The Role of the Nunneries in the Economy of New Spain in the Eighteenth Century

Abstract

rF E CATHOLIC CHURCH occupied a preeminent position in the economy of colonial New Spain. It owned a substantial share of the land of the country and had large amounts of capital invested in agricultural enterprises or in loans to landowners and businessmen. Toward the end of the eighteenth century the secular branch of the Church possessed the greater portion of its riches, but according to Humboldt the monastic orders still had considerable wealth and influence.1 Their investments in land, industries, and urban properties played a decisive role in the shaping of the general economy of New Spain. This position declined in the nineteenth century, however, owing to the economic limitations imposed upon the Church by Charles IV, by the wars of independence, and by subsequent expropriations during the republican period. Less numerous than monasteries, nunneries played an interesting and important role in the economic life of the viceroyalty. In the first two centuries of colonial life convents acquired and received land and other property, which they exploited with variable success. Since the administration of this property was frequently inept, however, it did not exert as great influence upon the economy as it might have otherwise. Toward the end of the seventeenth century substantial changes had taken place in the manner of investment and administration of the nunneries' capital. Convents showed a greater inclination to buy urban property. They also started to invest their capital more frequently in loans to the producing classes of merchants, landowners, and miners. During the eighteenth century the activities of convents as property holders and lending institutions increased to such an extent that they gained considerable influence in their society as major financial centers, quite capable of affecting the economic development of the community and of the country in general. Funds for the foundation, subsistence, and further investments of

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