About the middle of the seventeenth century a friar of the Augustinian order, Miguel de Aguirre, became conspicuous at Lima not only as the author of the _Población de Valdivia_, but also as a devotee of the Virgin of Copacabana. He was born at Chuquisaca, and took his religious vows very early. In 1641 he appeared at Lima, and entered the monastery of his order in that city, and became there professor of arts and theology. The distinction achieved by his lectures caused him to be appointed to a professorship in the University of San Marcos. He became also censor of the Inquisition. Pedro de Toledo y Leiva, Marqués de Mancera (1639-1648) was then the viceroy of Peru. In order to provide defence against the threatened invasion of the Dutch, he imposed various taxes and called upon certain institutions to make contributions. Aguirre was present at a meeting of the University of San Marcos on October 10, 1641, called to reply to the viceroy’s letter. Mancera’s plans comprehended the building of a wall about Lima, and equipping a number of warships to be sent to the coast of Chile. The defence appeared to be especially necessary in view of the fact that the Dutch had taken possession of Valdivia and intended to establish themselves within the limits of Chilean territory. The viceroy fitted out a squadron of twelve vessels, carrying eighteen hundred men and one hundred and eighty-eight guns. These vessels set sail on December 31, 1644, and arrived at their destination on the 6th of February, 1645, but before their arrival the enemy had departed. The minute knowledge of the enterprise displayed by Aguirre in his _Población de Valdivia_ (Lima, 1647), has suggested that, with other ecclesiastics, he was a member of the expedition; in fact his known advisory relation to the viceroy has given a certain support to the opinion that he occupied an official position. [Sidenote: The Virgin of Copacabana] For three years longer, until the end of Mancera’s term in 1648, Aguirre continued to perform his professorial duties at the university, and when he resigned in that year, it was probably in anticipation of his accompanying the viceroy to Spain; for in 1650 Mancera left Lima for Madrid, taking Aguirre with him as his confessor. Aguirre for his religious consolation and in order to be fortified against possible ill fortune on the voyage, took with him an image of Nuestra Señora de Copacabana. He proposed, moreover, to establish in Europe the cult of Our Lady of Copacabana, in which the Indians about Lake Titicaca had appeared to find a large measure of religious satisfaction.[104] [Sidenote: Aguirre in Spain and Italy]