Territorial Disputes and the Financing of the Jesuit Missionary Enterprise in Spanish Amazonia

Abstract

This article examines the ways in which Jesuits obtained material and human resources for their missions in Spanish Amazonia. Between 1638 and 1767, Jesuits were in charge of the Maynas reductions, located on the eastern fringes of the jurisdiction of the Audiencia de Quito. In these missions, Jesuits failed to install a viable production system. Their activities were largely financed through private donations, funds transferred from nearby Colegios, and remittances from royal treasuries, which were settled in 1716. This study explores both why it took so long for the Jesuits to secure permanent aid from the Royal Treasury and what strategies they used to convince the Council of the Indies to fund their endeavors in the Spanish Amazonian region. I argue that the recruitment and retention of missionary personnel depended on power struggles between local economic interests, the pressure of the Jesuit prosecutors on the Council of the Indies, and Spain’s defensive strategy against Portuguese territorial encroachment.