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The Departure of Spanish Catholicism from Florida, 1763–1765
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 December 2015
Extract
The Seven Years’ war brought an end to almost 200 years of Spanish residence in Florida. Following the 1763 Treaty of Paris which settled the long and costly conflict between Great Britain and the Bourbon Family Compact (France and Spain), all Spanish possessions in North America east and southeast of the Mississippi River, were ceded to His Britannic Majesty, George III of England. Because Havana, Cuba, had capitulated to a British invasion in the summer of 1762, Marqués de Grimaldi, the Spanish plenipotentiary at Paris, reluctantly relinquished Florida to England in order to recover the Caribbean Island for His Catholic Majesty, Charles III. The treaty of Paris thus reduced Spain’s territorial holdings in the Americas. However, since the Spaniards were determined to leave to the British Crown an empty and unpopulated colony, all the population and portable possessions of Spanish Florida were transported to other areas of the Hispanic Indies.
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- Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1966
References
1 Juan Elixio de la Puente to Minister Julián de Arriaga, Havana, April 16, 1764, AGI 86–6–6/43, Santo Domingo 2543; Puente to the governor of Cuba, Havana, January 22, 1764, September 26, 1766, and January 27, 1770, AGI 87–1–5/3–4, Santo Domingo 2595; Puente to the governor of Cuba, Havana, March 4, 1772, AGI 86–7–11/24; Governor of Cuba to Governor Melchor Feliú, Havana, July 2, and 13, 1763, AGI 86–7–11/3; Captain Díaz to the governor of Cuba, Apalache, November 6, 1763, AGI 86–7–11/16; Captain Díaz to the governor of Cuba, Apalache, January 19, and 21, 1764, AGI 86–7–11/20; Instructions concerning the 1763 evacuation, July 6, and November 24, 1763, Archivo General de la Nación, México 425, Documents: 14–24, and 60–64; Acts establishing the Pensacola Indians near Vera Cruz, 1764–1766, Archivo General de la Nación, México 911, Ramo de Tierras, Legajo 466. All documents cited as AGI (Archivo General de Indias) were obtained from the Stetson Collection of photostated Spanish colonial manuscripts located in the P.K. Yonge Memorial Library of Florida History, Gainesville, Florida. Most of the Stetson Collection was reproduced from the general archives of Sevilla, Spain.
2 Bishop of Santiago, Cuba, to the governor of Cuba, Conde de Ricla, Havana, September 2, 1764, Papeles Procedentes de Cuba, Legajo 372; Inventory of the Apalache possessions, Apalache, November 3, 1763, AGI 86–7–11/16; Governor Melchor Feliú to Conde de Riela, St. Augustine, August 25, 1763, AGI 86–7–11/11; Melchor Feliú to Conde de Ricla, St. Augustine, September 12, 1763, AGI 86–7–11/12.
3 An edict of the bishop of Santiago, Cuba, Havana, February 6, 1764, Papeles Procedentes de Cuba, Legajo 372; Inventory of the Florida Church’s property, Havana, March 30, 1765, Papeles Procedentes de Cuba, Legajo 372.
4 Inventory of Property.
5 The six surviving brotherhoods of St. Augustine in 1763 were the Most Holy Christ of the Solitude, the Most Holy Christ of the Holy True Cross, Our Lady of the Milk, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of the Rosary (Most Holy Virgin of the Rosary), and Our Lady of the Conception; a seventh confraternity—the Most Holy Sacrament— was also listed in some documentary sources as existing at the time of the evacuation. The first cited brotherhood was established under the direction of the Main Parochial Church and the last two cited organizations were related to the Friary Church of St. Francis. A royal edict of August 31, 1688, sanctioned all six of the religious societies which were previously founded in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Memorial of Don Juan Joseph Solana, Sevilla, April 29, 1759, AGI 86–7–21/1; Inventory of the Florida Church’s property, Havana, March 30, 1765, Papeles Procedentes de Cuba, Legajo 372; Siebert, Wilbur H., “Some Church History of St. Augustine During the Spanish Regime,” Florida Historical Quarterly, IX (October, 1930), pp. 118–119 Google Scholar; Robertson, James A., “Notes on Early Church Government in Spanish Florida,” Catholic Historical Review, XVII (July, 1931), p. 159 Google Scholar.
6 Inventory of the Florida Church’s property Havana, March 30, 1765, Papeles Procedentes de Cuba, Legajo 372.
7 Bishop of Santiago, Cuba, to Conde de Ricla, Havana, September 2, 1764, Papeles Procedentes de Cuba, Legajo 372; Conde de Ricla to the bishop of Santiago, Cuba, Havana, November 5, 1764, Papeles Procedentes de Cuba, Legajo 372.
8 Don Juan Elixio de la Puente was perhaps the most prominent Floridian of the eighteenth century. His distinguished career included thirty years of military and civil service under the Spanish crown. After his exile from Florida in 1763, the patriotic Puente was continually occupied with plans and projects to regain La Florida for His Catholic Majesty, the King of Spain. Mark F. Boyd, Unpublished history of eighteenthcentury Florida and Don Juan Elixio de la Puente—awaiting publication (Tallahassee, Florida).
9 Bishop of Santiago, Cuba, to Conde de Ricla, Havana, September 2, 1764, Papeles Procedentes de Cuba, Legajo 372; Conde de Ricla to the bishop of Santiago, Cuba, Havana, November 5, 1764, Papeles Procedentes de Cuba, Legajo 372; Memorial of Marqués Justiz de Santa Ana, Havana, January 10, 1765, Papeles Procedentes de Cuba, Legajo 372; Siebert, “Church History of St. Augustine,” pp. 117–118.
10 Governor Manuel Montiano reported in 1738 that the capacity of the hermitage was so inadequate that the congregation heard Mass outside in the street. South Carolina Governor Moore’s attack on St. Augustine in 1702 destroyed the previous church, and because only four walls of the new church had been erected, the hermitage had to be utilized for the Florida parishioners. The king allotted 40,000 pesos for the reconstruction of the devastated building, but only 10,687 pesos were spent on the construction of church walls. The remaining funds were used for relief and military emergencies. Governor Montonio de Benavides to the crown, St. Augustine, April 24, 1722, November 5, 1725, September 23, 1727, and October 2, 1731, AGI 58–2–4/35/44/ 49/57; Governor Montiano to the crown, St. Augustine, March 3, 1738, Biblioteca Nacional de Madrid, 19508, ff. 186–213; Testimony of Don Juan Joseph Solana, Havana, January 10, 1765, Papeles Procedentes de Cuba, Legajo 372; Memorial of Don Juan Joseph Solana, Sevilla, April 29, 1759, AGI 86–7–21/1.
11 The Papal Bulls of December 14, 1705, established an auxiliary bishopric for Florida. Since the bishops of Cuba were only able to visit the continent occasionally, the creation of a Florida auxiliary bishopric was definitely appreciated by the peninsular colony. From the sixteenth century to the beginning of the eighteenth century only two of the twenty-three Cuban bishops ever sojourned in Florida. Royal Cédula to the bishop of Cuba, Madrid, February 8, 10, and 12, 1719, AGI 58–1–24/33/39/41; Robertson, “Early Church Government in Spanish Florida,” pp. 171–174; TePaske, John J., The Governorship of Spanish Florida, 1700–1763 (Durham, North Carolina, 1964), pp. 161–171 Google Scholar.
12 Bishop Tejada was also responsible for ordering the renovation of the parish church. A new roof and bell-tower were constructed on the recently painted and enlarged building. Governor Mondano to the crown, St. Augustine, March 3, 1738, Biblioteca Nacional de Madrid, 19508, ff. 186–213; Memorial of Don Juan Joseph Solana, Sevilla, April 29, 1759, AGI 86–7–21/1; Testimony of Don Juan Joseph Solana, Havana, January 10, 1765, Papeles Procedentes de Cuba, Legajo 372; Testimony of Don Juan Bernardo Paredes, Havana, January 11, 1765, Papeles Procedentes de Cuba, Legajo 372; Shea, John Gilmary, The Catholic Church in Colonial Days (New York, 1886), I, 477 Google Scholar; Siebert, , “Church History of St. Augustine,” Florida Historical Quarterly, pp. 120–122 Google Scholar.
13 Memorial of Don Juan Joseph Solana, St. Augustine, April 22, 1759, AGI 86–7–21/1; Testimony of Don Juan Joseph Solana, Havana, January 10, 1765, Papeles Procedentes de Cuba, Legajo 372.
14 Testimony of Don Juan Bernardo de Paredes, Havana, January 11, 1765, Papeles Procedentes de Cuba, Legajo 372.
15 Testimony of Don Juan Elixio de la Puente, Havana, January 12, 1765, Papeles Procedentes de Cuba, Legajo 372; Testimony of Don Juan Esteban de Peña, Havana, January 15, 1765, Papeles Procedentes de Cuba, Legajo 372.
16 The report of Joseph Antonio Gelabert, Havana, 1765, Papeles Procedentes de Cuba, Legajo 372; Siebert, , “Church History of St. Augustine,” pp. 122–123 Google Scholar.
17 Memorial of Don Juan Joseph Solana, St. Augustine, April 22, 1759, AGI 86–7–21/1; Puente to the governor of Cuba, Havana, March 4, 1772, AGI 86–7–11/24; U.S. Congress, Senate, Claims of the Catholic Church Pertaining to Certain Properties Held by the United States, 30th Congress, Second Session, January 30, 1849, pp. 27–28.
18 Ibid.; “ General Gage to Secretary of State Henry Conway ”(New York, March 28, 1766)Google Scholar, in Carter, Clarence E. (ed.), The Correspondence of General Thomas Gage with the Secretaries of State and the War Office and the Treasury, 1763–1775 (New Haven, 1933), I, p. 87 Google Scholar; Rev. Curley, Michael J., C. SS. R., , Church and State in the Spanish Floridas, 1183–1822 (Washington, D. C, 1940), pp. 21–22 Google Scholar; Shea, , Catholic Church in Colonial Days, II, 90–91 Google Scholar.
19 Because the 1763 Treaty of Paris authorized Spanish residents of Florida to remain as Catholic parishioners in the new British provinces, the Spanïsh Church was naturally obsessed with the dread that many Spaniards might decide to live in an Anglican Church environment under English dominion. Archbishop of Lepanto to Minister Julián de Arriaga, Madrid, December 23, 1763, AGI 86–7–22/18; Conde de Ricla to the governor of Florida, Havana, July 8, 1763, AGI 86–7–11/3.
20 The archbishop of Lepanto occupied the post of nuncio apostólico of Madrid. Archbishop of Lepanto to Minister Julián de Arriaga, Madrid, December 23, 1763, AGI 86–7–22/18.
21 Ibid.
22 Athares was constructed to supplement the perimeter of land defenses obstructing the ground approach to Havana, Cuba.
23 Maynard Geiger lists ten Franciscans among the religious personnel who evacuated Florida in 1763–1764. The emigrating chaplains of San Marcos de Apalache were included in the Franciscan total. Puente to the governor of Cuba, Havana, January 22, 1764, September 26, 1766, and January 27, 1770, AGI 87–1–5/3–4, Santo Domingo 2595; Geiger, Maynard, Biographical Dictionary of the Franciscans in Spanish Florida and Cuba (1528–1841) (Paterson, New Jersey, 1940), p. 140 Google Scholar.
24 During the British Period (1763–1784) the freely operating Catholic Church was required to prepare an account of its property, claims, revenues, and clerical personnel. Acts establishing the Pensacola Indians near Vera Cruz, 1764–1766, Archivo General de la Nación, México 911, Ramo de Tierras, Legajo 466; Conde de Ricla to Pensacola Governor Parrilla, November 24, 1763, Archivo General de la Nación, México 425, Documents: 14–24, and 60–64; Governor Parrilla to Minister Julián de Arriaga, Havana, November 21 and 24, 1763, AGI 86–7–11/228; Curley, Church and State in the Spanish Floridas, pp. 22–23; Shea, , Catholic Church in Colonial Days, II, 91–92 Google Scholar; Johnson, Cecil, British West Florida, 1763–1783 (New Haven, 1943), pp. 167–168 Google Scholar; Pennington, Edgar Legare, “The Episcopal Church in Florida, 1763–1892,” Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church, VII (March, 1938), 8–9 Google Scholar.
25 San Agustín de la Nueva Florida was the name of the St. Augustine émigrés’ new settlement in Cuba. This New Florida colony was located at Ceiba Mocha, an area very near Matanzas, Cuba. Conde de Ricla to the royal officials of Matanzas, Havana, March 17, 1764, AGI 87–1–5/1, Santo Domingo 2595; Memorial of former inhabitants of Florida, Havana, August 16, 1766, AGI 87–1–5/1, Santo Domingo 2595; Puénte to the governor of Cuba, Havana, September 22, and 26, 1766, AGI 87–1–5/3, Santo Domingo 2595.
26 Salary Arrears of the St. Augustine Secular and Regular Clergy in 1764.
27 By 1763, the priests of St. Augustine were celebrating a reduced schedule of religious feasts. Those days requiring ceremonious observation were the feast days of St. Mark the Evangelist, Corpus Christi, and the city’s patron saint, St. Augustine. Patronage Sunday, the Holy Sacrament Thanksgiving Day, and Soldiers’ Memorial Day were likewise commemorated annually as well as the Mass of September thirtieth. The priests of the Friary of St. Francis were obliged to officiate at many of the town’s religious functions. Services for the first five days of Lent and the presidio’s parochial days were thus the responsibility of the Franciscan clergy. Puente to the governor of Cuba, Havana, January 22, 1764, and January 27, 1770, AGI 87–1–5/4, Santo Domingo 2595; Memorial of Don Juan Joseph Solana, St. Augustine, April 22, 1759, AGI 86–7–21/1.
28 Various obligations of the Plaza of St. Augustine, Havana, March 17, 1764, AGI 87–1–5/1, Santo Domingo 2595; Puente to the governor of Cuba, Havana, January 22, 1764, and January 27, 1770, AGI 87–1–5/4, Santo Domingo 2595.
29 The effects of Governor Moore’s assault on Florida are historically described and discussed in the following works: Arnade, Charles W., The Siege of St. Augustine in 1702 (Gainesville, 1959)Google Scholar; Boyd, Mark F., Smith, Hale G., and Griffen, John W., Here They Once Stood: The Tragic End of the Apalache Missions (Gainesville, 1951)Google Scholar; TePaske, John J., The Governorship of Spanish Florida, 1700–1763 (Durham, North Carolina, 1964)Google Scholar; Chatelain, Verne E., The Defenses of Spanish Florida, 1565–1763 (Washington, D. C, 1941)Google Scholar.
30 See, TePaske, Governorship of Spanish Florida, pp. 159–192, for a thorough and scholarly study of the Florida Catholic Church in the eighteenth century.