The procurator and the secretary. The duel of quills between friar Juan Meléndez and don Juan Vélez de León at the Papal Court (1681-1684); [O procurador e o secretário. O duelo de penas entre fray Juan Meléndez e don Juan Vélez de León na corte papal (1680-1684)]

Peña C.G. · Trashumante (2022) · DOI: 10.17533/udea.trahs.n19a03

Resumen

In Rome, between 1682 and 1683, the Peruvian Dominican Procurator and the Secretary of the Spanish Embassy exchanged bitter satires to ridicule each other. Beyond wit and irony, the poems revealed more than just enmity. Tension and conflict were exposed among members of different cohorts at the Papal Court: the Vatican Curia, corruption and clientelism at the Spanish Embassy, and opposing visions of Spanish-American religious identity for European and Peruvian scholars. Ultimately, the bitter exchange sheds light on Spanish American religious scholars' cultural and political agendas at the center of the Catholic Republic of Letters.

Instituciones: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú