Francisco Xavier de Lizana and Beaumont. The ideological discourse of an archbishop-viceroy in Mexico, 1803-1810

Abstract

Francisco Xavier de Lizana and Beaumont was born on December 3, 1750 in Arnedo, the current Autonomous Community of La Rioja (Spain). After his ecclesiastical career in Spain, he was appointed Archbishop of Mexico in January 1803 and he became Viceroy of New Spain during ten months between 1809 and 1810. He was known for his qualities as a writer, preacher of sermons and pastoral letters. The purpose of this article is to analyze his printed discourses known in Mexico from a significant selection of them in order to interpret their ideological and moral content in a political context of crisis for the Spanish Crown.