FORRES, Juan de, clergyman, born in Spain; died in Nicaragua in 1560. He was named vicar general of the province of Nicaragua, the monks of which were supposed to have relaxed from the austerity of their rules, He had full powers, in case he did not succeed in restoring the ancient discipline among them, to send them to Spain and confiscate their movable property for the benefit of the stricter Dominicans of Guatemala. The Dominicans of Nicaragua claimed that the climate did not permit a rigid observance of the rule, that they had rendered great services to the country, and that they were punctual in observing necessary rules. He did not reply to their protest, and, when the rigorous ordinances he issued were not observed, he emptied all the convents of their inhabitants, whom he sent back to Spain, and, taking possession of the valuables in them, returned to Guatemala. The father general of the order was far from approving the severity with which Forres acted, and summoned him to Rome. The latter received new instructions and returned to Nicaragua in 1559. He then showed as much zeal in providing the Dominicans for the vacant convents as he had exhibited energy in turning the monks out of their homes before. After his death, however, in the following year, the Dominicans abandoned Nicaragua.