2003/02/01 by Charles F. Walker · 1 voice · 3 citations
Arts and Humanities · #Early Modern Women Writers #Latin American history and culture #Reformation and Early Modern Christianity
paper · doi:10.1215/00182168-83-1-53
openalex publication_date 2003/02/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/04/05
On October 28, 1746, at 10:30 p.m., a massive earthquake struck Lima, the capital of the viceroyalty of Peru, and swamped the nearby port of Callao, shattering areas up and down the coast. One account claimed that if “the most astute man attempted to create the perfect calamity, he could not have imagined the horrors inflicted on Lima and Callao.”1 The earthquake damaged almost all of Lima’s houses, and shook to their foundations most of the city’s 74 churches and 14 monasteries as well as the public buildings that adorned the city’s central square, the Plaza de Armas. Estimates of the number of dead varied from 1,200 to 6,000, out of a population of 55,000. Callao fared even worse, as a tsunami killed almost all of its 10,000 inhabitants and leveled most of the buildings. In an anonymous report prepared for the viceroy, the writer observed, “of all [earthquakes] which have happened since their first Conquest, so far at least as hath come to our knowledge, we may with Truth affirm that none ever broke out with such astonishing violence, or hath been attended with so vast a Destruction as that which happened lately in this Capital.”2 In his long prologue, the English translator of this official account called the catastrophe “one of the most dreadful, perhaps, that ever befel this Earth since the general Deluge.”3The Marquis de Obando despairingly noticed that rumbles of the aftershocks drowned out the shouts of help from people buried under debris.4 Viceroy José Antonio Manso de Velasco compared Lima to a battle scene: “[P]ut to the sword and set to fire, its beautiful buildings have been turned into piles of dirt and stones.”5 The cathedral’s two towers toppled over, destroying much of the nave, and an arch with a statue of Philip V on the bridge over the Rimac River tumbled into the water. Bodies, timbers, and treasure swept away by the tidal wave washed up on Lima’s beaches for weeks afterward. Prisoners in the Inquisition dungeon nearly drowned when a ruptured channel poured water into their cells.6 Many people were injured during the earthquake, and in the following months sunstroke, tertian fever, bronchitis, dysentery, and gastrointestinal ailments took their toll. With supply ships sunk by the tidal wave and storage areas ruined, food was in short supply for weeks.7Viceroy Manso de Velasco had to rebuild Lima, Callao, and the port’s military infrastructure. Accounts of the catastrophe and its aftermath agree that his energetic efforts imposed social control, prevented looting, assured food supplies, and provided shelter—in order, ultimately, to reconstruct a safer city. As tribute to his success, in 1756 the Spanish crown granted him the title of Count “Over the Waves” or Superunda. Some regarded him as Lima’s “second founder.” The earthquake and Manso de Velasco’s ensuing reforms changed Lima architecture. Flat roofs, quincha (wattle and daub), and adobe increasingly replaced vaulted ceilings, stone arches, and higher, two-story buildings characteristic of baroque Lima.8 The changes went far beyond replacing fallen structures; the catastrophe gave the Bourbons the opportunity to transform the city. In the words of Richard Morse, the rebuilding of Lima and Callao provided the Bourbon rulers “a clean slate” to impose their vision of orderly urban society.9In contrast to Europe, where the tangled street pattern of medieval cities made efforts to create straight, uniform streets particularly difficult, the eighteenth-century Bourbons could build on the grid or checkerboard street layout established in Lima and the rest of Spanish America at its sixteenth-century foundation. This pattern fit Enlightenment notions of urban order, above all the call for precisely designed streets that facilitated supervision and the circulation of people, goods, and air.10 William Betagh, an Irish marine commander who was in Lima in 1719, noted that the city’s streets were so straight that one might cross the entire city “without turning a corner.”11 While planners sought to retain the block-by-block symmetry in the aftermath of the earthquake, they were more intent on creating the institutions and infrastructure for more orderly and controllable cities. Throughout Spanish America in the latter half of the eighteenth century, reformers did not radically alter the layout of cities, but instead modified political structures, tightened legislation, and the of urban areas and the that a might such and they urban in the half of the eighteenth Lima was into and changes to the of urban and notions of urban but they the Bourbon to the a that the of and up the cities and and of urban changed the to the urban a of the of was to impose his and the of urban a of that or even prevented The of eighteenth-century Lima that to the and and into On one of the the social was so that the city and the of The aftermath of the earthquake the of and the of the and even public The in and the Bourbon in Spanish America into account the and and of the The of the and the earthquake into the streets and where were and the the their and the and his of urban The could not his in to in While the the and the of Lima’s were or they over their in and the of the The attempted to the rebuilding to its of the and from The from a to an was and Viceroy Manso de Velasco with the and of the on and almost the of their in the and social above the but from the Bourbon The battle the reforms the of notions of urban and in the and the and the and the in in the In the the over the Bourbon in Peru, which most from the of to the in This that the Lima and the well the of the in the the of and notions of Lima and who the of and the of as a social and In the of the earthquake and its aftermath of on that the first half of the eighteenth the of the more a of the crown and the that not social and the of and the in Lima was the capital of the viceroyalty and the and political of Spanish of the the city and the port of Callao, the viceroy, the the and institutions their in the of the to in the the Plaza de much of the population in to the the and of the Plaza de which as the central as well as the of the and by the century, of Lima’s had a of the the Plaza de or the The of the and in the where was for more a the In the in of social and with the rebuilding in two or areas their in this almost the entire of the Rimac River and of In of the the de the and to his of the In of the had called or their This was the of in of his de at the of the have an of a of the as well as the more and more and of the Lima a of more half of a for the was by Lima had in the eighteenth a of the by Lima’s on had that and Many from in the eighteenth century, who into Lima and that from to Lima and into the The of and their into the to bridge over the which not so as The of not facilitated their and political but provided the crown with of in the Lima for almost a to the of the were not with the had their and from in the century, Viceroy de for had in Lima with two two a two and and as Viceroy Manso de Velasco with a who a in the rebuilding of on José de José de de and Antonio de the of the Bourbon and in general was the to political away from and the the eighteenth the increasingly a and the took almost in or from the Lima was a city. the inhabitants into and in a population of the population into that in the made up of the city’s and and The population was on a in the Plaza de or public areas and roofs, if not in with the and street of Lima, as well as the of the city and its a the political and the social of the population of Spanish such as the two with for the of Viceroy de in and the the of the city’s of the the earthquake, in an to the up for an anonymous account of Lima, in the claimed that and made up more half of the city’s population and that that in the where people as as The earthquake Lima’s people to social of the of the did not Lima with stone or for In the for to the of the Lima by the stone from and and and from and on the of such as or and made from and or In the of had roofs, a for the in the of and the of and by the with or the of provided the for and and the of Lima’s on and and to their from more in were of the and The and in the and eighteenth with were of baroque in the the and of the of Lima’s with their but by the eighteenth were In a and of Peru, out the eighteenth-century Lima and its and even on the and and and gave to the city’s and the of the in the eighteenth in the and social the from the by “the city of to Lima, “the city of or and The the increasingly public and of and and the of social in eighteenth-century the with the and to the of the first and the from on the far of the In the more houses, the and were in the a out with street to and who in had two were in the first into the or were in the and as of and during earthquake damaged all of Lima’s and or at least a number of social the of the fared to the of their and their and In the aftermath of the earthquake, of Lima’s in and on that they could and for food and water. In his the in a in the Plaza de The catastrophe social The of and even social the Lima The to impose Callao in of for and and and from the beaches to the washed up on took of the and in Lima to the of the The the of the people, that of and set up in Lima and Callao, to the city and the that the and and that In he in to as well as to impose and in to looting, that food in the Plaza de The Marquis de Obando that “the people, and our he did not to since the of the most were and their of in and following the earthquake was José a who of the earthquake, that and all in in which the in made a of and to more to and such as account to the to and the for their The de Obando claimed that in in to the had of people to to the to the by an tidal the in rebuilding the city the of from or damaged the the Plaza de had fared they to who at The report claimed that the and had all of the that had the earthquake, of from and from almost all of the city’s and and in with the had could to in this One that the earthquake had most of his had all the that they could their on and in the following weeks that the by of the earthquake made that the by Viceroy Manso de Velasco prevented the of social The of the city of and the to and the In the and the earthquake, the the in the central of in in a not from Lima their the over a the and of the Viceroy Manso de Velasco to social control, out the of social the as on the to the of an but was not far from the to of food and water and to social control, Viceroy Manso de Velasco and city turned to the of to rebuild the of Lima and the of the in that the of the of an earthquake, the of and The this of its that rebuilding at least an a at least the of the city and the of a to As in turned down a to the damaged city of the city a with the or that the did not have the and could not even to a the to the the that the and buildings of the city a for and that such a to the of and the of This of and from a Lima one of the of the city’s they out that the the of and and this the but the of and the an to rebuild the city in such a as to from The and the rebuilding of the of since with de and and by the Spanish and Antonio de the to the at the as or at its as and his While in the of the was by and In took the in at in Lima, where he In his efforts to rebuild Lima, to a of a that him the of of the city’s Many him as an to impose on a a that the of the Spanish had to the Enlightenment and the Bourbon his report on 1746, two weeks the the of replacing stone with and and and public to as in of called for streets at least or a a and was to The on for and as they The and sought to in the streets even if buildings the and he for the of Lima’s city in that the city might the of buildings and that rebuilding the latter was reforms were to the in the in in and in in where urban reformers sought to streets and in to looting, and The in as opportunity and to the of straight in contrast to the medieval pattern of The in Lima of a urban reformers the streets not as a to and to the but as a to the and of urban In urban reforms might have a Enlightenment such as and were by in and its streets as of the to the of the of the of the circulation of In Peru, over social control, particularly of and the a his the of and into In a Viceroy Manso de Velasco the he in the aftermath of the earthquake as a of in and Lima their over their and to their the at Lima’s that the of was the of the following the In this the viceroy, and of the the changes in in the of for to or for the to In to and his called for that not have to in an of social order, buildings were de which the and of the over by the viceroy, on to which had been by the with a The of quincha of the had that if the were could In the with or Some to the of into Lima’s or people on over were not The of the a that for a efforts to the of to On this the of Lima the Bourbon at its efforts at urban called for all to and for streets to at least In he called for a of or if streets were sought to that even if the toppled into the a in the While he to a of he that if and monasteries they could their and have we the Bourbon reformers at to the and of the on the for to to the of of Lima’s buildings. his and of the Lima as While the that his noted that come at even the of two-story structures, that they “the who in and The de the to and towers and but the the city. as of the efforts to their over the and The that the eighteenth one the of as a of the and of the of One to a of political that the of a a city the of the of that one a and and so in de and and the streets to a that all “second and of that to in of The to this on the and rebuilding the of and for that in quincha the and that even if well were to Viceroy Manso de Velasco for a report on since the October and established official at the or above in areas were to to come to in of that had for On and and de the of de that their were in and that the and of their into the The turned down their but the de granted to their the of of of to the de in the to the on on following by the in and people the but to his efforts as a of were the de the de and and of Lima’s on at that of the or were made of quincha and not but the entire down the the provided and a or of the of two-story he the to the medieval claimed that the could so if the was for of or to build a if the were of or if the had been on public and his the to out his he that for buildings down or not did not but he sought to the reforms for the This a battle of the over the of the Bourbon which the attempted to the of the the that they had a social and even an to build and that their the to the of in the cities, and on this in the out the of to build the the city. In a city so the of not people of a over their but storage and The their to two-story with out the social of the he In he that of the “the most and had been by the and all of the people this to down that the not into but “the people who that the the that in In the of the population might the their from the from the of the the and their to the and their the was at this a of and people, above the city and the who were of the notions of and in by that had not the of and not city in that people and that the of the city’s population for the of The out that even people had not to in the of their to the of the that a The anonymous of the to the of the that Lima’s could not the and that the not took and but were not the looting, and in Lima this the writer the of and to the and so that had in the The that to On Viceroy Manso de Velasco the of Viceroy Manso de and the of the were not social While the which they they did not to social or the to in of urban to streets and buildings in political to the of Lima’s In a on rebuilding the and the the for and the or of an city such as Lima, Viceroy Manso de Velasco the This their of the In the of the reforms and of the on the of even with and on the had the to build structures, The such as quincha had people in and over The the de to that was the by that had that the of and their of The as an of and had the as a he that was not if at the of and that made for and not for the a and de with over the of the the made in the up into of and and they on the of the had the to and they with and their in of the of the and the of and they could not to up half of their that did not the city but made buildings and that they had the to above the city. This social and that the on could not come at a more a with and and a city with to its and the of and and the of the that even if the were was to build the of and public institutions such as the and the Inquisition had been into and people out in and on and the and had noted that if they were to rebuild houses, they by by they had to where their were or had provided they could not into the first that the of and made two-story into a the of the have the of was not a of into the first they as were for and or as In of and they were not for their of they have had to with or to they the of from of the first and in in the of the earthquake, had on of the to to rebuild or into their first the that they to or rebuild their they the horrors of to out of that the were out that people had been killed by the of the of de to an of the Enlightenment in his and when their on the of and in the the the of and an in to that with this had up well in the noted that the or of the Plaza where the two-story were was the of rebuilding more which had houses, were and The the that the had and that the were not of structures, and with and the of to the two-story and their for the and they far from the that the had the social and even to above the city’s in that the they were not of the but “the in the the that Lima the capital of the into a of noted that the with as streets the circulation of they their to above the and one they that all two but they did so in did not the of the of the city’s were to the of buildings. the and for more or they the of and its of and of social made their a of their The two-story houses, as well as the and their from of the and The had that even that over up by an adobe In the the of the and of the were the The the to their with and did not to this but instead the as a social one that from the on the of their to have and the social of for an city such as of the city and the of its buildings the that In they the that a city’s or on the of its buildings. Richard this and its to in a a square, a an even the city’s one in with an of the that with the of urban and that rebuilding their and not the but the city of Lima as a which as a capital architecture. were not their and of the city’s but who sought to Lima’s and made by the they the of as a that had and and and The at one the that they were a that the and and to above a did not this instead their but social and the or that buildings to a that the and his were much into their did not that the and the have a in the city. In this the their to the of the Bourbon did this in the a of the by the into the and political into a and in this of the of the we one of the first of and the over the of the Manso de Velasco and the of the months of and from Lima’s and of had two-story with the The the made by the that the had the earthquake, with a short from the Plaza In Manso de Velasco a to which could that all of made of adobe had to of and that could In the called for and to down or at least in but the In his the de his by the of on which to build in the city and the that adobe with in the in a he with the the The had in their in the of battle was not the or even the Viceroy Manso de Velasco’s The was by who claimed that the or even of their made for to on their and to the their The in that its had and in to rebuild and and to in Manso de Velasco a the in half and by more and a This and the battle and in the for more a who in the in and their The on the that the was much In rebuilding Lima, Viceroy de in the of a battle the and a by the that all of the had in the and in the over the rebuilding of Lima not the and the and but over into as As was the with the battle and the viceroy, the was one of an With the of the Bourbon in the half of the eighteenth century, the and earthquake and its aftermath Lima’s and political The catastrophe and urban reformers more in the following and buildings were replaced by In houses, the of and of quincha and adobe in their efforts to create a capital that might their increasingly in their the Bourbons on the of quincha and from and if or churches and the of increasingly and Viceroy in their with the and their in buildings were more did and but the of changed as In the more of the eighteenth century, on buildings. by the a a a a and a In and took as or into the rebuilding of Lima to that of cities in the and eighteenth more The changes by in in the and in in in the of public for and and buildings. In the of Lima, which more in the of and city efforts on creating buildings with more in to their for a to all of the streets in of its and As in Lima, a was the of the of most of the city was as had been the calamity, the layout of the areas most damaged was radically we the of as a the and as an on an with and The of in was The to urban as well as the the by the Bourbons in to impose their vision of In his Manso de Velasco his efforts with the Lima and the to the on more were as the sought to in the of the eighteenth The earthquake to and the that the viceroyalty In the latter of the eighteenth century, the and the Bourbon rulers for an to Lima’s and public and and This by the in of and the of Lima the of the city and The of the earthquake and its aftermath the to a long in and in the of the the of a more the and the This the two to and even during and the As the of Lima the and “the and the in the of eighteenth-century The and the that almost a in the and the but not in all Lima’s the most in Spanish at the particularly which as the with the of of in this a of their of and and their to above the inhabitants of the over rebuilding Lima political in the eighteenth were not to the more of and but at instead on As and Manso de Velasco in Lima the efforts to urban While the earthquake to Manso de Velasco “a clean slate” on which to impose his vision of Lima, he in his Lima’s and social on the even the to José and the anonymous for their of the in the The Lima, and 1746, and in in the of