Del virreinato del Perú a la Florida española: cruces textuales y culturales
Raquel Chang-Rodríguez
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In her new book, Del virreinato del Perú a la Florida española: cruces textuales y culturales [From the Viceroyalty of Peru to Spanish Florida: Textual and Cultural Crossings] (2026), Raquel Chang-Rodríguez uses simple language and in-depth analysis to explore three texts on La Florida. La Florida currently includes the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South and North Carolina, Kansas, and Mississippi, among other regions of the United States of America. These texts are linked to the Viceroyalty of Peru: Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda’s Memoria de las cosas y costa e indios de La Florida (c. 1575) [Memoir of the Things, Coast, and Indians of La Florida], Garcilaso de la Vega’s La Florida del Inca (c. 1605), and Luis Jerónimo de Oré’s Relación de los mártires de La Florida (c. 1619) [Account of the Martyrs of La Florida]. Chang-Rodríguez presents an annotated edition of texts with limited circulation. It also modernizes the punctuation and spelling of the Memoria and the Relación. The three selected texts are part of a group of lesser-studied works by these authors. This book appeals to both the general public and specialists.
In the first chapter, “La Memoria (c. 1575) de Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda y los «tesoros» de La Florida” [Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda’s Memoir (c. 1575) and the «Treasures» of La Florida], Chang-Rodríguez emphasizes the relationship between the Memoria and the records of service and merit, and places it within its historical and cultural context. Escalante Fontaneda’s experiences are exceptional, and the information provided by Chang-Rodríguez further deepens our interest in this man who was held captive by the Calusa Indians for 17 years (from age 13 to 30). Escalante Fontaneda, fluent in four languages, recounts his captivity, the names and territories of the chieftains of La Florida, the ceremonies of various regions of this land, and how to colonize it. He seeks to distinguish the different indigenous groups by their wealth, their food, and their bellicosity. Thanks to the annotated edition, we learn of the significance of this work, in which the author emphasizes his role as an interpreter for both the indigenous peoples and the conquistadors. |
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The second and shortest of the chapters, “La Florida del Inca (1605) y la historia compartida” [The Inca’s Florida (1605) and the Shared History] examines Hernando de Soto’s failed expedition, which was financed in part by the reward he received for his role in the rescue of the Inca Atahualpa. It examines the consequences of this misfortune for the expedition members and the indigenous people of Florida, who traveled through unknown lands until they reached Nueva España and, in Mexico-Tenochtitlán, were received by the viceroy. Chang-Rodríguez highlights episodes narrated by Inca Garcilaso de la Vega in which interpretation and translation play a pivotal role. The Inca presents certain terms along with their equivalents in Quechua and Nahuatl and includes his reflections on Peruvian and Mexican culture and the conquest of the Americas. Chang-Rodríguez analyzes the events narrated by the Inca and their connections to various geographical regions.
The third and final chapter, “Más allá del sacrificio en la Relación de los mártires de la Florida (c. 1619) de Luis Jerónimo de Oré” [Beyond Sacrifice in Luis Jerónimo de Oré’s Account of the Martyrs of La Florida], consists of an annotated edition that recounts the missionary experience of this Franciscan from Ayacucho in Florida and Cuba. The accounts in the Relación cover a variety of topics: geography, religious history, and politics. Chang-Rodríguez focuses on the missionary’s stay in Florida and contextualizes the events beyond the martyrdom of Jesuits and Franciscans in that territory. She highlights the importance of descriptions of the region, its inhabitants, and the complex relationships between Spaniards and Floridians, as well as the connection between the Viceroyalty of Peru and early Spanish Florida. She also discusses the alternation between a testimonial “I” and an omniscient narrator in the Relación.
Del virreinato del Perú a la Florida española: cruces textuales y culturales covers the early history of the United States and its relationship with Spain, Peru, Mexico, and the Caribbean, as recounted in Memoria, La Florida del Inca, and Relación de los mártires de La Florida. Here, history, philology, and religion converge. As Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda, the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, and Luis Jerónimo de Oré were all polyglots, each emphasizes the importance of interpretation and translation in the encounters between explorers, missionaries, and the indigenous peoples of Florida and the Americas. Raquel Chang-Rodríguez, drawing on the historical and cultural context of the texts, the two annotated editions, and a collection of images from the 16th and 17th centuries, provides an immense and valuable resource for both experts and those approaching these studies for the first time. The book is the result of meticulous documentary research in libraries and museums, which highlights its interdisciplinary approach.
Raquel Chang-Rodríguez, Ph.D. New York University. Distinguished Professor Emerita at the City University of New York (CUNY). Researcher, essayist, editor, and author of extensive studies on colonial-era literature. She has written and edited approximately twenty books, among them Cartografía Garcilacista (2013). She is co-author of Voces de Hispanoamérica and Talking Books with Mario Vargas Llosa: A Retrospective (2020). She co-directed the project History of Literatures in Peru (2017–2022), whose six volumes are freely available on the websites of the Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes and the Casa de la Literatura Peruana. She is a member of the North American Academy of the Spanish Language (ANLE).
The third and final chapter, “Más allá del sacrificio en la Relación de los mártires de la Florida (c. 1619) de Luis Jerónimo de Oré” [Beyond Sacrifice in Luis Jerónimo de Oré’s Account of the Martyrs of La Florida], consists of an annotated edition that recounts the missionary experience of this Franciscan from Ayacucho in Florida and Cuba. The accounts in the Relación cover a variety of topics: geography, religious history, and politics. Chang-Rodríguez focuses on the missionary’s stay in Florida and contextualizes the events beyond the martyrdom of Jesuits and Franciscans in that territory. She highlights the importance of descriptions of the region, its inhabitants, and the complex relationships between Spaniards and Floridians, as well as the connection between the Viceroyalty of Peru and early Spanish Florida. She also discusses the alternation between a testimonial “I” and an omniscient narrator in the Relación.
Del virreinato del Perú a la Florida española: cruces textuales y culturales covers the early history of the United States and its relationship with Spain, Peru, Mexico, and the Caribbean, as recounted in Memoria, La Florida del Inca, and Relación de los mártires de La Florida. Here, history, philology, and religion converge. As Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda, the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, and Luis Jerónimo de Oré were all polyglots, each emphasizes the importance of interpretation and translation in the encounters between explorers, missionaries, and the indigenous peoples of Florida and the Americas. Raquel Chang-Rodríguez, drawing on the historical and cultural context of the texts, the two annotated editions, and a collection of images from the 16th and 17th centuries, provides an immense and valuable resource for both experts and those approaching these studies for the first time. The book is the result of meticulous documentary research in libraries and museums, which highlights its interdisciplinary approach.
Raquel Chang-Rodríguez, Ph.D. New York University. Distinguished Professor Emerita at the City University of New York (CUNY). Researcher, essayist, editor, and author of extensive studies on colonial-era literature. She has written and edited approximately twenty books, among them Cartografía Garcilacista (2013). She is co-author of Voces de Hispanoamérica and Talking Books with Mario Vargas Llosa: A Retrospective (2020). She co-directed the project History of Literatures in Peru (2017–2022), whose six volumes are freely available on the websites of the Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes and the Casa de la Literatura Peruana. She is a member of the North American Academy of the Spanish Language (ANLE).
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