Resumen

TORRE CURIEL, José Refugio de la. Sanctity and martyrdom in Jesuit and Franciscan testimonies concerning the Christianization of northwestern New Spain, 17th and 18th centuries. Relac. Estud. hist. soc. [online]. 2016, vol.37, n.145, pp.63-107. ISSN 2448-7554.

Based on the detailed examination of writings about missionaries who died in the area of Pimería Alta (Sonora), and supported by maps of the area, this study explores how Jesuits and Franciscans worked to construct an image of northwestern New Spain as a geographic space successfully incorporated into Christianity. It elucidates how, in distinct contexts and epochs, and through the use of narrative processes that described the links that -through martyrdom or the uniting of places and peoples under the patronage of the Apostles and other saints- Jesuits and Franciscans configured a geography with a key common denominator; namely, the triumph of the missionaries' cause. In a region characterized by dissimilar conditions, promoting stories of sanctity and martyrdom became an important mechanism that allowed the clergy to promote, to diverse audiences, distinct proposals for the identification and organization of northwestern New Spain.

Palabras llave : Eusebio Kino; Javier Saeta; Pimería Alta; Juan Domingo de Arricivita; Diego Bringas de Manzaneda.