Manuscript/Mixed Material Hans Peter Kraus Collection: Petitions to His Imperial Majesty

Title

• Hans Peter Kraus Collection: Petitions to His Imperial Majesty

Created / Published

• Spain

Headings

• -  New Spain--Politics and government
• -  Dioceses--New Spain
• -  Catholic Church--Bishops--Correspondence
• -  Catholic Church--Bishops--Appointment, call, and election
• -  Manuscripts

Genre

• Manuscripts

Notes

• -  Bartolomé de las Casas was nominated as bishop of Chiapas in May 1543 and was approved by the Roman curia on December 19 and 20 of the same year. (See Wagner, p. 121-122.) Since he refers to himself here as bishop-elect, he must have written the letter between the two dates or shortly after the second. In the letter he makes a number of specific requests regarding matters which he considers necessary for the proper government of his diocese. He had been asked to leave for his diocese on the first fleet that sailed; he apparently thought that he might have to leave before being consecrated, and he wanted to strengthen his legal position. Beside each paragraph is given the decision of the Council in the briefest of terms. If a decision was reached to issue a provision, the execution of the decision is indicated by the letters "fha" (fecha, meaning done). These are noted in parentheses in the following digest after the items to which they pertain.
• -  The bishop makes the following requests: 1. That his diocese be clearly delimited from those of Guatemala, Honduras, Tlaxcala, and Oaxaca. ("To the audiencia." "Done.") 2. That the "provincias de guerra" named Teculutla, Lacandón, etc., where he and his companions had worked, be included in his diocese, "since this was the principal reason why he accepted it," and that it should extend to the gulf, including the land of Yucatán. ("Idem. That if it appoints a person concerning the boundaries, let it be entrusted to him." "Done.")

Source Collection

• Hans Peter Kraus collection of Spanish American documents, 1433-1877

Repository

• Manuscript Division

Digital Id

• http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss31013.mss31013-13900

Online Format

• pdf
• image

IIIF Presentation Manifest

• Manifest (JSON/LD)