AT THE FRONTIER OF THE CATHOLIC MONARCHY: BERNARDINO DE CÁRDENAS BISHOP OF ASUNCIÓN AND THE CONFLICT IN THE RIO DE LA PLATA (1639-1657)

Abstract

On March 4th 1649, the Bishop of Paraguay Bernardino de Cárdenas was appointed governor by the city council of Asunción. When the Governor appointed by the viceroy of Peru arrived, Cárdenas did not recognize his power and refuse to let him enter the City of Asunción. The conflict radicalized and led to an armed confrontation.The matter was brought to the Royal court of Charcas, opening a complex dispute on the Bishop-Governor and his choices, proving to be a conflicting actor of the Spanish Monarchy Royal patronage on the American Colonial Church (Real Patronato) system. Later on, the Bishop Cárdenas and his revolt became a symbol for the Independence of the Paraguay as well as the forerunner of the Jesuits persecutions that will see, a century later, the expulsion of the Jesus Company from the Spanish Monarchy domains and from other European Kingdoms. This contribution aims to reconstruct the events from the Spanish Monarchy’s point of view, stressing some feeble points in the political and administrative control system in the Rio de La Plata area, as well as the gaps in the circulation of information and the relationship with the Holy See. We also propose to put those events in a wider perspective, considering them as part of a border area, disputed within Spanish and Portugal Monarchies, in a war context, after the breaking of the political project of the Union of the Iberian Crowns and the Portugal rebellion.

Keywords

• paraguay
• monarquía hispánica
• governo
• conflitto
• vescovo
• frontiera.