The Editors

December, 1904.

DOCUMENTS OF 1629-1630

Decree regarding mission appointments in the Indias.  Felipe iv; April 6, 1629.  Letter from Manila Dominicans to Felipe iv.  Diego Duarte, and others; May 12, 1629.  Letters to Felipe iv.  Juan Nino de Tavora; August 1, 1629.  Relation of 1629-30. [Unsigned; July, 1630.] Letters to Felipe iv.  Juan Nino de Tavora; July 30 and August 4, 1630.

Sources:  Of these documents, the first is obtained from Pastells’s edition of Colin’s Labor evangelica, iii, p. 686; the fourth, from the Ventura del Arco MSS. (Ayer library), i, pp. 617-625; and the remainder from MSS. in the Archivo general de Indias, Sevilla.

Translations:  All these documents are translated by James A. Robertson.

Decree Regarding Mission Appointments in the Indias

The King.  Inasmuch as I have been informed that—­notwithstanding that it has been ruled and decreed, in virtue of the prerogative of my royal patronage, that the provincials of the orders in my Western Indias, whenever they have to propose any religious for the instruction or for the administration of sacraments, or to remove him who should have been appointed, shall give notice thereof to my viceroy, president, Audiencia, or governor, who should have charge of the superior government of the province, and to the bishop; and that he who may have been already appointed be not removed until another has been appointed in his place—­for some time past, the said provincials have been introducing the custom of dismissing and removing the religious teacher who is stationed at any mission, and appointing another in his place, solely on their own authority, without giving notice to the said viceroy, or the persons above mentioned, as they have done on various occasions.  They also claim that if a religious is once approved by the bishop for a mission, he needs no further approbation for any other mission to which his provincial may transfer him.  If the archbishops or bishops of the diocese where such a thing occurs try to hinder it, the provincials base various lawsuits upon that point, whence follow many injurious and troublesome results.  In order to obviate these, the matter having been discussed and considered by the members of my Council of the Indias, with their assent and advice I have deemed it advisable to ordain and order—­as by the present I do ordain and order—­that now and henceforth, in regard to the said provincials removing and appointing the religious of the said missions, they shall observe and obey what is ordained on that head by the said my royal patronage, according to what is mentioned in this my decree.  They shall not violate or disobey it in any way; and in addition to it, whenever they shall have to appoint any religious to the said