The Clergy in the Eastern Islands

THE CLERGY IN THE EASTERN ISLANDS. ECONOMIC EQUIPMENT AND HUMAN CONFORMATION OF THE PARISH CHURCH OF TEGUISE (LANZAROTE) DURING THE 17TH CENTURY The island of Lanzarote played a fundamental but brief role in the early spread of the Christian faith in the initial moments of the conquest of the islands. It is well known that European religion and culture entered the Canary Islands through Lanzarote, that on this, the easternmost of the islands, the first cathedral was established and from there evangelization began alongside the conquest and colonization. . But it is also well known that Lanzarote will soon lose this preeminent role, since the transfer of the diocese of Rubicón to Gran Canaria will take place as soon as the military conquest allows it; In 1485 the dedication of the Cathedral of Santa Ana took place, the culmination of a process of transferring the headquarters of the diocese to Las Palmas that had already been in sight since the mid-15th century. In parallel with the development of Gran Canaria (and later Tenerife) as the center of the religious life of the Archipelago, Lanzarote retreats, becoming a small rural community in which the mother church of Teguise and the characters (ecclesiastics or laymen) of whom It depends, they become an axis not only of the religious life of the community, but also a reference for studying and understanding the economic and social structure of the island in Modernity. There are abundant bibliographical references that we have found about the parish church of Teguise at the time in question; Given its antiquity, the mention of “the parish church of Our Lady of Guadalupe of Teguise” is a constant in Canarian historiography, always emphasizing the artistic beauty of the temple and the vicissitudes to which it was subjected as a target of successive attacks. piracy that Lanzarote suffered, but without going much further in the data provided about it. Viera y Clavijo only tells us about the destruction of the initial temple at the hands of the Berbers, in 1586, its reconstruction and new destruction in 1618.1 On this date the temple is rebuilt, giving it greater grandeur and beauty; Viera highlights, as Bishop Dávila y Cárdenas had already done in his Synodals, the exquisiteness of its sacristy and its choir, data that we find expanded by L. Betencourt2 who reports that the new temple built at the beginning of the 17th century thanks to the alms from the faithful and the donations of Bishop García Jiménez, was “of good proportions and spontaneous elegance, whose coffered ceilings, carvings of the choir, its Spanish school paintings, the altars, the sculptures, the clothes and the sacred vessels of great value artistic". The most recent studies on this church have also been carried out from the field of art history.3 Regarding the date of foundation of the temple, Hernández Delgado and Rodríguez Armas cite that it was founded in the first half of the 15th century, by Maciot of Bethencourt. Although the exact date is unknown, it is known that this event took place around 1452, the date on which the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was already in the temple.5 Buenaventura Bonnet had pointed out that it already existed in 1445, the year in that the people are summoned to the church to receive Diego de Herrera.6 The most complete and interesting study carried out to date appears in the work of Lobo Cabrera and Quintana Andrés on Lanzarote architecture of the 17th century. From the point of view of the architectural construction of the temple, all the vicissitudes that it suffered throughout the 17th century can be followed until the completion of the construction at the end of the century, now converted into “one of the main churches of the Canary archipelago, built with greater grandeur than all the previous ones.”7 In any case, direct data referring to the organization and functioning of the parish church, as well as its material endowment in its first moments, are scarce, due to the destruction of books and archives. caused by the invasion of the island in 1618.8 Unfortunately, the subsequent documentation was also mostly lost during the fire that devastated the temple at the beginning of this century, and which, along with the destruction of much of its historical artistic heritage, also ended the archives and documents.9 Currently in reference to the 17th century, the Canary Museum keeps a factory account book (period 1629-1744) and the Teguise parish archive preserves a series of documents consulted to make this communication: a book of memories of souls, a book of chaplaincies made during García Jiménez's visit, and most importantly, two inventories of goods made in 1661 and 1666, which were compared and completed with a new inventory made in 1674 that was reviewed and completed in 1684 ; The latter is preserved in the private archive of Mr. Francisco Fernández Del gado. This set of documents can give us a fairly complete vision of the material wealth of the parish throughout the century. According to the documents preserved in the parish archive of Teguise, in 1661 an inventory of assets was carried out before Luis Rodríguez Fleitas, Steward of the Church, by order of Bishop Fray Juan de Toledo during his visit to the parish Church. This inventory was repeated in 1666 by the new visitor, Mr. Diego de Llarena y Cabrera, beneficiary of Tenerife. Both relationships reflect a similar result with regard to the possessions of the parish factory.10 Later, in 1674, Mr. Don Antonio Correo Vasconcelos, Vicar of the Parish of Our Lady of Teguise, carried out by order of Bishop Bartolomé García Jiménez a inventory “of the goods and belongings of the Parish Church”, to be delivered to Captain Luis Rodríguez Fleitas, Mayor of the Church.11 This inventory was collected in 1684 by a new visitor, Mr. Dr. Don Alvaro Gil de Acevedo, Commissioner of the Holy Office and Beneficiary of the Parish of Our Lady of Los Remedios, in Buenavista, Tenerife. Doctor Gil de Acevedo reviewed the Church's ornaments, comparing them with those found in the 1673 inventory, finding them in good condition and complete.12 Therefore, using the information from the aforementioned inventories, we can obtain a fairly complete idea. of the material wealth of the Parish Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe until at least 1683. Likewise, the two grave registers included in the inventory of 1683 will also be used, the first made in 1679 and the one referring to this year of 1683, which provide information referring to the chapels made thanks to the donations of main families, who received burial there.