This work by Gisela von Wobeser is an important contribution to our understanding of the capellanía de misas (chantry) in colonial Mexico. This institution has been studied by many scholars, whose work is well recognized in this book. Yet none has written a full synthesis of the institution. Von Wobeser does just that. She analyzes nearly every aspect of the capellanía on the basis of literally thousands of examples from the Archivo General de la Nación in Mexico. This work is truly a primer on the capellanía. In brief, the capellanía is an endowment, the fruits of which are used to pay for masses for the benefit of the souls of the founder and his/her relatives and others stipulated in the foundation documents.
The work is divided into five chapters that focus on the different aspects of the capellanía. Chapter 1 outlines the general characteristics of the capellanía, the various...
