ACTIVIDADES

Royal Monastery of Santa María de Guadalupe (Cáceres), 26–27 October 2026

Since 2022, the European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation, established by the Regional Government of Extremadura, has organised the Guadalupe in America sessions as part of the so-called School of Guadalupe, with the aim of highlighting Guadalupe’s historical legacy and its longstanding ties with the Americas, and, by extension, those of Extremadura. For this third edition, the Extremaduran Foundation for Culture, also established by the Regional Government of Extremadura, joins the organisation and sponsorship of the event.

The theme of the third edition centres on a significant historical milestone: the Quincentenary of the founding of the town of San Sebastián de Colima, now the capital of the State of Colima, in western Mexico. Its foundation provides a notable example of how the Castilian municipal model, together with its institutions of government and justice, was established and adapted in the Americas, alongside the processes of evangelisation, transculturation and cultural and ethnic mixing.

These issues will be examined by Spanish and Mexican researchers, particularly from Colima and Extremadura, who will gather at the Royal Monastery of Santa María de Guadalupe. The sessions will explore the founding and organisation of the town of Colima, the administration of justice, evangelisation, the Franciscan presence, the legal protection of indigenous communities, and the accountability of those in government during Colima’s early history in the 16^th century.

A central figure will be Lorenzo Lebrón de Quiñones, a jurist from Guadalupe closely associated with the history of Colima and the defence of indigenous people under the legal framework of the Spanish Indies. His legacy remains present in the city and in the documents preserved in its Municipal Historical Archive. Preparations for these sessions have also led to the discovery of the only known copy of the ordinances issued by Lebrón for the town of Colima, which were believed to have been lost for more than four centuries.

The sessions will also welcome municipal representatives from Colima and host the formalisation of the twinning agreement between the city of Colima and Puebla de Guadalupe, recently approved by both municipal councils. Among the ties connecting the two places, particular importance is attached to the spread in Colima of devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe of Extremadura, which was brought to New Spain and became one of the religious and cultural links between the two sides of the Atlantic.

Holding these sessions during the Holy Year of Guadalupe further enhances their spiritual significance and provides an opportunity to explore the theological meaning of Marian devotion, understood as a bond of communion and a point of reference for evangelisation linking Guadalupe with the Americas. Alongside other historical and cultural ties, this shared heritage forms one of the symbolic foundations of a twinning agreement that seeks to revive a relationship forged five centuries ago and carry it forward into the future.

Ultimately, the main aim of the third sessions on Guadalupe in America is to research, study and disseminate knowledge of Colima’s origins in New Spain in the 16^th century and its links with Guadalupe, Extremadura and the Castilian institutional tradition.

You can register to attend the sessions via the following link:

https://forms.gle/nZdGipYjhsHLnk9B9