Domingo de Santo Tomás facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Most Reverend Domingo de Santo Tomás |
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| Bishop of La Plata o Charcas | |
Fray Domingo de Santo Tomás (''Museo de Arte de San Marcos collection)
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| Church | Catholic Church |
| Diocese | Diocese of La Plata o Charcas |
| In Office | 1562–1570 |
| Predecessor | Fernando González de la Cuesta |
| Successor | Fernando Santillana Figueroa |
| Orders | |
| Consecration | 26 Dec 1562 by Jerónimo de Loaysa |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1499 Seville, Spain |
| Died | December 1570 (age 71) La Plata (Sucre) |
Fray Domingo de Santo Tomás (1499 – 28 February 1570) was a Spanish Dominican friar. He was a missionary, a bishop, and a linguist. He lived in the Viceroyalty of Peru, which was a Spanish colony. He is famous for creating the first grammar book for the Quechua language. He also wrote a dictionary for Quechua. Both books were published in 1560.
Contents
Early Life and Journey to Peru
Domingo de Santo Tomás was born in Seville, Spain in 1499. He went to church schools when he was young. Later, he joined the Dominican Order, a group of Catholic priests.
After becoming a priest, he worked in Spain for many years. In 1540, he was sent as a missionary to the Viceroyalty of Peru. This was soon after Spain had conquered the Inca Empire in 1533. He helped start a monastery and the city of Yungay on August 4, 1540. His goal was to teach the Inca people about Christianity.
Learning Quechua and Missionary Work
To help the Spanish bring native people together, Domingo learned the Quechua language. He studied the dialect of Quechua spoken near Lima, on the Peruvian coast. This was different from the Quechua spoken in Cuzco. Another linguist, Diego González Holguín, later wrote about these differences.
In 1545, Domingo became the head of the Convento del Santísimo Rosario in Lima. In 1549, he worked with Fray Jeronimo de Loayza and Fray Tomás de San Martín to create the "Tasa" of Lima. This was a system for organizing and managing the native communities.
In 1560, he published his important book, Grammatica o arte de la lengua general de los Indios de los Reynos del Peru. This was the first grammar book for the Quechua language. It was published in Valladolid, Spain. In the same year, he also published his Lexicon, o Vocabulario de la lengua general del Peru, which was a dictionary for Quechua.
On July 6, 1562, Pope Pius IV chose him to be the Bishop of La Plata o Charcas. He became a bishop on December 26, 1562. Jerónimo de Loaysa, who was the Archbishop of Lima, performed the ceremony. Domingo de Santo Tomás served as bishop until he died in December 1570. He passed away in La Plata (Sucre), which is now in Bolivia.
His Published Works
Domingo de Santo Tomás wrote important books about the Quechua language. These books helped people learn and understand the language of the native people in Peru.
- Grammatica o arte de la lengua general de los Indios de los Reynos del Peru (Valladolid, 1560). This was the first grammar book for Quechua.
- Lexicon, o Vocabulario de la lengua general del Peru (Valladolid, 1560). This was a dictionary for Quechua.
- Plática para todos los Indios (1560).
See also
In Spanish: Domingo de Santo Tomás para niños
