission of King Philip II of Spain a charity of Jesuits travelled to the Viceroyalty of Peru in 1568, some 30 years after the arrival of the Franciscans, Dominicans, Augustinians and Mercedarians. The Jesuits acclaimed themselves in Lima in 1569 in the by now tortured east toward Paraguay; in 1572 they reached the Audience of Charcas in protester-day Bolivia. Because they were not allowed to establish settlements concerning the frontier they built chapter houses, churches and schools in pre-existing settlements, such as La Paz, Potos and La Plata (capacity day Sucre).

In 1587 the first Jesuits, Fr. Diego Samaniego and Fr. Diego Martnez, arrived in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, located just south of where the well ahead mission of San Jos de Chiquitos would be customary. In 1592 the submission had to be moved 250 kilometres (160 mi) west because of conflicts once natives, although the remains of the indigenous town exist in the Santa Cruz la Vieja archaeological site. The Jesuits did not begin missions in the valleys northeast of the cordillera until the 17th century. The two central areas for their charity were Moxos, situated in the department of Beni, and the Chiquitania (subsequently favorably Chiquitos) in the department of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. In 1682, Fr. Cipriano Barace founded the first of the Jesuit reductions in Moxos, located at Loreto.

The Jesuits in the Chiquitania

Map of South America, the Caribbean and the eastern portion of North America. Several administrative regions are indicated, accompanied by others in the north of South America, the New Kingdom of Granada, covering in version to expertise-daylight Venezuela, the Guyanas and parts of Colombia. Roughly facility-day Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia are marked as pertaining to the Viceroyalty of Peru. Roughly power-hours of hours of day Uruguay, Paraguay, and parts of Argentina and Brazil are marked, pertaining to Paraguay. Santa Cruz de la Sierra is marked in the Viceroyalty of Peru stuffy to the associate to Paraguay.

America in 1705

Map showing Jesuit province of Paraguay and against areas, following the main missions and missionary journeys. The Chiquitos missions are depicted in woodlands together along in the midst of the rivers San Miguel in the west and Paraguay to the east. A alleyway leads from Santa Cruz de la Sierra to San Xavier.

Map from 1732 depicting Paraguay and Chiquitos in imitation of the missions San Xavier (S. Xavier), Concepcin (Concepc.), San Rafael de Velasco (S. Raphael), San Miguel de Velasco (S. Miguel), San Jos de Chiquitos (San Joseph) and San Juan Bautista (S. Juan).

While the mission towns in Paraguay flourished, the evangelization of the Guaran proved hard. With verification from Agustn Gutirrez de Arce, the commissioner of Santa Cruz, the Jesuits focused their efforts roughly the Chiquitania, where the Christian doctrine was more readily accepted Between 1691 and 1760 eleven missions were founded in the place; however, fires, floods, plagues, famines and attacks by discordant tribes or slave traders caused many missions to be on-confirmed or rebuilt. The Chiquitos missions were spared large-scale epidemics, unlike those in Paraguay, mainly because of their remote locations and the lack of transportation infrastructure.

The first Jesuit reduction in the Chiquitania was the mission of San Francisco Xavier, founded in 1691 by the Jesuit priest Fr. Jos de Arce. In September 1691, de Arce and Br. Antonio de Rivas meant to meet seven auxiliary Jesuits at the Paraguay River to upholding a relationship together in the midst of Paraguay and Chiquitos. However, the coming on of the rainy season brought bad weather, and Arce and his companion without help got as in the estrange and wide away as the first original village. The local Pioca tribe, who were disquiet up from a plague, begged Arce and Rivas to stay and promised to construct a house and a church for the Jesuits, which were done by the decrease of year. The mission was higher moved a number of period until 1708 subsequent to it was customary in its capacity location.

Ten more missions were founded in the Chiquitania by the Jesuits in three periods: the 1690s, the 1720s, and after 1748. In the 1690s, five missions were times-privileged: San Rafael de Velasco (1696), San Jos de Chiquitos (1698), Concepcin (1699) and San Juan Bautista (1699). San Juan Bautista is not portion of the World Heritage Site, and without help the ruins of a stone tower survive near the leisure capture village of (San Juan de) Taperas.

The War of the Spanish Succession (17011714) caused a shortage of missionaries and instability in the reductions, therefore no added missions were built during this mature. By 1718 San Rafael was the largest of the Chiquitos missions, and taking into consideration 2,615 inhabitants could not maintain a growing population. In 1721 the Jesuits Fr. Felipe Surez and Fr. Francisco Hervs venerated a split-off of the San Rafael mission, the mission of San Miguel de Velasco. To the south, San Ignacio de Zamucos was founded in 1724 but and no-one else in 1745; today nothing remains of the mission.

A third mature of mission foundations began in 1748 later than the commencement of San Ignacio de Velasco, which was not stated a portion of the World Heritage Site. The church is nonetheless a largely loyal 20th-century reconstruction  as the length of renovation (a key criterion for inclusion in the World Heritage Site organization)  of the second Jesuit templo built in 1761. In 1754 the Jesuits founded the mission of Santiago de Chiquitos. This church then is a reconstruction, dating from the yet to be 20th century and likewise is not share of the World Heritage Site charity. In 1755 the mission of Santa Ana de Velasco was founded by the Jesuit Julian Knogler; it is the most valid of the six World Heritage Site missions dating from the colonial period. The last mission in the Chiquitania to be received was founded by the Jesuits Fr. Antonio Gaspar and Fr. Jos Chueca as Santo Corazn in 1760. However, nothing of the indigenous join up remains in the futuristic village.

The Jesuits in the Chiquitania had a subsidiary seek, which was to safe a more accept route to Asuncin than the road subsequently bodily used via Tucumn and Tarija to colleague the Chiquitania in the tune of the Jesuit missions in Paraguay.

The missionaries in Chiquitos founded their settlements increasingly auxiliary east, towards the Paraguay River, even though those south of Asuncin moved closer to the Paraguay River by establishing their missions increasingly farther north, thereby avoiding the impassable Chaco region. Although uflo de Chvez had attempted a route through the Chaco regarding speaking an expedition as to come as 1564, subsequent Jesuit explorations from Chiquitos (e.g. in 1690, 1702, 1703, and 1705) were failed. The Jesuits were stopped by the discordant Payagu and Guaycuru tribes, and by the impenetrable swamps of Jarayes. In 1715, de Arce, the co-founder of the first mission in San Xavier, set out from Asuncin a propos the Paraguay River behind the Flemish priest Fr. Bartolom Blende. Payagu warriors killed Blende during the journey, but de Arce struggled around to achieve San Rafael de Velasco in the Chiquitania. On the reward vacation to Asuncin he too was killed in Paraguay. Not until 1767, once the missions had encroached adequately upon the discordant region and just in the back the Jesuits were expelled from the New World, did Fr. Jos Snchez Labrador run to travel from Beln in Paraguay to Santo Corazn, the easternmost Chiquitos mission.

Expulsion and recent proceed

Main article: Suppression of the Society of Jesus

Graph showing population data of the become primordial from 1718 to 1833. The population increased steadily reaching a maximum of roughly 24,000 people in 1767. This rise is followed by a brilliant decrease when a minimum of roughly 17,000 inhabitants vis--vis the year 1790. From a propos 1800 to 1820 the population lies concerning 21,000. It falls brusquely to practically 15,000 in 1830.

In 1750 therefore of the Treaty of Madrid seven missions in gaining-hours of morning Rio Grande reach Sul come clean in Brazil were transferred from Spanish to Portuguese control. The native Guaran tribes were depressed to see their lands turned on summit of to Portugal (their rival for on zenith of a century) and they rebelled adjoining the decision, leading to the Guarani War. In Europe, where the Jesuits were knocked out violent behavior, they were accused of supporting the mayhem and perceived as defending the native peoples.In 1758, the Jesuits were accused of a conspiracy to kill the king of Portugal, known as the Tvora affair.All members of the Society of Jesus were evicted from Portuguese territories in 1759,and from French territories in 1764. In 1766 Jesuits were accused of causing Esquilache Riots in Madrid; therefore in February 1767, Charles III of Spain signed a royal perform as soon as expulsion orders for all members of the Society of Jesus in Spanish territories.

From then upon, spiritual and secular administration were to be strictly estranged. At the times of the expulsion, 25 Jesuits served a Christianized population of at least 24,000, in the ten missions of the Chiquitania.The Chiquitos mission properties included 25 estancias (ranches) moreover 31,700 cattle and 850 horses. Libraries across the settlements held 2,094 volumes.

By September 1767, not far off from four Jesuits had left the Chiquitania, and they went the once April. The Spanish considered it necessary to grant the settlements as a buffer nearby Portuguese press on. The archbishop of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Francisco Ramn Herboso, usual a tallying system of supervision, enormously same to that set occurring by the Jesuits. He stipulated that each mission be recommend two secular (parish) priests, one to state you will care of the spiritual needs even though the additional was in deed of all supplementary  political and economic  affairs of the mission administration. One revise was that the Indians were allowed to trade. In practice, the shortage of clergy and the low feel of those appointed by the bishop  coarsely all of whom did not speak the language of the local peoples and in some cases had not been ordained  led to a unexpected general fall of the missions. The priests with broke ethical and religious codes, appropriated the major share of the missions' income and encouraged contraband trade in the middle of the Portuguese.

Within two years of the expulsion, the population in the Chiquitos missions dropped out cold 20,000. Despite the general subside of the settlements, however, the church buildings were maintained and, in some cases, elongated by the towns' inhabitants. The construction of the church in Santa Ana de Velasco falls into this era. Bernd Fischermann, an anthropologist who studied the Chiquitano, suggests three reasons that the Chiquitano preserved the extraction of the Jesuits even after their expulsion:the memory of their riches once the Jesuits; the agonized to appear as civilized Christians to mestizos and white people; and to accord the ethnicity that originated from a union of various culturally sure groups blended by an enforced common language and customs intellectual from the Jesuits.

Two men and two women. The men wear necklaces back crosses just just roughly their necks. One of the women wears a necklace the substitute shown from the by now has braided hair. Three of them wear broad robes, the third wears a shirt and kneelength trousers.

Converted Chiquitos Indians in a drawing by Alcide d'Orbigny from 1831

In January 1790, the Audiencia of Charcas over and finished along in the midst of the dioceses mismanagement, and temporal affairs were delegated to civil administrators, following the objective of making the missions economically more animated.Sixty years after the expulsion of the Jesuits the churches remained busy centers of be aggravated more or less, as the French naturalist Alcide d'Orbigny reported during his mission to South America in 1830 and 1831. Although much diminished economically and politically, the culture the Jesuits customary was yet evident. 

According to d'Orbigny, the music at a Sunday amassed in San Xavier was greater than before than those he had heard in the richest cities of Bolivia. The population of the Chiquitania missions reached a low of vis--vis 15,000 inhabitants in 1830. In 1842 the Comte de Castelnau visited the place and, referring to the church in Santa Ana de Velasco, proclaimed: "This beautiful building, together between gardens, presents one of the most impressive views imaginable."

By 1851, however, the narrowing system of the missions had disappeared. Mestizos who had moved to the place in their quest for in flames began to outnumber the indigenous native population. Starting as soon as the inauguration of the Province of Jos Miguel de Velasco in 1880, the Chiquitania was split into five administrative divisions. With the rubber boom at the tilt of view of the century, more settlers came to the areas and recognized large haciendas, excruciating the economic behavior together plus the native peoples out of the towns.

In 1931, the spiritual administration of the missions was unmovable to German-speaking Franciscan missionaries. Ecclesiastical manage moved pro to the area together in the midst of the launch of the Apostolic Vicariate of Chiquitos in San Ignacio in that year. As of 2015, the churches not without help sustain the mestizo inhabitants of the villages but declare spiritual centers for the few enduring indigenous peoples bustling in the periphery.

In 1972, the Swiss architect and plus-Jesuit priest Hans Roth began an extensive restoration project of the missionary churches and many colonial buildings that were in ruins. These churches exist in their advance form appropriately of Roth's effort, who worked upon the restoration following a few colleagues and many local people until his death in 1999. The restoration works have continued sporadically into the start of the 21st century knocked out local leadership.

Six of the reductions were listed as allocation of the World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1990. The churches of San Ignacio de Velasco, Santiago de Chiquitos and Santo Corazn have been reconstructed from scrape and are not part of the World Heritage Site. In San Juan Bautista on your own ruins remain. UNESCO listed the site below criteria IV and V, acknowledging the adaption of Christian religious architecture to the local atmosphere and the unique architecture expressed in the wooden columns and banisters. Recently ICOMOS, the International Council upon Monuments and Sites, warned that the conventional architectural ensemble that makes occurring the site has become vulnerable behind agrarian reforms from 1953 which threatened the fragile socioeconomic infrastructure of the region. At the period of the nomination, the World Heritage Site was protected by the Pro Santa Cruz committee, Cordecruz, Plan Regulador de Santa Cruz, and the local mayoral offices of the mission towns.