ARLEGUI, JOSÉ

Franciscan chronicler; b. Laguardia, Navarre, Spain, 1685; d. place unknown, 1750? He was the son of José Arleguiz and Ana San Martín and joined the Franciscans at San Francisco de Vitoria in 1701. He taught arts and theology at the convent of Aránzazu. Then he went to Zacatecas, Mexico, where he was lector in theology, regent of studies, guardian (1721), provincial (1725), and chronicler of the province. He was also an officer and commissary of the Inquisition. As an administrator he walked 900 miles visiting his provincial area. He promoted education and built (and actively helped build—since he himself cut trees in the sierra to get wood for church floors) convents and churches. He was a noted preacher, and many of his sermons were printed in Mexico City, Guatemala, and Madrid; they have been catalogued by the bibliographer Beristain. Arlegui's most important work is Crónica de la santa provincia de nuestro P. San Francisco de Zacatecas (Mexico City 1737; repr. 1851). It is divided into five parts: part one, the origin of the custody of Zacatecas; part two, the founding of monasteries; part three, Amerindian customs and the conflicts with native peoples; part four, biographies of martyred friars; part five, biographies of famous Franciscans. The chronicle is inaccurate for the early period but becomes more exact for the late 17th and the early 18th century. It closes with 1733. Arlegui stated that his order then had in New Spain ten provinces with 3,200 religious, 397 convents, 122 missionary centers among the natives, four apostolic colleges, and 187 professorships of theology, grammar, rhetoric, and the various native languages.

Bibliography: j. m. beristain de souza, Biblioteca hispano-americana septentrional, 5 v. in 2 (3d ed. Mexico City 1947).

[e. gÓmez-tagle]