A particularly intriguing chapter concerns the fate of [Latin] in Latin America. The Spanish had been the first for whom the penny had dropped that a modern language, not just Latin, might be given a grammatical rulebook. Elio Antonio de Nebrija (1441-1522) wrote his country's standard Latin textbook, but also a grammar of Spanish.
The idea that modern languages might be analysed and brought into grammatical line came in useful when the conquistadors were faced with a profusion of tongues in the New World. This was a two-way street: not only did missionaries learn Chibcha through Latin mnemonic rhymes, but Aztecs learned good Ciceronian Latin, astounding European visitors with their linguistic virtuosity. Startlingly, the writer sometimes called Guatemala's national poet, Rafael Landívar (1731-93), was responsible for a Latin poem in 15 books called the Rusticatio Mexicana (Mexican Pastoral); judging from the passage quoted by Ostler, it is an accomplished piece of writing.
—Charlotte Higgins, "Latin Lessons" (The Guardian)
Who knew? They really did speak Latin in Latin America. Some of Landívar's poem can be seen here, and there is also a recent book on the poem and its author.
UPDATE: There isn't much online about Rafael Landivar, but it seems he was a highly intelligent Jesuit priest (as if there is any other kind) who was banished and eventually settled in Bologna, where he wrote his epic poem about the land he loved. I'd like to know why he was banished—he wouldn't be the first Jesuit to run afoul of the authorities. I think I'm going to have to get that book.
UPDATE II: After more googling around I find that all the Jesuits were expelled from Spain and its territories in 1767, as part of a general European trend against the powerful order and against Church authority, with a side-order of internal church politics to help things along. The Pope was even pressured to suppress the order in 1773, but they were restored in 1814, after which they bounced back very nicely and continue to do good work in education and social justice.
via ARLT
