Rose Marie Beebe and Robert M. Senkewicz provide fresh translations and new insights into the recently canonized Junípero Serra. Those wanting to learn more about the life and ideas of Serra will find this book filled with important letters and correspondence, along with new interpretations of the historical events and experiences that shaped Serra's views on settlement, Native Americans, and the spiritual conquest of California. By providing plenty of newly translated documents, the authors carefully chronicle the way in which Serra's views were shaped by his formative years in Majorca, along with his time in the colonial outposts in the Sierra Gorda. It is in the latter that Serra came to view settlers as a hindrance to his mission to evangelize Indians, and it was through his experiences with the Inquisition that he saw the rejection of traditional ways as crucial to successful conversion of indigenous peoples, two central ideas...

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