Jose Castaño (born December 28, 1854 – ?) was a

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

friar born in Hiniesta in the

Province of Zamora Zamora () is a Provinces of Spain, province of western Spain, in the western part of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered by the provinces of Province of Ourense, Ourense, Province of Le� ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. He took his vows as a Franciscan priest on May 2, 1874 and was sent to

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

on June 22, 1875. Briefly, he became an administrator in Camalig, Albay in the Philippines and in 1878, became a minister in the town of Lupi in Libmanan and afterwards in Ligaw. He spent 17 years in Bicol. Afterwards, he went back to Spain and became rector of the Colegio de Misiones de Almagro in

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populous municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of th ...

. In Spain, he was asked to submit contributions to the Archivo del Bibliofilo Filipino, whose editor was

Wenceslao Retana Wenceslao Emilio Retana y Gamboa (28 September 1862 – 21 January 1924), also known as W. E. Retana or Wenceslao E. Retana, was a 19th-century Spanish polymath. A civil servant, colonial administrator, biographer, political commentator, publ ...

. Most notable of his contributions was a cultural monograph titled ''Breve Noticias acerca del origin, religion, creencias y supersticiones de los antiguos Indios del Bicol'', on the beliefs, superstitions and myths of the ancient Bicols. At the end of his monograph, he added a 60-stanza epic story written in Spanish detailing the adventures of native heroes Handyong, Baltog and Bantong and how they tamed the wilderness of the Bicol plains fighting monsters and the wily enchantress Oryol, and how civilization slowly took root among the people. Castaño briefly mentioned that he came across this epic being sung by a bard in his native tongue and he translated into Spanish. Because this epic story was part of his contribution, it was believed the translation was written by him, but some researchers give credence to the idea that it was written by and Castaño simply lifted the epic from the latter's work titled ''Ibal'', as claimed by , an anthropologist who wrote a book on the so-called Ibalon epic. No known copy had yet been seen of Melendreras' "Ibal" although, according to Espinas, a certain Valentin Marin y Morales clearly stated that "La poesia que trae el Jose Castaño en su obrita publicada por Retana en 1985 esta tomada de Ibal del P. Melendreras." This view, however, was not adhered to by another writer, }, who in his book, '' Bikol Maharlika'', claimed that Marin's statement was hearsay.Reyes, Jose y Calleja. Bikol Maharlika.JMC Press, Inc. 1992. 525 p. vide, p. 47-82

References

{{Authority control Spanish Friars Minor People from Zamora, Spain Spanish people in the colonial Philippines 19th-century Filipino Roman Catholic priests 1854 births Year of death missing