Francisco Marroquín
Francisco Marroquin Hurtado (* 1478 or 1499 in the Valle de Tornazo, Cantabria , Spain ; † April 18, 1563 in Santiago de Guatemala , Guatemala ) was the first bishop of Guatemala .
Life
Marroquín came from a Spanish noble family . As a family name he took that of his mother Juana Ruiz Marroquín del Pimar, as she had a higher social rank than the father Pedro del Valle. Marroquín studied at the Colegio Mayor in Burgo de Osma philosophy . He married early and had a son (Alonso Marroquín). After his wife Francisca de Palacios died, Marroquín embarked on a spiritual career and became a priest . In 1528 he met the Conquistador Pedro de Alvarado at the Spanish court , who had conquered Guatemala in 1524 . With Alvarado, Juan de Zumárraga (first Bishop of Mexico) and Vasco de Quiroa (Bishop of Michoacán ), Marroquín traveled to Cuba , Mexico and finally to Guatemala, where he arrived in 1530 , suffering from malaria .
On April 11, 1530 he took over the wooden church built in 1527 in what was then the capital, Santiago de Guatemala , and was appointed pastor on June 3, 1530. Shortly thereafter, the Spanish Archbishop Zumárraga appointed him Vicar General for Guatemala. Marroquín learned several Mayan languages and wrote a lost grammar of the most important indigenous languages ( Arte para aprender los principales idiomas de Guatemala ). He founded a rudimentary elementary school education and created the conditions for the establishment of the Colegio Mayor de Santo Tomás , from which the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala later emerged. Together with the Dominican Bartolomé de Las Casas and others, he pursued alternative ways of proselytizing the Maya .
In July 1532, the Spanish Queen proposed him as Bishop of Guatemala, among other things on the grounds that he was the “Protector of the Indians” ( Protector de los Indios ). After Pope Paul III. on December 18, 1534 had accepted the proposal, Marroquín was ordained on April 7, 1537 in Mexico as the first bishop of Guatemala. He received his episcopal ordination from Juan de Zumárraga OFM , Bishop of México; Co- consecrator was Juan Lopez de Zárate , bishop of Antequera diocese, Oaxaca.
A few kilometers south of today's city of Antigua Guatemala , Marroquín bought land, built a residence there and built the convent of San Juan del Obispo. He gave large parts of his lands to the Maya, who suffered from the encomienda system. After the then capital was destroyed by a natural disaster in 1541, he personally led the reconstruction in the neighboring Panchoy Valley and thus became the founder of Antigua Guatemala. In 1548 he set up a hospital and a public library there. His work for the indigenous population made him an extraordinary churchman for his time, even in the years up to his death.
See also
Web links
- Entry on Francisco Marroquín on catholic-hierarchy.org ; accessed on August 16, 2016.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Marroquín, Francisco |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Marroquin Hurtado, Francisco (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | first bishop of Guatemala |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1478 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Valle de Tornazo |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 18, 1563 |
| Place of death | Antigua Guatemala |