In the origins of the Paraquaria project (1549-1556)

Colonial conections in the Río de la Plata

Abstract

The letters of the first Jesuits in America show considerable interest in the Spanish territory of Paraguay. The connections between Spaniards from Asunción, Portuguese from São Vicente and the Jesuits are evidenced in the documentation analysed in this work. Likewise, this study reveals new private networks, such as the Basque network, which permeate the official connections between the overseas territories and the Iberian Peninsula. From the study of the early colonial documentation, we elaborate as a working hypothesis that the “spiritual conquest” of Paraguay led by the Society was born in the mid-sixteenth century through a circulation of information both internal and external to the Order. In this eagerness to reveal new networks of circulation of people and information, we bring to light the need to parallel the circulation of several concepts of the Guaraní language vector chosen both by the conquest society and by the Jesuits.