El encomio del portugués Bartolomé Lorenzo en el texto de José de Acosta

Abstract

This article explores the Peregrinación de Bartolomé Lorenzo (1586) written in Peru by José de Acosta, in which he recurs to different genres to tell the story of the Portuguese Lorenzo, who travels from Portugal to Peru. The aesthetic features of this text have been thoroughly analyzed, but little attention has been given to the context in which it was produced. The Peregrinación includes a series of characters, landscapes and historical situations; however, it lacks a reflection on the Portuguese as a social group. In late sixteenth-century Peru, close connections were established between the Portuguese, the New Christians or conversos and the practice of cryptojudaism, elements that turned the Portuguese a problematic identity, considering the role of the Spanish Inquisition.