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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 December 2015
The exact date on which the first Franciscan friars arrived in Cuba remains unknown, but it was certainly during an early phase of the conquest. Regardless of the exact moment in which the friars disembarked on the island, it is important to note that it marked the beginning of a long history, a history almost condemned to obscurity and from time to time the object of harsh criticism and impassioned indulgence, and more often recorded through partial constructions than through investigation and reasoning. Perhaps because of the complexity of its peculiarities and/or for certain socio-political determining factors that will not be analyzed at this time, Cuba has been one of the marginalized territories of the American ecclesiastical historiography. Nevertheless, in recent years, interest in ecclesiastical themes has grown incrementally among some scholars who, striving to fill the voids, have opened new lines of research and venture to investigate the older documents of the archive.
This article has been written with the cooperation of the Fundación Banco Santander Central Hispano, the Universidad de Zaragoza and the Escuela de Estudios Hispanoamericanos (Seville). I want to express my gratitude to Professor Asunción Lavrin, Juan B. Amores, José A. Armillas and Edelberto Leiva for their constant support and help. The author and editors thank Marisa Grijalva and Stephanie Potter for their translation.
1 The first mention of Franciscan presence on insular territory comes from a letter sent by Diego Velásquez to the King in 1514, in which references to Fr. Johan Tesú, who always accompanied him to indoctrinate the inhabitants of the island to the Catholic faith. According to Padre Las Casas, the friar arrived on Columbus’s second trip (1493), initially establishing himself in Santo Domingo.
2 Among the works recently published on the Catholic Church in colonial Cuba centered on the study of the religious orders, one can consult: Ángel Huerta Martínez, “El monacato femenino en Cuba durante el primer tercio del siglo XIX,” I Congreso Intemacional del Monacato Femenino en España, Portugal y América, ed. Pérez, Jesús Paniagua and Viforcos Marinas, María Isabel, eds. (Universidad de León, 1992), 2 vols.; pp. 495–510 Google Scholar; Segreo, Rigoberto, Conventos y secularización en el siglo XIX cubano (Havana: Ed. Ciencias Sociales, 1998)Google Scholar—part of his doctoral thesis La Iglesia Católica y sus relaciones con los criollos. 1790-1868, defended in Havana, 1993; Lajara, Edelberto Leiva, “La Habana y los jesuitas de América: en el camino al destierro (1767-1770),” Tiempos de América 9 (2002), pp. 70–93.Google Scholar
3 During the Council of Trent (1545-1563), conflicts abounded regarding the subordination of the orders to the bishops. Taking advantage of the circumstances to submit the regulars to more direct control, the Spanish monarchy tried to impose—under the title Comisario General de Indias—a new position that mediated between the Comisarios Provinciales de América and the Generales of the orders. The only religious order that accepted the commands of the crown was that of Saint Francis, which had its first Comisario General de Indias in 1572. This was one of the factors that led to the pre-eminence achieved by the Franciscan order in quantity of overseas missions, convents and friars. Regarding the Patronato Real in the Indies and the ecclesiastical structure in colonial America, consult the following: Leturia, Pedro de, Relaciones entre la Santa Sede e Hispanoamérica. 1493-1835 (Roma-Caracas, Sociedad Bolivariana de Venezuela, Apud Aedes Universitatis Gregorianae, 1959-1960), 3 vols.Google Scholar; de la Hera, Alberto, Iglesia y Corona en la América española (Madrid: Fundación MAPFRE América, 1992).Google Scholar
4 O.F.M., José Torubia, Crónica de la Provincia Franciscana de Santa Cruz de la Española y Caracas. First book of the ninth part of the Crónica General de la Orden Franciscana. (Caracas: [no publisher], 1972), pp. 392–393.Google Scholar
5 AGI, SD 2274, Summary of the Counsel of the Indies. October 29, 1792. Expediente sobre los disturbios entre el Reformador y los Religiosos Franciscanos y ocurrencias en el Hospicio del Puerto de Santa María. 1788-1799.
6 On the Spanish Enlightenment and Enlightened Despotism, see: Corona Baratech, Carlos E., Armillas Vicente, José Antonio (coordinators.), “La Espana de las reformas, hasta el final del reinado de Carlos IV,” Historia general de España y América (Madrid: Rialp, 1981-1988), x, 2 vols.Google Scholar; Ortiz, Antonio Domínguez, La sociedad española en el siglo XVIII (Madrid: Instituto Balmes de Sociología, 1955)Google Scholar; Ortiz, Antonio Domínguez, Las claves del despotismo ilustrado, 1715-1789 (Barcelona: Planeta, 1990)Google Scholar; Herr, Richard, España y la revolutión del siglo XVIII ([Madrid]: Aguilar, 1964).Google Scholar
7 The Tomo Regio outlined a concrete strategy of action created to reform the Church in America. This prompted the meeting of provincial councils (Mexico, 1771; Manila, 1771; Lima, 1772; Charcas, 1774-1778; and Santa Fe de Bogota, 1774) establishing the themes on which the prelate conciliates should center their debate. Indicating the importance of how a good example could contribute to the religious formation of American subjects, some of the measures of the Tomo Regio included improving the behavior of the clergymen. More details on the content of the Tomo Regio and the council meetings can be found in Alcaide, Elisa Luque, “El regalismo conciliar en América y sus protagonistas,” ed. Latasa, Pilar, Reformismo y sociedad en la América borbónica. In memoriam Ronald Escobedo (Pamplona: Ediciones Universidad de Navarra, 2003), pp. 43–71.Google Scholar
8 Report of the attorney general dated July 3, 1768. Merino, María Julia Collado de, “Los Concilios de América bajo Carlos III,” tesis doctoral (Pamplona: Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad de Navarra, 1987) [pro manuscrito], p. 22.Google Scholar Fragment cited by Luque Alcaide, “El regalismo conciliar,” pp. 56-57.
9 In the collections of the Audiencia de Santo Domingo y Ultramar located at the Archivo General de Indias, one can find documents related to the sending of peninsular missionaries to the island and the establishment of communal living in the female and male convents, as well as complaints, commentaries and summaries of events regarding the application of the measures of the crown for reform of the religious orders in Cuba. The reform of regular clergy in America at the end of the eighteenth century has been studied by different researchers. We cite the doctoral thesis defended by Peire, Jaime “La Visitareforma a los religiosos de Indias de 1769” (Universidad de Navarra, 1986) [unpublished]Google Scholar. Juan B. Amores dedicates a part of chapter six of his book Cuba en la época de Ezpeleta (1785-1790) to the study of the reform of religious communities on the island during this period. The articles published by John James Clune in the journals CLAHR (Colonial Latin American Historical Review) and The Americas are centered on the analysis of the reform of female religious communities on the island during the second half of the eighteenth century. See Amores, Juan B., Cuba en la época de Ezpeleta (1785-1790) (Pamplona: Eunsa, 2000), pp. 243–252 Google Scholar; Clune, John James, “Redefining the Role of Convents in Late-Eighteenth-Century Havana,” CLAHR 10:1 (Winter 2001), pp. 127–145 Google Scholar, and “A Cuban Convent in the Age of Enlightened Reform: The Observant Franciscan Community of Santa Clara of Havana, 1768-1808,” The Americas 57:3 (January 2001), pp. 309-327.
10 Fr. Francisco Xavier of the Concepión Caparrós was quite a controversial figure. Some documents refer to him as a son of the Franciscan Province of Santa Elena, although it has not been determined if he was born in Cuba. He was a key figure in the events that took place in the hospice at the Port of Santa María, relating the formation of a mission bound for the island and the problems related to the reform of the seraphic order in the largest of the Antilles.
11 AGI, SD 2274, Licencia y Poder granted to Father Francisco Caparrós before the public notary Nicolás de Frias. June 4, 1788. Letter of the Comisario General de Indias, Fr. Manuel Maria Truxillo to the Minister of Gracia y Justicia, Marquis of Bajamar. Madrid, March 24, 1792.
12 AGI, SD 2274, Declaration from Fr. Francisco de Concepción Caparrós, friar from the province of Santa Elena, commissioned by the Father Reformador in order to promote peace and religiosity there, that, although the Royal resolution is wise, it does not achieve the reform and pacification of the friars because of the unfortunate circumstance that occurred at the same time. November 16, 1788. Summary from the dossier about the trouble between the reformador and the Franciscan friars and happenings at the Hospice of the Port of Santa María. 1788-1799.
13 Amores, Cuba en la época, pp. 250-251.
14 AGI, SD 2274, Summary of the Counsel of the Indies. October 29, 1792.
15 AGI, SD 2274, Letter of Fr. Antonio del Pino to the Comisario General de Indias. September 25,1789.
16 AGI, SD 2274. The Bull was emitted April 19, 1791 and granted on August 22 of the same year. Summary of the Counsel of the Indies. October 29, 1792.
17 The details of this conflict appear in the reports of the Counsel of the Indies and the correspondence that crossed between religious and ecclesiastical authorities and civilians implied in the matter. AGI, SD 2274, Report of the Counsel (3). February 3, 1792. Expediente sobre los disturbios entre el Reformador y los Religiosos Franciscos y ocurrencias en el Hospicio del Puerto de Santa María. 1788-1799.
18 The letter from the Comisario General of the Indies, Fr. Manuel María Truxillo to the Minister of Gracia y Justicia, Marqui of Bejamar, dated in Madrid, March 24, 1792, makes reference to the royal authorization issued on January 10, 1789 to Father Francisco Xavier de la Concepción Caparrós, in order to carry out the colectación of the mission to Santa Elena. AGI, SD 2274.
19 AGI, SD 2274, Report by Eugenio de Llaguno, Minister of Gracia y Justicia to the Council of the Indies. May 5, 1795.
20 AGI, SD 2274, Patente from Fr. Pablo de Moya to Fr. Francisco Xavier de la Concepción Caparrós. March 25, 1793.
21 AGI, SD 2274, Letter from Francisco Xavier Caparrós to the Minister of Gracia y Justicia. November 3, 1795.
22 AGI, SD 2274, Letter from Francisco Xavier Caparrós to the Minister of Gracia y Justicia. November 3, 1795.
23 Concerning the general aspects of the process of colectación of friars for the missions of America, one can consult: Morán, Pedro Borges, El envío de misioneros a América durante la época española (Salamanca: Universidad Pontificia, 1977).Google Scholar
24 AGI, SD 2274, List of the missionaries of Havana that lived in this Royal Hospice. Port of Santa María, November 27, 1795.
25 AGI, SD 2275, List of presentation of colectados friars by Lezaun, Fr. Antonio, Comisario Colectador for the Franciscan province of Santa Elena. Puerto de Santa María, February 13, 1797.Google Scholar Dossiers concerning the Missions of Franciscan Fathers. 1789-1808.
26 Father Fr. Mariano Ulagar was named Provincial of Santa Elena by the patente from the Comisario General of the Indies, dispatphed on January 21, 1795. On January 30, 1795, it left Madrid for the Port of Santa Maria. Extract sent by Moya, Fr. Pablo de, Comisario General of the Indies to the Minister of Gracia y Justicia. August 1, 1795. AGI, SD 2274.Google Scholar
27 AGI, SD 2274, Letter from Fr. Mariano Ulagar to the Minister of Gracia y Justicia. February 5, 1796.
28 AGI, SD 2274, Letter from Father Provincial Mariano Ulagar to the Minister of Gracia y Justicia. May 11, 1795.
29 AGI, SD 2274, Letter from Olondórriz, Fermín, President of the Mission, for the reform of the province of Santa Elena, to the Minister of Gracia y Justicia. May 19, 1795.Google Scholar
30 This referred to the method that established communal living. AGI, SD 2275, Letter from Fr. Antonio Lezaun, Comisario Colectador of the Franciscan province of Santa Elena to the Minister of Gracia y Justicia, July 28, 1797.
31 AGI, SD 2275, List of the friars that Father Fr. Antonio de Lezaun presented to the King (our Lord), and His Majesty approved on behalf of the Mission to the province of Santa Elena of Florida, and the list of the friars that actually live in the mission, and of those that were substituted in place of those who died in the epidemic, those who retracted, and those separated from the mission. Port of Santa Maria, March 16, 1802.
32 AGI, SD 2274, Report from Fr. Pablo de Moya to Josef Antonio Caballero. Madrid, December 22, 1798.
33 AGI, SD 2274, Report from Fr. Pablo de Moya to Josef Antonio Caballero. December 22, 1798.
34 AGI, SD 1454, Dossiers about requests for secularization of regular priests. 1798-1800.
35 AGI, SD 1454, Dossiers about requests for secularization of regular priests. 1798-1800.
36 AGI, SD 1454, Dossiers about requests for secularization of regular priests. 1798-1800.
37 AGI, SD 2274, A patente from Fr. Pablo de Moya a Fr. Francisco Xavier de la Concepción Caparrós. November 24, 1794.
38 AGI, SD 2274, Communication from the Minister of Gracia y Justicia to Father Ulagar. San Lorenzo, October 7, 1798.
39 AGI, SD 2274, Report from Fr. Pablo de Moya to Josef Antonio Caballero. Madrid, December 22, 1798.
40 AGI, SD 2274, Report from Fr. Pablo de Moya to Josef Antonio Caballero. Madrid, December 22, 1798.
41 AGI, SD 2274, Report from Fr. Pablo de Moya to Josef Antonio Caballero. Madrid, December 22, 1798.
42 AGI, SD 2274, Does not refer to a date, author, or place, but one can suppose that it was written by a Creole friar in Cuba between 1797 and 1799.
43 AGI, SD 2274, Letter by Fathers Juan Antonio Gómez, Jerónimo Vega, Francisco Rodriguez Capote, Gregorio Estévez, Josef Denis, Pedro Bronacano and Manuel Estévez. Does not refer to the recipient nor to a date.
44 AGI, SD 2274, Report of the Cabildo de Guanabacoa. August 22, 1797.
45 AGI, SD 2274, Letter of provincial Ulagar to the Minister of Gracia y Justicia. Guanabacoa, June 10, 1799.