BENAVIDES, ALONSO. - Born in an unknown year on the island of S. Miguel, and having entered the Franciscans in the convent of Mexico (1603), he was the first “custodian” of the missions of New Mexico (from 1622), whither he went with 26 companions. As early as 1630, from 80,000 to 100,000 baptized Indians were reported, especially among the Xumani and the Quirivi, so that the viceroy sent him to Spain to inform King Filippo IV. These rapid conversions are associated with the Agreda (v.). In 1631, while he was preparing to depart again
BENAVIDES ALONSO - BENDL GIOV. GIORGIO
for New Mexico, he was elected archbishop of Goa. The place and year of his death are unknown.
He wrote several brief reports on those missions, valuable for their geographical and ethnographical contributions, although not free from some exaggeration regarding the number of the Indians (Relación de los grandes Teoros espirituales y temporales descubiertos con el auxilio de Dios en el Nuevo México, and Memorial que Fray Juan de Santander de la orden de S. Francisco..., presenta a la Majestad Católica del Rey, both published in Madrid in 1630).