Ilarione da Bergamo (1727?-1778) was an Italian

Capuchin friar The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM) ...

, who wrote an account of his travels in

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...

(colonial Mexico) 1761-1768. The narrative remained in manuscript form until its publication in Italian in 1976. A translation to English was published in 2000. He likely took his name from the town of

Bergamo Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Como ...

, near Milan; little is known of his life beyond his religious profession and his travel narrative. He was sent by the Vatican's Propaganda Fide to Mexico collect alms for the Capuchin missions in Tibet, one of seven friars. He returned to Italy after seven years of mission work and began composing his travel account. His manuscript is nearly three hundred of neat, handwritten pages, which includes two maps, one of central New Spain and the other of the Valley of Mexico, as well as illustrations of native plants, and two of Indians' dwellings. The maps, dwellings, and some botanical illustrations are reproduced in the English translation. He describes his travel from Italy to Spain, sea voyage to the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

and then to Mexico and his impressions of the port of

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

, the capital

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

, and the silver mines of

Real del Monte Mineral del Monte, commonly called Real del Monte () or El Real, is a small mining town, and one of the 84 municipalities of Hidalgo, in the State of Hidalgo in east-central Mexico. It is located at an altitude of . As of 2005, the municipali ...

in northern New Spain. There are chapters on foods and plants of New Spain, medicine, occupations and amusements, "miscellaneous topics and disasters", and religious life in the colony. Tensions between Spanish Capuchins and the Italians resulted in the Italian Capuchin's expulsion from Mexico.''Daily Life in Colonial Mexico'', pp. 164-177

References

Further reading