Crown and Clergy in Colonial Mexico, 1759–1821

Farriss, N. M. Crown and Clergy in Colonial Mexico, 1759–1821: The Crisis of Ecclesiastical Privilege, London: The Athlone Press, 1968.

Reviewed in Journal of Latin American Studies (1969),.
Reviewed in Historia Mexicana © 1969.

From the Preface:

The purpose of this book is to explore a relatively neglected aspect of the relations between Church and State in colonial Mexico -- the exercise of royal control over the conduct and activities of the clergy, a function which the Spanish Crown considered as vital to the interests of the State as the more fully treated question of the royal control over the Church's administration. I have concentrated on the last decades of Spanish rule as a period of crisis in relations between Church and State, marking the transition from the interdependence and close identification of interests of the Habsburg era to the open antagonism that has been so prominent a feature of Mexican history since independence. (...) This study is based principally on primary sources in the archives and libraries of Spain, Mexico and England. The Archivo General de Indias in Seville provided the major part of the pertinent manuscript material, in particular the expedientes and correspondence on jurisdictional disputes in the sections Audiencia de Guadalajara and Audiencia de Mexico.