(Garcilaso de la Vega, called El Inca; Cuzco, present-day Peru, Born in Cusco, 1539 – Córdoba, Spain, 1616) Peruvian writer and historian. He was the son of the Spanish conqueror Sebastián Garcilaso de la Vega and the Inca princess Isabel Chimpo Ocllo. Thanks to the privileged position of his father, who belonged to the Francisco Pizarro faction until he passed to the side of Viceroy La Gasca, Inca Garcilaso de la Vega received a careful education in Cuzco alongside the sons of Francisco and Gonzalo Pizarro, mestizo and illegitimate like him.
Biography of Inca Garcilaso de la Vega:
Inca-Garcilaso-de-la-Vega
We begin with a small summary of the biography of Inca Garcilaso de la Vega. Born in Toledo, it is believed that in 1501, he spent a good part of his life outside the Iberian territory for his military and courtly profession.
Belonging to an influential Castilian family, he entered the Court of Castile in 1510 and was a participant and witness of multiple political and courtly intrigues. In fact, he took part in numerous battles under the command of King Carlos I and was appointed Knight of Santiago in 1523 after participating in the Rodas expedition together with Juan Boscán, a good friend who would be an important figure in his life.
Together with Carlos I he moved to Bologna in 1530, when he was crowned emperor. There he would remain until he is exiled to the island of Schut in the Danube, for personal reasons. He would then land in Naples and be transferred to Nice after suffering a death wound in combat in an assault on the fortress of Muy, in French Provence, where he would die in 1536 without having even reached 40 years of age.
Inca Garcilaso de la Vega and his literary works:
If Garcilaso de la Vega is not more famous and recognized today, it is undoubtedly due to the scarcity of his poetic work, since he died very young and with only 9 years of literary career. Furthermore, because it was not his main profession, it was never published either.
As we have said before, Juan Boscán would be a very important figure in Garcilaso’s life and work. With the death of the great poet, it was he who published de la Vega in Barcelona in 1543 under the title of The works of Boscán with some of Garcilaso de la Verga.
Unfortunately, and although it is considered that this work inaugurated in the Hispanic literary Renaissance in the middle of the 16th century, very little has come down to us from Garcilaso de la Vega until today, hence it is not as considered as other contemporary authors. Scholars consider that it is highly probable that prior to this other, de la Vega would have written traditional poetry. In fact, he may have been a well-known and well-known poet in his day.
Garcilaso and his friend Boscán adapted the hendecasyllable to the Castilian meter, achieving a fairly accurate accentuation for their native language. They very wisely used the Neoplatonic tone adopted from the Renaissance in the Italian country.
Summary of Royal Commentaries of the Incas
Here is the Summary of Royal Commentaries of the Incas, the most important literary work of Inca Garcilaso de la Vega:
Book One:
Where the discovery of the New World is discussed, the deduction of the name Peru, the idolatry and way of life before the Inca Kings, their origin, the life of the first Inca and what he did with his vassals, and the significance of the real names. It contains 26 chapters.
Book Two:
In which he realizes the idolatry of the Incas and that they tracked down our true God, that they had the immortality of the soul and the universal resurrection.
He says his sacrifices and ceremonies, and that for his government the vassals registered by decurias; the office of decuriones, the life and conquest of Sinchi Roca, second king, and those of Lloque Yupanqui, third king; and the sciences that the Incas achieved. Contains 28 chapters
Book Three:
Contains the life and events of Mayta Cápac, the fourth King. The first wicker bridge that was made in Peru, the admiration it caused.
The life and conquests of the fifth King, called Cápac Yupanqui. The famous straw and enea bridge that he had built in the Desaguadero.
Book Four:
It treats of the virgins dedicated to the Sun; the law against those who violate them. How the Indians married in common and how they married the crown prince; the ways of inheriting the states; how they raised children.
The life of Inca Roca, sixth King; his conquests, the schools he founded and his sayings. The life of Yáhuar Huácac, seventh King, and of a strange ghost that appeared to the prince, his son.
It contains 24 chapters.
Book Fifth:
It tells how the lands were divided and worked, the tribute they gave to the Inca, the provision of weapons and supplies they had for the war, what they gave to dress the vassals; that they had no beggars; the laws and ordinances in favor of the subjects, with other notable things.
The victories and generosities of Prince Inca Viracocha, eighth King; his father, deprived of the Empire; the flight of a great lord; the forecast of the going of the Spanish. It contains 29 chapters.
Book Six:
It contains the ornament and service of the royal house of the Incas, the royal gifts, the hunts of the Kings, the post office and the counting by knots.
The conquests, laws and government of the Inca Pachacútec, ninth King, the main festival that they held, the conquests of many valleys along the coast, the increase in the schools of Cozco and the sententious sayings of the Inca Pachacútec. It contains 36 chapters.
Book Seventh:
In which news is given of the colonies that the Incas made, of the raising of the children of the lords, of the third and fourth main festivals they had, of the description of the city of Cozco, of the conquests that Inca Yupanqui, Tenth King, made in Peru and in the kingdom of Chili, the rebellion of the Araucos against the Spaniards, the death of Valdivia, the fortress of Cozco and its greatness. It contains 29 chapters.
Book Eighth:
Where the many conquests that Túpac Inca Yupanqui, eleventh King, made, and three marriages that his son Huayna Cápac celebrated; the testament and death of said Túpac Inca: the meek and brave animals, crops and legumes, fruits and birds and four famous rivers, precious stones, gold and silver, and, in short, everything that was in that Empire before the Spanish go to him. Contains 25 chapters.
Book Nine:
It contains the greatness and magnanimities of Huayna Cápac; the conquests he made; the punishments in various rebels; the forgiveness of the Chachapuyas; making his son Atahuallpa King of Quitu; the news he had from the Spanish; the statement of the forecast that they had; the things that the Castilians have brought to Peru, which there was not before them; and the wars of the Reyes brothers, Huáscar and Atahuallpa; the misfortunes of one and the cruelties of the other. Contains 40 chapters.
Inca Garcilaso de la Vega University:
The Inca Garcilaso de la Vega University is an education institution, with 53 years of experience training competitive professionals.
They promote research in their professional careers, in order to provide knowledge and alternative solutions to major national problems and the process of global insertion.
Likewise, the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega University gives the student the means for their integral development, favoring self-esteem, creativity, teamwork, allowing them to achieve personal fulfillment and optimal management of resources.
The Inca Garcilaso de la Vega University is oriented to serve the student, the graduate and the national community. In this house of studies, quality and teamwork are valued, it feels like a responsibility to contribute to the development of the country, delivering competitive professionals, so that they maintain and increase the national culture and scientific and technological development.
The teaching staff of the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega University is made up of a staff of professionals with high academic degrees, oriented towards research and university teaching; likewise, they train researchers, transfer knowledge and show the ways to continue acquiring them; In other words, it independently motivates the search for the latest information in all fields of knowledge as a form of training and updating.
The Inca Garcilaso de la Vega University is governed democratically according to law, by an academic, hierarchical regime, with deep and authentic respect for authority; fundamentally develops the fruitful and creative academic task in freedom and respect for the other, all its members are given the opportunity to develop their creative capacity to the maximum, to achieve academic excellence.
