By a papal bull issued on the 19th of March 1538,[XIX‑5] Ciudad Real was appointed a cathedral city, the diocese to be subject to the archbishopric of Seville, and the pope reserving to himself the appointment of the first prelate. The salary of the bishop was fixed at two hundred ducats a year, payable from the revenues of the province, while the privileges and revenues of the bishopric were to be based on the system prevailing in Spain. The church patronage and the choice of dignitaries were conceded to the crown of Spain. The limits of the see were also left to the decision of the emperor.[XIX‑6]
On the 14th of April 1538, Juan de Arteaga y Avendaño, a friar of the order of Santiago, was appointed to the charge of the newly created bishopric, but it was not until nearly three years later that he was consecrated at Seville, whence he issued a document framing the constitution of his diocese.[XIX‑7] The prelate did not like to take possession, for on his arrival at Vera Cruz in 1541 he was attacked with a severe fever, and though he succeeded in reaching Puebla de los Angeles he died there shortly afterward,[XIX‑8] his diocese remaining in charge of the bishop of Guatemala until the arrival, in 1545, of Bartolomé de las Casas.
Arms of the City of Chiapas.
Chiapas.
ARRIVAL OF DOMINICANS.
Lying between the territory under the jurisdiction of the audiencias of New Spain and the Confines were the provinces of Chiapas, Soconusco, Yucatan, and Tezulutlan, so remote, even from the latter court, that a strong hand was needed to enforce therein the new laws. In 1543 the apostle of the Indies after refusing the bishopric of Cuzco, lest his avowed disinterestedness should be doubted, accepted the prelacy of this extensive diocese,[XIX‑9] one fourth of the tithes of his bishopric and an additional sum of 500,000 maravedís payable by the crown being assigned him as salary. He was consecrated at Seville, on passion Sunday of 1544, and having by virtue of a royal decree caused the liberation of all the Indian slaves brought to Spain from the New World he embarked at San Lúcar on the 11th of July.[XIX‑10] He was accompanied by his constant companion, Father Rodrigo de Ladrada, and forty-five Dominican friars, including Father Tomás Casillas, their vicar, and his successor to the bishopric of Chiapas. After touching at Santo Domingo where he was detained over three months awaiting a vessel, he sailed for Campeche, where he arrived on the 6th of January 1545. Las Casas soon aroused the opposition of the colonists by insisting on the enforcement of the new laws, so exasperating them that they refused to acknowledge him as their bishop, on the ground that his papers were defective. They could not, indeed, prevent him from taking possession of the bishopric, but they could and did withhold the tithes, thus compelling him to send to Ciudad Real for money to defray his expenses. His messenger reached Ciudad Real early in February and the cabildo's answer is dated the 12th of the same month. They sent him a few hundred pesos which had been advanced by the public administrators on the security of one of the citizens.[XIX‑11]
From Campeche, Las Casas despatched by sea to Tabasco ten of the friars, but the vessel being overtaken by a storm foundered off the island of Términos, and nine of the ecclesiastics together with twenty-three Spaniards were drowned. Las Casas and the remainder of the Dominicans soon afterward departed for Ciudad Real, where his reception was cordial and enthusiastic. He was escorted into the city under the pallium; a house had been prepared for his reception, and thither all classes flocked to pay him homage.[XIX‑12]
The cathedral chapter consisted, on Las Casas' arrival, of the dean, Gil Quintana, and the canon, Juan de Perera, besides which dignitaries there were three priests in the diocese. The Dominicans, who were also kindly received, having reported their arrival to the provincial in New Spain, established a temporary convent and began their labors.