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On December 12, 1794, Fray Servando Teresa de Mier preached a sermon in Mexico City that led to his arrest by the Inquisition. He was exiled to Spain--only to escape and spend ten years traveling throughout Europe, as none other than a French priest. So began the grand adventure of Fray
Servando's life, and of this gripping memoir. Here is an invitation hard for any reader to resist: a glimpse of the European "Age of Enlightenment" through the eyes of a fugitive Mexican friar. In this memoir, one sees a portrait of manners and morals that is a far cry from the "civilized" spirit
that the Empire wanted to impose on its Colonies. This book takes a look at history from an upside down perspective, asking this question: who were the real savages, the colonizers themselves, or the supposed "savages" they were struggling to convert?
After ten years, Fray Servando finally returned home to an independent Mexico, where he served the new government before his death. Heretic and rebel, fugitive and visionary, character in a novel and father of his country--Fray Servando Teresa de Mier was all of these things. Translated into English
for the first time, this memoir truly captures the passionate spirit of a fantastic man.
Résumé
The story of Fray Servando's life in exile is a vivid account of the adventures of one of the most original ideologues of Latin American independence. On December 12, 1794, Fray Servando preached a sermon in Mexico City claiming that the Indies had been converted by St. Thomas long before the Spaniards arrived. This was a subversive and controversial notion because it took away the rationale for the Spanish conquest of the New World - the conversion of the heathen. Colonial authorities arrested him and he was exiled to Spain where he was imprisoned by his own Dominican order. Servando escaped and spent 10 years in exile travelling throughout Europe disguised as a French priest, issuing revolutionary manifestos and sermons. He returned to Mexico after Independence and served the new government before his death.
This is the only English translation of The Memoirs of Fray Servando Teresa de Mier available.
