The memoirs of Fray Servando Teresa de Mier

by José Servando Teresa de Mier Noriega y Guerra

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. Because the Spanish cited the "conversion of the heathen" as the justification of their conquest of the New World, Servando's words were deemed subversive. As a result, he was arrested by the Inquisition and exiled to Spain - only to escape and spend 10 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. Fray Servando's account of Europe is clear-sighted, hilarious and certainly not included in the travel literature of that era. 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. T