In the 17th century, the Province of Venezuela was an unstable and violent corner of the Spanish world, economically fueled either by private conquest or the imposition of various forms of unfree labor. Though there were moments of resistance to slavery, the encomienda, and the reparimiento in other parts of Latin America, the Capuchin position was remarkably unified. This dissertation answers the question: what encouraged or allowed the Capuchins of Venezuela, as a corporate body, to take a posture of resistance to a program which had been legitimated by both civil and ecclesiastical authority? The answer surprisingly enough does not come from their immediate surroundings, but rather can be traced to its origins during the first hundred years after Francis of Assisi’s death. That is, resistance is not to be attributed either to modern or Iberian impulses, but to Medieval and Italian. This dissertation argues that the abolitionist position that these men articulated was a direct product of a radical Franciscan ideology that was internalized and transmitted via the Ordo Fratrum Minorum Cappucinorum. The Capuchins of Venezuela eschewed any concern for social stability or the flourishing of empire and instead embraced a radical conception of obedientia, which enabled them to resist coercive activity in the region. The key to this resistance was a perfectionist interpretation of the Franciscan vita. In this model, complete adherence to Francis’ way of living—as expressed in his writings, especially the Rule, and to his more radical descendants, the Testamentum—was understood to be the most ideal program for Christian living outside of the Gospels, providing a moveable locus of stability. The mind of Francis thus provided a transcendent point which was divorced from time, place, and immediate social concerns. Through analysis, literary and contextual, of Rule commentaries, personal correspondences, and polemical writings, three things become clear. The first is that there was a strain of Franciscan theology and praxis that rejected authority not directly derived from the life and methods of Francis of Assisi. Second, the Capuchins from their earliest moments adopted and espoused these positions as the official platform of the Reform. Finally, both of these elements primed the friars to resist the coercive colonial program in Venezuela. In undertaking this argument, this dissertation does not advance any claims of Franciscan exceptionalism, or imply that resistance to coercion was an integral part of the Capuchin colonial experience writ large. Instead, I attempt to illustrate that when the Capuchins chose to elevate their own consciences’ above contemporary social norms, they did so by utilizing methods which were deeply ingrained in the Capuchin Reform. / 2026-01-24T00:00:00Z