Delegating Authority and Establishing Rank: Franciscans and the Nahua Church in Mexico Tenochtitlan, 1550–1700

Established during the first half of the sixteenth century the position of
fiscal acted as an intermediary between the Franciscans and their indigenous
parishioners. While initially an important position because of the proximity
the fiscal had to the Franciscan chaplain it continued to grow in both
responsibility and prestige over time. Friars in Mexico Tenochtitlan came to
increasingly rely on their fiscal’s knowledge of the indigenous community
while the Nahuas, themselves, came to support the fiscal’s growing
authority. Additional positions, of a relatively unknown social status to
the Nahuas, were also introduced during the sixteenth century, including
sacristan and choirmaster. This paper examines the role people in these
positions played in Nahua religious life at the Franciscan friary of San
Francisco and the social status that was ascribed to them throughout the
sixteenth and seventeenth century.