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Fray Francisco de Tembleque

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2015

Octaviano Valdés
Octaviano Valdés*
Affiliation:
Mexico, D. F.
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Extract

Mexico had many outstanding Franciscan missionaries in the sixteenth century. One of the greatest of those was Fray Francisco de Tembleque. A deeply religious man, whose every action was based on charity, Fray Francisco was at the same time a colorful figure and he merits a place of honor in the hearts of men. Little is known about him because liistorians have depicted for us only the salient chapters of his life, leaving the rest obscure. Even the date of his death has not been found in the many chronicles of his day.

As we shall see, he arrived in New Spain around the year 1540. Fr. Jerónimo de Mendieta tells us that “Fr. Francisco de Tembleque, a native of the town of Tembleque, near Toledo, came with Fr. Juan de Romanones from the Province of Castilla. Both were inseparable companions during their sojourn in New Spain. He acquired a sufficient knowledge of the Aztec language to enable him to hear confessions in that tongue. But he never was capable of preaching in that language from memory. He always read his sermons and instructions to the Indians, and that very satisfactorily.” In this regard he was no equal to his talented brother, Fr. Juan de Romanones, who, “having mastered the Mexican language, preached to the natives and labored among them for over 40 years, being an able speaker. He wrote sermons and other works and translated parts of the Holy Bible, a work of invaluable aid to both himself and to other friars in preaching to the Indians. He was one of the best linguists Mexico ever had.”

Type
Research Article
Information
The Americas , Volume 3 , Issue 2 , October 1946 , pp. 223 - 233
Copyright
Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1946

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References

1 Fr. Jerónimo de Mendieta: Historia Eclesiástica Indiana (3rd ed., Ed. Chávez Hayhoe, Mexico, 1945), IV, 151–153; Fr. Juan de Torquemada: Monarquía Indiana (Ed. Chávez Hayhoe, Mexico, 1944), III, 532–534. Torquemada repeats almost the exact words of Mendieta regarding Tembleque.

2 Mendieta, , ibid.Google Scholar

3 Mendieta, , ibid Google Scholar.

4 Mendieta, , ibid Google Scholar.

5 Mendieta, , ibid.Google Scholar

6 Mendieta, , ibid.Google Scholar

7 Villueñor Sánchez, José Antonio: Teatro Americano (Ed. Hogal, Mexico, 1746), I, 144.Google Scholar

8 García Cubas, Antonio: Diccionario Geográfico, Histórico y Biográfico (Mexico, 1888), II, 436–437.Google Scholar

9 Torquemada, , op. cit., III, 532–534.Google Scholar

10 Villaseñor Sanchez, , op. cit., I, 144.Google Scholar

11 Torquemada, , ibid.Google Scholar

12 Mendieta, , ibid.Google Scholar

13 Torquemada, , ibid.Google Scholar

14 Fr. Agustín de Betancurt: Menologio Franciscano (Ed. Escalante, Mexico, 1871), IV, 341–343.

15 Torquemada, , ibid.Google Scholar

16 Torquemada, , ibid.Google Scholar

17 Fr. Bernardino de Sahagún: Historia General de la Nueva España (Ed. Robredo, Mexico, 1938), IV, 99–103.

18 Sahagún, , ibid.Google Scholar

19 Mendieta, , ibid.Google Scholar

20 Mendieta, , ibid.Google Scholar

21 Mendieta, , ibid.Google Scholar

22 Relación de algunas cosas que sucedieron á Fray Alonso Ponce (Madrid, 1875), I, 112, 212–213. Although Mendieta relates the crime of the lay-brother, it is in Ponce’s Relación that all the details are given.

23 Relación, ibid.

24 Mendieta, , ibid.Google Scholar

25 Ricard, Robert: Conquête Spirituelle du Mexique (Paris, 1933), 176.Google Scholar

26 Calderón de la Barca, Marquesa: La Vida en México (Transl. by Solares, E. Martínez, Mexico, 1921), I, 243–244.Google Scholar

27 Marquesa Calderón de la Barca, ibid. See also, Lucas Alamán: Disertaciones Histórcas (Mexico, 1844), II, 244–245; and Mariano Cuevas, S. J.: Historia de la Iglesia en México (Mexico, 1939), II, 436–437.