The Worlds of Junipero Serra Historical Contexts and Cultural Representations [Hardcover]

As one of America’s most important missionaries, Junípero Serra is widely recognized as the founding father of California’s missions.  It was for that work that he was canonized in 2015 by Pope Francis.  Less well known, however, is the degree to which Junípero Serra embodied the social, religious and artistic currents that shaped Spain and Mexico across the 18th century. Further, Serra’s reception in American culture in the 19th and 20th centuries has often been obscured by the controversies surrounding his treatment of California’s Indians. This volume situates Serra in the larger Spanish and Mexican contexts within which he lived, learned, and came of age. Offering a rare glimpse into Serra’s life, these essays capture the full complexity of cultural trends and developments that paved the way for this powerful missionary to become not only California’s most polarizing historical figure but also North America’s first Spanish colonial saint.

 

Steven W. Hackelis Professor of History at the University of California, Riverside and the author ofJunipero Serra: California’s Founding Father,Alta California, andChildren of Coyote.

"This impressive collection of essays brings to life, in vivid color and detail, the many worlds crucial to both producing and understanding Serra, spanning the places of Mallorca, Mexico, and California and the influences of education, intellectual and spiritual life, art, popular culture, and historical commemoration."—Juliana Barr, author of Peace Came in the Form of a Woman: Indians and Spaniards in the Texas Borderlands

"Is there anyone in California’s history who still evokes such passionate disagreement as Junípero Serra? In this sparking collection, Serra’s great biographer Steven Hackel has brought together an international dream team ol3½