Juan González de Mendoza

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Juan Pedro González de Mendoza (* 1545 in Toledo ; † February 14, 1618 ) was an Augustinian hermit , Roman Catholic bishop and author of the first western history of China .

Life

González de Mendoza left the army after only a few years to join the Augustinian order.

In 1580 he was sent to China by Philip II , where he spent three years gathering information on the country's politics , trade and customs . In 1586 he published the Historia de las cosas más notables, ritos y costumbres del gran reyno de la China , a report of observations in China, in which Chinese characters were used to please the Western reader . The first English translation by R. Parke appeared in 1588, it was reprinted in two volumes by the Hakluyt Society and edited by George Thomas Staunton in London 1853-54. A partial German translation, the New Description of the Kingdom of China , appeared in Frankfurt am Main in 1589. Margareta Grießler got a modern German edition.

He spent two years in Mexico before returning to Spain .

On May 23, 1593 he was appointed Bishop of Lipari in Italy . The episcopal ordination donated him the Bishop of Nola , Filippo Cardinal Spinola (1535–1593), on June 7th of the same year. On May 24, 1599 he renounced the diocese of Lipari.

On May 7, 1607 he was appointed Bishop of Chiapas in Mexico and on November 17, 1608, Bishop of Popayán in Colombia , where he died as a Spanish honorary prelate .

Translations

  • The history of the most remarkable things and manners in the Chinese kingdom of Juan Gonzales de Mendoza. Contribution to the cultural history of Ming China . Edited by M. Griessler. Thorbecke, Sigmaringen 1992, ISBN 3-7995-7112-4 .

Name variants

Juan González de Mendoza, Juan González de Mendoza, Joan González de Mendoça, Juan Gonçales de Mendoce, Juan Gonzales de Mendoza, Juan Gonçalez de Mendoça, Jan Gonzales van Mendoza, Juan Gonçales de Mendoce, Giovanni Gonzalez di Mendozza, Giovanni Gonzalez di Mendozza, Iuan Gonçales de Mendoce, Johannes Gonzalez de Mendosa, Juan Gonzalez di Mendoza, Joan Gonzalez de Mendoça, Joannis Consalui Mendoza, Juan Gonzalez de Mendoza

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personal data
SURNAME González de Mendoza, Juan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES González de Mendoza, Juan Pedro (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Augustinian hermit, Roman Catholic bishop and author of the first western history of China
DATE OF BIRTH 1545
PLACE OF BIRTH Toledo
DATE OF DEATH February 14, 1618