COLLEGE OF SAN FERNANDO DE MEXICO. The College of San Fernando de Mexico was established by Franciscans^qv in response to repeated requests that Mexico City be granted a college comparable with those at Querétaro and Zacatecas. A hospice for eight friars from the College of Santa Cruz de Querétaro^qv was opened on January 14, 1731, and the friars were instructed to remain in Mexico City until a seminary college was established. On January 27, 1731, the viceroy approved the project and appointed Father Alcántaro temporary president. Fray Isidro Félix de Espinosa^qv relieved Alcántaro in April 1731. The plans for the college were approved by the king of Spain on October 15, 1733. Two of the friars from the college who served in Texas were killed at San Sabá de la Santa Cruz Mission on March 16, 1758.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Herbert Eugene Bolton, Texas in the Middle Eighteenth Century: Studies in Spanish Colonial History and Administration (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1915; rpt., Austin: University of Texas Press, 1970). Carlos E. Castañeda, Our Catholic Heritage in Texas (7 vols., Austin: Von Boeckmann-Jones, 1936-58; rpt., New York: Arno, 1976).