The Roman Catholic Church—especially the ascetic, single-minded…
1600 CE to 1611 CE
Three Jesuits—an Irishman, a Catalan, and a Portuguese—arrive in 1588 from Brazil.
They promptly move from Asunción to proselytize among the natives along the upper Rio Parana.
The Guaraní prove to be good pupils of the Jesuits, because they already believe in an impersonal, supreme being.
Philip III (1598-1621) proclaims in 1610 that only the "sword of the word" should be used to subdue the Paraguayan natives, thus making them happy subjects.
The church grants extensive powers to Jesuit Father Diego de Torres to implement a new plan, with royal blessings, that foresees an end to the encomienda system.
This plan angers the settlers, whose lifestyle depends on a continuing supply of native labor and concubines.
The settlers' resistance helps convince the Jesuits to move their base of operations farther afield to the province of Guayrá in the distant northeast.
After unsuccessful attempts to "civilize" the recalcitrant Guaycuru, the Jesuits eventually put all their efforts into working with the Guaraní.
Organizing the Guaraní in reducciones (reductions or townships), the hard-working fathers begin a system that will last more than a century.
Locations
People
Groups
Tupi people (Amerind tribe)
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Germans
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Guaraní (Amerind tribe)
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Portuguese people
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French people (Latins)
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Christians, Roman Catholic
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English people
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Italians (Latins)
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Querandí
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Spain, Habsburg Kingdom of
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Spaniards (Latins)
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Neo-Inca State
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Jesuits, or Order of the Society of Jesus
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Río de la Plata, Governorate of the
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Charcas, Real Audiencia of (Upper Peru)
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Spain, Habsburg Kingdom of
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