Abstract

ARIAS ORTIZ, Teri Erandeni  and  SEGOVIA LIGA, Argelia. Historia de la conquista, pérdida y restauración de la Nueva México: Writing the Official History of the Northern Frontier of the Spanish Empire According to Juan de Villagutierre y Sotomayor, Relator of the Council of the Indies, 1706. Estud. hist. novohisp [online]. 2019, n.60, pp.131-161.  Epub Dec 04, 2020. ISSN 2448-6922.  https://doi.org/10.22201/iih.24486922e.2019.60.67214.

The following essay has the purpose of both briefly reviewing the life of Juan de Villagutierre y Sotomayor, relator of the Council of the Indies at the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century, and to explore the content of one of his lesser known works, which he dedicated to the history of the then Province of New Mexico. This last manuscript is unique for several reasons; one of them is the fact that this work can be considered as one of the first general revisions of the history of the New Mexico territory and its inhabitants, since this manuscript includes details on the indigenous past of the province, and focuses generally on its Pre-Hispanic, conquest and colonial history. The other reason that makes this work unique is that the discourse of the work offers for the first time a secular interpretation of the history of New Mexico, which explains the reason why the author focused his narrative on the main characters that belong more to the civil sphere of the Spanish crown, rather than focusing his narration on those protagonists who belonged to the religious sphere.

Keywords : New Mexico; Juan de Villagutierre Sotomayor; Spanish explorations; indigenous rebellions; indigenous peoples from the north; Santa Fe.