Convents In Colonial Latin America

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During the 17th and 18th centuries, convents in colonial Latin America became visibly wealthy, multiplying and expanding to the point that they resembled smaller, walled cities within larger cities. Moreover, convents invested in real estate and loaned money, oftentimes functioning as the largest landlords or lenders in cities. While convents in the Viceroyalties of New Spain, Peru, and Brazil contained differences in administration and culture, they all functioned as essential financial institutions in their communities. As a result, the analysis of the convents’ secular functions will not necessarily distinguish between viceroyalties. Convents in colonial Latin America supported local economies by lending money to entrepreneurs and investing …show more content…
Traditional ecclesiastics criticized the economic role of convents as contradictory to a nun’s poverty vow. However, in 1771, the convent of Jesus Maria in New Spain defended convents’ economic role by arguing that the loans provided by convents benefited the community by helping farmers to save crops, entrepreneurs to buy miners, and traders to begin businesses (Lavrin 1966). Indeed, colonial societies did not have capital readily available, so the loans provided by nunneries allowed the economy to expand through further flow of money and investment in local businesses (Burns 1997; Lavrin 1966; Lavrin 1976). The Santa Clara convent in New Spain further contributed to society’s welfare by administering chaplaincies left by third parties, maintaining the financial security of local clergy (Gunnarsdóttir 2001). While convents supported the economy via loans, few convents primarily relied on loans for investment. Instead, they favored investments in real estate, as real estate offered fewer risks. Convents rented real estate to tenants of various socioeconomic classes, thus benefiting both the poor and the elites (Chowning 2008; Lavrin 1976). Essentially, convents played an important role in supporting economies by investing in businesses, religious associations, and real estate that housed members of all parts of …show more content…
In the 1760s, the church and state in New Spain wanted convents to comply more strictly with vows of poverty. As a result, they instituted vida commun, or life in common, reforms across the board. Such reforms expected nuns to eat the same food, sleep in common dormitories, restrict their number of servants, and more strictly follow the vow of poverty. However, these reforms failed, and new ecclesiastical reforms replaced the vida commun reforms in the 1780s and 1790s. These reforms completely opposed the economic spirit of the vida commun reforms, as they allowed nuns personal monthly allowances. A new set of ideals including financial self-sufficiency and individualism took precedence over religious morals that included poverty and communal life. By functioning as financial institutions, even at the expense of religious law, convents became place of immense wealth and stratified social hierarchy. Convents encouraged nuns to treat dowries as permanent investments, allowing convents to become wealthier with each new generation of nuns (Burns 1997). The following portraits display the opulence of convents. The above photograph is a portrait of Sor Juana, a Mexican nun who was also a self-taught scholar and philosopher (Cabrera
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