Spanish missionary
Isidro de Espinosa
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Born
| November 26, 1679
(
1679-11-26
)
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Died
| February 14, 1755
(
1755-02-15
)
(aged 75)
Queretaro, New Spain
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Nationality (legal)
| Spanish citizen
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Occupation
| Franciscan
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Isidro Felix de Espinosa
(1679?1755) was a
Franciscan
missionary from
New Spain
who participated in several expeditionary missions throughout the province of
Tejas
(modern
Texas
). He was the president of the missionaries from the College of Santa Cruz de Queretaro.
[1]
Early life
[
edit
]
Espinosa was born in the
Spanish American
area of
Queretaro
in modern-day Mexico. He was the son of Isidro de Espinosa and Gertrudis de Miraelrio Tovar. Espinosa had nine siblings, although three of them did not make it to adulthood. On March 18, 1696, Espinosa started studying at the
College of Santa Cruz de Queretaro
, and on March 19, 1697, began his career as a Franciscan. On December 17, 1703, he received
holy orders
and on February 26 of that year he became a priest. Sometime between the end of 1703 and early 1704 he joined the
Mission San Juan Bautista
.
[2]
Missionary work
[
edit
]
On April 5, 1709, an expeditionary group made up of Father Espinosa and Father
Antonio de Olivares
, along with Captain
Pedro de Aguirre
and fourteen soldiers, traveled to the area which today is
San Antonio
,
Texas
, to establish a Spanish colony, attracted by the presence of water resources in that region. Along the way, the expedition made first contact with the
Pastia Indians
who lived south of the
San Antonio River
.
[2]
The expedition also encountered the
Yojuane
and their allies, the
Simonos
and
Tusonibi
in their travels. These groups tried to convince Espinosa and his associates to visit their villages located along the
Rio Brazos
, however, Espinosa could not go to their villages.
[3]
The expedition moved past the San Antonio River and traveled to the
Colorado River valley
, where they hoped to contact the
Hasinai
, having heard that these native peoples inhabited the area.
[4]
Espinosa and associates failed to contact any natives in the Colorado River area. The group left the area and returned to San Juan Baptista on April 28, 1709. Espinosa soon after returned to Queretaro.
Espinosa was elected to oversee the building of the missions in the province of
Tejas
. He returned to Tejas, and in 1716 he joined
Domingo Ramon
and founded several missions:
San Francisco de los Tejas
,
Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception
, and
San Jose de los Nazonis
, all of them located in east Texas.
[4]
In late April 1716, another Espinosa and Ramon expedition traveled to east Texas to establish a Spanish colony in the area.
[5]
Espinosa also joined the
Martin de Alarcon
and
San Miguel de Aguayo
's expeditions of 1718 and 1721, respectively.
[6]
Chronicler of Texas
[
edit
]
Espinosa was a chronicler of Spanish Texas in the first half of the 18th century. Espinosa combined his work with writing, as he served the church by day while writing at night. He earned the nickname of
El Julio Cesar de la Fe en Nueva Espana
(The Julius Caesar of Faith in New Spain). He wrote many pieces of literature, as well as a biography of the Franciscan missionary
Antonio Margil de Jesus
, with whom he was friends. Espinosa was the author of the
Cronica de los Colegios de Propaganda Fide de la Nueva Espana
(Chronicle of the Colleges of Propaganda Fide of
New Spain
), which has been considered the most outstanding work in Texas in terms of information provided about the work of the Franciscans in the North American province, being reprinted in 1964.
[4]
A letter written by Espinosa in February 1718 is now the second or third oldest document known to have used
New Philippines
, the official name of
New Spain
's most northeastern province during the 18th century.
[7]
Later life and death
[
edit
]
In late 1721, Espinosa was appointed guardian of the missions established by the Queretaro college in Tejas, but he left the region at that time and never returned. In 1733, he received the title of "president of the future hospice of San Fernando in
Mexico City
". Espinosa spent the final years of his life at the College of Santa Cruz in Queretaro. He died on February 14, 1755.
[4]
Works
[
edit
]
- Cronica de los Colegios de Propaganda Fide de la Nueva Espana
- Chronica apostolica y seraphica de todos los colegios de propaganda fide de esta Nueva Espana de misioneros Franciscanos observantes
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Cunningham, Debbie S. (ed.).
"Project Muse. Notes and Documents: The Domingo Ramon Diary of the 1716 Expedition into the Province of the Tejas Indians: An Annotated Translation"
(PDF)
: 41.
- ^
a
b
"Historic Camps and Crossings on the Medina and San Antonio Rivers"
.
Beyond Texas History.com
. Retrieved
2020-09-30
.
- ^
Barr, Juliana (2007).
Peace Came in the Form of a Woman
. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. pp. 33?34, 46.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Donald E. Chipman.
"Isidro de Espinosa"
. Handbook of Texas Online
. Retrieved
May 8,
2010
.
- ^
Foster, William C. (2008).
Historic Native Peoples of Texas
. Austin: University of Texas Press. p. 123.
ISBN
9780292781917
.
- ^
Carta de fray Isidro Felix de Espinosa (al virrey marques de Valero) sobre las necesidades de las misiones de Texas: Provincia de Nuevas Filipinas y de los Texas, 28 febrero 1718
[
Letter from Father Isidro Felix de Espinosa [the Viceroy Marquis de Valero] on the needs of the missions of Texas: Province of New Philippines and Texas
], February 28, 1718, archived from
the original
on 19 August 2014
- ^
"El Nuevo Reino de Filipinas"
[The New Kingdom of Philippines].
Manila Bulletin
. Gale OneFile: News: Manila Bulletin Publishing Corp. 24 September 2014
. Retrieved
25 January
2022
.
December, 1717. However, the following year, Nuevas Filipinas appeared in the heading of a letter written by Fr. Isidro Felix de Espinosa in February
External links
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International
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National
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Other
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