Christiano Davegga
Christiano Davegga | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Fray Christiano Davegga, 1880 | |
| Born | Christiano Antonio Davegga 2 April 1597 Santa Baia, Iberic Empire |
| Died | 14 May 1685 (aged 88) |
| Occupation | Clergyman and writer |
Christianno Davegga (1597-1685) was a Stillian friar, active as missionary in colonial Pecario. Administrator, engineer, architect and ethnographer, he is most famous for his monumental work commonly known as Crónicas del Nuevo Mundo or el viaje de Diego de Montega (Chronicles of the New Wurld), a survey of the history and culture of the indigenous peoples of Pecario together with an account of their conversion to Tacolism.
Arriving as one of the first Iberic settlers in Mesothalassa, Davegga initially participated in, but eventually felt compelled to oppose, the abuses committed by Iberic colonists against the indigenous peoples of Pecario. He traveled in Pecario and Manamana, acting as a missionary and participating in debates among colonial churchmen about how best to bring the natives to the Tacolic faith.
Christianno Davegga spent most of his life actively fighting slavery and the colonial abuse of indigenous peoples, especially by trying to convince the Pecarian court to adopt a more humane policy of colonization. Unlike some other priests who sought to destroy the indigenous peoples' native books and writings, he strictly opposed this action. Although he did not completely succeed in changing Pecarian views on colonization, his efforts did result in improvement of the legal status of the natives, and in an increased colonial focus on the ethics of colonialism.
