Francesco A. Morriello, an assistant professor in the Book and Media Studies program at St. Michael’s College, did archival research in Spain this summer. He worked at the Archivo General de Indias in Seville and the Real Biblioteca del Palacio Real in Madrid.
His research follows print culture and communication networks among Catholic missionaries from the 17th to the 19th centuries, including Jesuits, Dominicans and Franciscans in the Spanish and French empires. He says locally printed works in the Caribbean and Asia show the limits of centralized imperial control.
Many sources are ephemera that survive as a single newspaper issue folded inside a letter. Morriello consulted thousands of rare items dating back 300 to 400 years, and calls reading 18th-century manuscripts there easily one of the most memorable moments of the trip.
Reported from Making History: St. Mike’s Professor’s Archival Journey Through Spain (St. Michael’s College news, August 17, 2026).
More from the original reporting: stmikes.utoronto.ca/news/making-history-st-mikes-professors-archival-journey-through-spain