The Synodal Constitutions of 1687: some economic issues

Abstract

Abstract

This article highlights the matters that governed the Synodical Constitutions of Don Diego de Baños y Sotomayor, the 15th Bishop of the Diocese of Venezuela, Headquarters in Caracas, from the economic point of view. These norms derived from the third Diocesan Synod celebrated in Caracas in 1687, which governed the clergy and the faithful of the Venezuelan province until the beginning of the 20th century. Disposals, contracts, hospitals, cemeteries, ecclesial assets, tithes, first fruits, ecclesiastical fees, were elements legislated by a Church that was ahead of the Spanish Crown, by regulating, before it, various aspects of Venezuelan colonial life.

Keywords: Colony, Province of Venezuela, Church, Synodal Laws, Economy