Dominicans

Dominicans (Order of Preachers). The Dominican order was one of several religious orders important in colonial Latin America. Having been founded in medieval Europe as a means of combating heresy, it was particularly well suited to missionary activity in the Americas.

The Dominican order arrived in the New World in 1510 with a contingent of friars sent by the crown to Hispaniola. Although the Franciscans and others had begun the early missionary work on the island, the Dominicans would leave a lasting impression. The order was chosen for two reasons. The Spanish crown had received disquieting rumors of the outbreak of heresy in the new colony, and there was a generally conceded need for more priests. The first contingent was organized by Friar Alonso Loaisa. Although some fifteen friars were chosen, only nine, led by Friar Pedro de Córdoba, sailed for the New World, arriving in Santo Domingo in September 1510.

The impact of the Dominicans on Hispaniola was dramatic. Well trained in theology, as expounded by the famous Dominican, Saint Thomas Aquinas, the friars began to attempt to reform Spanish society. They taught the doctrine of the equality of all human beings in the sight of God. In 1511, Friar Antonio de Montesinos began to rail in the pulpit against the system of forced Indian labor prevalent on the island. His sermons raised such ire in the colony that he was forced to return to Spain to defend his views. One settler, Bartolomé de Las Casas, deeply influenced by Montesinos, entered the Dominican order in 1523. Las Casas spent the remainder of his life continuing the struggle for social justice and for the protection of the American Indians.

The first contingent of Dominicans to arrive in Mexico after the Conquest came in 1526. The group of twelve friars, led by Friar Tomás Ortíz, suffered badly during the first year. Five of their number died, and four more were forced to return to Spain because of ill health, leaving only three friars: Domingo de Betanzos, Gonzalo Lucero, and Vicente de las Casas. Betanzos assumed leadership of the order in Mexico, overseeing its development until 1528, when seven more friars arrived.

In Mexico the Dominicans initiated their mission in the Valley of Mexico and surrounding regions. Their greatest efforts were made in the south, especially among the Mixteca and Oaxaca. In the south they had near complete autonomy. Some of the most impressive early churches were built by Dominicans, including Teposcolula, Yanhuitlán, and Cuilapán. Their devotion to Our Lady of the Rosary resulted in several magnificent works of ecclesiastical decoration, notably the Rosary chapel of the Church of Santo Domingo in Puebla.

The Dominicans were among the first orders to arrive in Peru. In 1529 a group of six Dominicans, led by Friar Reginaldo Pedraza, accompanied Pizarro on his return to the New World as participants in his expedition. Five of the six died or abandoned the enterprise, leaving only Friar Vicente de Valverde to participate with Pizarro in the conquest. He was counted among the men of Cajamarca and rewarded with the bishopric of Cuzco, in reality all of Peru, for his efforts.

The formal establishment of the order in Peru occurred in 1540, when Friar Francisco Toscano arrived with twelve other friars. The order quickly established monasteries in both Lima and Cuzco. Their church and convent in Cuzco was built upon the sacred temple of the Sun, the Coricancha. At the same time, the Dominicans under Friar Alonso de Montenegro established themselves in the other Inca capital of Quito.

Although the Dominicans were deeply involved in missionary activity among the Indians, they also had close ties to the Spanish population. In the capital cities, the Dominican conventual churches were often among the most ornate and best endowed. Many Dominicans also participated in the literary life of the colonies. In Lima, Friar Diego de Ojeda (Hojeda) won great repute for his poetry, especially the sacred epic La cristiada.

The Dominicans played an important role in the study of native languages. The order was responsible for the production of one of the most popular early catechisms in Mexico. In 1548 and 1550 their Doctrina cristiana was published. Later, in 1565, Friar Domingo de la Anunciación published his Doctrina christiana breve, another key early catechism, this one written in both Spanish and Nahuatl, the Aztec language. Among early students of the indigenous cultures, Friar Diego Durán ranks as very important. In his Historia de las indias de la Nueva España he compiled much information about the ancient rites and culture of the Aztecs, acquired during his childhood in Texcoco, near Mexico City. In Peru the efforts of the Dominicans to study the native languages was represented by Friar Domingo de Santo Tomás who published the first grammar and a dictionary of Quechua in 1560.

In Europe the Dominican order participated in the Holy Office of the Inquisition, but in the New World the Holy Office was organized under the monarch. The role played by the Dominicans was no greater than that of any other order. At the close of the sixteenth century one Dominican who had achieved some fame for his work in the Inquisition and for his skills as an historian was Friar Agustín Dávila y Padilla, author of the Historia de la fundación y discurso de la provincia de Santiago, a history of the Dominicans in Mexico.

As in other orders, by the end of the sixteenth century, nearly half of the membershp of local monasteries consisted of Creoles. Another important faction within the order were peninsular Spaniards who had entered the order in the New World, hijos de provincia. In order to cope with the competition for political power among these three groups, the Dominicans adopted the system known as the alternativa in their regular leadership elections. In this system, the leadership of local monasteries regularly rotated from peninsulars to creoles to hijos de provincia.

There were several Dominicans who became bishops during the colonial period. Some of the most famous of these include Friar Bartolomé de Las Casas, the first bishop of Chiapas, Friar Alonso de Montúfar, the second archbishop of Mexico and Friar Diego de Loaysa, first archbishop of Lima.

In Lima, during the seventeenth century a rich culture emerged out of the Dominican order. Saint Martín de Porres (1579–1639) was the mulatto son of a local gentleman. He sought entry into the Dominican order, but due to his illegitimate birth and mixed ancestry he was denied. Through quiet determination de Porres continued his quest, until in 1603 he was admitted as a lay brother. He was canonized in 1962. Juan Macias (1585–1645) arrived in Lima as a begging orphan. After living in the streets for several years, Macias entered the Dominican order and gained great fame for his piety and the austerity of his prayer life. He was beatified in 1837. Saint Rosa De Lima (1586–1617) was born into polite Lima society. Although baptized as Isabel, as a child she took the name Rose of Saint Mary. She did not formally enter the Dominican order, but dressed as a Dominican tertiary. She lived her life in extreme austerity, devoting long hours to prayer and mortification. She was canonized in 1671. Saint Mariana de Jesús Paredes (1618–1645) also was a member of the Dominican order. Born in Quito, she was orphaned at age five. Raised by her older sister, she soon demonstrated a vocation for the contemplative life. Although she studied with the Jesuits, she entered the Dominican convent of Santa Catalina in Quito. When an epidemic threatened to destroy everyone in the city, she offered herself to God as a sacrifice. The pestilence stopped, and within a day of her vow she died. Canonization proceedings began immediately and met with success in 1950.

See alsoCatholic Church: The Colonial Period .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Daniel Ulloa, Los predicadores divididos: Los dominicos en Nueva España, siglo XVI (1977); Los dominicos y el Nuevo Mundo (1988).

Additional Bibliography

Brading, D.A. First America: The Spanish Monarchy, Creole Patriots, and the Liberal State, 1492–1867. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1991.

Casas, Bartolomé de las, and Stafford Poole. In Defense of the Indians: The Defense of the Most Reverend Lord, Don Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, of the Order of Preachers, Late Bishop of Chiapas, Against the Persecutors and Slanderers of the Peoples of the New World Discovered Across the Seas. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 1992.

Medina, Miguel Angel, O.P. Los Dominicos en América: Presencia y actuación de los dominicos en la América colonial española de los siglos XVI-XIX. Madrid: Editorial MAPFRE, 1992.

Mier Noriega y Guerra, José Servando Teresa de, Susana Rotker, and Helen R. Lane. The Memoirs of Fray Servando Teresa de Mier. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Peréz Casado, Ángel. En las fronteras de la fe: Dominicos en la Amazonía Peruana. Salamanca: Editorial San Esteban, 1995.

                                        John F. Schwaller