Life
Juan de Torquemada was born at Torquemada between 1557 and 1565 and arrived in New Spain as a child. He studied philosophy and Nahuatl at the convent Grande de San Francisco in Mexico City, where he was ordained in 1579. In 1582 he moved to the convent of Santiago Tlatelolco, and he was made guardian of that convent in 1600. He also took over the administration of the Colegio de Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco.
Beginning in 1604 he traveled continually on the business of his order. He was guardian of the convents of Zacatlán (in the mountains of Puebla) and Tlaxcala. In 1607, during the flood of Mexico City, he was asked by Viceroy Juan de Mendoza y Luna, marqués de Montesclaros to reconstruct the calzadas (carriageways) of Chapultepec, Misterios to Tepeyac and San Cristóbal and the dams of Zumpango and Citlaltépetl, although he was not an engineer.
In 1609 he was named chronologist of the Franciscan Order.
In 1610 Torquemada oversaw construction of the monastery and church of Santiago Tlatelolco. Its interior featured a grandiose altarpiece decorated with paintings by Baltasar de Echave Orio surrounding a hand-carved relief of Santiago, but this was destroyed soon afterwards.
In 1614 Torquemada was elected provincial superior of the Order of St. Francis in Mexico. He held this position until 1617.
He died suddenly in the church of Santiago Tlatelolco in 1624, while singing matins.
Read more about this topic: Fray Juan De Torquemada
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