Blas Valera - Death

Death

After being exiled from Peru, Valera arrived in Cádiz in 1596. Valera continued a peaceful life until later on that year pirate Robert Devereux invaded Cadiz beating local priests. Valera at the age of 53 was mortally wounded and would die on April 2, 1597. However, some argue Valera's death in Cadiz was faked and he came back to Peru to complete other works. Anello Oliva wrote about Valera's faked death in the Historia et Rudimenta. Apparently, Valera was given a choice to leave the Jesuits or fake his own death. Not wanting to leave the Jesuit society, Valera faked his own death in Cadiz 1596, after Devereux roamed the city beating priests. Valera left Cadiz and headed back to Peru in June 1598, where he resided with a group of natives in Cuzco. It is believed Valera wrote the Nueva coronica y buen gobierno at the age of sixty-six. Valera's work was attributed to Guaman Poma, since Valera was supposedly dead. If Valera secretly wrote the Nueva about Andean life, this will change modern understanding of the Incas and early colonial life in Peru. Anello Oliva argues that Valera contributed to writings in the Naples Documents, but some believe that Anello Oliva used Valera's name as a means to respect the dead Valera and publish anti-Spanish beliefs that were forbidden at the time. But, there is not sufficient evidence to prove or falsify Valera's faked death.