Andrés Cavo

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Andrés Cavo (1739, Guadalajara – 1803, Rome) was a Jesuit and historian of New Spain.

Andrés Cavo was born in New Spain in 1739. He entered the Society of Jesus and became a priest in 1760. He was involved in the missions to the Indians in Nayar in 1767 when the order for the expulsion of the Jesuits was enforced. He sailed for Italy, where he spent the rest of his life, never being able to return to New Spain.

At his death in 1803 he left a manuscript of his work Historia civil y política de México (Civil and Political History of Mexico), in Latin and Spanish. Carlos María de Bustamante found the manuscript in the library of the bishop of Tanagra. Bustamante published it with a large appendix, under the title Los tres siglos de México bajo el gobierno español hasta la entrada del Ejécito Trigarante (Three Centuries of Mexico Under the Spanish Government). The first edition was published in Mexico City in four volumes in 1836-1838.

Cavo's work begins in 1521 and ends in 1766, with the end of the government of Viceroy Joaquín de Montserrat, marqués de Cruillas. Thus it does not cover the expulsion of the Jesuits, which happened the following year. Bustamante's Suplemento continues the work up to 1821 and adds a number of important documents.

Three later editions were published, in 1852 in Mexico City, in 1870 in Jalapa, and by the University of Texas in 1949. This latter edition was carefully edited by Ernesto P. Burrus, S.J. and published under the title Historia de México.

The work is not a history in the usual sense. It is better described as the annals of Mexico City, with particular emphasis on the development of political ideas. The book also contains details of colonial life that are not available in any other source. Cavo shows signs of Mexican (not Spanish colonial) nationality, and for this reason is considered a forerunner of Mexican independence.

[edit] References

(Spanish) "Cavo, Andrés," Enciclopedia de México, v. 3. Mexico City, 1987.
(Spanish) Méndez Plancarte, Gabriel, Humanistas mexicanos del siglo XVIII. 1941.
(Spanish) Rico González, Víctor, Historiadores mexicanos del siglo XVIII. Estudios historiográficos sobre Clavijero, Veytia, Cavo y Alegre. México City: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Historia, 1949.