FRAY SERVANDO TERESA DE MIER: BIOGRAPHY, STYLE, IDEAS, WORKS - LITERATURE - 2025

José Servando Teresa de Mier y Noriega y Guerra (1765-1827), also known as “fray Servando” or “Padre Mier”, was a Mexican ecclesiastic, philosopher, writer and politician. A good part of his texts were related to the independence process of Mexico from Spanish rule.

His writings were mainly sermons and speeches related to the Catholic faith, and the political and social situation in his country. Her gift of speech put her life in trouble on several occasions, as happened in 1794, after questioning, during a sermon, the apparitions of the Virgin Mary.

Fray Servando Teresa de Mier. Public domain. Taken from Wikimedia Commons.

Fray Servando was a man of strong and determined convictions. During his life he faced various vicissitudes, was imprisoned, and for a long period he lived in exile from his homeland. However, his actions left an indelible mark on the political and social history of Mexico.

Biography

Birth and family

Servando Teresa was born on October 18, 1765 in Monterrey, Nuevo León, coming from a wealthy family. Her parents were Joaquín de Mier y Noriega, politician and governor of Monterrey, and Antonia Guerra, a descendant of the first Spaniards who arrived in Monterrey.

Studies of Servando Teresa de Mier

The first years of education of Servando Teresa de Mier were spent in his native Monterrey. Later, in 1780, when she was fifteen years old, she went to Mexico City to study at the convent of the Dominican Order, more than out of conviction, to please her family.

Shield of the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico. Source: VegaMex (Óscar Vega), via Wikimedia Commons

Shortly after, he began studying philosophy at a school that belonged to the same Order, called Regina Porta Coeli. Once he became a priest, he began studying theology at the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico, where he obtained the degree in 1792, at the age of twenty-seven.

His gift for the word

In a very short time Servando became known for his ability to deliver sermons and speeches. In 1794 he made a memorable sermon in honor of Hernán Cortés; However, the speech that aroused the most attention was the one he delivered on December 12 of that same year about the Virgin of Guadalupe.

After the celebration of the 263 years of the appearance of the Virgin, and in the presence of Spanish representatives, the priest expressed that it was not something that was owed to Spain. Fray Servando made it clear that the adoration of Guadalupe was of pre-Hispanic origin and not brought to Mexico by the conquerors.

Harsh consequences

Fray Servando's sermon brought him harsh consequences, as Archbishop Alonso Núñez de Haro, who was present, quickly ordered his arrest. He was taken to jail on charges of disloyalty and denial, and was also excommunicated. His family and friends turned their backs on him.

A sentence without trial

For Archbishop Núñez, two months in prison were not enough punishment, much less the apologies offered by Servando de Mier. So he made the decision to sentence him to exile, without even holding a trial. Although the fray asked for justice, the sentence was sudden.

Road to exile

The sentence imposed on Fray Servando was exile from his homeland for ten years. On June 7, 1795, he left Veracruz for Spain. He had to remain secluded in a convent, under the prohibition of teaching or preaching. In addition to all that, he was prevented from confessing and his degree as a doctor was taken away.

In search of justice

Fray Servando knew that an injustice had been committed against him. So he escaped from the cells of the Caldas convent. His attempt was unsuccessful, as he was recaptured, and transferred to the convent of San Francisco, with the advantage of having more freedom.

Alonso Nugnez de Haroy Peralta, who was against Fray Servando. Source: Unidentified painter, via Wikimedia Commons

Determined to be free, he took his case to the Council of the Indies, and although the members of the Inquisition found no offense in his sermon, Archbishop Nuñez interfered against him. Faced with the situation, in 1801, he escaped to France, and after a time he settled in Paris.

Stay in Paris

Servando de Mier took advantage of his stay in Paris to create a Spanish language school, in the company of a Venezuelan, the teacher Simón Rodríguez. In addition, he translated some works, especially Atala, by François de Chateaubriand.

It was a time of great benefit for the priest. He met several intellectuals and politicians, among them Luca Alamán, who later participated in the creation of a political party in Mexico. Alejandro Humboldt was also part of his contacts.

Fray Servando back to Spain

After leaving the Dominican Order in 1802, he returned to Spain. His freedom did not last long, because he was sent to jail for being in favor of the cause of Independence of Mexico. He managed to escape in 1804, but was arrested again.

After three years in prison, Fray Servando was under the orders of the Pope, for having managed to get some rabbis to join the Catholic religion. In 1808, after having been in Lisbon, he joined the Valencia Volunteers militia, which led him to fight in several battles.

Servando de Mier and the Society of Knights

Towards the end of the first decade of 1800, Servando de Mier escaped from the French in Zaragoza. Then, thanks to the favors of General Joaquin Blake, he joined the Seville board. Some time later he became part of the Society of Rational Knights.

Ruins of the monastery of San Francisco de Burgos, where fray Servando was imprisoned. Source: Lancastermerrin88, via Wikimedia Commons

After traveling through several cities in Spain, he joined several sessions of the Cortes of Cádiz. Soon after he went to England, specifically to the capital, and began to write in the newspaper El Español, in favor of the freedom of the American nations from the Spanish.

De Mier in the constitution of Cádiz

During the constituent Cortes of Cádiz, Servando de Mier was reunited with Lucas Alamán, who incorporated him into the American side. In that process he met the Mexican politician Miguel Ramos Arizpe, with whom he formed a team in favor of the Spanish colonies in America.

Although the participation of both Mexicans was important, due to their abilities to negotiate and express themselves, they did not achieve that the members of the Cortes benefited the nations of New Spain. This is how he realized that it was necessary for America to be independent.

Servando de Mier returns to New Spain

On May 15, 1816, Servando de Mier set out on an expedition through New Spain, along with the Spanish Xavier Mina, both arriving in Baltimore. There they met with the Hispanic revolutionaries, and then made a tour of various North American cities.

In 1817 they both arrived in Soto la Marina, in Tamaulipas, Mexico. There Mier was apprehended by the Spanish. When he was in the jail of the inquisition of the Mexican capital, he was able to write his memoirs. Also this time he managed to escape, and was in Philadelphia until 1821.

Servando de Mier deputy

Servando de Mier returned to Mexico after the independence feat, entering through Veracruz, in 1822. But with luck against him, the Spanish arrested him and imprisoned him in the castle of San Juan de Ulúa. He was released after three months.

Once free, he served as a deputy in the Congress of Mexico, for his native state, Nuevo León. It was the time when the Mexican military Agustín de Iturbide tried to become emperor, but de Mier became his main opponent.

In the hands of Iturbide

The fact that Servando de Mier was strongly opposed to the creation of an empire in his country by the dictator Agustín Iturbide, brought him serious consequences. The military gave the order to make him prisoner, but he was finally able to escape on January 1, 1823.

Famous speech in Congress

Servando de Mier was part of the Constituent Congress of Mexico. For this reason, on December 13, 1823, he issued the historic Discourse of the prophecies. In this speech, he stated, among other things, that he was in agreement with federalism, but controlled, without the states having full sovereignty.

Last years and death

Servando Teresa de Mier's life was not easy, but she always knew how to stand firm in her ideas and convictions. During his last years he lived a good time in the presidential palace, thanks to the invitation made by Guadalupe Victoria, the first constitutional president of Mexico.

Three days before his death, de Mier had given a kind of feast, as if he sensed his departure. While at the celebration he decided to say a few words about his life and adventures. He died on December 3, 1827, in Mexico City, and his remains were buried in the Santo Domingo convent.

Mystery after his passing

Some historians and scholars have agreed that thirty-four years after his death, in 1861, Mier's body was found mummified. Later, along with other mummies, it was exhibited. Furthermore, it was argued that an Italian bought them some time later.

For a long time, it has been argued that his remains are missing. However, some claim that they would be in one of the many temples in San Pedro Cholula, in Puebla. The only certainty is that Servando Teresa de Mier played an important role in the history of Mexico.

Style

Although Servando Teresa de Mier was a writer of sermons and speeches, his style and qualities for the letters were perceptible. The language he used was concise, clear and direct, and almost always severe against those he considered to be acting in bad faith.

His writings were a reflection of his personality. They were characterized by being intelligent, captivating and scathing, complemented with sarcasm and ironies. The verb and the lyrics of Mier were full of expressiveness, energy and strength.

Thematic

Servando Teresa de Mier, in addition to writing and delivering sermons of a religious nature, also focused on political and social issues. She wrote against Spanish rule over America, the formation of an empire in Mexico, and the ways of structuring some nations.

Constitutional ideas

After being elected deputy to the second Constituent Congress, Servando de Mier proposed, after his speech of December 13, 1823, the establishment of a moderate Federal Republic. However, such an idea was separated from a federation like the United States.

While Mier was not entirely in agreement with a federal government, he was not a centralist either. However, in the face of different demonstrations in the interior of the country or provinces, he accepted that Mexico was a federal state, but without giving the cities total autonomy and sovereignty.

Service to the people

Another of his contributions was related to the need that every government had to serve the people, better and better, even if that meant contradicting what the citizens really wanted. For Servando de Mier, the interests of a country should not obey the whims of a minority.

Plays

- Letters from an American to the Spanish (1811).

- History of the revolution of New Spain (1813).

- Apology and relationship and occurred in Europe until October 1805 (1817).

- Farewell letter to the Mexicans (1820).

- Political question: Can New Spain be free? (1820).

- Idea of ​​the Constitution (1820).

- Instructive political memory (1821).

- Of the prophecies (1823). Speech.

- Apology and relations of his life with the title of Memories (Posthumous edition, 1917).

- Memories. A Mexican Friar Exiled in Europe (Posthumous Edition, 2006)

Brief description of some of his works

Letters from an American to Spanish

In this work, Mier presented his thoughts and ideas on freedom. The special claim of independence for his native Mexico from Spanish rule stands out. These correspondences were addressed to the historian Juan Bautista Muñoz and to José María Blanco White, a journalist from Seville.

In those letters he let it be known that the Cadiz constitution was not beneficial for the American people because its laws were inapplicable. For Mier, the Spanish were equal to the Americans, and he also expressed that Mexican politicians had the capacity to govern their nation.

About Venezuela

He considered that the Spanish were only interested in the wealth of the colonized countries. He also made reference in some letters to the independence of Venezuela, in relation to some articles that White published in the newspaper El Patriótico.

Fragment

“… Do not be careful, then, for America: there is no better academy for the people than a revolution.

Yes, they will understand, they will understand the declaration of the rights of the people, that slavish imitation of the declaration of the rights of man that makes you shudder because it was part of the national assembly, and applied in so many different circumstances.

I would say that Venezuelans have restored to America a work of theirs, which produced such excellent effects in the United States, where the circumstances were the same as theirs ”.

History of the New Spain Revolution

It was a testimonial type work, in which Mier related to the readers the different events that occurred in Cádiz, and in America with the establishment of New Spain. In addition, he made a criticism of the supposed advantages that the Spanish gave to the American countries.

Fragment

«What will this barbarian do where he believes that he is authorized by justice to display the force of his character? Desolation… they march before him against wretched Indians armed with sticks and stones; and if despair, as in the old days, revolts them in passing the fatal comet, says the viceroy, who is going to stir over peoples… "

Phrases

- “(…) The image of Our Lady is a painting from the early first century of the church, but as well as its conservation, its brush is superior to all human industry, as the Virgin Mary herself was naturally stamped on the canvas while living of mortal flesh ”.

- “(…) I confess, they are strange and unheard of, but they seem very likely to me; and at least if I'm mistaken, I will have excited the laziness of my countrymen so that by trying it on, I better clarify the truth of this story ”.

- "I don't know who gets the military to punish monastic apostasies."

- “(…) They will tell me, do you want us to become a central republic? No. I have always been for the federation, but a reasonable and moderate federation… ”.

- “Wanting from the first trial of freedom, going up to the top of social perfection, is the madness of a child who tries to become a perfect man in one day. We will exhaust ourselves in the effort, we will succumb under an unequal load to our forces ”.

- “It takes courage, says a wise politician, to deny an entire people; but it is sometimes necessary to go against his will to serve him better… ”.

- “(…) the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was already very famous and adored by the Aztec Indians who were Christians, on the flat top of this mountain range of Tenayuca (…)”.

- "I will show that the history of Guadalupe includes and contains the history of ancient Tonantzin, with her hair and wool, which has not been noticed because its history is dispersed in the writers of Mexican antiquities."

- "Guadalupe is not painted on Juan Diego's tilma, but on the cloak of Santo Tomé (known to the Indians as Quetzacoalt) and an apostle of this kingdom…".

- “Find me in a foreign kingdom without clothes, without money, without titles, without briefs, without knowledge and without arbitration. Here begins hunger and trouble and new jobs. But freedom more precious than gold, makes them more tolerable "

References

1. Servando Teresa de Mier. (2019). Spain: Wikipedia. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org.
2. Tamaro, E. (2004-2019). Fray Servando Teresa de Mier. (N / a): Biographies and Lives. Recovered from: biografiasyvidas.com.
3. Moreno, V., Ramírez, M. and others. (2019). Fray Servando Teresa de Mier. (N / a): Search Biographies. Recovered from: Buscabiografias.com.
4. Bénassy, ​​M. (2013). Defense of Fray Servando Teresa de Mier, actor of Mexican independence. France: Caravelle. Recovered from: journals.openedition.org.
5. José Servando Teresa de Mier. (S. f.). Cuba: Ecu Red. Recovered from: ecured.cu.