The Franciscan Bernardino de Sahagún (c. 1499–1590) set out on an evangelizing mission to the Americas in 1529 and never returned to Spain. During those years, he traveled extensively throughout the Mexican territory, took part in the founding of convents and in the establishment of the first educational institution of the viceroyalty, where he taught Latin and rhetoric, and researched and documented every aspect of the culture of the Indigenous peoples in their own language. His principal work, despite attempts by the superiors of his order to silence it, has come down to us under the title General History of the Things of New Spain and is considered a precursor to modern ethnography.

Juan Miguel Zunzunegui holds a degree in Communication, a master’s degree in historical materialism, a PhD in Humanities, and is a specialist in philosophy, geopolitics, and religions. He has written numerous novels and essays, among which stand out The Myths That Gave Us Traumas (2000), the Independence Trilogy (2010–2012), Hernán Cortés (2020), The Return of Quetzalcóatl (2021), and The Day After the Conquest (2025).

Below we leave you a video podcast interview with the author in which he speaks about the secrets and intricacies of the Franciscan’s life and this volume.