The author studies the social structure of the secular clergy of sixteenth-century Mexico under the headings of high clergy, parish priests, chaplains, career patterns, careers outside the church, secular clergy at the bar, and social and ethnic origins. He has done a service to the study of the church in colonial Mexico by summarizing the biographies of many sixteenth-century clergymen. Unfortunately, he does not appear to have the broad background in ecclesiastical studies that his extraordinarily broad theme requires. For example, even though he refers several times to decrees of the Council of Trent, so important for sixteenth-century church reorganization, there are no precise citations. Schwaller extracted a great amount of data from the letters and petitions of the clergy in the sections of Patronato and Audiencia de México in the AGI, but he cites only one of the many legajos related to the secular clergy in the Justicia section. Sadly, the work is also shot through with misconceptions and misusages that mar it deeply. For instance, throughout the book he repeatedly translates comisario (of the Holy Office) as “commissar,” a term that properly indicates a political official of the Soviet Union or the Communist party.
More serious is the fact that Schwaller shows inadequate mastery of the published bibliography for the period and does not satisfactorily fit his little biographies of clergymen into the larger picture of Mexican church history. If he had consulted Greenleaf’s books related to Bishop Zumárraga, not listed in his bibliography, he might not have made the far-fetched suggestion that the king made the appointment of Francisco de Mendiola to the bishopric of New Galicia “probably acting on a recommendation initially from Bishop Zumárraga” (p. 53). Zumárraga died in 1548, while Mendiola was not ordained a priest until 1558 and not named bishop until 1574. Also he might not have stated that the Inquisition “began under Bishop Fr. don Juan de Zumárraga” (p. 166), neglecting the activities of the friarinquisitors who preceded the bishop. If he had used any of a number of works on Bishop Vasco de Quiroga, none of which is listed, he might not have made the error of saying that “upon Quiroga’s death, Zurnero served as governor of the diocese until 1558” (p. 34). Quiroga did not die until 1565.
This is a book for which there was certainly a place in Mexican historiography and it has undeniable value. It is unfortunate that the author’s haste to publish it deprived it of the fullness of value that it might have had. It could have profited greatly from further thought and study.
