Juan Coronel (1569 in Spain – 1651 at Mérida, Mexico) was a Spanish

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

missionary.

Life

He made his academic studies at the

University of Alcalá de Henares A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

, and joined the Franciscans of the province of Castile. He was sent to

Yucatán Yucatán, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, constitute the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 106 separate municipalities, and its capital city is Mérida. ...

, Mexico, in 1590, and there so familiarized himself with the

Maya language The Mayan languages In linguistics, it is conventional to use ''Mayan'' when referring to the languages, or an aspect of a language. In other academic fields, ''Maya'' is the preferred usage, serving as both a singular and plural noun, and a ...

that he was able to teach it, the historian

Diego López de Cogolludo Diego López de Cogolludo (Alcalá de Henares 1613 – New Spain 1665) was a Spanish Franciscan historian of Yucatán. Biography A native of Alcalá de Henares in Spain, he took the habit of St. Francis at the convent of San Diego, on 31 Mar ...

being one of his pupils. Coronel was one of the foremost Christian teachers in Yucatán in the seventeenth century. He was a strict

Observantine Observantism (also called the observant movement or observant reform) was a reform movement affecting most of the religious orders of the Latin Church. It lasted from the mid-14th until the early-to-mid 16th century. Observants sought to restore the ...

for sixty-seven years, always travelling barefooted. His austerity impeded his election to the office of Provincial of the Franciscan Order in Yucatán.

Works

Cogolludo says he wrote a Maya grammar (''Arte'') that was printed in Mexico, of which, however, nothing else is known. A catechism in Maya: "Doctrina cristiana en lengua Maya", was published in Mexico in 1620, and in the same year there appeared in print, also in Mexico, "Discursos predicables y tratados espirituales en lengua Maya". Both are exceedingly rare.

References

;Attribution * The entry cites: **

, ''Historia de Yucatán'' (Madrid, 1688; Mérida, 1842); ** Beristain, ''Biblioteca hispano-americana'' (Mexico, 1816; Amecameca, 1883); **

Ephraim George Squier Ephraim George Squier (June 17, 1821 – April 17, 1888), usually cited as E. G. Squier, was an American archaeologist, history writer, painter and newspaper editor. Biography Squier was born in Bethlehem, New York, the son of a minister, Joel S ...

, ''Monograph of Authors who have Written on the Languages of Central America'' (New York, 1861); he merely copies Beristain. {{DEFAULTSORT:Coronel, Juan 1569 births 1651 deaths Spanish Franciscans Spanish Roman Catholic missionaries University of Alcalá alumni Franciscan missionaries in New Spain