The Missionary Effort in the Sixteenth Century: Music and the Dominican Friar Luis Cáncer, OP.

Abstract

We describe the establishment of religious missions in America in the sixteenth
century. Aspects related to the method of evangelization of the indigenous are discussed. The
visions of the first religious orders in colonial Hispanic America are contrasted. Information about
Fray Luis Cáncer, O.P. (Fray Luis), as a pacifist evangelizer and follower of Fray Bartolomé de
Las Casas, O.P. (Padre Las Casas), it is provided. It is presented information about first codex
with music in indigenous languages of the New World composed by Fray Luis. We highlight the
Council of Lima of 1583 for its inclusion of indigenous languages in the process of the
evangelization. We bring to the discussion the passage of Fray Luis by the island of Puerto Rico,
Central America, Mexico and his death in Florida.