General History of Chile III

Diego Barros Arana was a nineteenth-century Chilean historian and educator, whose most important legacy was the monumental work entitled Historia General de Chile, written in 16 volumes between 1884 and 1902. It covers from pre-Columbian times until 1833. The work is based on documents from private and public archives, which Barros Arana knew and collected over decades until he began writing his General History in 1881. This third volume covers the years 1561 to 1610 and ends with the foundation of the Royal Audience.
The idea of writing a general history of the country was conceived early in Diego Barros Arana. Already in his introduction to Life and Travels of Magellan published in 1864, he had confessed that he had been working on a general work for many years. The author felt the need to tell the story of Chile, due to the deficiencies of the historiography available at the time. Barros considered that Chilean history was to be built in almost all its periods and themes, and that the absence of narratives was not determined by the lack of materials, but by the lack of interest to undertake an extensive, complex and critical work.
In the author’s own words:

“This incessant work, which might seem excessively monotonous and overwhelming, has been to me the most pleasing of pastimes, the relief of great sorrows, and I could almost say the rest of many and very painful fatigues.”

The text was finally organized into 16 volumes that dealt with great epochs: The Indians; Discovery and Conquest; Consolidation of the Independence and Organization of the Republic. It was a question of practicing a historical investigation very different from how certain chroniclers had done it so far. In the presentation of the work, Barros Arana explains that he assumed the narrative method to write his work, following the recommendation of Andrés Bello. The facts are ordered and investigated with neatness and clarity, noting precisely their filiation and content. This orderly and chronological exposition was a guarantee to clarify the facts in an objective and rigorous way.

Index of the work

• Part III. The Colony from 1561 to 1610 (Continued)
• Chapter VIII. Interim government of Ruiz de Gamboa (1580-1583). Arrival in Chile of Don Alonso de Sotomayor (1583)
• Chapter IX. First years of the government of Don Alonso de Sotomayor (1583-1586). The war continues without any definitive results
• Chapter X. Exploration of the Strait of Magellan by Sarmiento de Gamboa (1580). Foundation of colonies on its coasts. Expedition of Thomas Cavendish (1583-1587)
• 11. Merrick’s expedition to the Strait of Magellan: influence of these voyages on the progress of geography 113
• Chapter XI. End of the government of Don Alonso de Sotomayor (1587-1592)
• Chapter XII. Administrative and social state of Chile at the end of the sixteenth century
• Chapter XIII. Early years of the government of Óñez de Loyola (1592-1595). The English privateer Hawkins in the Pacific
• Chapter XIV. End of the government of Óñez de Loyola (1595-1598): his defeat and death
• Chapter XV. Interim government of Pedro de Viscarra (1599). New disasters; arrival of another Governor
• Chapter XVI. Interim government of Don Francisco de Quiñones (1599-1600). Dutch corsairs on the coast of Chile. Disasters in war
• Chapter XVII. End of the Quiñones government. New raids of the Dutch corsairs on the coasts of Chile. Interim government of Alonso García Ramón (1600-1601)
• Chapter XVIII. Alonso de Ribera. Early rule (1601)
• Chapter XIX. Government of Alonso de Ribera; Establishment of a fortified border line (1601-1603)
• Chapter XX. Government of Alonso de Ribera: its difficulties in the internal administration. His last campaigns: he is separated from the command of Chile (1603-1605)
• Chapter XXI. Government of Alonso García Ramón. Unsuccessful attempts to offer peace to the Indians (1605-1606)
• Chapter XXII. Government of García Ramón: his last campaigns and his death. Definitive foundation of the Royal Audience (1606-1610)