Sources

Our Lady of Guadalupe: The Origins and Sources of a Mexican National Symbol, 1531-1797

Citation Formats

General Reference

Divinity Atlas. "Our Lady of Guadalupe: The Origins and Sources of a Mexican National Symbol, 1531-1797." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://www.divinityatlas.com/sources/our-lady-of-guadalupe-the-origins-and-sources-of-a-mexican-national-symbol-1531-1797.

APA Style

Divinity Atlas. (n.d.). Our Lady of Guadalupe: The Origins and Sources of a Mexican National Symbol, 1531-1797. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://www.divinityatlas.com/sources/our-lady-of-guadalupe-the-origins-and-sources-of-a-mexican-national-symbol-1531-1797

BibTeX

@misc{divinityatlas-our-lady-of-guadalupe-the-origins-and-so,
  author = {Divinity Atlas},
  title = {Our Lady of Guadalupe: The Origins and Sources of a Mexican National Symbol, 1531-1797},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://www.divinityatlas.com/sources/our-lady-of-guadalupe-the-origins-and-sources-of-a-mexican-national-symbol-1531-1797},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

Stafford Poole was a historian of colonial Latin America, and this academic book, published by University of Arizona Press, is a critical historical study of the Guadalupe apparition tradition, examining the earliest documentary evidence for the story against its later, much more elaborate devotional retellings. Its strength is rigorous archival work, tracing exactly what can and cannot be documented from sources contemporary to the claimed sixteenth century apparition, a genuinely contested question within Guadalupan scholarship. Its limit is that Poole's conclusions, which are skeptical of some traditional claims about the apparition's early documentation, are one scholar's historical argument on a subject that remains a matter of continued devotional and academic debate, not an uncontested settled finding.

Facts

Assessment

Reliability Tier

Stafford Poole's critical scholarly history of the origins and textual sources of the Our Lady of Guadalupe devotion and its tilma image; it questions some traditional claims about the apparition's historicity, so a claim asserting the apparition's miraculous nature as settled historical fact should be checked against this critique.

Notes

Stafford Poole's critical scholarly history examining the historical origins and textual sources of the Our Lady of Guadalupe devotion and its tilma image. Use for established critical historical facts about the devotion's documented origins and the sources behind the apparition account; a critical academic history that questions some traditional claims about the tilma and apparition's historicity, so a claim asserting the apparition's miraculous nature as settled historical fact should be checked against this critique.

Citation

Author

Stafford Poole

Publisher

University of Arizona Press

Publication Year

1995

Source Type

book

Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

Americas

This source names Americas directly: "Stafford Poole was a historian of colonial Latin America, and this academic book, published by University of Arizona Press, is a critical historical study of the Guadalupe apparition tradition..."

Source Our Lady of Guadalupe: The Origins and Sources of a Mexican National Symbol, 1531-1797Stafford Poole

Claims Backed By This Source (76 claims)

This source backs 76 claims across the atlas. As facts: 54 well-attested, 7 scholarly debate. As cited relationships: 5 holds, 1 connected. Plus 9 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.

Disposition By Topic

Articles, 15 claims: 14 well-attested, 1 general references.
Sacred Sites, 13 claims: 11 well-attested, 1 holds, 1 general references.
Figures, 10 claims: 4 well-attested, 5 scholarly debate, 1 general references.
Holidays & Festivals, 10 claims: 9 well-attested, 1 general references.
Observance Rules, 10 claims: 5 well-attested, 3 holds, 1 connected, 1 general references.
Sources, 8 claims: 7 well-attested, 1 holds.
Religious Events, 6 claims: 4 well-attested, 1 scholarly debate, 1 general references.
Miracles, 2 claims: 1 scholarly debate, 1 general references.
Cultures, 1 claims: 1 general references.
Regions, 1 claims: 1 general references.