Los orígenes segovianos del autor de «Armas Antárticas». El entorno familiar de Juan de Miramontes Zuazola

Abstract

Juan de Miramontes Zuazola is widely known as the author of Armas Antárticas, an epic poem written in colonial Perú at the beginning of the 17th century. Many specialists in colonial era literature have devoted their Works to his American biography and his poetic writings, but little was known about his life before arriving in America.              This article unearths two important documents for Miramontes’ biography: the baptism certificate, and his  will. The baptism certificate allows to specify the birth date hitherto proposed. The will details his Segovian origins and includes the names of his parents and other relatives. It also points out some aspects of the patrimony that he had inherited in Spain, such as the properties in the Segovian village of Bernardos.   The study also presents abundant information about the family origins of Juan de Miramontes, in the context of the dynamic and flourishing 16th century Segovia. The testament additionally offers insights on a colonial society where features of the first globalization can be clearly  identified: on the one hand, the Atlantic traffic reflected in the paths of silver and the slave trade. On the other, the transpacific trade, via the Manila Galleon, which nurtures the route for silver from Acapulco (Mexico) to Asia, providing access to various goods such as silks from China.