In our previous article, we were able to explore everything related to the beliefs and motivations that led men and women of the modern era to establish chaplaincies. For this purpose, we focused on aspects such as the belief in souls in purgatory or the importance of masses to come to their aid. In short, we addressed the significance that this amalgamation of beliefs and ideas had for life and culture at the time.
AN INSTITUTION THAT BENEFITED EVERYONE
Well then, this mental world about life and death, this framework of ideas, had effects on earthly life. As always happens in history, mental frameworks and beliefs materialize into concrete actions and tangible phenomena. And it is that, as we saw, it was believed that souls were helpless in Purgatory and could remain there for centuries upon centuries until achieving eternal salvation. But the living could do something for these helpless beings: offer masses. Indeed, it was believed that with these celebrations, souls were taken out of purgatorial fire, "rescuing" them as it were, and guiding them this time to Heaven. This idea opened up a wide range of possibilities, since all one had to do was devise a way to offer as many masses as possible and ensure their celebration. Well then, here is where chaplaincies appear as a cultural, social, and economic phenomenon. But, what did these foundations consist of? The definition of the term "chaplaincy" is complicated, as there were numerous types and many authors have studied them. However, we can use Juan Pro's proposal, which defines each chaplaincy as:
«A perpetual foundation by which a person segregated certain assets from their estate –in life or through a will- and formed with them a bond that would be dedicated to the maintenance or sustenance of a cleric, who in turn was obligated to pray a certain number of masses for the soul of the founder or his family» (PRO, 1989)
In other words, through a chaplaincy, one could ensure the celebration of a determined number of masses thanks to the existence of a bond -that is, specific assets- that allowed maintaining a cleric in charge of the celebrations. Think about the significance of these words. Thanks to the establishment of a chaplaincy, it was possible to guarantee the celebration of the much-needed masses, and what's more important: it ensured a certain periodicity in their celebration. But although this was the strong point of chaplaincies, it is not the only aspect or interest. To function, these foundations needed the participation of at least three people: a founder, a chaplain, and a patron.
WHO WAS INVOLVED? THE PARTICIPANTS
Founders could be one or several people -it was not uncommon for many couples to take the step- who established all the conditions of the chaplaincies, that is, who would be the chaplains, who the patrons, how many masses were going to be given, with what funds they would be financed and other aspects. No doubt they were the true architects of these initiatives, as they gave them form and content. And it's true that they always had total freedom to do so. In fact, it has even been argued that this freedom, this autonomy to design legacies at will, was one of the keys to the success of chaplaincies in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (VÁZQUEZ, 1992)
The other pieces of the puzzle of foundations were the chaplains and patrons. The former were responsible for officiating masses for souls, and on many occasions they were relatives of the founders themselves - why? Chaplaincies became a way to ensure not only masses but also the financing of the clerical career of the chaplains, who thanks to the rents could start and develop their studies until being ordained priests. Thus, it's no wonder that many chaplains were sons or nephews of the founders, as by including them in their legacies they ensured a formation that could lead to a relatively secure way of life such as clerical.
We cannot forget the patrons. They were people responsible for ensuring everything established by the founders was carried out. They were tasked with verifying that masses were given in case there were problems, collecting rents and ultimately overseeing the proper functioning of the entire system. Unlike chaplains, who naturally had to be individuals, patrons could also be parishes where the chaplaincies were founded or even brotherhoods.
Along with the social aspect, there is another of equal or greater importance: economics. Everything we have seen about beliefs, culture, and sociology of these religious foundations is true; they were weighty reasons to institute them, but we cannot deny the leading role that economics played in the entire process of founding and development of chaplaincies. In short, for everything discussed above to function, financial means were essential - how else could one cover the costs of masses or the payment for the formation of chaplains, among other issues? Naturally money was needed, but since chaplaincies were intended to last forever, a way had to be found to provide them with continuous income over time. The solution to this problem came in the form of houses, lands, and all kinds of real estate on which censuses or mortgages were imposed and that generated annual rents. Any asset was valid for financing foundations, so juros and royal rents were also used especially in the seventeenth century when we know that the monarchy was eager to sell the right to collect certain rents in exchange for money to finance its costly military campaigns.
The formula for associating assets with chaplaincies was spiritualization, studied in detail by Soledad Gómez Navarro (GÓMEZ, 2003). This strategy of spiritualizing property allowed founders to place their properties under the protection of the Church, avoiding royal intervention and preventing the expropriation of goods that, however, could not be entirely prevented with the great disamortizations of the nineteenth century. This aspect was fundamental in explaining the survival of chaplaincies over time. We know that during the sixteenth but especially the seventeenth centuries they were very popular in modern Spain, and in some areas like Barcelona during the eighteenth century (GARCÍA, 1984). The practice of founding chaplaincies continued effectively until the twentieth century, although clearly in much smaller proportions than at earlier times in history.
CONCLUSIONS
Both in this text and in the previous one, we have been able to generally know the origin of the beliefs that led to establishing chaplaincies and, above all, the vicissitudes surrounding their foundation and development. We also delved into the motivations that drove founders to institute them, and the reasons why they lasted so long. The truth is that many times history focuses on major events and battles, but seldom do we pay attention to phenomena like piety and religious foundations, which contributed greatly to maintaining the economy of their time in the hands of specific institutions and had enormous cultural importance in past societies. Archives are full of evidence of these and other very interesting institutions. It is up to us to rescue their memory and, by the way, learn more about the life and fortune of those who came before us.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
García Cárcel, R., (1984). Death in Baroque Barcelona (methodological approach). In II Colloquium of Applied Historical Methodology. Documentation and History (I) (pp. 115-124). University of Santiago de Compostela.
Gómez Navarro, M. S., (2003). Spiritualization of property: Sociology of a singular practice in Modern Andalusia. In Proceedings of the III Congress on History of Andalusia (pp. 109-124). Obra Social y Cultural Caja Sur.
Martínez Gil, F., (1993). Death and Society in Habsburg Spain. Siglo Veintiuno de España Editores
Pro Ruiz, J., (1989). Chaplaincies: Family, Church, and Property in the Ancien Régime. Hispania Sacra, 41 (84), 585-602.
Vázquez García-Peñuela, J. M., (1992). Colative-Familial Chaplaincies: Legal Regime in Force. Universidad de Navarra
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