the curate

Also known as: Señor Licentiate Pero Perez / Señor curate / Señor licentiate / THE CURATE / curate / father curate / licentiate / our curate / señor curate / señor licentiate / shepherd Curambro / the priest · Family: Don Quixote's village · Role: village priest · First appears: Part 1, Ch. 1.1

The curate, village priest of Don Quixote’s village, first appears as his rival and enemy in arguments over whether Palmerin of England or Amadis of Gaul was the better knight. By Part 1, Chapter 5, however, he and the barber are described as great friends of Don Quixote. When Don Quixote’s books are blamed for his disorder, the curate takes the keys from the niece and examines the library with the barber, condemning many books to the flames while preserving others for their merits. He then has the library walled up and plastered over, hoping that hiding the books will help restore his friend.

When Don Quixote leaves for the mountains, the curate and the barber devise disguises and a plan to bring him home. They meet Cardenio and Dorothea, hear their misfortunes, and offer them help; the curate guides Dorothea in her role as a distressed damsel, presents her as the heiress of Micomicon, and disguises Cardenio. At the inn he tends Dorothea after she faints, restrains the enraged the innkeeper alongside Cardenio, promises compensation for the damage, and arranges the captive’s reunion with Juan Perez de Viedma. He later pays the barber for the disputed basin, helps settle the pack-saddle dispute, and carries out the plan to bind Don Quixote and take him home in a cage on an ox-cart.

In Part 2, the curate continues advising the barber, Samson Carrasco, the niece, and the housekeeper about Don Quixote’s care and confinement. His counsel pacifies Camacho and his partisans, and he blesses Basilio and Quiteria after their marriage. When Don Quixote returns to the village, the curate and Samson Carrasco agree to share his proposed pastoral life so he will not leave again; later, the curate hears his confession, confirms that he has regained his reason, is appointed an executor of his will, and has the notary certify his natural death.