The Millennial Kingdom of the Franciscans in the New World

No colonial empire in modern times was built upon so extensive a philosophical and theological foundation as that which the Spaniards created in the New World. The Dominicans-mainly gifted theologians teaching at the University of Salamanca-urged that the Aztec and Inca Indians should not be coerced in matters of faith nor exploited for their labor. The Franciscans who were active missionaries among the Indians argued that the use of force was justified in conquering the infidels. In this book, Professor Phelan studies the writings of Geronimo de Mendieta (1525-1604), the principal proponent of the Franciscan "hard line." He examines the theological basis for Mendieta's position and the ways in which the events of the Conquest influenced his thinking. Franciscan missionaries in Mexico such as Mendieta fervently believed that the friars and the Indians together could create the most perfect form of Christianity ever known, an event that would foreshadow the approaching end of the world. The vision can be traced to the radical tradition of medieval Catholicism of the thirteenth century.