dwelling with them.[1] This decree was to have a temporary effect until the issue of a final decision.
It was during Montúfar's occupation of the archiepiscopal seat, and under his direction, that the first ecclesiastical council proper was held in Mexico.[2] The efforts of the missionary friars at their convention in 1526 to establish rules for the guidance of ecclesiastics had, from the want of an organized government and the spiritual condition of the natives, been attended with few results; and after the lapse of thirty years, and the extension of the church, the necessity of a provincial synod became urgent. The archbishop therefore formally convoked a synodical council, and it began its labors on the 17th of November 1555. This council, over which Montúfar presided, was attended by the bishops of Tlascala, Chiapas, Michoacan, and Oajaca, by the viceroy and royal audiencia, and by a number of other officials both ecclesiastic and civil.[3]
At this meeting ninety-three chapters of declarations and rules adapted to the requirements of the period were passed. The aim was to regulate the conversion of the natives, and defend them from irregular exaction of tribute; to reform society and the mode of life followed by many of the clergy, to whom gambling, mercantile pursuits, and the practice of usury were forbidden under heavy punishments; and
- ↑ 'Le an de hazer no ex voto charitatis, como allá lo platicais, sino de justicia y obligacion.' Grijalua, Chrón. S. Augustin, 176; Torquemada, i. 649.
- ↑ The council of friars held in 1526 has been called by some an ecclesiastical council and regarded as the first. But this term applied to that convention isinaccurate. Bishop Zumárraga had also held an ecclesiastical meeting in 1539, at which the bishops of Oajaca and Michoacan, and the prelates of the different orders attended. Among other questions was discussed that of confirmation of the natives, which was again brought forward in 1546 at a meeting called by Visitador Tello de Sandoval.
- ↑ The names of the bishops were respectively: Martin Sarmiento de Hojacastro, Tomás de Casillas, Vasco de Quiroga, and Juan Lopez de Zárate. The last-named prelate died during the session. The bishop of Guatemala was represented by the clergyman Diego de Carbajal. There were also present the dean and chapter of the metropolitan church, as also those of the cathedrals of Tlascala, Guadalajara, and Yucatan, the prelates of the several religious orders, and the corregidor and members of the city council of Mexico. Concilios Prov., MS., No. 1, 191-239; No. 3, 298-326, 363-86; Id., 1555 y 1563, pp. iv.-vi., 335-184.
