Alonso de San Buenaventura (died 1594) was a Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

Franciscan

Franciscan

Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....

 friar

Friar

A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders.-Friars and monks:...

 and missionary

Missionary

A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...

 evangelist

Evangelism

Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....

. He entered the Franciscan order at the convent of Our Lady of Loreto in Espartinas

Espartinas

Espartinas is a city located in the province of Seville, Spain. According to the 2006 census , the city has a population of 9177 inhabitants. It is twinned with Clackmannanshire in Scotland.-External links:...

, Seville

Seville (province)

Seville is a province of southern Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is bordered by the provinces of Málaga, Cádiz, Huelva, Badajoz, and Córdoba.Its area is 14,042 km²...

. After being ordained priest

Priest

A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...

, he enlisted a group of Franciscans for missionary work in Paraguay

Paraguay

Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...

. Among these was the deacon Luis de Bolaños

Luis de Bolaños

Luis de Bolaños was a Spanish Franciscan friar and missionary evangelist, initiator of the system of reductions in Paraguay and northeastern Argentina....

, later the initiator of the system of Indian reductions.

The party embarked in 1572 with the expedition led by the Adelantado

Adelantado

Adelantado was a military title held by some Spanish conquistadores of the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries.Adelantados were granted directly by the Monarch the right to become governors and justices of a specific region, which they charged with conquering, in exchange for funding and organizing the...

Juan Ortiz de Zárate

Juan Ortiz de Zárate

Juan Ortiz de Zárate Juan Ortiz de Zárate Juan Ortiz de Zárate (c. 1521 Orduña, Biscay (Spain) – 1575 Asunción, (Paraguay). was a Spanish Basque explorer and conquistador. He journeyed to the Americas as a teenager, where he took part in the conquest of Peru under Diego de Almagro....

, which arrived in Asunción

Asunción

Asunción is the capital and largest city of Paraguay.The "Ciudad de Asunción" is an autonomous capital district not part of any department. The metropolitan area, called Gran Asunción, includes the cities of San Lorenzo, Fernando de la Mora, Lambaré, Luque, Mariano Roque Alonso, Ñemby, San...

 (the capital of present-day Paraguay) in 1575. For many years the Franciscans worked there, spreading the Gospel and doctrine, and founding missions and reductions among the Guaraní tribes.

San Buenaventura returned to Spain to recruit more missionaries in 1585. He stopped in Lima

Lima

Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...

 (present-day Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

) for two years to teach novices, and came back to Paraguay in 1588–1589 with a new group of Franciscans. He repeated the round trip to Spain and back in 1592–1593, this time bringing 24 more missionaries, including Martín Ignacio de Loyola

Martín Ignacio de Loyola

Martín Ignacio Martínez de Mallea, known as Martín Ignacio de Loyola, was a Franciscan friar, best known for his two travels around the world in 1580-1584 and 1585-1589, being the first person to complete the world circumnavigation twice, and for his missionary effort in China.He was a grandnephew...

, who was then bishop of the Río de la Plata

Río de la Plata

The Río de la Plata —sometimes rendered River Plate in British English and the Commonwealth, and occasionally rendered [La] Plata River in other English-speaking countries—is the river and estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River on the border between Argentina and...

 diocese. They arrived in Panama

Panama

Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

 and went through Peru and south. In Santiago, Chile

Santiago, Chile

Santiago , also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile, and the center of its largest conurbation . It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of above mean sea level...

, San Buenaventura fell ill, and died at the convent of San Francisco del Monte.