PUBLICACIONES

DOCTORAL THESES

EL ELEGIDO INESPERADO. PEDRO JOSÉ DE FONTE, ÚLTIMO ARZOBISPO DE LA NUEVA ESPAÑA, 1802-1823

Author: Clemente Cruz Peralta
Date of publication: 2023
Editorial: European and Ibero-American Academy of Yuste Foundation
Book Collection: Tesis Doctorales
Number: 5
ISBN: 978-84-121898-8-9
Price: 15 euros

A character that received little attention from scholars; the last archbishop of New Spain at the time: Pedro José de Fonte. Today, as far as we know of him, he seems to have been a devoted, bureaucratic and obfuscated cleric who was loyal to the king beyond reason. The aim of this book is to explain, based on careful research, how a family, student, ecclesial and political career led him to the highest position within the Novohispanic Church, to his resignation and a life of “exile” in his native country. In this story, a series of human emotions that Fonte experienced is present: pride, hopes, failures, frustrations, displeasures, ingratitude.

Clemente Cruz Peralta has taken special care to trace the circumstances under which young Fonte was formed, the manner in which the weight of family tradition in the service of the king influenced the decisions he took on both sides of the Atlantic and the challenges he faced. After a trip to the city council of Linares de Mora, the author found Fonte’s paternal house, the street that bears his name, the bed he slept in. He saw the distance between the small provincial town and the city of Zaragoza with his own eyes, where this man, who was from Teruel, made carried out his formal studies and where he began his ecclesiastical career. One can, to date, feel the need young people have to leave the small hometown to go conquer the world.

Clemente Cruz Peralta holds a PhD in History from UNAM (Autonomous University of Mexico).

Winning thesis of the 6th Research Prize to Ibero-American Doctoral Theses.