[Sidenote: _Breve noticia de la Compañía de Jesús_] The _Historia militar, civil y sagrada de lo acaecido en la conquista y pacificación del reino de Chile_ by the Jesuit Miguel de Olivares is one of the more important works of the eighteenth century on Chilean history. The author was born in Chillán, in Chile, in 1674. It is believed that he went to Spain, and was there ordained priest; but in whatever manner he may have passed the early years of his life, there appears to be conclusive evidence that in 1700 he was in Chile, engaged as a missionary in the region between the Maipo and the Maule. A little later he was a missionary in the valley of Quillota, and still later he was preaching in Valparaiso. Between 1706 and 1720 he was continuing his missionary labours in various fields. In 1722 he was living in Santiago, and in 1730 at Concepción. Through his journeys he acquired much knowledge of Chile, of its geography, of its inhabitants and of the conditions under which rude settlements were growing into civilized communities. In 1736 he was in Santiago, gathering and putting into order the sources of information that furnished the basis of his _Breve noticia de la provincia de la Compañía de Jesús de Chile_, a work not designed at that time for publication, but only as material which a future historian might use.[202] From this task he turned again to his missionary labours at first in the province of Cuyo and later, from 1744 to 1758, in Araucania. During this period he added extensively to his knowledge of the country as well as of the language and customs of the Indians. [Sidenote: _Historia militar, civil y sagrada_] [Sidenote: Fate of Olivares’ manuscript]