Fray Lorenzo de Bienvenida, O.F.M., and the Origins of the Franciscan Order in Yucatan

Abstract

Fray Lorenzo de Bienvenida was among the first and most noted of the founders of the Christian missions of Yucatan, a region whose conversion was almost exclusively entrusted to the Franciscan Order. The work of the friars has been fairly well studied, not only on the basis of the data supplied by the old chronicles, but also by modern research in the documentary sources preserved in the archives of America and Spain. This research has resulted in the publication of many documents and historical studies which contain important information on the Franciscan missions of Yucatan. Analysis of the information offered in these various documents and studies—although it is sometimes conflicting—enables us to reconstruct an acceptable account of the obscure period which coincides with the first decades of Franciscan activity in Yucatan.