F rom P oor I ndian L ázaro to D on F elipe G uaman P oma de A yala

This article parts from the premise that the famous Andean chronicler don Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala, long understood as a native lord, was the indigenous commoner Lázaro. This insight, rarely acknowledged by scholars, opens new horizons. It expands our understanding of the transformations gripping Andes society at the end of the sixteenth century, which was experiencing a steady but unmistakable ‘archivalization’ in which social status became increasingly tied to documentary collections. Lázaro’s quest to fashion himself as a lord ran headfirst into this archival record, revealing new challenges commoners faced in navigating post-conquest society. Centering Lázaro as the author of the opus the Primera nueva corónica y buen gobierno (1615) also reveals important aspects about its structure, content, and aims. We argue that Guaman Poma’s work was primarily a critique of this emerging archive; he cast himself as a Christ-like ecclesiastical investigator. He listened to the poor, Christ-like, yielding him secret insights into Peru’s woes. But he was also like Christ in that he possessed an ancient Davidic lineage: He was a commoner-king. We conclude by rethinking Lázaro’s life and work through the lens of other commoner-iconoclasts of microhistorical fame: Martin Guerre and Mennochio

Commoner · Ethnography · Indigenous · Manifesto · Premise · Reflexive pronoun · Latin American history and culture · Politics and Society in Latin America · Sephardic Jews and Inquisition Studies