On the 20th of May 1535 the pope established the bishopric, designating Antequera as the cathedral town, and on the 21st of June of the same year confirmed the bishop elect in his appointment. Bishop Zárate on the 28th of September following issued his letter of instructions for the organization of his diocese and its government.[1]
The bishopric of Michoacan was established the year after by bull dated the 8th of August, Tzintzuntzan being selected as the cathedral town. The establishment of this see had been meditated since 1533, after the visit of the oidor Quiroga, and the Franciscan, Luis de Fuensalida, had been nominated bishop in 1554, but he declined the honor.[2] Some delay was caused by the death of Pope Clement VII., and the appointment of a bishop was not effected before 1537.[3] The oidor Vasco de Quiroga had displayed so much wisdom and disinterestedness in the affairs of Michoacan, that although not a churchman, the bishopric was offered to him as being the person most suitable for the position. He accepted, and having received all
- ↑ The dignitaries, members of the chapter and vestry, and all appointments were the same as those of the bishopric of Mexico. For want of funds, however, to pay the salaries, only the four dignitaries and five canons were appointed, the other positions being left vacant. A copy of the bull and the bishop's letter is contained in Nueva España, Breve Res., MS., ii. 278-97. Bishop Zárate one time appears to have been dissatisfied with his diocese. In a letter, dated May 30, 1544, addressed to Philip II., he complains of not being permitted to go to Spain, and reiterates his previous request for permission to appear at court. He moreover remarks upon the extent of his diocese, which he says was too large for three bishops, and yet only contained within it two convents occupied by eight friars. Zarate, Carta,in Ternaux-Compans, Voy., série i. tom. x. 287-306. Consult also Calle, Mem. y Not.,79; Mendieta, Hist. Ecles., 547.
- ↑ Vetancvr, Menolog., 84; Moreno, Frag. Quiroga, 37. Beaumont, in Crón. Mich., iv. 12-18, considers that Moreno is in error in stating that Fuensalida was proposed as bishop in 1533, and approves Calle's date 1534. See Mem. y Not., 72.
- ↑ The establishment of this bishopric was recommended by Viceroy Mendoza, Herrera, dec. vi. lib. ix. cap. vii,
vents they might choose, and left one third of his library to the Dominican convent in Mexico, and another third to that in Oajaca; the remaining third was willed to his own church. He attended the first ecclesiastical council in 1554 and died the same year. On his death-bed he requested the Dominicans to bury him in the same grave with Padre Pedro Delgado, 'para que el valor de sus huessos fauoreciesse los pobres suyos,' and accordingly he was interred in the Dominican convent of Mexico. Gonzalez Dávila, Teatro Ecles., i. 222-3.
