Regarding the figure of Gabriel Joaquín de Yermo y Bárcena, originally from Sodupe, Ruiz de Gordejuela Urquijo notes that despite being “practically unknown” here, he held “enormous significance.” However, in Mexico, he “is not remembered in a particularly kind way,” according to the historian. This book, published by Tirant Editorial, departs from his previous fictional works, such as Capitán Negrete, to offer rigorous academic research.
The Doctor of History, a prolific author of monographs and articles, will attend the Madrid Book Fair next May to present the results of extensive and detailed documentation and research conducted on both sides of the Atlantic. The work is primarily aimed at professionals and individuals with a deep historical and cultural interest.
The book Gabriel de Yermo y los Voluntarios de Fernando VII approaches an episode of great transcendence in the history of Mexico and Spain, set against the complex beginning of the 19th century.
The book focuses on events in Mexican lands between 1808 and 1820, a period marked by the presence of Napoleonic troops on the peninsula and a power vacuum in the Spanish crown. In this context, tensions escalated between the royalists, supporters of Fernando VII, and the Creoles, who sought autonomy. Yermo, a wealthy and powerful merchant, was progressive in economic and social terms, but not politically.
Furthermore, the work addresses the issue of silver remittances requested by the Supreme Junta of Seville to finance resistance against France. The failure of Viceroy Iturrigaray to send the expected amounts triggered the events of the early morning of September 16, 1808. The study also explores the consequences of the coup and the role of the Volunteers of Fernando VII until 1820. Gabriel Joaquín de Yermo died in 1813 from pneumonia, unable to return to his homeland.
