Manuel de Alday's literature in two relations of merits (1736 y 1753)

Abstract

In 1734 the position of canónigo doctoral, of the Santiago de Chile Cathedral, became vacant. Juan de Sarricolea, bishop at the time, established edicts in order to hold competitive examinations, as it was required in those cases. For many reasons, the examinations were delayed until 1736, year in which the new bishop, Juan Bravo del Rivero, decided to hold examinations again. Manual de Alday y Aspée (1712- 1788), born in Concepción, was in Lima studying and working as a lawyer when he found out about the vacancy of the position and decided to apply, for which he had to take the corresponding exam in Santiago. In this context, Manuel de Alday y Aspée writes the document I work with in this presentation, that has been cataloged by José Ignacio Víctor Eyzaguirre as a “draft of a literary piece” and by Javier González Echeñique as a “draft of a merit statement”. From my perspective, the document constitutes a diferent type of discourse, related to relations of merits and diferent from them as well. From its comparison with traditional relations of merits, similarities and diferences are established and the academic career of this
important colonial scholar is outlined.