num_pages: 299
description: Widely regarded as Willa Cather's masterpiece 'Death Comes for the Archbishop' is set in the mid-19th century. Two French missionaries-Jean Marie Latour and Joseph Vaillant- make their way into the harsh, unexplored, mountainous region of New Mexico in the hope of reviving there the religion that had been brought by Spanish priests and then left to decay in the hands of an insubordinate and materialistic clergy. Father Latour, first bishop of the diocese, knows how to win the confidence of the Indians and to become a father indeed to the Mexicans. Slowly and firmly he gains control of the padres of the region, gradually replacing the slothful with men stamped by his own ardor. The cathedral that he builds in Santa Fe, using the stones of the region so that it will fit into its surroundings, is the crown of his missionary labor, in which he has succeeded in harmonizing two elements: the Catholic religion and the New Mexican way of life.
language: English
title: Death Comes for the Archbishop
titlecomplete: Death Comes for the Archbishop
characters: Joseph Vaillant, Jean Marie Latour
genres: Fiction, Historical, Religion, American, Westerns, Literature, Classics, Novels, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
ratings_count: 36095
places: New Mexico, Santa Fe, New Mexico
awards: awardedAt: -1262275200000
name: William Dean Howells Medal
publisher: Modern Library