GUATEMALA AND CHIAPAS.
1601-1700.
PRESIDENT CASTILLA—PORT SANTO TOMÁS
FOUNDED—FACTIONS—A GAMBLING PRESIDENT—CONDITION OF THE
COLONISTS—GRIEVANCES—PATRONAGE OF THE CROWN, THE AUDIENCIA,
AND THE CABILDO—DISPUTES—DEFENSIVE MEASURES—RULE OF PRESIDENT
CALDAS—REORGANIZATION OF THE AUDIENCIA—PRESIDENT BARRIOS AND
BISHOP NAVAS—POLITICAL DISSENSIONS—A TROUBLESOME VISITADOR—THE
BERROPISTAS AND TEQUELIES—A LINE OF BISHOPS—WEALTH OF THE
REGULAR ORDERS—A PRELATE BEWITCHED—THE BETHLEHEMITES—ROYAL
ORDER CONCERNING CURACIES—THE NEW CATHEDRAL AND
FESTIVITIES—SUCCESSION—THE PROGRESS OF CHIAPAS.
Although the Guatemalan historian Juarros passes an encomium upon
President Castilla, who it will be remembered was appointed governor of
Guatemala in 1598,[XXXV‑1] it is much to be doubted whether the citizens
of Santiago, over whom he ruled, gave unqualified assent to his praise.
In the records of the cabildo appear frequent complaints charging him
with encroachment upon the prerogatives of the municipal authorities,
with neglect of his magisterial duties, and with interference with the
privileges of citizens,[XXXV‑2] and rights of precedence on public
occasions. But more than this, the gradually increasing poverty of
the nobles was laid at his door by these jealous petitioners, who were
strongly opposed to an equal division of property, as is evidenced by
their representing to the king that the subdivision of the encomiendas
had rendered such property almost valueless. In view, also, of exposure
to attack on their frontiers, they besought the king not to appoint a
civilian as their president, but a man of military training.
It was during the administration of Castilla that the bay of Amatique
was discovered, and the port of Santo Tomás founded. The immediate cause
of the establishment of this port was a piratical raid in 1603 on Puerto
de Caballos, which town had for some time been exposed to attacks from
corsairs. In that year a squadron of eight vessels, under command of
Pié de Palo and a mulatto named Diego, with a force of more than twelve
hundred men entered the harbor, and notwithstanding the brave resistance
of Captain Juan de Monasterio, who had only two ships, they defeated
him and captured his vessels.[XXXV‑3]
This disaster induced the president to order an exploration to be made
with the object of discovering a more secure site; and in March of the
following year Estévan de Alvarado, assisted by Francisco Navarro,
an experienced pilot, surveyed the coast. Their favorable report of
the bay of Amatique[XXXV‑4] induced the audiencia to give orders for
the founding of a town which was called Santo Tomás de Castilla in
compliment to the president.[XXXV‑5] The removal of the population
of Puerto de Caballos was effected as quickly as possible, and by the
beginning of 1605 the commerce of Guatemala on the Atlantic was carried
on through the new port.[XXXV‑6] Although the advantages of San Tomás
were evident and the king approved of the change, no fortifications
had been constructed there for several years at least. In 1607 eight
Dutch pirate vessels appeared in the bay just as Monasterio was ready to
sail for Spain, but on this occasion the pirates were driven off with
the loss of one ship sunk, the rest of the squadron having sustained
much damage.[XXXV‑7] So inactive was the Spanish government in taking
measures for the protection of the town that Monasterio determined to
fortify it himself, and in 1609 mounted seven pieces of artillery on a
large rock near the shore.
Though situated on a spacious harbor, easy of access, and well sheltered
from the winds, the new settlement did not prosper; for the surrounding
country was so sterile as not to yield provender enough, even for
the mules employed in transporting merchandise. It was consequently
gradually abandoned for Puerto Dulce, lying to the west.
[Sidenote: GOMERA SUCCEEDS CASTILLA.]
In August 1609 Antonio Peraza Ayala Castilla y Rojas, conde de la
Gomera, was appointed by royal cédula to succeed President Castilla,
and entered upon his duties in 1611, during which year his predecessor
died while undergoing his residencia.[XXXV‑8] The new president gave
but little satisfaction to the people of Santiago. He extorted money
from the settlers by unlawful means,[XXXV‑9] and three years after his
installation violent disturbances broke out. The political condition of
the country attracted the attention of the viceroy of Mexico, and the
visitador Juan de Ibarra was sent, in 1614, to investigate the affairs
of the audiencia. Matters became more complicated. Gomera was suspended,
and retired to the town of Patulul. The whole province was divided into
factions and the people so incensed that a riot was imminent. This
state of affairs continued until 1617, when Gomera was reinstated in
the presidency, which office he held until 1626, when he retired to his
birthplace in the Canary Islands.[XXXV‑10] He was succeeded by a man of
very different character, one Juan de Guzman,[XXXV‑11] who, having lost
his wife on the voyage to Guatemala, lost with her all interest in life.
After governing for a term of five years with a mildness and beneficence
which ill suited the grasping disposition of his associates, he was,
as it were, driven from the presidency by their persistent disagreement
with his views.
Alvaro de Quiñones y Osorio, marqués de Lorenzana, was the next to
fill the presidential chair,[XXXV‑12] being transferred from Panamá.
His spirit of covetousness was in strong contrast with the unselfish
disposition of his predecessor, and he soon became extremely unpopular.
Gambling was a favorite pastime in the capital of Guatemala, and while
the president strictly prohibited all gaming in private houses, his own
palace was converted at night into a regular gambling establishment,
of which he reaped the profits, frowning upon the moneyed men who cared
not to frequent his tables.[XXXV‑13] In 1642 he was succeeded by Diego
de Avendaño, and on his voyage to Spain the vessel on which he had
taken passage foundered, and he was lost. Avendaño's rule was marked
by integrity and disinterestedness. He died in August 1649, and the
presidency was given to the licentiate Antonio de Lara y Mogrobejo, who
held office till 1654.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: CONDITION OF THE COLONISTS.]
The condition of the colonists during the first half of the seventeenth
century was prosperous. The city put on an appearance of wealth and
even grandeur. Magnificent private residences, and large mercantile
houses filled with valuable goods, surrounded the public squares and
stood upon the principal streets; while stately churches, with richly
furnished interiors, convents and nunneries of different orders, and
public institutions were scattered throughout the capital. Daily markets
in which all kinds of provisions in great abundance were disposed of
at low prices proclaimed the absence of poverty,[XXXV‑14] while the
wealth of the merchants was such as to make them the peers of any in
the New World. Nor was the prosperity of the country behind that of
the city. Agriculture thrived and immense tracts of lands were under
cultivation. But the most prominent industrial feature were the numerous
and extensive cattle and sheep farms which had been established in the
province, and which furnished meat for the surrounding towns at a price
within reach of the poorest inhabitant.[XXXV‑15] Commerce was no less
prosperous, and an extensive trade was carried on by mule trains with
Mexico, Chiapas, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, and on the oceans with Peru
and Spain.
"This city," says Thomas Gage, who lived for three years in Santiago,
"may consist of about five thousand families, besides a Suburb of
Indians called el Barrio de Sto Domingo, where may be two hundred
families more. The best part of the City is that which joyneth to the
Suburb of Indians, and is called also el Barrio de Santo Domingo, by
reason of the Cloister of Saint Dominick, which standeth in it. Here
are the richest and best shops of the City, with the best buildings,
most of the houses being new and stately. Here is also a daily Tianguez
(as they call it) or petty Market, where some Indians all the day sit
selling Fruits, Herbs and Cacao, but at four in the afternoon, this
Market is filled for a matter of an hour, where the Indian women meet to
sell their Country slap (which is dainties to the Crioltans), as Atolle,
Pinole, scalde Plantains, butter of the Cacao, puddings made of Indian
Maiz, with a bit of Fowl, or fresh Pork in them, seasoned with much red
biting Chille, which they call Anatamales."
"The climate is very temperate, far exceeding either Mexico or Guaxaca.
Neither are the two forenamed Cities better stored with fruits, herbs
for sallets, provision of flesh, Beef, Mutton, Veal, Kid, Fowls,
Turkies, Rabbets, Quails, Patridges, Pheasants, and of Indian and
Spanish Wheat, than is this City: from the South Sea (which lyeth in
some places not above twelve leagues from it), and from the rivers of
the South Sea Coast, and from the fresh Lake of Amatitlan and Petapa,
and from another Lake lying three or four leagues from Chimaltenango,
it is well and plentifully provided for of fish. But for Beef there is
such plenty, that it exceeds all parts of America, without exception,
as may be known by the Aids which are sent yearly to Spain from the
Country of Guatemala, where they commonly kill their Cattel, more for
the gain of their Hydes in Spain, than for the goodness or fatness of
the flesh, which though it be not to compare to our English Beef, yet
it is good mans meat, and so cheap, that in my time it was commonly sold
at thirteen pound and a half for half a Rial, the least coyn there, and
as much as three pence here."[XXXV‑16]
[Sidenote: SALABLE OFFICES.]
Taxation was a ground of grievance, and the complaints raised by the
citizens of Santiago eventually caused a reduction of an impost, which
during the years 1614 to 1626 more than doubled itself,[XXXV‑17] and
was doubtless offensive. Another cause for dissatisfaction was the
patronage which appertained respectively to the crown, the audiencia,
and the cabildo. To the crown belonged the appointment of the president
and five oidores,[XXXV‑18] ninety-two judicial and military officers,
one fiscal with the same salary as that of an oidor, a contador and
treasurer,[XXXV‑19] and various other minor officials. At the disposal
of the president were nearly one hundred salaried appointments: namely,
those of the corregidores, to the number of about fifteen, including
the corregidores of Nicaragua and Honduras;[XXXV‑20] that of the alcalde
mayor of San Tomás de Castilla, and other patronage.
The audiencia disposed of the offices of the alguacil mayor, the
receiver and treasurer of fines and court fees, two escribanos and chief
secretaries of the audiencia, the assessor of taxes and six receivers,
the secretary of the court of estate pertaining to interstates, and
several other positions. All these offices were salable.[XXXV‑21]
The positions of all officers of the municipality were also open to
purchase.[XXXV‑22] With regard to the patronage of the cabildo, it
was much more limited, and naturally confined to appointments within
the city limits.[XXXV‑23] Under such a system of patronage and sale
of public offices, it was but natural that important positions were
frequently held by incompetent favorites or by exacting officials. Hence
arose repeatedly disputes and discord between the cabildo and people on
the one side, and the audiencia and royal officers on the other.
Nor were the colonists exempt from calamities caused by pestilence
and natural phenomena. In 1601 an epidemic carried off great numbers
with startling rapidity, and the years 1607, 1621, 1640, and 1651
were signalized by fearful earthquakes which caused great loss of
life.[XXXV‑24] In 1686 a pestilence decimated the population. The
peculiarity of this epidemic was that the robust and healthy fell
victims to it more readily than the weak and sickly. This calamity was
followed in 1687 by a violent earthquake which caused great destruction
to churches and houses, and a loss of over three hundred lives. A
similar disaster equally destructive occurred in 1689.[XXXV‑25]
[Sidenote: DIVERS ADMINISTRATIONS.]
In May 1654 Fernando Altamirano, Conde Santiago de Calimaya, took
possession[XXXV‑26] of the presidency of Guatemala. His rule was made
notorious by the sanguinary quarrels of the Medenillas and Carrazas, in
which implacable family feuds most of the nobles of Guatemala became
involved, and the president unfortunately took part.[XXXV‑27] He died
in 1657; and during the administration of his successor, Martin Cárlos
de Mencos, formerly commander of the galleons, the audiencia was engaged
in frequent disputes relative to privileges and jurisdiction.[XXXV‑28]
The ayuntamiento was at this time a much more powerful corporation than
formerly, owing to the greatly increased number of its members, and the
marked favors bestowed upon it by various sovereigns of Spain during
this century. In the valley of Guatemala it had civil and criminal
jurisdiction over no less than seventy-seven villages, a prerogative
repeatedly confirmed by royal cédulas.[XXXV‑29] Questions of precedence,
however, had for the time to give place to that of self-defence owing to
the presence of freebooters on the northern coast. The fortifications
of San Felipe on the Golfo Dulce had been begun in March 1651, and
although in the following year the oidor Lopez de Solis objected to
further expenditure without direct permission of the crown, the oidor
Lara Mogrobejo, the fiscal Esquivel, and the royal officers Santiago
and Sotomayor proved their right to use certain sums originally assigned
for the defence of Trujillo and Santo Tomás, and the fortifications of
San Felipe were completed in 1663.
In 1667, Mencos' term of office having expired, he returned to Spain,
and in the same year the new president, Sebastian Álvarez Alfonso
Rosica de Caldas, arrived.[XXXV‑30] Caldas advocated with enthusiasm
the already projected conquest of the Lacandon country, which will
be described later, and in a letter to the king offered to effect
its subjugation at his own expense, on condition that it be called
after his own name.[XXXV‑31] This proposal led to no result so far as
the president was concerned, but its publication[XXXV‑32] stimulated
inquiry and ultimately caused the opening of a road between Yucatan and
Guatemala.
The administration of Caldas was warmly approved by the cabildo, and
in an important question regarding authority the members espoused
his cause. The fiscal, Pedro de Miranda Santillan, being accused of
barratry, the president not only suspended him, but caused him to
be imprisoned in San Felipe.[XXXV‑33] The king disapproved of this
high-handed measure touching one of the officers of the crown, and
to make matters worse the fiscal died in prison on the 9th of October
1669. Before hearing of the decease of Santillan his Majesty had, by
cédula dated May 6, 1670, appointed him an oidor of the audiencia, and
by another cédula of the same date Bishop Juan de Santa María Saenz
Mañosca was appointed visitador and president. A tedious investigation
followed, but before it was concluded Caldas died.[XXXV‑34]
The new president was noted for extreme punctiliousness in questions
of etiquette. On one occasion being on foot an oidor drove by without
stopping his carriage as a mark of respect, for which dereliction the
president fined him two hundred pesos. At another time an oidor gave
offence by making great display with his carriage and four horses,
attended by two outriders. A decree was forthwith published, prohibiting
a repetition of such ostentation by any one except the bishop.
By a royal cédula issued on the 18th of May 1680, the constitution
of the audiencia was reformed. The position of president and
captain-general was made similar to that of the viceroy of Mexico, his
rule being independent of the oidores, while their department of justice
could in no way be interfered with by him, his official signature
only being required to authenticate their despatches and affirm their
sentences.[XXXV‑35]
[Sidenote: PRESIDENT BARRIOS.]
On January 26, 1688, President Barrios y Leal took the office.[XXXV‑36]
His arrival was unattended by the usual display. He had experienced on
his way from Golfo Dulce such hardships that he requested the cabildo to
omit the ceremony of welcome and devote the funds appropriated for the
purpose to improving the defences at Golfo Dulce.[XXXV‑37] His rule was
no less troublesome to him than his journey had been. Differences had
again arisen between the regular and the secular clergy.[XXXV‑38] Bishop
Navas, then in charge of the diocese, was greatly excited, and addressed
a memorial to the cabildo, soon after the arrival of Barrios, upon
what he considered flagrant abuses, stating that in view of the many
disasters which the country had experienced during the last six years
from various causes, taxation was taking the life-blood of an already
impoverished people. The bishop was one quick to discern evils which
he was powerless to remove; apt at the formation of plans he lacked
the perseverance to execute; and assumed the attitude of a partisan,
where it especially behooved a prelate to be unbiassed. Thus he was
incessantly interfering in political matters, and personal relations
between him and the president were soon exceedingly unpleasant,[XXXV‑39]
finally becoming a matter of inquiry at the Spanish court. On the
13th of March 1690 a royal cédula was issued severely reprimanding the
bishop[XXXV‑40] for his conduct toward the president.
On January 25, 1691, Fernando Ursino y Orbaneja, an oidor of Mexico, was
appointed visitador to Guatemala, and he provisionally removed President
Barrios. In 1694 Barrios was reinstated in office. The principal
occupation in which he had previously been engaged was the conquest of
the Lacandon country, into which he had personally led an expedition
as will be narrated hereafter. He now began preparations for a second
campaign. While thus employed his health failed, and he died on the 12th
of November 1695.
[Sidenote: POLITICAL FEUDS.]
The death of Barrios was followed by dissension in the audiencia
relative to his provisional successor. By law the right of succession
fell on the senior oidor, Francisco Valenzuela Venegas, but the
licentiate José de Scals was by some means installed in the presidency.
Hence arose a violent party feud,[XXXV‑41] and when Gabriel Sanchez
de Berrospe arrived in March 1696, as the appointed president, the
government was in a state of confusion which no efforts of his could
rectify. In fact a political storm closed the history of Guatemala
for the century. The opposition, led by Scals and his ally, the oidor
Amézqueta, baffled Berrospe's attempts at legislation, by every artifice
that could cause delay.[XXXV‑42]
On the 17th of June, 1699, Diego Antonio de Oviedo y Baños, an oidor
of Santo Domingo, Gregorio Carrillo y Escudero, and two others were
appointed oidores of Guatemala pending an investigation concerning the
audiencia, with right of succession at the close of the former oidor's
term. Oviedo was named as senior oidor, but being detained in Santiago
de Cuba, Carrillo usurped the position and refused to give place to the
former on his arrival.[XXXV‑43] Controversies continued until the coming
of the licentiate Madriz as visitador in 1699, when affairs became
still more serious, and acts of violence were resorted to by the two
bitter factions which were immediately formed under the denominations
of Berropistas and Tequelies.
The first act of Madriz was to depose Berrospe and appoint Amézqueta
as provisional president. The oidores Carrillo and Duardo were then
deprived of office, but they promptly affirmed that their removal was
illegal, and resuming their seats ordered the arrest of the visitador,
which they endeavored to effect on Palm Sunday, 1700. Madriz took refuge
in the college of the Jesuits, which on the following day was surrounded
by the friends of Carrillo and Duardo. The bishop came to his relief,
and he made good his retreat to Soconusco where he incited the people
to rise in arms against the Berropistas. Berrospe sent the oidor Pedro
de Ezguaras with an armed force to suppress the tumult, and if possible
effect the capture of Madriz. Ezguaras was at first repulsed, but in a
subsequent encounter Madriz and his followers were put to flight and
peace was restored. Berrospe had no easy time. Madriz had a powerful
ally in the bishop, who issued manifestoes exhorting all persons to
obey the visitador and not the pseudo audiencia. Against those who
attempted to lay violent hands on Madriz he threatened excommunication.
In February 1701 the visitador returned with an armed force from Oajaca
whither he had fled, and in an encounter between the rival parties lost
sixty of his men, while the loss of the audiencia was only ten.[XXXV‑44]
Berrospe now retires from the scene, having either returned to Spain
or died while the political struggle was still undecided.[XXXV‑45]
The other chief actors continued the contest somewhat longer. In 1702
José Osorio, oidor of Mexico, was appointed to supersede Madriz as
visitador, and in September of the same year the latter was arrested
in Campeche, and sent prisoner to Mexico, as the originator of the
disturbances in Guatemala. Bishop Navas had constantly identified
himself with the Tequelies, and when ordered by his metropolitan, the
archbishop of Mexico, to withdraw his ban of excommunication against
certain Berrospeists he refused to do so. He died in the midst of these
dissensions, not without grave suspicions of having been poisoned.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS.]
Concerning the ecclesiastical history of the province, we learn that
after the decease of Bishop Córdoba, in 1598,[XXXV‑46] the mitre was
bestowed on Juan Ramirez de Arellano, a man said to be of royal lineage.
The honor was bestowed in recognition of his zeal in the conversion
of the natives of Miztecapan. He had previously made a pilgrimage
from Spain to Home on foot, in as humble guise as ever journeyed the
apostles of old, and was received with peculiar honor by the pope. When
he arrived in Guatemala in 1601, he changed in nothing the austere
mode of life for which he was noted when a simple friar. His fervor
and determination in the cause of the church brought on him the enmity
of the cabildo,[XXXV‑47] whose members prayed the king that the bishop
might be removed to some other diocese, and their own allowed a period
of tranquillity. His death, which occurred not long afterward, released
the citizens of Santiago from further anxiety. During the administration
of Ramirez it is commonly supposed that the bishopric of Vera Paz was
abolished and its territory annexed to that of Guatemala.[XXXV‑48]
Bishop Juan Cabezas Altamirano of Cuba was transferred to Guatemala in
1610, and took possession of the episcopal chair the following year. In
1613 he consecrated with imposing ceremonies Alonso Galdo, bishop-elect
of Honduras, this being the first ceremony of the kind performed in
Guatemala. Two years later Altamirano was seized with apoplexy and died,
when the mitre was offered to Pedro de Valencia, who before his arrival
in Guatemala was promoted to the bishopric of La Paz. The bishopric
remained vacant till 1621, Francisco de la Vega Sarmiento, dean of
Mexico, having declined to accept it, and Pedro de Villa Real, bishop of
Nicaragua, the next one appointed, dying before he reached the diocese.
It was then bestowed on Juan Zapata y Sandoval, bishop of Chiapas, who
was born of one of the noblest families in Mexico. He was noted for his
charitable disposition and was the first bishop who conferred degrees in
the college of Santo Tomás of Guatemala. After occupying the episcopal
chair for nine years he died in January 1630, and was buried in the
cathedral of Guatemala.[XXXV‑49]
The next occupant, Bishop Agustin de Ugarte y Saravia, came also by
promotion from Chiapas, and presided over the diocese for nine years.
He made valuable presents to the monastery of La Concepcion; laid the
foundation stone of the convent of Santa Catarina Mártyr, and founded
the convent of Nuestra Señora del Cármen. He was promoted to Arequipa
in Peru in 1641, and afterward to Quito, where he died in 1650.
His successor, Bartolomé Gonzalez Soltero, had held a variety of
important trusts, having been thrice rector of the university in Mexico,
visitador of libraries, fiscal, and afterward member of the inquisition.
How soon after Saravia's transfer to Peru Soltero entered upon his
duties is not quite certain, but probably not for some time.[XXXV‑50]
His rule was peaceful, and his devotion to the sick, during a time of
pestilence, won the respect of the cabildo.[XXXV‑51] He died on the 25th
of January 1650, and was buried in the cathedral of Santiago.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: RELIGIOUS ORDERS.]
The income of the diocese in 1648, as officially reported, was
eight thousand pesos per annum, and at that time there were in the
city of Santiago convents belonging to the Dominicans, Franciscans,
Augustinians, Jesuits, Mercenarios, and the order of San Juan de Dios.
In charge of the Dominicans was the hospital of San Alejo, and in
1641 that of Santiago was assigned to the care of the friars of San
Juan de Dios.[XXXV‑52] Under the management of this society was also
the hospital of San Lazaro. There were, moreover, in the city four
nunneries, two in charge of the Dominican order, one of the order of La
Concepcion, and one of the order of Santa Catarina Mártyr, the latter
containing four hundred inmates besides a large number of pupils.
In wealth and luxuries these orders had reached a degree second only to
that attained by the regulars in Mexico and Peru. The cloister of the
Dominicans, for instance, had large revenues flowing in from its Indian
dependencies, water-mill privileges, and farms, sugar plantations, and
a silver mine.[XXXV‑53] Within the ample grounds of their convent were
artificial lakes, fish-ponds, and fruit and flower gardens, and their
church was rich with costly ornaments and jewelry. The Dominicans may
have fared better than the other orders, but to none was lacking either
comfort or affluence. Hardly less wealthy than the Dominicans was the
cloister of the nuns of La Concepcion, the inmates of which were very
numerous. It is narrated by Gage that one fair sister of this society,
Doña Juana de Maldonado, daughter of the judge, so bewitched the bishop
with her youth and charms, that to gratify her he strove to install
her as lady superior and abbess, despite her youth and inexperience. In
fact the prelate's conduct was such as to create scandal, and many noted
citizens, whose relatives were inmates, entered the convent prepared to
effect a change by compulsion. The intervention of President Guzman and
the young lady's father resulted in a relinquishment of her ambitious
designs.
The Bethlehemites appeared in Guatemala about the middle of the
seventeenth century, the founder of their order being Fray Pedro de
San José Vetancur. Their first habitation was a small house which was
purchased for forty pesos obtained by contribution. The order did not,
however, long remain in poverty, and in a few years large gifts of money
were annually presented to the society. In 1667 Vetancur was succeeded
by Fray Rodrigo as the leader of the brotherhood, and soon afterward
a church was erected by the Bethlehemites in Santiago at an expense of
seventy thousand pesos,[XXXV‑54] as well as other costly edifices. In
1667 they adopted a code; but the Franciscan provincial objected to its
approval, as it provided the same habit as that worn by his own order.
This difficulty obviated, the rules and regulations were approved by the
bishop on the 6th of February 1668.[XXXV‑55] The society was reorganized
in 1681 on a basis which was sanctioned by the pope and the king, but
not until Fray Rodrigo had spent fifteen years in advocating its cause
in Madrid and Rome.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: CHURCH GOVERNMENT.]
After Bishop Soltero's death the episcopal palace was not occupied by
a prelate until 1659. Juan Garcilaso de la Vega was first appointed to
succeed him, but died at Tehuantepec on the 5th of May, 1654, while on
his way to Santiago. His remains were conveyed thither and interred in
the cathedral. Fray Payo Enriques de Ribera was next appointed to the
vacant see, and took possession in February 1659.
In 1660 a royal order arrived rendering more obligatory former
instructions as to the extent and stipends of curacies. Curates had
been employing secular assistants, to whose charge they either partly or
entirely committed their spiritual duties. They nevertheless collected
all fees and dues. It was not permitted for a curate to have charge of
more than four hundred natives, and when the renewed mandate arrived
Bishop Ribera undertook to enforce its observance. The fiscal, Pedro
Frasso, however, claimed that right and also all surplus moneys received
by curates who had more than the legal number under their charge. The
controversy waxed warm and extended to great length.[XXXV‑56]
Ribera traversed the length and breadth of his diocese in his zeal
for the church, and the establishment of the hospital of San Pedro in
Santiago was due to his labors. He was transferred to the bishopric of
Michoacan and left Guatemala in February 1668.
His successor, Juan de Santo Matías Saenz Mañosca y Murillo, arrived in
the following June, having previously occupied the see of Habana. The
most important ecclesiastical event during his rule was the founding
of a new cathedral, the corner-stone of which he laid with imposing
ceremonies on the 30th of October 1669. The edifice was completed in
1680, and its dedication marked by brilliant ceremonies and festivities
which lasted for eight days. The mornings were devoted to religious
services and the evenings to banquets and balls. Two bands of dancers
had been trained with great care and performed on alternate days; the
one, composed of twelve young men, chosen from the noblest families,
and arrayed in splendid costumes, exhibited the ancient dances of the
New World; the other, formed of the same number of young women of great
accomplishments, richly dressed in Spanish style, represented sibyls.
Midnight was made radiant by spectacular fireworks provided by the
different orders and congregations. When the programme of the clergy
had been exhausted, three additional days were given to unreserved
enjoyment. Theatrical performances, bull-fights, horse-races, and other
amusements were provided, and attended by throngs of people.
After the close of his duties as president of the audiencia, Mañosca
remained in office until his decease in the year 1675, having just
before received notification of his appointment as bishop of La Puebla
de los Angeles.[XXXV‑57]
In February 1676 the new bishop Juan de Ortega y Montañez
arrived, and held office until 1682, when he was promoted to
Michoacan, being succeeded by Andrés de las Navas y Quevedo, whose
politico-ecclesiastical views and mode of administration have won
for him an unenviable prominence among the Guatemalan prelates of the
seventeenth century.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: GAGE ON CHIAPAS.]
During this period the province of Chiapas reached its highest degree
of prosperity. From the time of its subjugation by Mazariegos the
natives had made no attempt to recover their political freedom,
and uninterrupted tranquillity had reigned in the land. The natives
submitted quietly to their lot, and the Spaniards enjoyed the fruit of
their labors. It is true that the territory possessed no mines, but the
productiveness of the soil was such that abundance prevailed. Cacao,
cochineal, and cotton were produced in large quantity and were of great
commercial value, while agriculture and cattle-raising prospered in
all parts of the country. Populous towns[XXXV‑58] were situated in the
fertile valleys,[XXXV‑59] the rivers of which supplied the inhabitants
with abundance of fish, and the forests abounded with game. But during
this period a great change was gradually taking place in the character
and constitution of the two races. The Spaniards became enervated
and effeminate from indolence and inactivity, while the Indians were
acquiring a knowledge of manly exercises and sports which their too
slothful conquerors no longer practised with energy or performed with
skill.[XXXV‑60] With regard to the capital of the province Gage calls
it "one of the meanest Cities in all America,"[XXXV‑61] nor is he more
complimentary to the Spaniards inhabiting it. These he describes as
being grossly ignorant, pompous, arrogant, and cowardly, while the
female portion of the community, with no high reputation for virtue,
had gained a terrible notoriety as poisoners when their jealousy was
aroused or their anger excited by slight or indifference; but we must
not forget that Gage was a foreigner and a fanatic.[XXXV‑62]
[Sidenote: GOVERNMENT.]
The government of the province was as heretofore vested in an alcalde
mayor,[XXXV‑63] whose power was almost despotic, though subject to a
certain extent to the president and audiencia of Guatemala.[XXXV‑64]
With occasional exceptions the political and ecclesiastical authorities
seem to have worked more in harmony than those of other provinces, and
the episcopal seat was successively occupied by prelates who yearly
made the circuit of their diocese to administer confirmation.[XXXV‑65]
Churches were built and convents founded, and the Christian faith so
successfully inculcated that it was professed throughout the length
and breadth of the land. But as will be seen later, this tranquillity
was pregnant with the elements of revolt. The contributions collected
by the ecclesiastics for the performance of the religious ceremonies
were burdensome to the natives, and the taxation and exactions of the
governors even more oppressive; nor can it be asserted that the harsh
treatment to which the Indians were subjected by the earlier rulers was,
to any extent, mitigated by their successors.