Florencio del Castillo (October 17, 1778 – November 26, 1834) was a

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

n cleric and politician.

Early life

Castillo was born on October 17, 1778, in Ujarrás, near Cartago, the colonial capital of the , part of

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

. He was the third child of Cecilia del Castillo y Villagra (sometimes called Cecilia del Castillo y Solano), widow of a Frenchman, François Lafons. His father is not known; it is possible he was the illegitimate son of the village priest, Luis San Martín de Soto, a Capuchin friar. He grew up in the friary of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception de Rescate de Ujarrás, where he earned his living cleaning and working as an

altar boy An altar server is a lay assistant to a member of the clergy during a Christian liturgy. An altar server attends to supporting tasks at the altar such as fetching and carrying, ringing the altar bell, helping bring up the gifts, and bringing up ...

. Cecilia del Castillo belonged to a distinguished family in Costa Rica and possessed some money that allowed her to send her son to the Seminario Conciliar in

León, Nicaragua León () is the second largest city in Nicaragua, after Managua. Founded by the Spanish as Santiago de los Caballeros de León, it is the capital and largest city of León Department. , the municipality of León has an estimated population of ...

(which in 1812 was converted into the University of León, Nicaragua), to pursue an ecclesiastical career. After being distinguished for his intelligence and spotless record, Castillo presented brilliant exam results, obtained a baccalaureate and was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

in 1802. The next year he was already a professor of geometry at the same university with an official recommendation. Castillo returned to Costa Rica preceded by the fame that his accomplishments had gained him in Nicaragua, and in 1806 he was named

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

of the incipient town of Villahermosa (later

Alajuela Alajuela () is a district in the Alajuela (canton), Alajuela canton of the Alajuela Province of Costa Rica. As the seat of the Municipality of Alajuela canton, it is awarded the status of city. By virtue of being the city of the first canton of ...

; but aspiring to a higher destination, he returned in 1808 to León, entering the Tridentine University where he gained the post of professor of philosophy, which had been one of his most gifted disciplines, and later the more important charges of synodal examiner, prosecutor and vice-rector. These rapid promotions, combined with the prestige won during his short return to Costa Rica, meant that when it came time to select a deputy for the Province of Costa Rica to the

Cortes of Cádiz The Cortes of Cádiz was a revival of the traditional ''Cortes Generales, cortes'' (Spanish parliament), which as an institution had not functioned for many years, but it met as a single body, rather than divided into estates as with previous o ...

in Spain, convened for the salvation of Spain's independence--which was threatened by the formidable power of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

who invaded the nation--his name was included, along with that of Friar José Antonio Taboada y José María Zamora.

Deputy to the Cortes

In 1810, Costa Rica selected Castillo to represent it in the Cortes of Spain, where he was called the "American Mirabeau" for his magnificent oratory. He was distinguished for his struggle in favor of the Indians and blacks and achieved the abolition of the Mita, the

Encomienda The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish Labour (human activity), labour system that rewarded Conquistador, conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. In theory, the conquerors provided the labourers with benefits, including mil ...

, Indian tribute and the

Repartimiento The ''Repartimiento'' () (Spanish, "distribution, partition, or division") was a colonial labor system imposed upon the indigenous population of Spanish America and the Philippines. In concept, it was similar to other tribute-labor systems, such a ...

. He presided over the courts for a brief period. He also campaigned against other forms of racial discrimination. He also represented Costa Rica in the ordinary courts of 1813–1814, until their dissolution by Fernando VII.

Deputy to the Mexican Congress and Imperial Council

After the dissolution of the Courts, Castillo moved to Mexico, where he represented Costa Rica in the Constituent Congress of 1822. Afterwards he was a member of the Council of State of Emperor Agustín I (Agustín de Iturbide).

Death

Castillo died in

Oaxaca Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...

on November 26, 1834, where he was a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

of the

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

and administrator of the diocese. In 1971, his remains were returned to Costa Rica, where they were interred in a mausoleum built in the central park of the town of Paraíso, near his birthplace of Ujarrás. His remains rested there until they were stolen in September 2011. The

Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica The Legislative Assembly () forms the unicameralism, unicameral legislature, legislative branch of the Politics of Costa Rica, Costa Rican government. The national congress building is located in the capital city, San José, Costa Rica, San Jos� ...

declared him a " Benemérito de la Patria", or "Worthy Citizen of the Fatherland". The highway between San José and Cartago bears his name. In 1971, the Mexican State of Oaxaca awarded Florencio del Castillo a posthumous medal for his outstanding effort.

References

* Fernández Guardia, Ricardo. (2005). ''Don Florencio del Castillo en las Cortes de Cádiz''. San José, Costa Rica. Editorial Universidad Estatal a Distancia. * https://web.archive.org/web/20160304103917/http://www.asamblea.go.cr/Centro_de_informacion/Sala_Audiovisual/Benemritos%20de%20la%20patria/Forms/DispForm.aspx?ID=44 {{DEFAULTSORT:Del Castillo, Florencio 1778 births 1834 deaths People from Cartago Province People from New Spain 19th-century Spanish Roman Catholic priests Costa Rican Roman Catholic priests Costa Rican academics Costa Rican politicians