Andrés Marcos Burriel facts for kids
Andrés Marcos Burriel y López (1719–1762) was a Spanish Jesuit priest and historian. He is well-known for editing a book called Empresas Apostólicas by Miguel Venegas. Burriel published it in 1757 under Venegas's name, calling it Noticia de la California.
Biography
Andrés Marcos Burriel was born in Buenache de Alarcón, Spain, on November 19, 1719. His parents were Miguel Burriel and Ana López de Gonzalo. He studied at the Colegio Imperial de Madrid. In 1731, he began his training to become a Jesuit priest.
He became a priest in 1743. Before that, he studied subjects like public speaking, philosophy, and theology. After becoming a priest, he worked as a grammar school teacher in Toledo.
In 1744, Burriel became very sick with tuberculosis. He had to go back to his hometown, Buenache de Alarcón, to rest and get better. During this time, he promised San Francisco Javier that if he recovered, he would become a missionary in California to help the Native Americans there. The next spring, he got better. He then became a philosophy teacher in Madrid.
Burriel did not go to California right away. He continued his academic work. He became the director of a special school for noble families in Madrid. He also became a professor of philosophy at the Jesuit University of Alcalá.
In 1749, Burriel finally received the call to become a missionary in Baja California. He started getting ready for his trip. But at the last minute, his journey was stopped. A royal order from Francisco de Rávago named him the head of a special group. This group was tasked with looking through church records.
The main job of this group was to carefully check and organize all the old church documents. They also had to remove any documents that talked about the Roman Curia's power over the Spanish Crown. Burriel traveled a lot between 1749 and 1756 for this work. He collected more than 10,000 documents.
However, after Ricardo Wall became prime minister, Burriel was told to return all the documents he had gathered. Burriel tried to delay, but in 1756, all his documents were taken. They were moved to the Biblioteca Nacional de España in Madrid.
In 1754, Pedro Ignacio de Altamirano asked Burriel to rewrite Empresas Apostólicas by Miguel Venegas. This project took Burriel two years. He reorganized and added to the original book. He also made it more scientific and less focused on supernatural events. On April 1, 1757, the book was published in Madrid under Venegas's name. It was later translated into English (1759), French (1767), and other languages.
Burriel and the Spanish Enlightenment
Andrés Marcos Burriel is seen as an important person in the Spanish Enlightenment. This was a time when new ideas about reason and science became popular in Spain. He often wrote letters to the writer Gregorio Mayans y Siscar, who was a close friend.
Besides Noticia de la California, Burriel wrote other books. These include Paleografía española (1756), Memorias para la vida del santo rey don Fernando III (1762), and Informe de la imperial ciudad de Toledo (1758). He also supported Lorenzo Boturini Benaduci, who wrote about the rich history of Native Americans before Spanish rule.
Works by Burriel
- Paleografía española, 1756
- Informe de la imperial ciudad de Toledo al Real y Supremo Consejo de Castillasobre igualación de pesos y medidas, 1758
- Noticia de la California, 1757
- Memorias de San Fernando III, 1762
See also
In Spanish: Andrés Marcos Burriel para niños
