_Ecclesiastical_
Most potent Sir:
Although I have related to the tribunal of the holy Inquisition
of Mexico the disorders that have happened in this city this year
which were caused by the fathers of St. Dominic, and helped and
strengthened by the father commissary of the Holy Office, Fray
Francisco de Herrera--who has endeavored to avenge his passions and
those of his religious through the authority of so holy a tribunal,
but overstepping the manner of procedure and prudence that that holy
tribunal has in all its actions--yet I have thought it best to have
recourse to your Highness as to the supreme authority, so that you
with the ruling hand may apply an efficacious remedy to the said
disorders. Therefore, I shall give your Highness an account of them
in this letter, in detail, although briefly.
The archbishop of Manila and the three orders of St. Dominic,
St. Francis, and St. Augustine, were united against me. They went
about holding meetings, as they thought by that method to avenge
themselves for the injuries which they imagined that they had received
because they were not granted whatever they wished or what suited
their whims. They were convened in an assembly, where they must
have discussed nothing else than their own restless notions and the
disturbance of the community and opposition to the government. For
that reason, the bishop of Nueva Segovia, Don Fray Diego Duarte,
with the ecclesiastical cabildo, all the clergy, and the fathers
of the Society of Jesus, refused to attend the said meeting. The
archbishop and the three orders were very angry that the fathers
of the Society did not attend, although they took no notice of the
fact that the bishop of Nueva Segovia, the ecclesiastical cabildo,
and the clergy (who also were notified to attend the meeting) were
likewise absent; and they made their anger evident, since the first
topic that was discussed in the said meeting was [a plan to unite]
and conspire against the fathers of the Society. They issued a
decree against them (which I enclose herewith) [12] in which they
disfellowshipped them from the other orders, and commanded that no one
should go to their houses, or to feasts or other public ceremonies;
that those of the Society should not be admitted into their convents
for these functions; that they should not be allowed to preach in
the cathedral, or in any other place outside their own houses; and
other things like this. They all show the aversion and even hatred
which they have for the fathers of the Society. That decree was a
cause for great scandal throughout this community. It was approved
and signed by the said father commissary, Fray Francisco de Herrera,
thus making himself a party to all the quarrels and disturbances
that resulted from the said decree. Consequently, he could ill be
a dispassionate judge. The fathers of the Society were silent, and
overlooked such things, coming from that source. Some days afterward,
the archbishop, in accordance with the decision of the said meeting,
had the fathers of the Society notified of an act, ordering them,
under penalty of major excommunication, _late sentencie_, and a fine
of four thousand Castilian ducados, not to preach outside of their
houses throughout his archbishopric, not even in the barracks and
guardhouses. The fathers of the Society tried to procure means of
peace, but none of them succeeded. Seeing that there was no hope of
peace, and recognizing the injury that the archbishop was doing them
at the instigation of the three orders and the father commissary,
they were forced to speak out against the archbishop through their
judge-conservator, Don Fabian de Santillan y Gavilanes, schoolmaster
of this holy church and a person of good standing in this city. The
three orders, especially that of St. Dominic, took this cause against
the fathers of the Society as their own--although it did not concern
them, but was, on the contrary, in favor of all. The fathers of the
Society were defending what the orders were defending, since they were
defending their privileges and immunities, which are common to all
the mendicant orders. But the orders did not think of this, nor that
they were putting out both their eyes (as says the proverb) in order
to put out one of the Society. The aversion and hatred that they show
against the fathers of the Society is incredible, doing them all the
ill turns possible in all things, and talking maliciously of them. The
orders had recourse by a plea of fuerza to the royal Audiencia, which
declared that the judge-conservator had not employed it, and that he
was legally appointed. Thereupon, seeing that they had no means by
which to embarrass the judge-conservator, they tried to make use of the
authority of the Inquisition, the fathers of St. Dominic threatening
the judge-conservator with it. Those fathers spread the report that
they would seize him, and get even with him. At this juncture the
father commissary summoned him, and such was the aspect of affairs
that the said judge asked the said commissary for a testimony that he
had not been summoned for anything that could prejudice his person, in
order that he might not be left with any stain. The judge-conservator
had made complaint against the provisor, Don Pedro de Monroy, for
having declared that neither Luther nor Calvin, nor any other heretics,
did so much harm as did the members of the Society. That was a calumny
and insult, the remedy for which the judge thought concerned him. The
father commissary entered the lists, and asked for that cause. The
judge sent him the original complaint, reserving the testimony, to
present it to the holy tribunal of Mexico. The said father commissary
asked for the testimony, and it was also sent him. The purpose of the
father commissary seems to have been to deprive him of all the papers,
as your Highness will see from the following.
At this juncture the archbishop held a meeting with the religious of
the three orders of St. Dominic, St. Francis, and St. Augustine. There
under title of a protest, an insulting defamatory libel was made,
according to report, not only against the Society of Jesus,
but also against the judge-conservator himself, because he was
judge-conservator; and against the royal Audiencia, because it had
declared his appointment legitimate. The judge-conservator brought
force to bear against the archbishop in order to make him hand over
the protest, but the latter steadfastly refused to do so, or to show
it. Finally, although the archbishop agreed to deliver it, he could
not do so, because he had given it to father Fray Diego Collado,
of the Order of St. Dominic. The latter kept possession of it, in
such wise that it could never be recovered from him; and it is even
said (although I am not sure of this) that the said paper had been
delivered to the father commissary in order to secure it, so that
he might keep it with the papers of the Inquisition. For, as the
judge was urging the archbishop, the father commissary entangled the
affair by ordering the judge, with censures, to relinquish the cause,
and cease to ask for the said protest, and to hand over the papers
that had been made in this matter. The judge, seeing the malice of
the father commissary in preventing his jurisdiction, and taking from
him all the papers, continued to defend himself--and asking the father
commissary not to hinder his proceedings, since the trial of the said
protest or defamatory libel belonged to him, as it was an insult to
the Society, to the judge himself, and to the royal Audiencia, and
as it was a matter that concerned the principal cause. A thousand
notifications were served on the judge, and all of them by means of
different Dominican fathers, and with great noise and disturbance--a
matter which caused much comment, that one commissary should have
so many different secretaries, some of them being lay brothers,
others priests, and others very young; and that they should disturb
the community with their passions, under the mantle of the Inquisition.
The said defamatory protest or libel was authenticated by a royal
clerk named Diego de Rueda. The judge-conservator arrested him. The
father commissary went to ask for him, with censures, as he declared
that the clerk was a familiar of the Holy Office. The judge replied
that he had arrested the clerk to get his confession, because of
the said protest which he had authenticated; that he had already
taken that confession, and needed him no longer; and that the father
commissary should ask me for him, for I had arrested him. The father
commissary replied that he was not satisfied with that reply, and that
the clerk should be given to him. But the judge answered by producing
proof that he did not hold the clerk prisoner, and could not hand
him over. Thereupon, it appears that the father commissary calmed
himself, and turned upon me in good earnest. At the earliest light
he sent a youthful and somewhat impudent friar to me, to notify me of
the act--which I enclose herewith [13] so that your Highness may see
whether this is the way to treat one who occupies such a post as I,
and whom his Majesty has delegated in his place. Considering that the
cause pertained to me, because that clerk had committed an offense in
the exercise of his duty, and that the father commissary was exceeding
his commission--and still more did he whom the father commissary sent
to notify me so discourteously and impudently--I took the act from
his hands, and sent him to his superior of the convent at the port
of Cavite, with orders to keep him there and reduce him to order, as
I did not wish him to excite the community, as the friars were doing.
The fathers of St. Dominic took opportunity from this occurrence to
utter blasphemies against me, and to declare me excommunicated for
preventing the exercise of the Holy Office (as if the preservation of
the royal jurisdiction would be a hindrance to that holy tribunal,
which only undertakes what concerns it)--saying that I was deposed,
and was not governor, nor could I be governor. They declared that the
senior auditor should immediately assume the government, arrest me,
and send me to a fort. They confirmed this by the father commissary
bringing from Cavite father Fray Francisco Pinelo--an eloquent man,
and a bold preacher in the pulpit--whom he caused to preach in his
convent in this city on the second Sunday in Advent. At the beginning
of his sermon, he proceeded to read a bull, translated into Romance. He
declared that it was issued by Pius V, and that his Holiness ordered
therein that whoever should prevent the exercise of the Holy Office
should be infamous, and incapacitated from holding office. This he
said with such words and manner, and at such a time, that it had the
effect of pointing me out with the finger; and it was seen clearly
that everything was said for me, and that he was censuring me as
infamous, and saying that I was not governor. In order that your
Highness may see the freedom of these friars, and how they treat him
who is in the place of king--and this under cover of the Inquisition,
using the authority of so holy and upright a tribunal to avenge their
passions in matters that do not concern the Inquisition; and they
cannot see that to support it I have a sword at my side with which
to fight to the death in defense of this holy tribunal, as I have
done for twenty-five years in your Highness's service against the
enemies of the faith--in this same sermon, a thousand things were
said against me calling me Herod; and against the royal Audiencia
because it declared, contrary to the will of the father commissary,
that the judge-conservator was legal. Aspersions were uttered against
the fathers of the Society, censuring them as heretics; and against
the judge himself, calling him a London canon, besides a thousand
other impudent speeches in the same manner. Other preachers of his
order have followed the same style of preaching, and they have been
imitated by the Recollect fathers of St. Augustine--who style those
of the Society hypocrites and heretics; and they utter innumerable
satires on them in the pulpits, making the pulpit a lectureship of
vengeance, although it is the place that belongs to Christ for the
preaching of His holy word. How could the father commissary remedy
these disorderly acts, since he was at the head of them, and since
they were by his order, as can be understood from the above?
In this manner did they disturb and stir up the people, and even
excited them to revolt--so that if I had not had arms in my hands,
and the garrison which is here at my order, beyond question a greater
calamity would have been feared; and I fear one, if your Highness
do not take it in hand, and make a beginning in correcting such acts
of boldness. I will add that I had given orders at the gates of the
city that the said cleric Don Pedro de Monroy was not to be allowed
to enter, as he was a seditious man, and in union with the friars
he was exciting innumerable rumors and disputes in this city; and in
the time of Governor Don Alonso Faxardo he was declared exiled from
the kingdoms, and the temporalities had been taken away from him,
because of a riot that he caused. It happened on November 21 of the
past year, that he, clad as a Franciscan friar, together with another
of the same order as his companion, attempted to enter a gate at the
Ave Marias. The commandant, who recognized him, laid hold of him,
and ordered the soldiers to take their weapons in order to prevent
his entrance, and to obey their orders. But so many Dominican friars
(who were prepared for that emergency), charged down upon them and
defended the said cleric with their fists and with violence; and
forcing my guardhouse, they placed him within the city, in spite of the
soldiers, who had no opportunity to use their weapons. That appears
from a legal investigation which they made in their exoneration,
for I was intending to punish them for not having kept my order. I
was angry, as was natural, at that lawless act and the boldness of
the friars. I advised their superior of it; but he answered that
that friar had entered the city because he had been summoned by the
Inquisition and its commissary. For, even for such an outrage, which
would have been worthy of punishment in any other, those friars take
as a cloak such a holy institution as is the Inquisition--as if it
were not proper to advise me, and not to force my guardhouse, even
though it were a matter for the Inquisition. For it is certain that
in all that pertains to that holy tribunal, the father commissary
must find in me all protection and aid. But I was told nothing
except that the force and violence was practiced of which I have
given an account. It is to be presumed that it was not a matter that
pertained to so holy and righteous a tribunal; but to say that it
was a matter of the Inquisition was only a pretext and excuse for an
act of boldness like that. And in order that your Highness may see
more clearly what I state, the viceroy of Nueva Espana, the marquis
de Cerralbo, sent a surgeon named Don Garcia to this country for his
crimes. He came, condemned to serve for eight years at the will of the
governor, without pay. But as I had need of him to go in the fleet of
galleons that I was despatching to the forts of Terrenate, I tried to
have him prepare for that service. He took refuge in the convent of
St. Dominic, where the fathers aided and protected him. One of them,
named Fray Francisco de Paula, told me that among the multitude of
my affairs that were to be treated by the Inquisition was the fact
that I was trying to send the said Francisco Garcia in the fleet,
as its surgeon, since he was a familiar of the Holy Office. I had not
known that before, and I think that it is not so, since the viceroy,
in the presence of the tribunal of the holy Inquisition of Mexico,
condemned him and sent him here; or else his cause was such that,
even though he was a familiar of the Holy Office, that holy tribunal
did not think it advisable to prevent the punishment imposed by the
viceroy. And although the tribunal of Mexico, notwithstanding its
so great power, refused to prevent that punishment, a friar tries
to prevent it here and opposes me, the governor, and protects even
a criminal from me--not so much to protect him, as to turn upon and
oppose me. In truth, Sir, this is a grievous thing, namely, that in
whatever desires or whims these friars have, and for whomever they
wish to be aided and protected for them against the governor, they
immediately find a path by way of the Inquisition.
Those fathers gave the final touch to those annoyances by taking
from me, to my great vexation, a goodly number of sailors and some
soldiers, who had received their pay in order to make the voyage
in the said fleet of galleons to Terrenate. One of two friars of
St. Dominic fled with them in a boat and went by way of Macajar to
India, in order to go to Espana with serious complaints, as I am told,
for your Highness. However, the path that they are taking is very apt
to lead them into the hands of the Dutch or of the many other enemies
who infest the seas of Yndia. It is said, and I regard it as certain,
that that was the plan of the father commissary of the Holy Office;
and at least he concurred in and had a part in it. Let your Highness
consider the boldness and freedom of those friars in recklessly
entering a matter which is so to the disservice of your Highness;
and it is a kind of treason to take away the people who are in your
service, and who have been already paid to go in the royal fleet.
Many other things of this sort and of this same kind could be related
to your Highness, and all need the same remedy. It is one which
I think efficacious for the prevention of greater damages, namely,
that your Highness distinctly order the holy Inquisition of Mexico to
appoint no friar of any order as their commissary in these islands,
but some secular, since this function belongs to such. By that means
many troubles would be avoided, and greater disorders, which may be
feared if the friars act as commissaries, would be obviated; and we
shall have the peace that is desired among your people. I entreat your
Highness to be pleased to consider this matter, and how necessary is
what I represent for the exercise of so holy a tribunal, and for your
Highness's service; for I shall not assure you that the islands will
be free from any confusion or insurrection unless reform is given, and
it is at least certain that we shall never have peace [otherwise]. And
since this holy tribunal always brings peace to the kingdoms where
it is just, will your Highness do this for me, and grant this request?
I petition the above from you in consideration of the above mentioned
causes; and because my uncle, the inquisitor, Don Pedro Hurtado
de Gabiria--who served for thirty years in the Inquisition of the
Canarias, Granada, and Lograno, and in the royal Council as fiscal
and inquisitor--having reared me until I was old enough to go to
serve your Highness in the States of Flandes, in the course of his
training taught me to obey, to venerate, and to respect so holy a
tribunal. And wherever I have been since then, when your Highness
sent me from the States of Flandes to Piru, and thence to govern
the kingdom of Tierra Firme at Panama, the Inquisitions of the said
Piru and Cartaxena, and (when I passed through Mexico) that of Nueva
Espana, have shown me, for my great respect, courtesy, and submission,
many honors and favors for which I shall always be grateful--as also
to your Highness, from whom I hope for greater honors. May our Lord
preserve your Highness in your grandeur. Manila, the last of June,
1636. Sire, your vassal kisses your Majesty's feet.