MARTÍNEZ COMPAÑÓN Y BUJANDA, BALTASAR JAIME

Bishop of Trujillo, Peru, and archbishop of Bogotá, Colombia; b. Cabredo, Navarre, Spain, Jan. 10, 1737; d. Bogotá, Aug. 17, 1797. He was ordained in 1761. In 1767 he went to Peru after being appointed canon of the cathedral of Lima. He was rector of the seminary and secretary of the provincial council of Lima of 1772. He was consecrated bishop of Trujillo in Lima on March 25, 1779. Taking over his see on May 13 of that same year, he governed it for ten years with such great talent and zeal that he became one of the outstanding bishops of Latin America. He spent five years, almost uninterruptedly, inspecting his vast diocese with excellent results, not only from the religious standpoint, but scientifically and culturally as well. Well ahead of his time, he raised the two basic problems of modern Peru, universal public education and the means of development, and stated the bases for realistic solutions. He also gave to the parish priests rules for the education of the people in faith and morals, as well as in manners and hygiene. At the same time he improved clerical training, reorganizing the major seminary and erecting three more seminaries, which became centers of enlightened pastoral ideas. He restored and erected numerous elementary schools and founded three centers for vocational and literary training for young indigenous children. He founded some 20 new villages and moved others to better locations. He built bridges and roads, opened sewage systems, promoted agriculture, and concerned himself with the improvement of mining conditions. He also increased the number of missions among indigenous people. He built 27 churches and restored 30 others, including his own cathedral.

A document that demonstrates his pastoral concern, his humanism, and his knowledge is the Historia natural, civil y moral de Trujillo por mapas, planos y estampas con sus memorias para ella, an interesting description of his diocese written between 1780 and 1785. He used material obtained at his request by the parish priests and other persons and also material collected during his pastoral visits. Of his work only the graphic part is known. Nine volumes include approximately 1,400 sketches on a great variety of subjects from folklore to natural sciences. It is of great value to history and ethnography. In 1788 he was transferred to the See of Bogotá. As archbishop there he continued to show his concern for raising public moral and educational standards.

Bibliography: j. m. pÉrez ayala, Baltasar Jaime Martínez Compañón y Bujanda: prelado español de Colombia y el Perú (Bogotá 1955). r. vargas ugarte, Historia de la iglesia en el Perú, v.4 (Lima 1961).

[e. t. bartra]