at Valladolid in 1565, and obtained the separation of Yucatan from Guatemala, to form a separate province named San José. On the 18th of April, 1567, the first chapter of the new province was held at Mérida, and Francisco de la Torre was made first provincial.[1]
The Franciscans held the whole field in Yucatan, apparently disliking the introduction of other orders. Tt is said that in 1553 there was a great famine in the region of Itzamal, and the people would have greatly suffered but for the help of Father Landa, the guardian of the convent, who during six months supplied maize not only to the local population, but also to strangers who came to him for relief.[2]
There were many Franciscans in Mexico besides those named, who, for their pious life, learning, and valuable services in the cause of conversion, deserve a special mention. Among them are the following: Bernardino de Sahagun, the distinguished writer who came to Mexico in 1529, and died m 1590; Francisco de Zamora, a man of high birth and office at court, who gave up all and became an humble friar; Alonso de Huete; Juan Fucher, or Focher, a French lawyer, who joined the order and became a legal light in Mexico; Juan de Mesa, Hernando Pobre, Juan de Romanones, Alonso Urbano, Miguel de Torrejoncillo, Alonso de Topas, Juan de Béjar, Francisco de Villal-
- ↑ His successors were: Juan de Armallones, chosen 1570; Tomé de Arenas, 1573; Pedro de Noriega, 1576; Hernando Sopuerta, a native of Mérida, and son of one of the conquerors; 1579, Tomé de Arenas, reëlected 1582; Pedro Cardete, 1585; Alonso de Rio-frio, 1588; Hernando de Sopuerta, reëlected 1591; Gerénimo de Leon, 1594, who died the same year, and Sepuerta completed his term; Alonso de Rio-frio, reëlected 1597; and Francisco Arias Bustamante, 1600. Cogollvdo, Hist. Yuc., 307-8, 325-6, 336, 386-8, 393-4, 411-15, 423; Vasquez, Chrón. Gvat., 274; Mendieta, Hist. Ecles., 383, 545-8; Torquemada, iii. 337; Ponce, Rel., in Col. Doc. Inéd., Ivii. 24-5, lili. 382, 394, 479; Fancourt's Hist. Yuc., 166-9.
- ↑ It is reported by Cogollodo, Hist. Yuc., 291, that no diminution was apparent in the convent's granary at the end of the famine. The same writer tells of the virgin of Itzamal, how the image was brought from Guatemala and placed in the convent at that place, where the Indians venerated it. The Spaniards wanted it in Mérida, but their efforts to carry it away proved in vain, the virgin herself resisting. 'No bastaron fuercas humanas para mouerla del pueblo.' Numberless miracles are attributed to this image.
308, 524; Mendieta, Hist. Ecles., 382-5; Vetancvrt, Chrón. Prov. S. Evang., 24; Vazquez, Chrón. Gvat., 144-8, 179-80.
