This dissertation focuses on Archbishop Alonso de Montúfar OP (ca. 1489-1572). It seeks to explore two decades of sixteenth century Mexican Church History mainly through the study of documents found in Spanish and Mexican archives. Born outside Granada in Southern Spain, just after the conquest from the Muslims, Alonso de Montúfar assumed teaching and leading positions within the Dominican order. After more than forty years as a friar, Montúfar was elected archbishop of Mexico and resided there from 1554 until his death eighteen years later. From the 1520s onwards, many missionaries went from Spain to Mexico in order to christianise the native inhabitants and to administer the church’s sacraments to them. Many of the missionaries were members of three mendicant orders: the Franciscans, the Dominicans, and the Augustinians. Alonso de Montúfar’s time as archbishop can be seen as a period of transition and a time that was filled with disputes on how the church in Mexico should be organised in the future. Montúfar wanted to strengthen the role of the bishops in the church organisation. He also wanted to improve the finances of the diocesan church and promote a large number of secular clerics to work in the Indian ministry. All this meant that he became involved in prolonged and very animated disputes with the friars, the members of the cathedral chapter, and the viceroy of Mexico. One chapter of this dissertation is devoted to a detailed study of Archbishop Montúfar’s role in the early cult of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Tepeyac, which today has become of the most important Marian devotions in the world.

Oggetto della ricerca sono i capitoli di S. Vincenzo e S. Alessandro di Bergamo, quelle istituzioni, cioè, che proprio nel corso del periodo preso in esame (1146-1216) ottennero di essere entrambe riconosciute capitoli della cattedrale. Dopo una panoramica sullo status quaestionis e sulle fonti disponibili, l’indagine si muove su due piani distinti ma tra loro connessi: innanzitutto, esaminando la struttura e l’organizzazione dei due collegi, si procede a un’analisi di tipo “istituzionale” degli stessi. Da questo punto di vista la ricerca mostra nel complesso come i due collegi abbiano condiviso la responsabilità di governo della diocesi non solo dopo, ma anche prima dell’accordo con cui, nel 1189, si riconobbero reciprocamente come parti dell’unica cattedrale bergamasca. Inoltre, attraverso uno studio prosopografico si ottengono informazioni su provenienza sociale, carriera e profilo culturale dei canonici. Elementi utili a ricostruire la posizione dei capitoli nella città vengono pure dall’analisi dei loro compiti in ambito di cura animarum, dalla valutazione del ruolo della basilica di S. Alessandro come custode delle reliquie del santo eponimo dell’episcopato, e infine da alcuni cenni sulla lotta per la ecclesiastica libertas che oppose Chiesa e comune ai primi del Duecento. / The research concerns the chapters of S. Vincenzo and S. Alessandro (Bergamo). During the period under study (1146-1216), both the institutions obtained the right to be considered cathedral in the city. After an overview of the status quaestionis and of the available sources, the study discusses first the institutional aspects, such as the structure and organization of the two chapters. From that point of view, it seems clear that the two institutions shared some important duties not only after but also before being both acknowledged as cathedral (1189). Then, a prosopographical investigation offers many information about the social origins, studies and careers of the canons. Some attention is focused also on the commitment of the chapters to the cura animarum and on the fact that the relics of the main patron saint of the city (s. Alexander) were buried in the church of S. Alessandro. All that, along with the consideration of the antagonism that, at the beginning of the twelfth century, took place between Church and city about the problem of ecclesiastica libertas, shows the actual position of the cathedral chapters in the city.

Les institutions canoniales italiennes ont peu suscité l’attention de l’historiographie. Le royaume d’Italie offre pourtant un terrain d’étude propice des effets de la réforme carolingienne de 816, par les riches fonds d’archives des cathédrales et des grandes collégiales urbaines. Ils constituent la base de cette étude, consacrée à une histoire sociale des institutions canoniales, dans les villes du royaume d’Italie. L’enquête part de l’institutio canonicorum de 816, et démontre que les Carolingiens entendaient par canonicus tout clerc qui n’avait pas fait de vœux. La nouvelle norme de vie visait donc l’ensemble du clergé, redéfini en tant qu’ordo canonicorum. Elle en redéfinissait les missions, centrées sur l’office des heures, et instituait la vie en communauté comme forme de vie généralisée. Sont ensuite envisagées l’institution de communautés de clercs répondant à cette norme auprès des églises des cités épiscopales, l’évolution de leurs formes et ses conséquences sur l’organisation ecclésiastique générale, jusqu’au milieu du XIe siècle. Une deuxième partie explore la dimension sociale de ces institutions : le niveau social des chanoines, issus de l’élite locale ; leurs fonctions, au service de la cité ; le poids et le rôle économique des chapitres, qui font partie, à partir de la deuxième moitié du Xe siècle, des seigneurs qui dominent la cité et son territoire ; leur poids politique enfin, en accordant une attention particulière aux compétitions économiques et institutionnelles auxquelles se livrent les chanoines en tant que groupe, contre l’évêque, une institution ecclésiastique, ou un groupe d’acteurs concurrent. À l’horizon 1050, terme de l’étude, le chapitre cathédral apparaît comme la troisième force de la cité, après l’évêque et le comte. / No study has focused on the italian chapters of canons between the beginning of the 9th and the middle of the 11th century. And yet, the Kingdom of Italy offers richer funds to evaluate the effects of the carolingian reform of 816, than, for instance, Francia. This study is focused on the social aspects of the new institution and her forms in the italian episcopal cities. In a first section, it deals with the institutio canonicorum of 816, and demonstrates that the so-called Aachen rule was intended for the whole clergy, redifined by the legislator as ordo canonicorum, as opposed to the ordo monachorum, on the basis of their way and norm of life : the canons. The Carolingians intended to reshape the missions of the clergy, centered on the celebration of the canonical hours, and to generalyze the common life, as the best guarantee for the moral standard and the purity of the clergy. The investigation then centers on the establishment of the new institution in the Kingdom of Italy, and the evolution of the institutionnal aspects of urban chapters of canons from the 820’s to the 1050’s. In a second section, it focuses on the social dimension of the institutions, exploring the social composition of the group of canons, members of the local elite ; their fonctions within the local society ; the growing economical and political weight of the chapter. Close attention is paid to the economical and institutionnal competitions in which the canons, as a group, are involved against their bishop, another religious institution, or a group of lay competitors. In the 1050’s, term of the investigation, the cathedral chapter appears as the third force in the city, after the count and the bishop.

Cette thèse de doctorat porte sur le chapitre cathédral de Barcelone et ses membres à la fin du XVe siècle. L'étude d'un tel établissement permet d'observer un acteur urbain majeur : le haut clergé séculier d’une cité tardo-médiévale. Au-delà de leurs attributions religieuses, évêques et chanoines se révèlent étroitement impliqués dans la destinée de la cité. Leurs fonctions leur octroient des terres, ce qui fait d'eux d'importants seigneurs fonciers dans la ville et ses abords. Le canonicat leur donne accès au « bras ecclésiastique » des institutions politiques de la Couronne d’Aragon telles que la Diputació del General et les Corts. Enfin, leurs origines sociales les insèrent dans les réseaux de relations personnelles qui structurent l'oligarchie urbaine : ils font pleinement partie de l'élite dirigeante barcelonaise tout en y occupant une place bien spécifique, du fait de leur appartenance à l’Église. Cette situation particulière les place à la jonction de réseaux de pouvoir, quelquefois antagonistes et quelquefois alliés : ceux de l’Église, ceux de l’élite politique municipale, ceux des groupes familiaux constituant l’oligarchie. Au sortir de la guerre civile catalane de 1462-1472, Barcelone, principale ville de Catalogne, connaît de profondes transformations socio-politiques, avec la formalisation du patriciat par l’établissement d’une « matricule », l’accès de la noblesse au gouvernement municipal et les opérations de redressement économique de la cité après les difficultés de la guerre. L’étude montre que le chapitre cathédral, pleinement intégré à l’élite dirigeante de la ville, est amené à jouer un rôle réel dans la vie publique de la cité en pleine mutation. / This PhD thesis analyses the cathedral chapter of Barcelona and its members at the end of the 15th century. This institution proves to be a major urban actor. Beyond their religious powers, bishops and canons proved to be closely involved in the history of Barcelona. Their functions grant them lands, which turn them into important landlords in the city and its surroundings. The canonicate gives them access to the "ecclesiastical arm" of the Crown of Aragon’s political institutions such as the Diputació del General de Catalunya and the Corts. Their social origins integrate them into the networks of personal relations that structure the urban oligarchy: they are fully part of the ruling elite of Barcelona and they occupy a very specific place there, because of their belonging to the Church. This situation places them at the junction of power networks, sometimes antagonistic and sometimes allied: those of the Church, those of the municipal political elite, and those of the family groups constituting the oligarchy. At the end of the Catalan Civil War of 1462-1472, Barcelona, main city of Catalonia, undergoes profound socio-political transformations: an official list of the patricians is established, the municipal government opens to the nobility and undertakes several economic recovery measures after the disturbances caused by the war. The study shows that the cathedral chapter, fully integrated with the ruling elite of the city, has to play a real role in the public life of the city during this period.