VERA-CRUZ, Alonso de la, Spanish monk, born in Caspuefias, Guadalajara, in 1504; died in Mexico, 6 July, 1584. He studied at the universities of Alcala and Salamanca, and was from 1533 till 1587 tutor of the children of the Duke del Infantado. In 1537 he accompanied Father Francisco de la Cruz to New Spain, and in 1538 entered the Augustinian order at Vera Cruz. He was provincial of the order in 1550, and founded in 1551 the University of Mexico, being its first professor of Holy Scripture. When Vasco de Quiroga, bishop of Michoacan, went to the council of Trent, he left Vera-Cruz in charge of his diocese and asked him for a full report of the missions in New Spain to lay before the council. This report was long discussed in that body, as it severely criticised the Spanish administration and begged the king to prevent cruelty toward the Indians. Vera-Cruz was in consequence ordered to appear at court in 1561, but he justified himself and became visitor of the order in New Castile. He refused in 1565 the bishoprics of Tlaxcala and Nichoacan, and, being permitted to return to New Spain in 1573, brought with him seventeen friars, and established successful missions among the Tarascos. He was thoroughly acquainted with the native languages, and left, besides many published works, several valuable manuscripts, which are mentioned by Jose Mariano Beristain in his "Biblioteca Hispano-Americana Septentrional."