Utrera hosts the 11th Conference on the Dominican History of the ancient Province of Betica
The 11th Conference on the Dominican History of the former Betica Province was held on 17 May in the parish church of Santiago de Utrera, specifically in the chapel of Nuestra Señora del Rosario (whose altarpiece and image belonged to the local Dominican convent), organised by the Andalusian Society of Dominican Studies together with the Historical Institute of the Province of Hispania (publisher of the proceedings) and the collaboration of the parish church of Santiago, the Town Council of Utrera, the Brotherhood of the Gypsies and the logistical work of Antonio Cabrera.
After the presentation of the event by the president of the Society, Carlos J. Romero, the first round of talks began, moderated by Juan Aranda, vice-president of the Society, with the participation of Aranda and the art historians José Luis Romero Torres and María Teresa Ruiz Barrera. The former presented his interesting paper on the priors of San Pablo de Córdoba, the first Dominican monastery in Andalusia, in the 18th century and the very significant figure of Fray Juan Vázquez Pérez. Romero Torres analysed for the first time, in his very well documented paper, the rich Dominican iconography of the convent of Santo Domingo de Scala Coeli, the first monastery of the Dominican Observance in Andalusia. Finally, a very complete work on the iconography of St. Thomas Aquinas in Seville and its province by Professor Ruiz Barrera.
The second round table was coordinated by Professor Romero Mensaque and was attended by Professors Jorge Alberto Jordán Fernández, Antonio Cabrera Rodríguez, Juan Rodríguez Pastor and the aforementioned coordinator. Dr. Jordán's presentation on the historical trajectory of the Cofradía del Rosario of the main parish of Estepa was very well documented. The local historian Antonio Cabrera gave a very complete historiographical account of the Order of Preachers in Utrera, especially of the convents of friars and nuns (San Bartolomé and Antigua) as well as the female beaterio and some significant figures. Rodríguez Pastor presented a very innovative paper on the tradition of the rosarios de la aurora and its coplas in the Siberia of Extremadura. Finally, the coordinator of the round table gave a historical summary of the arrival of the Dominicans in Seville after the restoration of the province at the end of the 19th century, paying special attention to the convent of San Jacinto during the first half of the 20th century.
The event ended with speeches by Francisco José Arjona Méndez, Councillor for Tourism and Major Festivities, and José Jiménez Loreto, the Elder Brother of the Brotherhood of the Gypsies, thanking the Andalusian Society of Dominican Studies and the Historical Institute of the Order of Preachers for having chosen Utrera as the venue for this conference.