Question Politica y Legal Que Se Induce del Informe Juridico, Que Se Ha Escritorio por los Padres Españoles de las Provincias de Lima y Chacras de los Reynos del Peru

Madrid: August 26, 1682. Near fine.. 20 leaves. Folio. Stitched into modern, plain wrappers. Unevenly trimmed at top edge, not affecting text. Minor toning and soiling. This polemical treatise, the work of the Franciscan friar Manuel Joseph de Villegas, was produced at the request of the General Chapter of the Order. The text comprises a commentary on a manifesto issued by Spanish-born friars in Peru concerning the poor attitudes of the creole, i.e. native, friars toward the institution and practice of the "alternativa," a system instituted in 1664, by which offices in religious orders and communities rotated between holders of European and American origin. Between these groups there was much hostility and resentment, and the resulting social tension spread into wider colonial society, owing to the fact that the root of the dispute was the disrespect of the Spanish clergy for the ability of their native-born colleagues. The resulting unrest and disobedience amongst the creole clergy produced a danger not only to the colonial Catholic church but also to the authority of the King, who had supported the "alternativa" and had appealed for harmony and goodwill amongst the orders. The author Villegas was a Spaniard but received his religious training entirely in Mexico. He was sent to Rome to defend the "alternativa" system in a famous ecclesiastical trial that took place over the dispute. We locate only two copies of this rare work in U.S. institutions, at Florida and the John Carter Brown Library. A fine example.
European Americana 682/190. Medina, BHA 1741. Palau 369368.