Early in the 19th century, Doña Ana de Iraeta, a member of one of the most important mercantile families in New Spain, vindicated the “representation of sanctity” constructed by the Capuchin religious order centuries before as she sought... more
Early in the 19th century, Doña Ana de Iraeta, a member of one of the most important mercantile families in New Spain, vindicated the “representation of sanctity” constructed by the Capuchin religious order centuries before as she sought to have friars from that Order found a first convent in the region of Los Remedios in New Spain. The justifications that Iraeta presented to defend the establishment of the convent included the idea that the friars’ arrival in New Spain would help restore the Monarchical order after the outbreak of the Independence wars in America. This article analyses the scope of the representations surrounding the Capuchin tradition that worked to generate a kind of mythology of the Capuchins, though it proved impossible for the friars to found a convent on Mexican soil until the first decade of the 20th century.
