Publicaciones – Artículos
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“The Virgin of Guadalupe, symbol of Mexico”. Revista National Geographic History, Julio-Agosto, 2026: 14-17.
In 1521, Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire, was besieged and overtaken by tens of thousands of Mesoamericans-rivals or jubjugated peoples of the Aztec Empire-allied with a handful of Spanish conquistadors led by Hernán Cortés. As Cortés consolidated his control over the territory, one of the first measures was to ask Charles V to send a group of Franciscan missionaries to evangelize his allies. In August 1523, the first Franciscans landed in Veracruz, a port city in east-central Mexico, and settled in Texcoco, close to the city of Tenochtitlán.
One of the missionaries, Friar Pedro de Gante, immediately recognized the need to learn Nahuatl, then the predominant language of central Mexico, in order to be able to spread the word of God. He also established several village shools where Indigenous people were instructed in newly emerging trades. In 1536, the friars founded the College of Santa Cruz in Tlatelolco, near Tenochtitlan. There, Indigenous elites were taught the seven liberal arts, Latin medicine, and Christian doctrine-the existence of one true God and his son Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary.