General History of Chile IV

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 fourth volume analyzes the Chilean seventeenth century.
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 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 IV. The Colony from 1610 to 1700
• Chapter I. Governments of Merlo de la Fuente and Jaraquemada. The defensive war (1610-1612) is ordered to be executed.
• Chapter II. Second government of Alonso de Ribera. First results of the defensive war (1612-1613)
• Chapter III. Second government of Alonso de Ribera; Continuation of the defensive war. The Dutch in the Pacific (1613-1615)
• Chapter IV. End of the second government of Ribera; interim of Mr. Hernando Talaverano; government of Don Lope de Ulloa y Lemos (1615-1620)
• Chapter V. Interim of Dr. Don Cristóbal de la Cerda; government of Don Pedro Osores de Ulloa (1620-1624)
• Chapter VI. Interim governments of Alaba and Nurueña and Fernández de Córdoba (1624-1629): end of the defensive war
• Chapter VII. Administrative and social status in the first thirty years of the seventeenth century
• Chapter VIII. Government of Don Francisco Lazo de la Vega; His first campaigns (1629-1632)
• Chapter IX. Government of Lazo de la Vega: his last campaigns and his death (1632-1639)
• Chapter X. Government of the Marquis of Baides: the peace of Quillín (1639-1643)
• Chapter XI. Government of the Marquis of Baldes; the Dutch in Valdivia; The Spanish occupy this port (1643-1646)
• Chapter XII. Government of Don Martín de Mujica (1646-1648). The May 13 earthquake
• Chapter XIII. Government of Don Martín de Mujica. His death. Interim of Don Alonso de Figueroa. Beginning of the government of Acuña y Cabrera (1648-1653)
• Chapter XIV. Government of Acuña and Cabrera. General uprising of the Indians. Deposition of the Governor (1654–1656)