The historical examples in the Discursos Morales, Políticos y Históricos of the Antonio de Herrera (17th century)

Abstract

Between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, in Spanish literate circles a series of texts aimed at reflecting on the guide axes of historical making appears. One of these texts, the Discursos Morales, Políticos e Históricos composed by the official chronicler of Indias Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas, in 1632, brings in his initial speech a definition of the history and benefits that could be drawn from this discipline. Elaborated in a context in which appear the treaties and the history manuals, Herrera's work echoes a general concern to disseminate the precepts necessary for the composition of history and to guide how the lessons of the past could inspire rulers and their peers to conduct themselves correctly in the present. With emphasis on these Discursos, this research aims to analyze the role that Antonio de Herrera attributes to the examples presented in his text to substantiate its assertions on the history of the their time. More precisely, this research seeks to examine the small histories employed by the author to instruct on the moral commitment of history and the way it would have to be written. (AU)