The Jesuit and the Incas: The Extraordinary Life of Padre Blas Valera, S.J. (History, Languages, and Cultures of the Spanish and Portuguese Worlds)

First, most of my book is not about the so-called "Miccinelli documents" -- the sensational manuscripts which claim, among other things, that Valera faked his death, returned secretly to Peru and taught a phonetic form of Inca writing -- at all. The first eight chapters of my book discuss Valera's tumultuous life and radical ideas based entirely on sources other than the Miccinelli documents. Only the final two chapters of my book concern the Miccinelli texts; Chapter 9 describes the documents while Chapter 10 explores the controversy over them.

Second, I state unequivocally in my book that I believe the documents to be forgeries. The issue is whether they are 17th century forgeries or modern forgeries. My book argues that they are 17th century forgeries created by Valera's followers within the Society of Jesus in Peru, a position supported by other respected researchers in the field. Other scholars have argued that the Miccinelli texts are modern forgeries, suggesting in print that Umberto Eco is the criminal mastermind behind this alleged conspiracy of forgery, in collusion with professors at the University of Bologna and other Italian universities. I leave it to readers of my book to decide which position is more convincing.

Because this cannot by posted without assigning stars, and, while I am confident in my book, there is always room for improvement, I assign it three stars.


An intriguing topic, but this book needs work   December 17, 2003
 1 out of 10 found this review helpful

This book proposes to shed light on a dark corner of colonial Latin American history and historiography by exploring the life of Blas Vaelra, the mestizo chronicler who proved so influential in the writing Garcilaso de la Vega's Royal Commentaries of the Incas. This is a laudable goal, but unfortunately this book is evidence of some of the sloppiest kind of scholarly sensationalism in Academia. In reviewing the ongoing controversy over the so-called Miccinelli documents (recently discovered in the private collection of an Italian academic), Prof. Hyland does a mediocre job of detailing just how questionable these sources are. Her responses to more creditable and sober critics are unconvincing, as are her apologies for the weaknesses she *does* recognize in the documents.

Those who craft elaborate frauds often shield themselves behind what they like to characterize as the "establishement's" inability to brook radical transformations, but that is simply not the case. When revolutionary material is available to genuine public scrutiny, and when that material hasn't been as effectively and convincingly discredited as these texts have been, intellectual change comes with relative ease.

I do hope Ms. Hyland is merely a victim of poor training and bad judgment. As of this moment, the Miccinelli documents do not carry enough legitimacy for her to depend on them as much as she does.


A most fascinating life story   December 12, 2003
 7 out of 9 found this review helpful

The Jesuit & The Incas: The Extraordinary Life Of Padre Blas Valera, S.j. by Sabine Hyland (Associate Professor of Anthropology at St. Norbert College and co-director of a multidisciplinary project studying the Chanka people of Peru) is the informed and informative biography of Father Blas Valera, a man born in the 1500's to a native Incan mother and Spanish father. A Jesuit in sixteenth-century Peru, Blas Valera dared to believe and spread word that the Incan culture, religion, and language were equal to the Christian way of life -- a view that his superiors claimed was heresy and for which they compelled his imprisonment and exile. Blas Valera allegedly died at the hands of English pirates in 1597, yet a recent discovery among private documents suggest that Valera's death was faked by Jesuits, and that he returned to Peru to continue teaching his followers. A most fascinating life story written with a keen eye to research and detail, The Jesuit & The Incas is a highly recommended contribution to Peruvian History in general, and the New World history of the Catholic Church in the 16th century in particular.