THE CAPTAIN AND THE INCAN PRINCESS Tuesday 10th of October 1741, feast day of San Francisco de Borja. In the Jesuit church in Cusco an odd performance took place, which divided the population into those who approved of it and those who did not. It was, as described by chronicler Diego de Esquivel y Navia in his meticulously written "Noticias cronológicas de la gran ciudad del Cusco", a "representation of the marriage of Don Martín Garcia de Loyola and Beatriz Clara Qoya as shown in the painting hung at the entrance of the church". This representation appeared puerile to the chronicler and perhaps for that reason he restricted it to his "Noticias." the role of Garcia de Loyola was taken by a son of Don Gabriel Argüelles, one of the most important inhabitants of the city, while that of Beatriz was played by Narcisa, the young daughter of an indian noble. Let us now close the work of Esquivel y Navia and let the painting at the entrance to the church tell us a little more about this episode. Beatriz Clara Coya and Martín García de Loyola are in the foreground on the left. On the right is their daughter, Ana Maria, together with her husband Juan de Borja. Between the two couples is San Ignacio de Loyola, uncle of Martin Garcia and Juan de Borja. A colorful group of people completes the composition in the background to the left. This group includes such luminaries as Sayri Túpac, Túpac Amaru and Cusi Huarcay, the three children of Manco Inca, the rebel who sought refuge in Vilcabamba to fight against the Spaniards. Beatriz, as the medallion shown in the painting says, was the daughter of Sayri Túpac and Cusi Huarcay and, therefore, an Inca princess. That is why she appears in the painting dressed in an elegant white gown bearing a strip of colored tocapus, geometric designs that in this case represent royal blood. What were circumstances that led to her marriage with the nephew of the founder of the Jesuit order? Why did the Jesuits commission not one but several oil paintings to commemorate this match between Inca royalty and Spanish nobility? If we look closely at the group in the background we will remember that Tupac Amary, the youngest son of Manco Inca, who had rebelled against the Spanish was captured in 1572 at Vilcabamba by an expedition organized by the Viceroy Francisco de Toledo. It was captain Martin Garcia de Loyola who covered himself in glory and claimed the reward for capturing the young Inca. The nephew of San Ignacio had the satisfaction of entering Cusco leading his prisoner by a gold chain about his neck. The young Inca had a little time left on earth as he was tried, converted to Christianity and beheaded in Cusco's main square. Viceroy Toledo ordered the Inca's head to be placed on a stake, a decision he rapidly regretted when the Indians began to say that instead of rotting, the head was regaining its life like attraction day by day. It was perhaps for this reason that Toledo opposed the marriage of Beatriz Clara Coya to an Inca noble fearing that one day the descendents of Manco Inca would rise against the crown and restore their powerful empire. The husband chosen for her influenced no doubt by his Jesuit advisers, was Captain Martin Garcia de Loyola. What did the Jesuits gain from this match? No less a prize than a family link through the nephew of San Ignacio, with the Inca royalty. Let us look again at the beautiful painting of the marriage and then at the rest of the church interior. The pictures, altars, and architecture, all of excellent quality, reveal the desires of a religious order that wanted to play a pivotal role in the New World. It was no accident that Jesuits, when starting to build the existing church after its predecessor was destroyed by the 1650 earthquake, made in face the Main Square as if it were a cathedral. This challenge to tradition and law caused a conflict between the Jesuits and the Bishop that lasted for many years, an episode that was also described by chronicler Esquivel y Navia, who noted that "finally the Jesuit fathers built their church as we now see it, and completed it in seventeen years". This church, built in such a short time and in open defiance of the Bishop and cathedral authorities, started a revolution in Cusco architecture and became one of the finest examples of the baroque style in Peru.