Life and work of Bernardo Sotomayor, the first Chilean Trappist (1779 – 1829)

Abstract

The following work studies the life of the first Chilean Trappist, Don Bernardo Sotomayor (1779-1829). Sotomayor is a clear example of how monastic life developed in viceregal America, as the fulfillment of his monastic yearnings led him down the paths of hermitism, seclusion in mendicant houses and trips to Europe in search of established monasteries. His trajectory is studied through documentary, epistolary and bibliographic analysis preserved both in the National Historical Archive of Chile and in the Archdiocese of the Archdiocese of Santiago, considering and taking note of the emancipation process experienced by Chile at the time; and it is analyzed how these sociopolitical events marked the life of the religious.