ANELLO OLIVA, GIOVANNIThis chronicler of Inca history, commonly referred to as Padre Oliva, was
born in Naples, Italy, in 1574, and entered the Jesuit order there in 1593.
Anello Oliva traveled to Peru in 1597, where, upon arrival, he was ordained
into the priesthood and soon began evangelization among Native peoples,
especially south of Cuzco, in Juli, Oruro, La Paz, Potosí, Sucre, Cochabamba,
and Arequipa.
Anello Oliva is known primarily from his work, Historia del reino y
provincias del Perú y vidas de los varones insignes de la Compañía de Jesús
(History of the Kingdom and Provinces of Peru and the Lives of Notable Men
of the Jesuit Order), which he began around 1608 and completed in 1631.
This work was composed of four books, only the first of which, his History of
the Incas, survives. Arriving in Peru relatively late, as compared to other
generally better-known chroniclers, Anello Oliva made use of several of the
earlier chronicles, most notably those of Garcilaso de la Vega, José de
Acosta, and Pedro de Cieza de León. He also drew heavily from information
provided by a native lord (curaca) of Cochabamba, a man named Catari, who
claimed to be descended from Illa, supposed inventor of the quipus, or
knotted-cord records. In addition, Anello Oliva’s text drew on a famous lost
work by Blas Valera, a mestizo (mixed indigenous/Spanish) Jesuit from
Chachapoyas, in northern Peru. Valera’s text is described as a “vocabulary,”
numerous entries of which are incorporated into Anello Oliva’s Historia. It
has also been suggested that Anello Oliva had access to some portions of
Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala’s then-unpublished Nueva corónica y buen
gobierno.
Anello Oliva’s own history of the Incas contains much information not
attested to in any other surviving chronicles, such as the inventor of the
quipus and the name of the Inca lord who discovered the solstices (Capac
Raymi Amauta), as well as the names of several Inca kings (mentioned only
in a work by Fernando de Montesinos), who supposedly ruled Peru before the
short list of a dozen or so kings commonly recognized by most chroniclers
(see King List). Recent studies have argued that much of Anello Oliva’s text
was expunged by order of his Jesuit superiors in Peru, especially his
condemnations of Spanish policy in Peru. Despite the elimination of this
material, the Jesuit General in Rome refused to permit the publication of