Royal decree, May 20, 1700The King. To my reverend father in Christ, Doctor Don Diego Camacho y Avila, archbishop of the metropolitan church of Manila in the Filipinas Islands, and member of my Council: In letters of January 19 and February 20, 1698, you report your arrival in those islands, and what you are doing to quell the hatred and enmities which exist among your subjects, reclaiming them to a new life by the measures which you are applying, and obtaining the peace and tranquillity which you were desiring. You also wrote that you had undertaken to continue work on the church building there, and had gone to visit the secular clergy, in which you had met no hindrance; and that in endeavoring to make the visitations in the mission churches served by regulars—according to the regulations of the Council of Trent, the apostolic letters, and the royal decrees—you were influencing the religious by gentle methods to accept such visitation, for this purpose drawing up a manifesto, but that these methods were not sufficient to induce them to do so voluntarily. For this reason, in fulfilment of the obligations of your office you had published an edict for carrying out this visitation, and had actually gone to put it into execution in the mission stations of regulars at Tondo, Binondoc, Santa Cruz, Dilao, and Parián, since you were denied diocesan jurisdiction over the ministers who serve in these places—while at the same time, in those of Tondo and Binondoc (which are served by religious of St. Dominic and St. Augustine) those ministers were abandoning their churches, consuming39the holy sacrament, and carrying away withthem the holy oils and ornaments. Consequently you found it necessary to place secular priestsad interimin those villages, from which it resulted that the religious orders went to offer their renunciation of those missions before my governor, without going to you; and in this condition of affairs it seemed best to the Audiencia to furnish aid so that the religious orders should not abandon these missions, and that their renunciation of them should not be accepted. But this was not sufficient to prevent the religious from withdrawing from those missions, for which reason you found yourself compelled to retire to your own church, and to desist from these visitations, removing the temporary ministers whom you had appointed, and lifting the censures and penalties which you had imposed, without prejudice to your dignity and jurisdiction. And finally you recount the very harmful results which must follow from the form and method of administration which prevails in these mission stations, and the illegal acts which are committed by the ministers in charge of them, of which you send a summary, stating how impossible you find it to remedy this condition of affairs, on account of the reasons which you point out, and asking that the necessary measures be taken, and that you be assured of it, so that you can visit as you should that archbishopric, in fulfilment of your ministry as its pastor. This matter has been considered in my Council of the Indias, with the attested copies sent by you of the documents therein, with the representations made in your name and in those of thereligious orders who reside in those islands and hold mission posts there. Having fully informed myself on both sides, and given the subject special consideration, I have resolved to approve, and herewith do approve, all that you have accomplished in this affair, and especially your course in having ceased from further action therein until you could report it to me and await the measures which may be applied to the difficulty, assuring you of my full gratitude for your very judicious proceedings and the good management which you have showed in the conduct of this important affair. Your procedure with the superiors of the religious orders is very suitable to your prudence, and quite in accordance with the opinion that I have of your zeal and great discretion; and the special service which you have rendered to me is strongly commended to my remembrance, that I may bear it in mind and favor and honor you on all occasions that shall arise. And in view of the grave considerations that are involved in this matter, and of your request that the regulations and provisions of the sacred canons, councils, and apostolic constitutions, and the laws of the Indias be put into execution, in order that the diocesans may, as you say, visit the regulars who hold office as curas, in matters which pertain to the care of souls, I am undertaking with all the attention of my Catholic and pious zeal to furnish the remedies that are most suitable and effectual for this object, and for preventing any disturbances which may arise in the future, leaving settled and established the right of prescription, both canonical and legal. And as concerns what is contained in the summary which you have drawn up of the illegal acts of thereligious who serve the missions, except in the question of visitation you shall always have authority to receive information, and to demand from the superiors of the orders that they reform and correct the religious. And if when they are admonished the first and the second time they do not thus act, I command that you carry out the said reform with your jurisdiction as ordinary. For the better success of this, I decree, by despatches sent this day to the president and auditors of my royal Audiencia there, that they assist you with their aid on all occasions when you shall demand it and shall need it. Of this you are [herewith] notified, and you shall inform me of your action in this matter, and of any further occurrences. At Aranjuez, May 20 in the year 1700.I the KingBy command of the king our sovereign:Don Manuel de Àperregui[Six rubrics are added at the foot of this document, which appear to be those of the members of the Council.]1At the end of this document appear the following memoranda relative to the archbishop’s voyage to the islands: “Archbishop Camacho embarked at Acapulco for Manila on March 30, 1697. The lading of the ship was made in great haste, because there was in Acapulco a fearful pestilence. Several died from this pest on the ship, within a few days—among whom were the fiscal of his Majesty, and a Jesuit and a Dominican. On the 19th of July they encountered a terrible storm, from which they escaped only through the intercession of St. Francisco Javier, a Jesuit, casting into the water an order of the saint in which he promised that they should have no [cause for] fear. On July 24, at three o’clock in the afternoon, they anchored in the port of Palapag, where they suffered from a baguio. On the eighth day of September, the archbishop made his public entry into Manila.”2Spanish,realengos; “applied to the villages which are not held by seigniors or by the religious orders, and to lands belonging to the state” (Barcia).Auditor Sierra held a commission from the court for legalizing the ownership of lands in Filipinas; and in the fulfilment of this charge he demanded from the friars the documents which justified their right to the magnificent estates of which they called themselves the owners.” (Montero y Vidal,Hist. de Filipinas, p. 385.)3This bull was a papal sentence of excommunication formerly published against heretics every Holy (or Maundy) Thursday; for ages it was publicly read on that day, otherwise known as theferia quinta in Cœna Domini; hence its common title, as given in the text. The latest form which this bull assumed was given to it by Urban VIII in 1627; it is entitled,Pastoralis Romani pontificis vigilantia, and is divided into twenty sections or decrees. Of these, no. 15 censures such as usurp jurisdiction; it was, then, issued in the interests of liberty in court trials. No. 17 censures those who usurp church revenues, incomes, and the like; and it thus upheld the rights of ownership. This bull is no longer used; its periodical publication was discontinued after 1773, and it was suppressed by Pius IX (October 12, 1869), in force of his constitution,Apostolicæ Sedis, issued on that date.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.4The decree here mentioned is dated May 15, 1572, and begins,Exposcit debitum pastoralis officii. In it provision is made for “appeals from the West Indias, and the islands of the Ocean Sea, subject to the king of Spain.” It orders that appeals be carried, first, from the bishop to the metropolitan; second, from the metropolitan to the next neighboring ordinary—that thus justice might be secured without delay or so heavy expense. Philip II had petitioned to this effect, that cases might be decided by two courts, and no appeal be admitted therefrom; hence the bull of Gregory to the king.In this case, the appeal was from the metropolitan to the bishop of Camarines—who probably had been commissioned by the pope to act as delegate from an early period in his episcopal career, since he himself mentions (post) his having acted in that capacity in the time of Archbishop Pardo. In case of the nearest see being vacant, the official who acted as its head would be delegate for the time being,i.e.would be a vice-ordinary. Also, as those islands were too remote for sending thither delegates from Europe, except in extraordinary cases, the metropolitan of Manila might send a delegate to Camarines. The authority possessed by the delegate in appeal cases (as results from the bull of Gregory) would be definitive and final; he might overrule and even supersede the metropolitan, as being the judge in final appeal.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.5Probably Manuel Fernandez de Santa Cruz, as he was bishop of Puebla in 1696 (Bancroft’sMexico, iii, p. 256).6Cruzat y Gongora’s term of office was lengthened by the failure of his successor to go to the islands. This was Domingo Zabalburu de Echevarri, who was appointed September 18, 1694, but did not reach Manila until 1701.7Spanish,sobrino, which may be applied not only to a brother’s or sister’s child, but to that of a cousin-german.8Spanish,ni mejorarla [apelacion]; a legal phrase, meaning “to support the appeal before the superior court, after having appealed before it, by setting forth the injury that is experienced from any act issued by the lower court” (Barcia).9So in Ventura del Arco’s transcription; but it would seem to be an error for 120—perhaps a copyist’s conjecture of an illegible character—since it apparently refers to Gregory XIII’s decree of 1572 (ante, p. 27).10He was almost seventy years old, according to Concepción (Hist. de Philipinas, viii, p. 229).11In the Latin Church the ecclesiastical orders are those of bishops, priests, deacons, sub-deacons, acolytes, exorcists, readers, andostiarii, or doorkeepers. Many theologians reckon the number at seven, regarding the episcopate as merely the extension of the priesthood (Addis and Arnold, p. 621).12Spanish,seminario conciliar; “the house assigned for the education of the young men who devote themselves to the ecclesiastical career” (Barcia).13José Sarmiento Valladares, Conde de Montezuma, was the successor, in the viceroyalty of Nueva España, of Gaspar de la Cerda, Conde de Galve (whose term of office was November 20, 1688 to May, 1696). Valladares obtained his title by his marriage with Gerónima María, a lineal descendant of the Mexican emperor, and third countess of Montezuma. He took possession of the office on December 18, 1696, and held it until November 4, 1701. He was an able and efficient governor, and did much to repress crime, improve social conditions, aid the Indians in times of distress, and render the City of Mexico more strongly fortified. (Bancroft,Mexico, iii, pp. 222, 259, 264, 265.)14Miguel Bayót was a discalced Franciscan, an Aragonese, who came to the Philippines in 1669; he was employed in ministries to the Indians, and was long at the head of the hospice of the order in Mexico City. In 1695 he was appointed bishop of Cebú, when he was 52 years old, being then in Mexico, and took possession of his office in September, 1696; he died there on August 28, 1700. When he died, only the sum of five reals was found in his possession. (San Antonio,Chronicas, i, p. 212.)15The first page of this MS. is occupied by official attestations showing that on January 22, 1699, officially certified copies of these decrees by the archbishop were demanded by Antonio de Borja, procurator-general of the Jesuit province, from one of the alcaldes of Manila, Antonio Basarte, who ordered these copies to be made.16Spanish,casamientos y velaciones; the former the general term for marriages, the latter also used thus, but referring especially to the nuptial mass or nuptial benedictions (which, however, were and are given only at mass). The parties might be married outside of mass—as if it were a private marriage, or if they were too poor to pay for the mass—and then did not receive the benedictions. But if at mass, they werevelados—a term recalling an ancient ceremony when both parties were veiled at the marriage;i.e., the priest threw a veil over their heads. Thus Moroni in hisDiccionario, who also states that “this custom is still in vogue in some places” (in his own day, about thirty years ago).La velacionwas another term for the marriage ceremony at mass, and was part of the ceremony. Every woman (of good standing) is entitled to church marriage—with nuptial mass and benediction—but once only: this may be on the occasion of a second or third marriage, provided the former marriages were outside of mass; but if the first marriage were with the nuptial mass, she is barred from enjoying this privilege at subsequent marriages. These are thecasamientos; the nuptial mass, or marriage accompanied by it, thevelacion.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.17Hijo de la Iglesia; a term applied to a foundling or abandoned infant; cf., the Italian appellation, “a child of the Madonna.”18Spanish,octavas. None of the standard dictionaries give a meaning to cover this use ofoctavas. Dominguez’sDiccionario(Supplement) states that the word is a term in Roman law, designating an ancient form of tribute consisting of one part in eight. Probably it was carried over into ecclesiastical law, and here means that the cura was expected to pay one-eighth of his fees into the church fund.19Spanish,canonicas monitoriales. In law books, banns (in Latin) are styledproclamationes monitoriæ.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.20Spanish,limosna. The fees (derechos) of the cura were determined, fixed sums, as in the tariff lists, nor could he change them. Thelimosna—a free offering, and wholly optional with the parties for whom he officiated—was over and above the tariff charge. The cura could do with this offering what he wished—if he chose, spending it in alms; but it was given to him personally, and was for his own use. Cf. thegratificación voluntariain the following list of fees to be paid the parish priest in Cuba, taken from theManual de la Isla de Cuba, by José Garcia y Arboleya (2nd ed., Havana, 1859), pp. 316, 317:For baptism: a voluntary offering [gratificación voluntaria], the minimum of which is 6 reals for the curaand2 for the acolyte$ 1.For burial:of free adult7.50of free child6.50of slave adult5.50of slave child5.For prayers—responsowith cope, sacristan, and processional cross [cruz alta], at the house of the deceased7.For prayers, with cope, at the burial4.For office (of three lections)5.For mass chanted (body present)6.For each halt [posa]12.50For processional cross at the grave (without cross, .50)2.For each censer.50For each attendant in surplice1.For remaining till end [of interment]1.50For four [church] bells [tolled]2.For three [church] bells [tolled]1.50For two [church] bells [tolled]1.For low mass [without chant]1.For afiesta[feast-day celebration] with vespers and mass chanted12.For a fiesta with procession14.For votive mass chanted6.50For marriage7.25For cura at the house [of the parties]4.For foreigners25. to 30.For record of baptism1.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.21The termMorenos, as has appeared from former documents, was applied generally to persons of swarthy complexion—mulattoes, some negroes, and Malabar natives, indiscriminately.22Spanish,arraz(arras); a very old term, of Hebrew origin; hence the Latin law term ofarrha,i.e., anticipated payment of part.Arrasalso means “thirteen pieces of money given to the bride by the bridegroom;” this or similar dowry was required by a very old and very rigorous law.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.Barcia givesarrasthe general meaning of “that which is given as a pledge or token of any agreement. It was extended also to the marriage contract. Also, the thirteen pieces of money which in weddings serve for the formality of that function, passing from the hands of the bridegroom to those of the bride. In law, the amount which the man promises to the woman on account of his marriage to her; it cannot exceed, according to law, the tenth part of his possessions.” He definesarrha(French,arrhes) as “a pledge or token given to secure and confirm a contract.”23The context would seem to require here the amount of the fee for burial of a child; this has apparently been omitted in the MS. by a clerical error. The general appearance of the MS., and various memoranda on the back, suggest the probability that this was one of the copies furnished to the Jesuit Borja.24Spanish,possas. At funerals, prayers were read at different points on the way to the cemetery; for instance, at the church door, midway on the route, and at the cemetery gate—if not oftener. Of course the procession halted while prayers were being read or chanted; so for each halt (posa) a fee was due.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.25Spanish,missas de nouenario; the novenary is a nine days’ condolence for the deceased. The same term is also applied to a nine days’ devotion offered to some saint.26Spanish,el velo; literally, the “veil,” or the “veiling;” evidently referring to the old-time usage of placing a veil over the married pair (see note 16,ante), as a part of the ceremonies at the nuptial mass. I am told by one of our fathers here at Villanova, who lived in Spain years ago, that at marriages in that country the bride wears the usual wedding-veil, and continues to wear it in public for one week after the marriage; it is white, sometimes plain, sometimes adorned with ribbons or flowers of various colors.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.27Spanish,cruz alta con su manga. The processional cross was carried on a staff, as used in the United States in processions; at funerals the crucifix was covered with black, this funeral trapping (manga) covering or veiling the cross as a sign of grief. Sometimes the sacristan bore only a small cross, without staff; this depended wholly on his fee. In all Catholic churches in the United States, we use the crucifixes covered in Holy Week; but we do not veil crosses at funerals.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.28Spanish,por titulo de justicia.Parroco de justicia, so frequently used in this document, is the Spanish rendering of the technical Latin phrase,parochus de jure—words which show that the cura had a right to his office, had been instituted according to the canons, and was canonically and legally in office. It is practically the same as the English phrase “by right and title.” Other equivalents are: “by title of law,” “by right,” and “ordinary.” The parish priest, whether secular or regular, was an official of the Church.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.29See account of the allotment of diocesan titles inVOL. I, p. 244, note 188. Baluffi, there cited, adds: “Relative to the two ninths that were given to the king, the first bishop of Mechoacan [in Mexico], Mons. Vasco de Quiroga, when organizing his cathedral [clergy] in 1554, speaking of the two shares of the tithes that were given to the king, remarked that they were thus awarded to his most serene Majesty in token of his lordship (superioritalis) and right of patronage.”30In text,oneroso, but evidently a transcriber’s error foronrroso.31In the text,projimos, “neighbors”—in allusion to the Scriptural injunction, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,” a duty strictly inculcated in the training of candidates for ordination, especially in the Jesuit order.32Alluding to Paul’s precept in I Corinthians, vii, v. 20.33That is, a non-resident or merely titular prelate; seeVOL. XVIII, p. 339, note 101.34The whole sentence, divested of technicalities, simply means that one must “look before he leaps;” or that, when one has his eyes open, he is supposed to have used them; or that the bishop, should he be merely titular, would have no one to blame but himself, and should be the last to complain.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.35Spanish,pordioseros; that is, those who ask alms “for God’s sake.”36Spanish,conciliabulo; like English “conventicle,” used to designate an unauthorized or illegal assembly.37Spanish,mal sonante y temeraria—literally, “of evil sound and reckless.” This is part of a legal phrase, taken from Latin forms used by the Roman courts when characterizing books, teachings, statements, etc., of unorthodox or schismatic bearing.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.38This memorial seems to have been written by the Dominican Fray Raimundo Berart (seeReseña biográfica, ii, p. 203); and it was printed by Fray Mimbela.39Spanish,consumiendo; “the reception or eating by the priest of the body and blood of Christ, in the elements of bread and wine” (Dominguez).
Royal decree, May 20, 1700The King. To my reverend father in Christ, Doctor Don Diego Camacho y Avila, archbishop of the metropolitan church of Manila in the Filipinas Islands, and member of my Council: In letters of January 19 and February 20, 1698, you report your arrival in those islands, and what you are doing to quell the hatred and enmities which exist among your subjects, reclaiming them to a new life by the measures which you are applying, and obtaining the peace and tranquillity which you were desiring. You also wrote that you had undertaken to continue work on the church building there, and had gone to visit the secular clergy, in which you had met no hindrance; and that in endeavoring to make the visitations in the mission churches served by regulars—according to the regulations of the Council of Trent, the apostolic letters, and the royal decrees—you were influencing the religious by gentle methods to accept such visitation, for this purpose drawing up a manifesto, but that these methods were not sufficient to induce them to do so voluntarily. For this reason, in fulfilment of the obligations of your office you had published an edict for carrying out this visitation, and had actually gone to put it into execution in the mission stations of regulars at Tondo, Binondoc, Santa Cruz, Dilao, and Parián, since you were denied diocesan jurisdiction over the ministers who serve in these places—while at the same time, in those of Tondo and Binondoc (which are served by religious of St. Dominic and St. Augustine) those ministers were abandoning their churches, consuming39the holy sacrament, and carrying away withthem the holy oils and ornaments. Consequently you found it necessary to place secular priestsad interimin those villages, from which it resulted that the religious orders went to offer their renunciation of those missions before my governor, without going to you; and in this condition of affairs it seemed best to the Audiencia to furnish aid so that the religious orders should not abandon these missions, and that their renunciation of them should not be accepted. But this was not sufficient to prevent the religious from withdrawing from those missions, for which reason you found yourself compelled to retire to your own church, and to desist from these visitations, removing the temporary ministers whom you had appointed, and lifting the censures and penalties which you had imposed, without prejudice to your dignity and jurisdiction. And finally you recount the very harmful results which must follow from the form and method of administration which prevails in these mission stations, and the illegal acts which are committed by the ministers in charge of them, of which you send a summary, stating how impossible you find it to remedy this condition of affairs, on account of the reasons which you point out, and asking that the necessary measures be taken, and that you be assured of it, so that you can visit as you should that archbishopric, in fulfilment of your ministry as its pastor. This matter has been considered in my Council of the Indias, with the attested copies sent by you of the documents therein, with the representations made in your name and in those of thereligious orders who reside in those islands and hold mission posts there. Having fully informed myself on both sides, and given the subject special consideration, I have resolved to approve, and herewith do approve, all that you have accomplished in this affair, and especially your course in having ceased from further action therein until you could report it to me and await the measures which may be applied to the difficulty, assuring you of my full gratitude for your very judicious proceedings and the good management which you have showed in the conduct of this important affair. Your procedure with the superiors of the religious orders is very suitable to your prudence, and quite in accordance with the opinion that I have of your zeal and great discretion; and the special service which you have rendered to me is strongly commended to my remembrance, that I may bear it in mind and favor and honor you on all occasions that shall arise. And in view of the grave considerations that are involved in this matter, and of your request that the regulations and provisions of the sacred canons, councils, and apostolic constitutions, and the laws of the Indias be put into execution, in order that the diocesans may, as you say, visit the regulars who hold office as curas, in matters which pertain to the care of souls, I am undertaking with all the attention of my Catholic and pious zeal to furnish the remedies that are most suitable and effectual for this object, and for preventing any disturbances which may arise in the future, leaving settled and established the right of prescription, both canonical and legal. And as concerns what is contained in the summary which you have drawn up of the illegal acts of thereligious who serve the missions, except in the question of visitation you shall always have authority to receive information, and to demand from the superiors of the orders that they reform and correct the religious. And if when they are admonished the first and the second time they do not thus act, I command that you carry out the said reform with your jurisdiction as ordinary. For the better success of this, I decree, by despatches sent this day to the president and auditors of my royal Audiencia there, that they assist you with their aid on all occasions when you shall demand it and shall need it. Of this you are [herewith] notified, and you shall inform me of your action in this matter, and of any further occurrences. At Aranjuez, May 20 in the year 1700.I the KingBy command of the king our sovereign:Don Manuel de Àperregui[Six rubrics are added at the foot of this document, which appear to be those of the members of the Council.]1At the end of this document appear the following memoranda relative to the archbishop’s voyage to the islands: “Archbishop Camacho embarked at Acapulco for Manila on March 30, 1697. The lading of the ship was made in great haste, because there was in Acapulco a fearful pestilence. Several died from this pest on the ship, within a few days—among whom were the fiscal of his Majesty, and a Jesuit and a Dominican. On the 19th of July they encountered a terrible storm, from which they escaped only through the intercession of St. Francisco Javier, a Jesuit, casting into the water an order of the saint in which he promised that they should have no [cause for] fear. On July 24, at three o’clock in the afternoon, they anchored in the port of Palapag, where they suffered from a baguio. On the eighth day of September, the archbishop made his public entry into Manila.”2Spanish,realengos; “applied to the villages which are not held by seigniors or by the religious orders, and to lands belonging to the state” (Barcia).Auditor Sierra held a commission from the court for legalizing the ownership of lands in Filipinas; and in the fulfilment of this charge he demanded from the friars the documents which justified their right to the magnificent estates of which they called themselves the owners.” (Montero y Vidal,Hist. de Filipinas, p. 385.)3This bull was a papal sentence of excommunication formerly published against heretics every Holy (or Maundy) Thursday; for ages it was publicly read on that day, otherwise known as theferia quinta in Cœna Domini; hence its common title, as given in the text. The latest form which this bull assumed was given to it by Urban VIII in 1627; it is entitled,Pastoralis Romani pontificis vigilantia, and is divided into twenty sections or decrees. Of these, no. 15 censures such as usurp jurisdiction; it was, then, issued in the interests of liberty in court trials. No. 17 censures those who usurp church revenues, incomes, and the like; and it thus upheld the rights of ownership. This bull is no longer used; its periodical publication was discontinued after 1773, and it was suppressed by Pius IX (October 12, 1869), in force of his constitution,Apostolicæ Sedis, issued on that date.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.4The decree here mentioned is dated May 15, 1572, and begins,Exposcit debitum pastoralis officii. In it provision is made for “appeals from the West Indias, and the islands of the Ocean Sea, subject to the king of Spain.” It orders that appeals be carried, first, from the bishop to the metropolitan; second, from the metropolitan to the next neighboring ordinary—that thus justice might be secured without delay or so heavy expense. Philip II had petitioned to this effect, that cases might be decided by two courts, and no appeal be admitted therefrom; hence the bull of Gregory to the king.In this case, the appeal was from the metropolitan to the bishop of Camarines—who probably had been commissioned by the pope to act as delegate from an early period in his episcopal career, since he himself mentions (post) his having acted in that capacity in the time of Archbishop Pardo. In case of the nearest see being vacant, the official who acted as its head would be delegate for the time being,i.e.would be a vice-ordinary. Also, as those islands were too remote for sending thither delegates from Europe, except in extraordinary cases, the metropolitan of Manila might send a delegate to Camarines. The authority possessed by the delegate in appeal cases (as results from the bull of Gregory) would be definitive and final; he might overrule and even supersede the metropolitan, as being the judge in final appeal.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.5Probably Manuel Fernandez de Santa Cruz, as he was bishop of Puebla in 1696 (Bancroft’sMexico, iii, p. 256).6Cruzat y Gongora’s term of office was lengthened by the failure of his successor to go to the islands. This was Domingo Zabalburu de Echevarri, who was appointed September 18, 1694, but did not reach Manila until 1701.7Spanish,sobrino, which may be applied not only to a brother’s or sister’s child, but to that of a cousin-german.8Spanish,ni mejorarla [apelacion]; a legal phrase, meaning “to support the appeal before the superior court, after having appealed before it, by setting forth the injury that is experienced from any act issued by the lower court” (Barcia).9So in Ventura del Arco’s transcription; but it would seem to be an error for 120—perhaps a copyist’s conjecture of an illegible character—since it apparently refers to Gregory XIII’s decree of 1572 (ante, p. 27).10He was almost seventy years old, according to Concepción (Hist. de Philipinas, viii, p. 229).11In the Latin Church the ecclesiastical orders are those of bishops, priests, deacons, sub-deacons, acolytes, exorcists, readers, andostiarii, or doorkeepers. Many theologians reckon the number at seven, regarding the episcopate as merely the extension of the priesthood (Addis and Arnold, p. 621).12Spanish,seminario conciliar; “the house assigned for the education of the young men who devote themselves to the ecclesiastical career” (Barcia).13José Sarmiento Valladares, Conde de Montezuma, was the successor, in the viceroyalty of Nueva España, of Gaspar de la Cerda, Conde de Galve (whose term of office was November 20, 1688 to May, 1696). Valladares obtained his title by his marriage with Gerónima María, a lineal descendant of the Mexican emperor, and third countess of Montezuma. He took possession of the office on December 18, 1696, and held it until November 4, 1701. He was an able and efficient governor, and did much to repress crime, improve social conditions, aid the Indians in times of distress, and render the City of Mexico more strongly fortified. (Bancroft,Mexico, iii, pp. 222, 259, 264, 265.)14Miguel Bayót was a discalced Franciscan, an Aragonese, who came to the Philippines in 1669; he was employed in ministries to the Indians, and was long at the head of the hospice of the order in Mexico City. In 1695 he was appointed bishop of Cebú, when he was 52 years old, being then in Mexico, and took possession of his office in September, 1696; he died there on August 28, 1700. When he died, only the sum of five reals was found in his possession. (San Antonio,Chronicas, i, p. 212.)15The first page of this MS. is occupied by official attestations showing that on January 22, 1699, officially certified copies of these decrees by the archbishop were demanded by Antonio de Borja, procurator-general of the Jesuit province, from one of the alcaldes of Manila, Antonio Basarte, who ordered these copies to be made.16Spanish,casamientos y velaciones; the former the general term for marriages, the latter also used thus, but referring especially to the nuptial mass or nuptial benedictions (which, however, were and are given only at mass). The parties might be married outside of mass—as if it were a private marriage, or if they were too poor to pay for the mass—and then did not receive the benedictions. But if at mass, they werevelados—a term recalling an ancient ceremony when both parties were veiled at the marriage;i.e., the priest threw a veil over their heads. Thus Moroni in hisDiccionario, who also states that “this custom is still in vogue in some places” (in his own day, about thirty years ago).La velacionwas another term for the marriage ceremony at mass, and was part of the ceremony. Every woman (of good standing) is entitled to church marriage—with nuptial mass and benediction—but once only: this may be on the occasion of a second or third marriage, provided the former marriages were outside of mass; but if the first marriage were with the nuptial mass, she is barred from enjoying this privilege at subsequent marriages. These are thecasamientos; the nuptial mass, or marriage accompanied by it, thevelacion.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.17Hijo de la Iglesia; a term applied to a foundling or abandoned infant; cf., the Italian appellation, “a child of the Madonna.”18Spanish,octavas. None of the standard dictionaries give a meaning to cover this use ofoctavas. Dominguez’sDiccionario(Supplement) states that the word is a term in Roman law, designating an ancient form of tribute consisting of one part in eight. Probably it was carried over into ecclesiastical law, and here means that the cura was expected to pay one-eighth of his fees into the church fund.19Spanish,canonicas monitoriales. In law books, banns (in Latin) are styledproclamationes monitoriæ.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.20Spanish,limosna. The fees (derechos) of the cura were determined, fixed sums, as in the tariff lists, nor could he change them. Thelimosna—a free offering, and wholly optional with the parties for whom he officiated—was over and above the tariff charge. The cura could do with this offering what he wished—if he chose, spending it in alms; but it was given to him personally, and was for his own use. Cf. thegratificación voluntariain the following list of fees to be paid the parish priest in Cuba, taken from theManual de la Isla de Cuba, by José Garcia y Arboleya (2nd ed., Havana, 1859), pp. 316, 317:For baptism: a voluntary offering [gratificación voluntaria], the minimum of which is 6 reals for the curaand2 for the acolyte$ 1.For burial:of free adult7.50of free child6.50of slave adult5.50of slave child5.For prayers—responsowith cope, sacristan, and processional cross [cruz alta], at the house of the deceased7.For prayers, with cope, at the burial4.For office (of three lections)5.For mass chanted (body present)6.For each halt [posa]12.50For processional cross at the grave (without cross, .50)2.For each censer.50For each attendant in surplice1.For remaining till end [of interment]1.50For four [church] bells [tolled]2.For three [church] bells [tolled]1.50For two [church] bells [tolled]1.For low mass [without chant]1.For afiesta[feast-day celebration] with vespers and mass chanted12.For a fiesta with procession14.For votive mass chanted6.50For marriage7.25For cura at the house [of the parties]4.For foreigners25. to 30.For record of baptism1.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.21The termMorenos, as has appeared from former documents, was applied generally to persons of swarthy complexion—mulattoes, some negroes, and Malabar natives, indiscriminately.22Spanish,arraz(arras); a very old term, of Hebrew origin; hence the Latin law term ofarrha,i.e., anticipated payment of part.Arrasalso means “thirteen pieces of money given to the bride by the bridegroom;” this or similar dowry was required by a very old and very rigorous law.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.Barcia givesarrasthe general meaning of “that which is given as a pledge or token of any agreement. It was extended also to the marriage contract. Also, the thirteen pieces of money which in weddings serve for the formality of that function, passing from the hands of the bridegroom to those of the bride. In law, the amount which the man promises to the woman on account of his marriage to her; it cannot exceed, according to law, the tenth part of his possessions.” He definesarrha(French,arrhes) as “a pledge or token given to secure and confirm a contract.”23The context would seem to require here the amount of the fee for burial of a child; this has apparently been omitted in the MS. by a clerical error. The general appearance of the MS., and various memoranda on the back, suggest the probability that this was one of the copies furnished to the Jesuit Borja.24Spanish,possas. At funerals, prayers were read at different points on the way to the cemetery; for instance, at the church door, midway on the route, and at the cemetery gate—if not oftener. Of course the procession halted while prayers were being read or chanted; so for each halt (posa) a fee was due.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.25Spanish,missas de nouenario; the novenary is a nine days’ condolence for the deceased. The same term is also applied to a nine days’ devotion offered to some saint.26Spanish,el velo; literally, the “veil,” or the “veiling;” evidently referring to the old-time usage of placing a veil over the married pair (see note 16,ante), as a part of the ceremonies at the nuptial mass. I am told by one of our fathers here at Villanova, who lived in Spain years ago, that at marriages in that country the bride wears the usual wedding-veil, and continues to wear it in public for one week after the marriage; it is white, sometimes plain, sometimes adorned with ribbons or flowers of various colors.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.27Spanish,cruz alta con su manga. The processional cross was carried on a staff, as used in the United States in processions; at funerals the crucifix was covered with black, this funeral trapping (manga) covering or veiling the cross as a sign of grief. Sometimes the sacristan bore only a small cross, without staff; this depended wholly on his fee. In all Catholic churches in the United States, we use the crucifixes covered in Holy Week; but we do not veil crosses at funerals.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.28Spanish,por titulo de justicia.Parroco de justicia, so frequently used in this document, is the Spanish rendering of the technical Latin phrase,parochus de jure—words which show that the cura had a right to his office, had been instituted according to the canons, and was canonically and legally in office. It is practically the same as the English phrase “by right and title.” Other equivalents are: “by title of law,” “by right,” and “ordinary.” The parish priest, whether secular or regular, was an official of the Church.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.29See account of the allotment of diocesan titles inVOL. I, p. 244, note 188. Baluffi, there cited, adds: “Relative to the two ninths that were given to the king, the first bishop of Mechoacan [in Mexico], Mons. Vasco de Quiroga, when organizing his cathedral [clergy] in 1554, speaking of the two shares of the tithes that were given to the king, remarked that they were thus awarded to his most serene Majesty in token of his lordship (superioritalis) and right of patronage.”30In text,oneroso, but evidently a transcriber’s error foronrroso.31In the text,projimos, “neighbors”—in allusion to the Scriptural injunction, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,” a duty strictly inculcated in the training of candidates for ordination, especially in the Jesuit order.32Alluding to Paul’s precept in I Corinthians, vii, v. 20.33That is, a non-resident or merely titular prelate; seeVOL. XVIII, p. 339, note 101.34The whole sentence, divested of technicalities, simply means that one must “look before he leaps;” or that, when one has his eyes open, he is supposed to have used them; or that the bishop, should he be merely titular, would have no one to blame but himself, and should be the last to complain.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.35Spanish,pordioseros; that is, those who ask alms “for God’s sake.”36Spanish,conciliabulo; like English “conventicle,” used to designate an unauthorized or illegal assembly.37Spanish,mal sonante y temeraria—literally, “of evil sound and reckless.” This is part of a legal phrase, taken from Latin forms used by the Roman courts when characterizing books, teachings, statements, etc., of unorthodox or schismatic bearing.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.38This memorial seems to have been written by the Dominican Fray Raimundo Berart (seeReseña biográfica, ii, p. 203); and it was printed by Fray Mimbela.39Spanish,consumiendo; “the reception or eating by the priest of the body and blood of Christ, in the elements of bread and wine” (Dominguez).
Royal decree, May 20, 1700The King. To my reverend father in Christ, Doctor Don Diego Camacho y Avila, archbishop of the metropolitan church of Manila in the Filipinas Islands, and member of my Council: In letters of January 19 and February 20, 1698, you report your arrival in those islands, and what you are doing to quell the hatred and enmities which exist among your subjects, reclaiming them to a new life by the measures which you are applying, and obtaining the peace and tranquillity which you were desiring. You also wrote that you had undertaken to continue work on the church building there, and had gone to visit the secular clergy, in which you had met no hindrance; and that in endeavoring to make the visitations in the mission churches served by regulars—according to the regulations of the Council of Trent, the apostolic letters, and the royal decrees—you were influencing the religious by gentle methods to accept such visitation, for this purpose drawing up a manifesto, but that these methods were not sufficient to induce them to do so voluntarily. For this reason, in fulfilment of the obligations of your office you had published an edict for carrying out this visitation, and had actually gone to put it into execution in the mission stations of regulars at Tondo, Binondoc, Santa Cruz, Dilao, and Parián, since you were denied diocesan jurisdiction over the ministers who serve in these places—while at the same time, in those of Tondo and Binondoc (which are served by religious of St. Dominic and St. Augustine) those ministers were abandoning their churches, consuming39the holy sacrament, and carrying away withthem the holy oils and ornaments. Consequently you found it necessary to place secular priestsad interimin those villages, from which it resulted that the religious orders went to offer their renunciation of those missions before my governor, without going to you; and in this condition of affairs it seemed best to the Audiencia to furnish aid so that the religious orders should not abandon these missions, and that their renunciation of them should not be accepted. But this was not sufficient to prevent the religious from withdrawing from those missions, for which reason you found yourself compelled to retire to your own church, and to desist from these visitations, removing the temporary ministers whom you had appointed, and lifting the censures and penalties which you had imposed, without prejudice to your dignity and jurisdiction. And finally you recount the very harmful results which must follow from the form and method of administration which prevails in these mission stations, and the illegal acts which are committed by the ministers in charge of them, of which you send a summary, stating how impossible you find it to remedy this condition of affairs, on account of the reasons which you point out, and asking that the necessary measures be taken, and that you be assured of it, so that you can visit as you should that archbishopric, in fulfilment of your ministry as its pastor. This matter has been considered in my Council of the Indias, with the attested copies sent by you of the documents therein, with the representations made in your name and in those of thereligious orders who reside in those islands and hold mission posts there. Having fully informed myself on both sides, and given the subject special consideration, I have resolved to approve, and herewith do approve, all that you have accomplished in this affair, and especially your course in having ceased from further action therein until you could report it to me and await the measures which may be applied to the difficulty, assuring you of my full gratitude for your very judicious proceedings and the good management which you have showed in the conduct of this important affair. Your procedure with the superiors of the religious orders is very suitable to your prudence, and quite in accordance with the opinion that I have of your zeal and great discretion; and the special service which you have rendered to me is strongly commended to my remembrance, that I may bear it in mind and favor and honor you on all occasions that shall arise. And in view of the grave considerations that are involved in this matter, and of your request that the regulations and provisions of the sacred canons, councils, and apostolic constitutions, and the laws of the Indias be put into execution, in order that the diocesans may, as you say, visit the regulars who hold office as curas, in matters which pertain to the care of souls, I am undertaking with all the attention of my Catholic and pious zeal to furnish the remedies that are most suitable and effectual for this object, and for preventing any disturbances which may arise in the future, leaving settled and established the right of prescription, both canonical and legal. And as concerns what is contained in the summary which you have drawn up of the illegal acts of thereligious who serve the missions, except in the question of visitation you shall always have authority to receive information, and to demand from the superiors of the orders that they reform and correct the religious. And if when they are admonished the first and the second time they do not thus act, I command that you carry out the said reform with your jurisdiction as ordinary. For the better success of this, I decree, by despatches sent this day to the president and auditors of my royal Audiencia there, that they assist you with their aid on all occasions when you shall demand it and shall need it. Of this you are [herewith] notified, and you shall inform me of your action in this matter, and of any further occurrences. At Aranjuez, May 20 in the year 1700.I the KingBy command of the king our sovereign:Don Manuel de Àperregui[Six rubrics are added at the foot of this document, which appear to be those of the members of the Council.]1At the end of this document appear the following memoranda relative to the archbishop’s voyage to the islands: “Archbishop Camacho embarked at Acapulco for Manila on March 30, 1697. The lading of the ship was made in great haste, because there was in Acapulco a fearful pestilence. Several died from this pest on the ship, within a few days—among whom were the fiscal of his Majesty, and a Jesuit and a Dominican. On the 19th of July they encountered a terrible storm, from which they escaped only through the intercession of St. Francisco Javier, a Jesuit, casting into the water an order of the saint in which he promised that they should have no [cause for] fear. On July 24, at three o’clock in the afternoon, they anchored in the port of Palapag, where they suffered from a baguio. On the eighth day of September, the archbishop made his public entry into Manila.”2Spanish,realengos; “applied to the villages which are not held by seigniors or by the religious orders, and to lands belonging to the state” (Barcia).Auditor Sierra held a commission from the court for legalizing the ownership of lands in Filipinas; and in the fulfilment of this charge he demanded from the friars the documents which justified their right to the magnificent estates of which they called themselves the owners.” (Montero y Vidal,Hist. de Filipinas, p. 385.)3This bull was a papal sentence of excommunication formerly published against heretics every Holy (or Maundy) Thursday; for ages it was publicly read on that day, otherwise known as theferia quinta in Cœna Domini; hence its common title, as given in the text. The latest form which this bull assumed was given to it by Urban VIII in 1627; it is entitled,Pastoralis Romani pontificis vigilantia, and is divided into twenty sections or decrees. Of these, no. 15 censures such as usurp jurisdiction; it was, then, issued in the interests of liberty in court trials. No. 17 censures those who usurp church revenues, incomes, and the like; and it thus upheld the rights of ownership. This bull is no longer used; its periodical publication was discontinued after 1773, and it was suppressed by Pius IX (October 12, 1869), in force of his constitution,Apostolicæ Sedis, issued on that date.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.4The decree here mentioned is dated May 15, 1572, and begins,Exposcit debitum pastoralis officii. In it provision is made for “appeals from the West Indias, and the islands of the Ocean Sea, subject to the king of Spain.” It orders that appeals be carried, first, from the bishop to the metropolitan; second, from the metropolitan to the next neighboring ordinary—that thus justice might be secured without delay or so heavy expense. Philip II had petitioned to this effect, that cases might be decided by two courts, and no appeal be admitted therefrom; hence the bull of Gregory to the king.In this case, the appeal was from the metropolitan to the bishop of Camarines—who probably had been commissioned by the pope to act as delegate from an early period in his episcopal career, since he himself mentions (post) his having acted in that capacity in the time of Archbishop Pardo. In case of the nearest see being vacant, the official who acted as its head would be delegate for the time being,i.e.would be a vice-ordinary. Also, as those islands were too remote for sending thither delegates from Europe, except in extraordinary cases, the metropolitan of Manila might send a delegate to Camarines. The authority possessed by the delegate in appeal cases (as results from the bull of Gregory) would be definitive and final; he might overrule and even supersede the metropolitan, as being the judge in final appeal.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.5Probably Manuel Fernandez de Santa Cruz, as he was bishop of Puebla in 1696 (Bancroft’sMexico, iii, p. 256).6Cruzat y Gongora’s term of office was lengthened by the failure of his successor to go to the islands. This was Domingo Zabalburu de Echevarri, who was appointed September 18, 1694, but did not reach Manila until 1701.7Spanish,sobrino, which may be applied not only to a brother’s or sister’s child, but to that of a cousin-german.8Spanish,ni mejorarla [apelacion]; a legal phrase, meaning “to support the appeal before the superior court, after having appealed before it, by setting forth the injury that is experienced from any act issued by the lower court” (Barcia).9So in Ventura del Arco’s transcription; but it would seem to be an error for 120—perhaps a copyist’s conjecture of an illegible character—since it apparently refers to Gregory XIII’s decree of 1572 (ante, p. 27).10He was almost seventy years old, according to Concepción (Hist. de Philipinas, viii, p. 229).11In the Latin Church the ecclesiastical orders are those of bishops, priests, deacons, sub-deacons, acolytes, exorcists, readers, andostiarii, or doorkeepers. Many theologians reckon the number at seven, regarding the episcopate as merely the extension of the priesthood (Addis and Arnold, p. 621).12Spanish,seminario conciliar; “the house assigned for the education of the young men who devote themselves to the ecclesiastical career” (Barcia).13José Sarmiento Valladares, Conde de Montezuma, was the successor, in the viceroyalty of Nueva España, of Gaspar de la Cerda, Conde de Galve (whose term of office was November 20, 1688 to May, 1696). Valladares obtained his title by his marriage with Gerónima María, a lineal descendant of the Mexican emperor, and third countess of Montezuma. He took possession of the office on December 18, 1696, and held it until November 4, 1701. He was an able and efficient governor, and did much to repress crime, improve social conditions, aid the Indians in times of distress, and render the City of Mexico more strongly fortified. (Bancroft,Mexico, iii, pp. 222, 259, 264, 265.)14Miguel Bayót was a discalced Franciscan, an Aragonese, who came to the Philippines in 1669; he was employed in ministries to the Indians, and was long at the head of the hospice of the order in Mexico City. In 1695 he was appointed bishop of Cebú, when he was 52 years old, being then in Mexico, and took possession of his office in September, 1696; he died there on August 28, 1700. When he died, only the sum of five reals was found in his possession. (San Antonio,Chronicas, i, p. 212.)15The first page of this MS. is occupied by official attestations showing that on January 22, 1699, officially certified copies of these decrees by the archbishop were demanded by Antonio de Borja, procurator-general of the Jesuit province, from one of the alcaldes of Manila, Antonio Basarte, who ordered these copies to be made.16Spanish,casamientos y velaciones; the former the general term for marriages, the latter also used thus, but referring especially to the nuptial mass or nuptial benedictions (which, however, were and are given only at mass). The parties might be married outside of mass—as if it were a private marriage, or if they were too poor to pay for the mass—and then did not receive the benedictions. But if at mass, they werevelados—a term recalling an ancient ceremony when both parties were veiled at the marriage;i.e., the priest threw a veil over their heads. Thus Moroni in hisDiccionario, who also states that “this custom is still in vogue in some places” (in his own day, about thirty years ago).La velacionwas another term for the marriage ceremony at mass, and was part of the ceremony. Every woman (of good standing) is entitled to church marriage—with nuptial mass and benediction—but once only: this may be on the occasion of a second or third marriage, provided the former marriages were outside of mass; but if the first marriage were with the nuptial mass, she is barred from enjoying this privilege at subsequent marriages. These are thecasamientos; the nuptial mass, or marriage accompanied by it, thevelacion.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.17Hijo de la Iglesia; a term applied to a foundling or abandoned infant; cf., the Italian appellation, “a child of the Madonna.”18Spanish,octavas. None of the standard dictionaries give a meaning to cover this use ofoctavas. Dominguez’sDiccionario(Supplement) states that the word is a term in Roman law, designating an ancient form of tribute consisting of one part in eight. Probably it was carried over into ecclesiastical law, and here means that the cura was expected to pay one-eighth of his fees into the church fund.19Spanish,canonicas monitoriales. In law books, banns (in Latin) are styledproclamationes monitoriæ.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.20Spanish,limosna. The fees (derechos) of the cura were determined, fixed sums, as in the tariff lists, nor could he change them. Thelimosna—a free offering, and wholly optional with the parties for whom he officiated—was over and above the tariff charge. The cura could do with this offering what he wished—if he chose, spending it in alms; but it was given to him personally, and was for his own use. Cf. thegratificación voluntariain the following list of fees to be paid the parish priest in Cuba, taken from theManual de la Isla de Cuba, by José Garcia y Arboleya (2nd ed., Havana, 1859), pp. 316, 317:For baptism: a voluntary offering [gratificación voluntaria], the minimum of which is 6 reals for the curaand2 for the acolyte$ 1.For burial:of free adult7.50of free child6.50of slave adult5.50of slave child5.For prayers—responsowith cope, sacristan, and processional cross [cruz alta], at the house of the deceased7.For prayers, with cope, at the burial4.For office (of three lections)5.For mass chanted (body present)6.For each halt [posa]12.50For processional cross at the grave (without cross, .50)2.For each censer.50For each attendant in surplice1.For remaining till end [of interment]1.50For four [church] bells [tolled]2.For three [church] bells [tolled]1.50For two [church] bells [tolled]1.For low mass [without chant]1.For afiesta[feast-day celebration] with vespers and mass chanted12.For a fiesta with procession14.For votive mass chanted6.50For marriage7.25For cura at the house [of the parties]4.For foreigners25. to 30.For record of baptism1.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.21The termMorenos, as has appeared from former documents, was applied generally to persons of swarthy complexion—mulattoes, some negroes, and Malabar natives, indiscriminately.22Spanish,arraz(arras); a very old term, of Hebrew origin; hence the Latin law term ofarrha,i.e., anticipated payment of part.Arrasalso means “thirteen pieces of money given to the bride by the bridegroom;” this or similar dowry was required by a very old and very rigorous law.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.Barcia givesarrasthe general meaning of “that which is given as a pledge or token of any agreement. It was extended also to the marriage contract. Also, the thirteen pieces of money which in weddings serve for the formality of that function, passing from the hands of the bridegroom to those of the bride. In law, the amount which the man promises to the woman on account of his marriage to her; it cannot exceed, according to law, the tenth part of his possessions.” He definesarrha(French,arrhes) as “a pledge or token given to secure and confirm a contract.”23The context would seem to require here the amount of the fee for burial of a child; this has apparently been omitted in the MS. by a clerical error. The general appearance of the MS., and various memoranda on the back, suggest the probability that this was one of the copies furnished to the Jesuit Borja.24Spanish,possas. At funerals, prayers were read at different points on the way to the cemetery; for instance, at the church door, midway on the route, and at the cemetery gate—if not oftener. Of course the procession halted while prayers were being read or chanted; so for each halt (posa) a fee was due.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.25Spanish,missas de nouenario; the novenary is a nine days’ condolence for the deceased. The same term is also applied to a nine days’ devotion offered to some saint.26Spanish,el velo; literally, the “veil,” or the “veiling;” evidently referring to the old-time usage of placing a veil over the married pair (see note 16,ante), as a part of the ceremonies at the nuptial mass. I am told by one of our fathers here at Villanova, who lived in Spain years ago, that at marriages in that country the bride wears the usual wedding-veil, and continues to wear it in public for one week after the marriage; it is white, sometimes plain, sometimes adorned with ribbons or flowers of various colors.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.27Spanish,cruz alta con su manga. The processional cross was carried on a staff, as used in the United States in processions; at funerals the crucifix was covered with black, this funeral trapping (manga) covering or veiling the cross as a sign of grief. Sometimes the sacristan bore only a small cross, without staff; this depended wholly on his fee. In all Catholic churches in the United States, we use the crucifixes covered in Holy Week; but we do not veil crosses at funerals.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.28Spanish,por titulo de justicia.Parroco de justicia, so frequently used in this document, is the Spanish rendering of the technical Latin phrase,parochus de jure—words which show that the cura had a right to his office, had been instituted according to the canons, and was canonically and legally in office. It is practically the same as the English phrase “by right and title.” Other equivalents are: “by title of law,” “by right,” and “ordinary.” The parish priest, whether secular or regular, was an official of the Church.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.29See account of the allotment of diocesan titles inVOL. I, p. 244, note 188. Baluffi, there cited, adds: “Relative to the two ninths that were given to the king, the first bishop of Mechoacan [in Mexico], Mons. Vasco de Quiroga, when organizing his cathedral [clergy] in 1554, speaking of the two shares of the tithes that were given to the king, remarked that they were thus awarded to his most serene Majesty in token of his lordship (superioritalis) and right of patronage.”30In text,oneroso, but evidently a transcriber’s error foronrroso.31In the text,projimos, “neighbors”—in allusion to the Scriptural injunction, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,” a duty strictly inculcated in the training of candidates for ordination, especially in the Jesuit order.32Alluding to Paul’s precept in I Corinthians, vii, v. 20.33That is, a non-resident or merely titular prelate; seeVOL. XVIII, p. 339, note 101.34The whole sentence, divested of technicalities, simply means that one must “look before he leaps;” or that, when one has his eyes open, he is supposed to have used them; or that the bishop, should he be merely titular, would have no one to blame but himself, and should be the last to complain.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.35Spanish,pordioseros; that is, those who ask alms “for God’s sake.”36Spanish,conciliabulo; like English “conventicle,” used to designate an unauthorized or illegal assembly.37Spanish,mal sonante y temeraria—literally, “of evil sound and reckless.” This is part of a legal phrase, taken from Latin forms used by the Roman courts when characterizing books, teachings, statements, etc., of unorthodox or schismatic bearing.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.38This memorial seems to have been written by the Dominican Fray Raimundo Berart (seeReseña biográfica, ii, p. 203); and it was printed by Fray Mimbela.39Spanish,consumiendo; “the reception or eating by the priest of the body and blood of Christ, in the elements of bread and wine” (Dominguez).
Royal decree, May 20, 1700
The King. To my reverend father in Christ, Doctor Don Diego Camacho y Avila, archbishop of the metropolitan church of Manila in the Filipinas Islands, and member of my Council: In letters of January 19 and February 20, 1698, you report your arrival in those islands, and what you are doing to quell the hatred and enmities which exist among your subjects, reclaiming them to a new life by the measures which you are applying, and obtaining the peace and tranquillity which you were desiring. You also wrote that you had undertaken to continue work on the church building there, and had gone to visit the secular clergy, in which you had met no hindrance; and that in endeavoring to make the visitations in the mission churches served by regulars—according to the regulations of the Council of Trent, the apostolic letters, and the royal decrees—you were influencing the religious by gentle methods to accept such visitation, for this purpose drawing up a manifesto, but that these methods were not sufficient to induce them to do so voluntarily. For this reason, in fulfilment of the obligations of your office you had published an edict for carrying out this visitation, and had actually gone to put it into execution in the mission stations of regulars at Tondo, Binondoc, Santa Cruz, Dilao, and Parián, since you were denied diocesan jurisdiction over the ministers who serve in these places—while at the same time, in those of Tondo and Binondoc (which are served by religious of St. Dominic and St. Augustine) those ministers were abandoning their churches, consuming39the holy sacrament, and carrying away withthem the holy oils and ornaments. Consequently you found it necessary to place secular priestsad interimin those villages, from which it resulted that the religious orders went to offer their renunciation of those missions before my governor, without going to you; and in this condition of affairs it seemed best to the Audiencia to furnish aid so that the religious orders should not abandon these missions, and that their renunciation of them should not be accepted. But this was not sufficient to prevent the religious from withdrawing from those missions, for which reason you found yourself compelled to retire to your own church, and to desist from these visitations, removing the temporary ministers whom you had appointed, and lifting the censures and penalties which you had imposed, without prejudice to your dignity and jurisdiction. And finally you recount the very harmful results which must follow from the form and method of administration which prevails in these mission stations, and the illegal acts which are committed by the ministers in charge of them, of which you send a summary, stating how impossible you find it to remedy this condition of affairs, on account of the reasons which you point out, and asking that the necessary measures be taken, and that you be assured of it, so that you can visit as you should that archbishopric, in fulfilment of your ministry as its pastor. This matter has been considered in my Council of the Indias, with the attested copies sent by you of the documents therein, with the representations made in your name and in those of thereligious orders who reside in those islands and hold mission posts there. Having fully informed myself on both sides, and given the subject special consideration, I have resolved to approve, and herewith do approve, all that you have accomplished in this affair, and especially your course in having ceased from further action therein until you could report it to me and await the measures which may be applied to the difficulty, assuring you of my full gratitude for your very judicious proceedings and the good management which you have showed in the conduct of this important affair. Your procedure with the superiors of the religious orders is very suitable to your prudence, and quite in accordance with the opinion that I have of your zeal and great discretion; and the special service which you have rendered to me is strongly commended to my remembrance, that I may bear it in mind and favor and honor you on all occasions that shall arise. And in view of the grave considerations that are involved in this matter, and of your request that the regulations and provisions of the sacred canons, councils, and apostolic constitutions, and the laws of the Indias be put into execution, in order that the diocesans may, as you say, visit the regulars who hold office as curas, in matters which pertain to the care of souls, I am undertaking with all the attention of my Catholic and pious zeal to furnish the remedies that are most suitable and effectual for this object, and for preventing any disturbances which may arise in the future, leaving settled and established the right of prescription, both canonical and legal. And as concerns what is contained in the summary which you have drawn up of the illegal acts of thereligious who serve the missions, except in the question of visitation you shall always have authority to receive information, and to demand from the superiors of the orders that they reform and correct the religious. And if when they are admonished the first and the second time they do not thus act, I command that you carry out the said reform with your jurisdiction as ordinary. For the better success of this, I decree, by despatches sent this day to the president and auditors of my royal Audiencia there, that they assist you with their aid on all occasions when you shall demand it and shall need it. Of this you are [herewith] notified, and you shall inform me of your action in this matter, and of any further occurrences. At Aranjuez, May 20 in the year 1700.
I the King
By command of the king our sovereign:
Don Manuel de Àperregui
[Six rubrics are added at the foot of this document, which appear to be those of the members of the Council.]
1At the end of this document appear the following memoranda relative to the archbishop’s voyage to the islands: “Archbishop Camacho embarked at Acapulco for Manila on March 30, 1697. The lading of the ship was made in great haste, because there was in Acapulco a fearful pestilence. Several died from this pest on the ship, within a few days—among whom were the fiscal of his Majesty, and a Jesuit and a Dominican. On the 19th of July they encountered a terrible storm, from which they escaped only through the intercession of St. Francisco Javier, a Jesuit, casting into the water an order of the saint in which he promised that they should have no [cause for] fear. On July 24, at three o’clock in the afternoon, they anchored in the port of Palapag, where they suffered from a baguio. On the eighth day of September, the archbishop made his public entry into Manila.”2Spanish,realengos; “applied to the villages which are not held by seigniors or by the religious orders, and to lands belonging to the state” (Barcia).Auditor Sierra held a commission from the court for legalizing the ownership of lands in Filipinas; and in the fulfilment of this charge he demanded from the friars the documents which justified their right to the magnificent estates of which they called themselves the owners.” (Montero y Vidal,Hist. de Filipinas, p. 385.)3This bull was a papal sentence of excommunication formerly published against heretics every Holy (or Maundy) Thursday; for ages it was publicly read on that day, otherwise known as theferia quinta in Cœna Domini; hence its common title, as given in the text. The latest form which this bull assumed was given to it by Urban VIII in 1627; it is entitled,Pastoralis Romani pontificis vigilantia, and is divided into twenty sections or decrees. Of these, no. 15 censures such as usurp jurisdiction; it was, then, issued in the interests of liberty in court trials. No. 17 censures those who usurp church revenues, incomes, and the like; and it thus upheld the rights of ownership. This bull is no longer used; its periodical publication was discontinued after 1773, and it was suppressed by Pius IX (October 12, 1869), in force of his constitution,Apostolicæ Sedis, issued on that date.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.4The decree here mentioned is dated May 15, 1572, and begins,Exposcit debitum pastoralis officii. In it provision is made for “appeals from the West Indias, and the islands of the Ocean Sea, subject to the king of Spain.” It orders that appeals be carried, first, from the bishop to the metropolitan; second, from the metropolitan to the next neighboring ordinary—that thus justice might be secured without delay or so heavy expense. Philip II had petitioned to this effect, that cases might be decided by two courts, and no appeal be admitted therefrom; hence the bull of Gregory to the king.In this case, the appeal was from the metropolitan to the bishop of Camarines—who probably had been commissioned by the pope to act as delegate from an early period in his episcopal career, since he himself mentions (post) his having acted in that capacity in the time of Archbishop Pardo. In case of the nearest see being vacant, the official who acted as its head would be delegate for the time being,i.e.would be a vice-ordinary. Also, as those islands were too remote for sending thither delegates from Europe, except in extraordinary cases, the metropolitan of Manila might send a delegate to Camarines. The authority possessed by the delegate in appeal cases (as results from the bull of Gregory) would be definitive and final; he might overrule and even supersede the metropolitan, as being the judge in final appeal.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.5Probably Manuel Fernandez de Santa Cruz, as he was bishop of Puebla in 1696 (Bancroft’sMexico, iii, p. 256).6Cruzat y Gongora’s term of office was lengthened by the failure of his successor to go to the islands. This was Domingo Zabalburu de Echevarri, who was appointed September 18, 1694, but did not reach Manila until 1701.7Spanish,sobrino, which may be applied not only to a brother’s or sister’s child, but to that of a cousin-german.8Spanish,ni mejorarla [apelacion]; a legal phrase, meaning “to support the appeal before the superior court, after having appealed before it, by setting forth the injury that is experienced from any act issued by the lower court” (Barcia).9So in Ventura del Arco’s transcription; but it would seem to be an error for 120—perhaps a copyist’s conjecture of an illegible character—since it apparently refers to Gregory XIII’s decree of 1572 (ante, p. 27).10He was almost seventy years old, according to Concepción (Hist. de Philipinas, viii, p. 229).11In the Latin Church the ecclesiastical orders are those of bishops, priests, deacons, sub-deacons, acolytes, exorcists, readers, andostiarii, or doorkeepers. Many theologians reckon the number at seven, regarding the episcopate as merely the extension of the priesthood (Addis and Arnold, p. 621).12Spanish,seminario conciliar; “the house assigned for the education of the young men who devote themselves to the ecclesiastical career” (Barcia).13José Sarmiento Valladares, Conde de Montezuma, was the successor, in the viceroyalty of Nueva España, of Gaspar de la Cerda, Conde de Galve (whose term of office was November 20, 1688 to May, 1696). Valladares obtained his title by his marriage with Gerónima María, a lineal descendant of the Mexican emperor, and third countess of Montezuma. He took possession of the office on December 18, 1696, and held it until November 4, 1701. He was an able and efficient governor, and did much to repress crime, improve social conditions, aid the Indians in times of distress, and render the City of Mexico more strongly fortified. (Bancroft,Mexico, iii, pp. 222, 259, 264, 265.)14Miguel Bayót was a discalced Franciscan, an Aragonese, who came to the Philippines in 1669; he was employed in ministries to the Indians, and was long at the head of the hospice of the order in Mexico City. In 1695 he was appointed bishop of Cebú, when he was 52 years old, being then in Mexico, and took possession of his office in September, 1696; he died there on August 28, 1700. When he died, only the sum of five reals was found in his possession. (San Antonio,Chronicas, i, p. 212.)15The first page of this MS. is occupied by official attestations showing that on January 22, 1699, officially certified copies of these decrees by the archbishop were demanded by Antonio de Borja, procurator-general of the Jesuit province, from one of the alcaldes of Manila, Antonio Basarte, who ordered these copies to be made.16Spanish,casamientos y velaciones; the former the general term for marriages, the latter also used thus, but referring especially to the nuptial mass or nuptial benedictions (which, however, were and are given only at mass). The parties might be married outside of mass—as if it were a private marriage, or if they were too poor to pay for the mass—and then did not receive the benedictions. But if at mass, they werevelados—a term recalling an ancient ceremony when both parties were veiled at the marriage;i.e., the priest threw a veil over their heads. Thus Moroni in hisDiccionario, who also states that “this custom is still in vogue in some places” (in his own day, about thirty years ago).La velacionwas another term for the marriage ceremony at mass, and was part of the ceremony. Every woman (of good standing) is entitled to church marriage—with nuptial mass and benediction—but once only: this may be on the occasion of a second or third marriage, provided the former marriages were outside of mass; but if the first marriage were with the nuptial mass, she is barred from enjoying this privilege at subsequent marriages. These are thecasamientos; the nuptial mass, or marriage accompanied by it, thevelacion.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.17Hijo de la Iglesia; a term applied to a foundling or abandoned infant; cf., the Italian appellation, “a child of the Madonna.”18Spanish,octavas. None of the standard dictionaries give a meaning to cover this use ofoctavas. Dominguez’sDiccionario(Supplement) states that the word is a term in Roman law, designating an ancient form of tribute consisting of one part in eight. Probably it was carried over into ecclesiastical law, and here means that the cura was expected to pay one-eighth of his fees into the church fund.19Spanish,canonicas monitoriales. In law books, banns (in Latin) are styledproclamationes monitoriæ.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.20Spanish,limosna. The fees (derechos) of the cura were determined, fixed sums, as in the tariff lists, nor could he change them. Thelimosna—a free offering, and wholly optional with the parties for whom he officiated—was over and above the tariff charge. The cura could do with this offering what he wished—if he chose, spending it in alms; but it was given to him personally, and was for his own use. Cf. thegratificación voluntariain the following list of fees to be paid the parish priest in Cuba, taken from theManual de la Isla de Cuba, by José Garcia y Arboleya (2nd ed., Havana, 1859), pp. 316, 317:For baptism: a voluntary offering [gratificación voluntaria], the minimum of which is 6 reals for the curaand2 for the acolyte$ 1.For burial:of free adult7.50of free child6.50of slave adult5.50of slave child5.For prayers—responsowith cope, sacristan, and processional cross [cruz alta], at the house of the deceased7.For prayers, with cope, at the burial4.For office (of three lections)5.For mass chanted (body present)6.For each halt [posa]12.50For processional cross at the grave (without cross, .50)2.For each censer.50For each attendant in surplice1.For remaining till end [of interment]1.50For four [church] bells [tolled]2.For three [church] bells [tolled]1.50For two [church] bells [tolled]1.For low mass [without chant]1.For afiesta[feast-day celebration] with vespers and mass chanted12.For a fiesta with procession14.For votive mass chanted6.50For marriage7.25For cura at the house [of the parties]4.For foreigners25. to 30.For record of baptism1.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.21The termMorenos, as has appeared from former documents, was applied generally to persons of swarthy complexion—mulattoes, some negroes, and Malabar natives, indiscriminately.22Spanish,arraz(arras); a very old term, of Hebrew origin; hence the Latin law term ofarrha,i.e., anticipated payment of part.Arrasalso means “thirteen pieces of money given to the bride by the bridegroom;” this or similar dowry was required by a very old and very rigorous law.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.Barcia givesarrasthe general meaning of “that which is given as a pledge or token of any agreement. It was extended also to the marriage contract. Also, the thirteen pieces of money which in weddings serve for the formality of that function, passing from the hands of the bridegroom to those of the bride. In law, the amount which the man promises to the woman on account of his marriage to her; it cannot exceed, according to law, the tenth part of his possessions.” He definesarrha(French,arrhes) as “a pledge or token given to secure and confirm a contract.”23The context would seem to require here the amount of the fee for burial of a child; this has apparently been omitted in the MS. by a clerical error. The general appearance of the MS., and various memoranda on the back, suggest the probability that this was one of the copies furnished to the Jesuit Borja.24Spanish,possas. At funerals, prayers were read at different points on the way to the cemetery; for instance, at the church door, midway on the route, and at the cemetery gate—if not oftener. Of course the procession halted while prayers were being read or chanted; so for each halt (posa) a fee was due.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.25Spanish,missas de nouenario; the novenary is a nine days’ condolence for the deceased. The same term is also applied to a nine days’ devotion offered to some saint.26Spanish,el velo; literally, the “veil,” or the “veiling;” evidently referring to the old-time usage of placing a veil over the married pair (see note 16,ante), as a part of the ceremonies at the nuptial mass. I am told by one of our fathers here at Villanova, who lived in Spain years ago, that at marriages in that country the bride wears the usual wedding-veil, and continues to wear it in public for one week after the marriage; it is white, sometimes plain, sometimes adorned with ribbons or flowers of various colors.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.27Spanish,cruz alta con su manga. The processional cross was carried on a staff, as used in the United States in processions; at funerals the crucifix was covered with black, this funeral trapping (manga) covering or veiling the cross as a sign of grief. Sometimes the sacristan bore only a small cross, without staff; this depended wholly on his fee. In all Catholic churches in the United States, we use the crucifixes covered in Holy Week; but we do not veil crosses at funerals.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.28Spanish,por titulo de justicia.Parroco de justicia, so frequently used in this document, is the Spanish rendering of the technical Latin phrase,parochus de jure—words which show that the cura had a right to his office, had been instituted according to the canons, and was canonically and legally in office. It is practically the same as the English phrase “by right and title.” Other equivalents are: “by title of law,” “by right,” and “ordinary.” The parish priest, whether secular or regular, was an official of the Church.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.29See account of the allotment of diocesan titles inVOL. I, p. 244, note 188. Baluffi, there cited, adds: “Relative to the two ninths that were given to the king, the first bishop of Mechoacan [in Mexico], Mons. Vasco de Quiroga, when organizing his cathedral [clergy] in 1554, speaking of the two shares of the tithes that were given to the king, remarked that they were thus awarded to his most serene Majesty in token of his lordship (superioritalis) and right of patronage.”30In text,oneroso, but evidently a transcriber’s error foronrroso.31In the text,projimos, “neighbors”—in allusion to the Scriptural injunction, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,” a duty strictly inculcated in the training of candidates for ordination, especially in the Jesuit order.32Alluding to Paul’s precept in I Corinthians, vii, v. 20.33That is, a non-resident or merely titular prelate; seeVOL. XVIII, p. 339, note 101.34The whole sentence, divested of technicalities, simply means that one must “look before he leaps;” or that, when one has his eyes open, he is supposed to have used them; or that the bishop, should he be merely titular, would have no one to blame but himself, and should be the last to complain.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.35Spanish,pordioseros; that is, those who ask alms “for God’s sake.”36Spanish,conciliabulo; like English “conventicle,” used to designate an unauthorized or illegal assembly.37Spanish,mal sonante y temeraria—literally, “of evil sound and reckless.” This is part of a legal phrase, taken from Latin forms used by the Roman courts when characterizing books, teachings, statements, etc., of unorthodox or schismatic bearing.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.38This memorial seems to have been written by the Dominican Fray Raimundo Berart (seeReseña biográfica, ii, p. 203); and it was printed by Fray Mimbela.39Spanish,consumiendo; “the reception or eating by the priest of the body and blood of Christ, in the elements of bread and wine” (Dominguez).
1At the end of this document appear the following memoranda relative to the archbishop’s voyage to the islands: “Archbishop Camacho embarked at Acapulco for Manila on March 30, 1697. The lading of the ship was made in great haste, because there was in Acapulco a fearful pestilence. Several died from this pest on the ship, within a few days—among whom were the fiscal of his Majesty, and a Jesuit and a Dominican. On the 19th of July they encountered a terrible storm, from which they escaped only through the intercession of St. Francisco Javier, a Jesuit, casting into the water an order of the saint in which he promised that they should have no [cause for] fear. On July 24, at three o’clock in the afternoon, they anchored in the port of Palapag, where they suffered from a baguio. On the eighth day of September, the archbishop made his public entry into Manila.”
2Spanish,realengos; “applied to the villages which are not held by seigniors or by the religious orders, and to lands belonging to the state” (Barcia).
Auditor Sierra held a commission from the court for legalizing the ownership of lands in Filipinas; and in the fulfilment of this charge he demanded from the friars the documents which justified their right to the magnificent estates of which they called themselves the owners.” (Montero y Vidal,Hist. de Filipinas, p. 385.)
3This bull was a papal sentence of excommunication formerly published against heretics every Holy (or Maundy) Thursday; for ages it was publicly read on that day, otherwise known as theferia quinta in Cœna Domini; hence its common title, as given in the text. The latest form which this bull assumed was given to it by Urban VIII in 1627; it is entitled,Pastoralis Romani pontificis vigilantia, and is divided into twenty sections or decrees. Of these, no. 15 censures such as usurp jurisdiction; it was, then, issued in the interests of liberty in court trials. No. 17 censures those who usurp church revenues, incomes, and the like; and it thus upheld the rights of ownership. This bull is no longer used; its periodical publication was discontinued after 1773, and it was suppressed by Pius IX (October 12, 1869), in force of his constitution,Apostolicæ Sedis, issued on that date.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.
4The decree here mentioned is dated May 15, 1572, and begins,Exposcit debitum pastoralis officii. In it provision is made for “appeals from the West Indias, and the islands of the Ocean Sea, subject to the king of Spain.” It orders that appeals be carried, first, from the bishop to the metropolitan; second, from the metropolitan to the next neighboring ordinary—that thus justice might be secured without delay or so heavy expense. Philip II had petitioned to this effect, that cases might be decided by two courts, and no appeal be admitted therefrom; hence the bull of Gregory to the king.
In this case, the appeal was from the metropolitan to the bishop of Camarines—who probably had been commissioned by the pope to act as delegate from an early period in his episcopal career, since he himself mentions (post) his having acted in that capacity in the time of Archbishop Pardo. In case of the nearest see being vacant, the official who acted as its head would be delegate for the time being,i.e.would be a vice-ordinary. Also, as those islands were too remote for sending thither delegates from Europe, except in extraordinary cases, the metropolitan of Manila might send a delegate to Camarines. The authority possessed by the delegate in appeal cases (as results from the bull of Gregory) would be definitive and final; he might overrule and even supersede the metropolitan, as being the judge in final appeal.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.
5Probably Manuel Fernandez de Santa Cruz, as he was bishop of Puebla in 1696 (Bancroft’sMexico, iii, p. 256).
6Cruzat y Gongora’s term of office was lengthened by the failure of his successor to go to the islands. This was Domingo Zabalburu de Echevarri, who was appointed September 18, 1694, but did not reach Manila until 1701.
7Spanish,sobrino, which may be applied not only to a brother’s or sister’s child, but to that of a cousin-german.
8Spanish,ni mejorarla [apelacion]; a legal phrase, meaning “to support the appeal before the superior court, after having appealed before it, by setting forth the injury that is experienced from any act issued by the lower court” (Barcia).
9So in Ventura del Arco’s transcription; but it would seem to be an error for 120—perhaps a copyist’s conjecture of an illegible character—since it apparently refers to Gregory XIII’s decree of 1572 (ante, p. 27).
10He was almost seventy years old, according to Concepción (Hist. de Philipinas, viii, p. 229).
11In the Latin Church the ecclesiastical orders are those of bishops, priests, deacons, sub-deacons, acolytes, exorcists, readers, andostiarii, or doorkeepers. Many theologians reckon the number at seven, regarding the episcopate as merely the extension of the priesthood (Addis and Arnold, p. 621).
12Spanish,seminario conciliar; “the house assigned for the education of the young men who devote themselves to the ecclesiastical career” (Barcia).
13José Sarmiento Valladares, Conde de Montezuma, was the successor, in the viceroyalty of Nueva España, of Gaspar de la Cerda, Conde de Galve (whose term of office was November 20, 1688 to May, 1696). Valladares obtained his title by his marriage with Gerónima María, a lineal descendant of the Mexican emperor, and third countess of Montezuma. He took possession of the office on December 18, 1696, and held it until November 4, 1701. He was an able and efficient governor, and did much to repress crime, improve social conditions, aid the Indians in times of distress, and render the City of Mexico more strongly fortified. (Bancroft,Mexico, iii, pp. 222, 259, 264, 265.)
14Miguel Bayót was a discalced Franciscan, an Aragonese, who came to the Philippines in 1669; he was employed in ministries to the Indians, and was long at the head of the hospice of the order in Mexico City. In 1695 he was appointed bishop of Cebú, when he was 52 years old, being then in Mexico, and took possession of his office in September, 1696; he died there on August 28, 1700. When he died, only the sum of five reals was found in his possession. (San Antonio,Chronicas, i, p. 212.)
15The first page of this MS. is occupied by official attestations showing that on January 22, 1699, officially certified copies of these decrees by the archbishop were demanded by Antonio de Borja, procurator-general of the Jesuit province, from one of the alcaldes of Manila, Antonio Basarte, who ordered these copies to be made.
16Spanish,casamientos y velaciones; the former the general term for marriages, the latter also used thus, but referring especially to the nuptial mass or nuptial benedictions (which, however, were and are given only at mass). The parties might be married outside of mass—as if it were a private marriage, or if they were too poor to pay for the mass—and then did not receive the benedictions. But if at mass, they werevelados—a term recalling an ancient ceremony when both parties were veiled at the marriage;i.e., the priest threw a veil over their heads. Thus Moroni in hisDiccionario, who also states that “this custom is still in vogue in some places” (in his own day, about thirty years ago).La velacionwas another term for the marriage ceremony at mass, and was part of the ceremony. Every woman (of good standing) is entitled to church marriage—with nuptial mass and benediction—but once only: this may be on the occasion of a second or third marriage, provided the former marriages were outside of mass; but if the first marriage were with the nuptial mass, she is barred from enjoying this privilege at subsequent marriages. These are thecasamientos; the nuptial mass, or marriage accompanied by it, thevelacion.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.
17Hijo de la Iglesia; a term applied to a foundling or abandoned infant; cf., the Italian appellation, “a child of the Madonna.”
18Spanish,octavas. None of the standard dictionaries give a meaning to cover this use ofoctavas. Dominguez’sDiccionario(Supplement) states that the word is a term in Roman law, designating an ancient form of tribute consisting of one part in eight. Probably it was carried over into ecclesiastical law, and here means that the cura was expected to pay one-eighth of his fees into the church fund.
19Spanish,canonicas monitoriales. In law books, banns (in Latin) are styledproclamationes monitoriæ.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.
20Spanish,limosna. The fees (derechos) of the cura were determined, fixed sums, as in the tariff lists, nor could he change them. Thelimosna—a free offering, and wholly optional with the parties for whom he officiated—was over and above the tariff charge. The cura could do with this offering what he wished—if he chose, spending it in alms; but it was given to him personally, and was for his own use. Cf. thegratificación voluntariain the following list of fees to be paid the parish priest in Cuba, taken from theManual de la Isla de Cuba, by José Garcia y Arboleya (2nd ed., Havana, 1859), pp. 316, 317:
For baptism: a voluntary offering [gratificación voluntaria], the minimum of which is 6 reals for the curaand2 for the acolyte$ 1.For burial:of free adult7.50of free child6.50of slave adult5.50of slave child5.For prayers—responsowith cope, sacristan, and processional cross [cruz alta], at the house of the deceased7.For prayers, with cope, at the burial4.For office (of three lections)5.For mass chanted (body present)6.For each halt [posa]12.50For processional cross at the grave (without cross, .50)2.For each censer.50For each attendant in surplice1.For remaining till end [of interment]1.50For four [church] bells [tolled]2.For three [church] bells [tolled]1.50For two [church] bells [tolled]1.For low mass [without chant]1.For afiesta[feast-day celebration] with vespers and mass chanted12.For a fiesta with procession14.For votive mass chanted6.50For marriage7.25For cura at the house [of the parties]4.For foreigners25. to 30.For record of baptism1.
—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.
21The termMorenos, as has appeared from former documents, was applied generally to persons of swarthy complexion—mulattoes, some negroes, and Malabar natives, indiscriminately.
22Spanish,arraz(arras); a very old term, of Hebrew origin; hence the Latin law term ofarrha,i.e., anticipated payment of part.Arrasalso means “thirteen pieces of money given to the bride by the bridegroom;” this or similar dowry was required by a very old and very rigorous law.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.
Barcia givesarrasthe general meaning of “that which is given as a pledge or token of any agreement. It was extended also to the marriage contract. Also, the thirteen pieces of money which in weddings serve for the formality of that function, passing from the hands of the bridegroom to those of the bride. In law, the amount which the man promises to the woman on account of his marriage to her; it cannot exceed, according to law, the tenth part of his possessions.” He definesarrha(French,arrhes) as “a pledge or token given to secure and confirm a contract.”
23The context would seem to require here the amount of the fee for burial of a child; this has apparently been omitted in the MS. by a clerical error. The general appearance of the MS., and various memoranda on the back, suggest the probability that this was one of the copies furnished to the Jesuit Borja.
24Spanish,possas. At funerals, prayers were read at different points on the way to the cemetery; for instance, at the church door, midway on the route, and at the cemetery gate—if not oftener. Of course the procession halted while prayers were being read or chanted; so for each halt (posa) a fee was due.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.
25Spanish,missas de nouenario; the novenary is a nine days’ condolence for the deceased. The same term is also applied to a nine days’ devotion offered to some saint.
26Spanish,el velo; literally, the “veil,” or the “veiling;” evidently referring to the old-time usage of placing a veil over the married pair (see note 16,ante), as a part of the ceremonies at the nuptial mass. I am told by one of our fathers here at Villanova, who lived in Spain years ago, that at marriages in that country the bride wears the usual wedding-veil, and continues to wear it in public for one week after the marriage; it is white, sometimes plain, sometimes adorned with ribbons or flowers of various colors.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.
27Spanish,cruz alta con su manga. The processional cross was carried on a staff, as used in the United States in processions; at funerals the crucifix was covered with black, this funeral trapping (manga) covering or veiling the cross as a sign of grief. Sometimes the sacristan bore only a small cross, without staff; this depended wholly on his fee. In all Catholic churches in the United States, we use the crucifixes covered in Holy Week; but we do not veil crosses at funerals.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.
28Spanish,por titulo de justicia.Parroco de justicia, so frequently used in this document, is the Spanish rendering of the technical Latin phrase,parochus de jure—words which show that the cura had a right to his office, had been instituted according to the canons, and was canonically and legally in office. It is practically the same as the English phrase “by right and title.” Other equivalents are: “by title of law,” “by right,” and “ordinary.” The parish priest, whether secular or regular, was an official of the Church.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.
29See account of the allotment of diocesan titles inVOL. I, p. 244, note 188. Baluffi, there cited, adds: “Relative to the two ninths that were given to the king, the first bishop of Mechoacan [in Mexico], Mons. Vasco de Quiroga, when organizing his cathedral [clergy] in 1554, speaking of the two shares of the tithes that were given to the king, remarked that they were thus awarded to his most serene Majesty in token of his lordship (superioritalis) and right of patronage.”
30In text,oneroso, but evidently a transcriber’s error foronrroso.
31In the text,projimos, “neighbors”—in allusion to the Scriptural injunction, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,” a duty strictly inculcated in the training of candidates for ordination, especially in the Jesuit order.
32Alluding to Paul’s precept in I Corinthians, vii, v. 20.
33That is, a non-resident or merely titular prelate; seeVOL. XVIII, p. 339, note 101.
34The whole sentence, divested of technicalities, simply means that one must “look before he leaps;” or that, when one has his eyes open, he is supposed to have used them; or that the bishop, should he be merely titular, would have no one to blame but himself, and should be the last to complain.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.
35Spanish,pordioseros; that is, those who ask alms “for God’s sake.”
36Spanish,conciliabulo; like English “conventicle,” used to designate an unauthorized or illegal assembly.
37Spanish,mal sonante y temeraria—literally, “of evil sound and reckless.” This is part of a legal phrase, taken from Latin forms used by the Roman courts when characterizing books, teachings, statements, etc., of unorthodox or schismatic bearing.—Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.
38This memorial seems to have been written by the Dominican Fray Raimundo Berart (seeReseña biográfica, ii, p. 203); and it was printed by Fray Mimbela.
39Spanish,consumiendo; “the reception or eating by the priest of the body and blood of Christ, in the elements of bread and wine” (Dominguez).