Agustín de Vetancurt (also written Vetancourt, Betancourt, Betancur; 1620–1700) was a Mexican

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

and

scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a termina ...

of the

Nahuatl language Nahuatl ( ; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller popul ...

. Born in Mexico City, Vetancurt became a Franciscan in Puebla, where he spent 40 years amongst the indigenous. He was official chronicler of the Order, so much of his most important work ''Teatro Mexicano'' deals with matters of interest to its members. But it is not only a history of the Franciscans in Mexico, but also a wide-ranging discussion of indigenous history and customs, topics of great interest to Franciscans of the first generation in Mexico. He drew upon the works of fellow Franciscans Gerónimo de Mendieta and Juan de Torquemada. Although he recapitulates some material from his sources, there is considerable material on prehispanic and colonial indigenous not found elsewhere and particularly valuable for the seventeenth century. He was helped in his work by Don Carlos de Siguenza y Gongora, and it is possible that some information on prehispanic indigenous culture came from him. Vetancurt accused his Franciscan predecessor

Fray Juan de Torquemada Juan de Torquemada (c. 1562 – 1624) was a Franciscan friar, active as missionary in History of Mexico#Spanish rule (1521–1821), colonial Mexico and considered the "leading Franciscan chronicler of his generation." Administrator, enginee ...

, author of ''Monarquia Indiana'', of plagiarizing the work of Gerónimo de Mendieta.D.A. Brading, ''The First America: The Spanish Monarchy, Creole Patriots, and the Liberal State 1492-1867'', New York: Cambridge University Press 1991, p. 292.

Works

*1673: ''Arte de lengua mexicana''. 49 .e. 50 leaves. En Mexico: Por Francisco Rodríguez Lupercio. Referenced by: JCB Lib. cat., pre-1675, III : 267; Sabin, 99385; Palau y Dulcet (2nd ed.), 36120; Medina, J. T. México, 1103; Viñaza, C. Lenguas indígenas, 204 *1697: ''Teatro Mexicano: Crónica de la Provincia del Santo Evangelio de México, Menologio Franciscano''. 5 pt. Mexico: por Dona María de Benavides Viuda de Ivan de Ribera, 1697–98 **''Teatro Mexicano: descripción breve de los sucesos ejemplares de la Nueva-España en el Nuevo Mundo Occidental de las Indias''. 4 vols. Madrid: J. Porrúa Turanzas, 1960 (Contents: 1. Sucessos naturales. Sucessos políticos.--2. De los sucessos militares de las armas. Tratado de la ciudad de México. Tratado de la ciudad de Puebla.--3. Chronica de la Provincia del Santo Evangelico.--4. Menologio franciscano de los varones más señalados, que con sus vidas exemplares ilustraron la Provencia de el Santo Evangelio de México.) **''Teatro Mexicano: descripción breve de los sucesos ejemplares, históricos y religiosos del Nuevo Mundo de las Indias. Crónica de la Provincia del Santo Evangelio de México. Menologio franciscano de los varones más señalados, que con sus vidas ejemplares, perfección religiosa, ciencia, predicación evangélica en su vida, ilustraron la Provincia del Santo Evangelio de México''. México: Editorial Porrúa, 1971.

References

1620 births 1700 deaths Mexican people of Spanish descent 17th-century Mexican historians Novohispanic Mesoamericanists Historians of Mesoamerica Linguists of Mesoamerican languages 17th-century Mesoamericanists {{Mesoamerica-stub