A Franciscan convent

Abstract

José Toribio Polo presents and transcribes 17th-century documents regarding the Convent of San Antonio de Cajamarca. The central text is an "Account" (Relación) from 1637, prepared in response to a Royal Decree requesting the collection of historical and ecclesiastical information for the Chief Chronicler of the Indies. The document narrates the entry of the Franciscan order into the province, highlighting the evangelizing work and for this purpose the grouping (Reduction) of more than five hundred indigenous villages to seventeen. The figure of the lay brother Fr. Mateo de Jumilla, known as the "Holy Father," is highlighted; he preached with a skull in his hand, destroyed huacas, and performed miracles; being venerated by the Indians. Additionally, the certificate of possession of the Santa Apolonia hill (formerly a huaca) in 1572, which allows to build a hermitage and extirpate idolatries is included, as well as details on the foundation of the convent and its confraternities.