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"Charged by the Spanish army with the task of drawing maps of the Spanish and Portuguese territories in the Río de la Plata region of what is now Paraguay and B

by edko 10y ago

"Charged by the Spanish army with the task of drawing maps of the Spanish and Portuguese territories in the Río de la Plata region of what is now Paraguay and Brazil" Río de la Plata was never what is now Paraguay or Brazil, but what is now Argentina and Uruguay. I suspect the river in question must be the Paraná, not the Río de la Plata.

benbreen 10y ago
I think the OP is correct; the Portuguese crown had designs on the Rio de la Plata region in the late 17th century. For instance, they founded this city in present day Uruguay, opposite Buenos Aires: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonia_del_Sacramento#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonia_del_Sacramento#History Edit: seems that you might be right in that potentially the post mixes up Paraguay with Uruguay, though. I guess it depends on what we mean by "Rio de la Plata region." In 18th century geography, those kinds of boundaries are a lot hazier.
- annatoledano 10y ago
  I agree that international boundaries were blurrier then - to solidify them was the purpose of Azara's whole mission - and I should have been more specific about the modern locations to which I was referring. I think the Viceroyalty of Rio de La Plata (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viceroyalty_of_the_R%C3%ADo_de_la_Plata https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viceroyalty_of_the_R%C3%ADo_de...) might have made that particular name apply to a broader region then than it does now. As for Azara, he started his stay in South America mostly in Buenos Aires, but then spent the bulk of his time in Asunción, traveling from there to the Brazilian border that he was supposed to demarcate only to be met with lack of cooperation from the Portuguese. For a more comprehensive biography, this is the best I've found online: http://www.fundacionazara.org.ar/ingles/felix-azara.html http://www.fundacionazara.org.ar/ingles/felix-azara.html. Many thanks to you both for taking the time to read and comment!

by edko 10y ago

benbreen 10y ago

I think the OP is correct; the Portuguese crown had designs on the Rio de la Plata region in the late 17th century. For instance, they founded this city in present day Uruguay, opposite Buenos Aires: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonia_del_Sacramento#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonia_del_Sacramento#History Edit: seems that you might be right in that potentially the post mixes up Paraguay with Uruguay, though. I guess it depends on what we mean by "Rio de la Plata region." In 18th century geography, those kinds of boundaries are a lot hazier.

annatoledano 10y ago
I agree that international boundaries were blurrier then - to solidify them was the purpose of Azara's whole mission - and I should have been more specific about the modern locations to which I was referring. I think the Viceroyalty of Rio de La Plata (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viceroyalty_of_the_R%C3%ADo_de_la_Plata https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viceroyalty_of_the_R%C3%ADo_de...) might have made that particular name apply to a broader region then than it does now. As for Azara, he started his stay in South America mostly in Buenos Aires, but then spent the bulk of his time in Asunción, traveling from there to the Brazilian border that he was supposed to demarcate only to be met with lack of cooperation from the Portuguese. For a more comprehensive biography, this is the best I've found online: http://www.fundacionazara.org.ar/ingles/felix-azara.html http://www.fundacionazara.org.ar/ingles/felix-azara.html. Many thanks to you both for taking the time to read and comment!