“A Battalion of Difficulties”

The Legal and Judicial Debate over the Place of the “Vicario General y Provisor Oficial” in the Cathedral Choir. Mexico, 16th and 17th centuries

Abstract

This article discusses, from a legal and judicial perspective, the conflict between the archbishops of Mexico and the Cathedral Chapter, over the place that corresponded to the “vicario general y provisor oficial” in the cathedral choir and other ceremonies, when he did not belong to the body of chapter members itself. A problem of precedence called into question the dignity of the provisor and, consequently, his place in the socio-ecclesiological order of New Spain. The litigation disrupted the relationship between the ecclesiastical authorities, transcended New Spain’s borders, involved the royal authorities on both shores of the Atlantic and was discussed by two of the main treatise writers of the Indies.