Historical Biographies - A stan klos Company
XIMENES, Francisco
(hee-may'-nes), Spanish clergyman, born in Ecija, Andalusia, about 1600 ; died
in Guatemala about 1680. He became vicar of the parish of Santo Tomas Chuila, or
Chichicastenango, where he discovered a valuable manuscript in the Quiche
dialect about the early history of Guatemala, which is best known under the name
of Popol-Vuh. He translated it into Spanish, and it has since been used by many
historians.
Ximenes was afterward provincial of the Dominican order for
the province of San Vicente de Chiapa and Guatemala, which post he retained till
his death. He was very proficient in Quiche, Zutuhil, and Cakchiquel, and wrote
sermons and several religious works in these languages, his manuscripts being
preserved in the library of the Dominican convent in the city of Guatemala, and
a manuscript copy, made and signed by Father Antonio Garcia, of Ximenes's "Vocabulario
de la Lengua Cakchiquel" was recently sold in Paris for 200 francs.
His works include also the manuscripts
"Historia de la provincia de San Vicente de Chiapa" (4 vols.) and "De las cosas
maravillosas de esta América." His translation of the Popol-Vuh, under
the title of "Empiezan las Historias del Origen de los Indios de esta Provincia
de Guatemala, traducidas de la lengua Quiche" was also kept in the convent, and
a copy was published under the title of "Historia del Origen de los Indios en la
provincia de Guatemala" (Vienna, 1857). It was until recently considered the
only original document on the early history of Guatemala, and was mentioned as
such by Ferdinand Denis, Henry Ternaux-Compans, and Brasseur de Bourbourg, but
the latter discovered in 1860 a Quiche copy of the Popol-Vuh, and published the
text with a French translation (Paris, 1861).
Edited Appletons Encyclopedia by John
Looby, Copyright © 2001 VirtualologyTM
XIMENES, Francisco (hee-may'-nes), Spanish clergyman, born in Ecija, Andalusia, about 1600 ; died in Guatemala about 1680. He became vicar of the parish of Santo Tomas Chuila, or Chichicastenango, where he discovered a valuable manuscript in the Quiche dialect about the early history of Guatemala, which is best known under the name of Popol-Vuh. He translated it into Spanish, and it has since been used by many historians. Ximenes was afterward provincial of the Dominican order for the province of San Vicente de Chiapa and Guatemala, which post he retained till his death. He was very proficient in Quiche, Zutuhil, and Cakchiquel, and wrote sermons and several religious works in these languages, his manuscripts being preserved in the library of the Dominican convent in the city of Guatemala, and a manuscript copy, made and signed by Father Antonio Garcia, of Ximenes's "Vocabulario de la Lengua Cakchiquel" was recently sold in Paris for 200 francs. His works include also the manuscripts "Historia de la provincia de San Vicente de Chiapa" (4 vols.) and "De las cosas maravillosas de esta Amdrica." His translation of the Popol-Vuh, under the title of "Empiezan las Historias del Origen de los Indios de esta Provincia de Guatemala, traducidas de la lengua Quiche" was also kept in the convent, and a copy was published under the title of "Historia del Origen de los Indios en la provincia de Guatemala" (Vienna, 1857). It was until recently considered the only original document on the early history of Guatemala, and was mentioned as such by Ferdinand Denis, Henry Ternaux-Compans, and Brasseur de Bourbourg, but the latter discovered in 1860 a Quiche copy of the Popol-Vuh, and published the text with a French translation (Paris, 1861).
