Toribio De Motolinía and The Franciscan Mission in New Spain 1524-1569

Toribio de Motolinía, one of the first twelve Franciscan missionaries, arrived in Mexico in 1524 and worked actively in the Franciscan evangelization of New Spain until his death in 1569. The discovery of the Indians of the New World reactivated for Motolinía and his contemporaries the ancient belief in the imminence of the apocalypse. Infused with a millennial zeal and the Franciscan dedication to poverty, humility, and obedience, Motolinía accepted that Christianity with its attendant civilizing benefices justified the Spanish conquest of a culturally inferior people. Of the Franciscans, Motolinía enjoyed the closest alliance with Cortés. This relationship, together with the overlapping of ecclesiastical and civil jurisdiction implicit in the Omnímoda, resulted in his serious conflict with the first Audiencia. Motolinía's perception of the founding of Puebla reflected not only the hispanic urban orientation, but also, the integral role of the Church in the economic and social development of Mexico.History, Department o