The Hagiographies and the processes for canonization as sources for religious history in Hispanic America

Abstract

This presentation establishes a balance of the present state of this matter and a reflection about a researching field scarcely worked in Chili, in spite of the fact that there are a great amount of sources avaible (among the most important in America), in national archives and religious institutions. Those have not been properly explored yet with the objective of searching documents about the life of religious people and similar matters. When we research on these sources, it has been considered, besides of their different characteristics with respect to the traditional documents used by historians. Nevertheless, they are considered so valuable nowadays because of their contribution for the study of religious mentalities in America during the colonial period.