COMUNICACIÓN

The San Francisco del Berrocal Convent in Belvís de Monroy, the departure point of the Twelve Apostles of Mexico, relived history with the presentation of the book Los franciscanos en la América Hispana: revisión e interpretación del legado de los Doce Apóstoles de México, a multidisciplinary collective work that brings together the content of the International Congress on the legacy of these twelve friars, held in 2024 in Guadalupe, Cáceres and Belvís. (18/10/2025)

The publication, edited by the European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation and the Royal Academy of Extremadura of Letters and Arts, in collaboration with the Belvís de Monroy Town Council, constitutes a key contribution to the understanding of one of the most significant episodes of Spain’s presence in the Americas. With this publication, coordinated by RAEX academics Sixto Sánchez and José Julián Barriga, a research and dissemination project on Ibero-American issues comes to a close.

During the presentation of the book, the director of Yuste Foundation, Juan Carlos Moreno, highlighted the commitment of the twelve Franciscans to justice and the dignity of Indigenous peoples, denouncing the abuses committed by the colonial authorities against them. He also stated that, despite the mistakes made by Spain in the Americas, “its achievements must also be acknowledged and celebrated”, citing as an example the Franciscans who departed from Belvís, “whose testimony of faith, commitment and courage continues to challenge us five centuries later”.

The Berrocal Convent was, for centuries, a centre of spirituality, discipline and reform within the Franciscan Order, as well as becoming a focal point for Ibero-American outreach. For this reason, the mayor of Belvís, Fernando Sánchez, expressed his wish that the convent “be a living place, a cultural, historical and academic centre of reference, and a symbol of Extremadura’s historical presence in the world”, open to research and host to seminars, congresses and international meetings that strengthen the shared ties between Extremadura, Spain and Ibero-America.

According to María del Mar Lozano, director of the Academy of Extremadura of Letters and Arts, this publication brings to a close a project that has delved, from an interdisciplinary perspective, into the commemoration of the five-hundredth anniversary of the departure from the San Francisco del Berrocal Convent of the so-called Twelve Apostles of Mexico. In her view, it is essential reading to shed light on the progress made in understanding the Franciscan mission of evangelisation in the Americas, but also “to explore other related issues that have led us to comprehend something as profound as the embodiment of many sixteenth-century Humanist ideas in the encounter with the Indigenous reality and the many legacies that this produced”, she explained.

Also taking part in the presentation was José Julián Barriga, member of the Royal Academy of Extremadura and co-editor of the book alongside professor Sixto Sánchez, who stated that this publication seeks to “revitalise, review and update the knowledge and historiography of one of the most significant episodes of Spain’s presence in the Americas, becoming a paradigm of universal humanism in defence of equality and human dignity”.

Fray Vidal Rodríguez, guardian and custodian of the Monastery of Santa María de Guadalupe, in turn, remarked that the publication presented is “a new creation, the result of a collective work that looks to the future and invites further study, but above all, invites gratitude”.

Content

The volume is divided into four chapters, respectively addressing the historical and historiographical context, the spiritual mission undertaken by the Franciscans in the New World, intercultural mestizaje, and the humanising action carried out by the “Twelve”. It includes the sixteen lectures and an equal number of papers presented at the International Congress, preceded by an introduction by the president of the Regional Government of Extremadura, María Guardiola, and forewords by the director of the European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation, Juan Carlos Moreno, and by the director of the Royal Academy of Extremadura of Letters and Arts, María del Mar Lozano Bartolozzi.

The chapters of the volume are written by experts and scholars from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and the universities of Extremadura, Valladolid, Seville, León, Almería and Salamanca, as well as from the Pontifical Antonianum University in Rome and other institutes of historical research, including the Mexican Academy of History.

With this initiative, the two organising entities sought to revitalise, review and update the knowledge and historiography of one of the most significant episodes of Spain’s presence in the Americas, as well as a paradigm of universal humanism in defence of equality and human dignity.