SAN MIGUEL CHURCH - VILLAFÁFILA

 

 

 

Citation

In 1201 the church of San Miguel [1] is mentioned for the first time .

Surely this church is prior to this date, without specifying when it could be.

Possession

The Monastery of Sahagún, had the church of San Miguel in the town [2] .

  Situation

The church of San Miguel, was located in what is now the Plaza de San Miguel, which bears his name and is popularly known as "el Corrillo" , in the eastern part, it was located on the outskirts of the old walled Villa.

Location of the church of San Miguel in the urban area of ​​Villafáfila today

 

 

Location of the church of San Miguel in the urban area of ​​Villafáfila today

 

factory book

We do not have a factory book.

Therefore, we barely have data, since we do not have a factory book, only through historical references, no image or related object from his church arrived either.

Nothing we can say what his style would be.

1201 Abbot Pedro grants another landowner neighbor, Fernando Gutiérrez, all the estates of Villafáfila and Bretó:

“ totam illam nostram hereditatem quam habemus in Otero de Fradres scilicet ecclesiam Sancti Facundi, cum suis terris et uinies et salinis” , (all that inheritance of ours that we have in Otero de Fradres, namely, the church of San Facundo, with its lands and vines and salt).

from the old purchases and donations of the 10th century;

“et ecclesiam Sacti Michaelis de Villafafila” , (and the church of San Miguel de Villafafila).

that they would have built in the town after the organization as Villa Real in the middle of the XII.

Plaza de San Miguel popularly known as "el Corrillo"

 

In 1332 the monastery of Sahagún in Villafáfila still presented the priest to Domingo Juan from the church of San Miguel de Villafáfila [3] .

San Miguel was annexed to the parish of San Salvador , which was united in the 15th century , which by reference we know was called the Church of El Salvador and its annex, San Miguel.

  In the investigation of the visitors of the Order in 1503, the priests and the form of provision of the benefits are related:

"San Salvador and San Miguel, Alonso Fernández, is to be presented by the parishioners and collation of the archdeacon of the Páramo" [4] .

Since the 16th century, which is when we have data and thanks to the Ecclesiastical Council - Brotherhood of San Gervasio and San Protasio composed mainly of the clergy of the Villa, they leave us a list where the anniversaries and endowments that have to be fulfilled by the souls are noted. of the deceased who were members of the old brotherhood of San Gervás, due to the name days of some of them we see that they date back to the Middle Ages, and reach the decade of the 80s of the 16th century, in no reference is made to the church de San Miguel would disappear in the 15th or 16th century.

Bishopric

The territory of Lampreana belonged to the diocese of Astorga since ancient times, with it Villafáfila, but we have no documentary evidence of the participation of its cathedral in property or income in the area, until the 12th century.

This parish was freely provided by the Bishop.

Villafáfila was the seat of the most south-eastern archpriesthood of the diocese of Astorga within the archdeacon of Páramo in the dieseis de Astorga [5] , in which the archpriest resided whose first mention is from 1156, and under his authority were the parish clergy which It implies the assumption of functions of the ecclesiastical center of the region, which used to go hand in hand with the acquisition of other central functions of a political or economic nature, and under its authority were the parish clergy. The archpriests used to be members of the local oligarchies and were more in tune with the local clergy and with the authorities of the towns than with the episcopal power, in 1153 it was the archpriest D. Salvador Peláez [6] .

1154, Don Alfonso VII donated to the Bishop of Astorga, Don Pedro Cristiano (1153-1156) the thirds [7]  of the entire church of Villafáfila and Lampreana. It is when the participation of the church of Astorga in the income of the region of the tercias [8] really becomes important, that is, a third of all tithes, including those of salt, of Villafáfila and all the Lampreana land, these decimal rights soon had to be defended against other ecclesiastical entities that refused to pay them or that claimed rights over them.

“ut ab hace die secundun Sancta canonum institutionem dent vobis tetias de tota terra Lamprena et Vila Fafila et hec Facio ut ab hac die habeatis it possideatis vos et emnes” [9] , (so that from this day on the second Holy Day they give you the establishment of canons over all the land of Lampreana and Villafáfila and I do this so that from this day on you and yours may have it in possession).

In 1156 [10] I know that he mentions the archpriest of Villafáfila for the first time.

In 1156 in the lawsuit over the ownership of a salt mine between the monks of Castañeda and some residents of Villafáfila, the archpriest Salvador Peláez is cited as part of the clergy and lay parishioners of Villafáfila who had to defend the rights of their neighbors.

Pope Lucio III from 1181 to 1185 orders the abbots of San Claudio and San Pedro de Eslonza (both owners of churches in Villafáfila) that in the churches that they have within the bishopric of Astorga they keep and keep their bishop the due rights and royalties that they belong to him and do not put ordained clerics in them in the diocese of León, unless the bishop of Astorga approves them and they obey his orders [11] .

Sometimes lawsuits arose over some possessions. Thus, in 1160 the monastery of Eslonza had to recognize and reach an agreement with the bishop of Astorga on the tercia of Santa María and pay four modios of salt and one salary per year. "IIII modios salis" .

In 1161 the monastery of Eslonza undertakes to provide lodging for the archdeacon of the Páramo with 10 men and 6 beasts when he visits the town.

Astorga Cathedral

 

In 1162 they owned, in addition to the thirds of all the churches of Villafáfila and Lampreana, the church of San Martín [12] and two other churches [13] .The possession of churches was another way of participating in the distribution of income that was generated in the town, through tithes, owner of the church of San Juan. The income from these churches must have been substantial and the bishop of Zamora tried to seize the churches of San Pedro de Muélledes and Villarrín, in 1181, for which the bishop of Astorga had to resort to Rome. The establishment of churches by some monasteries usually entails the dispute over the tithes that the bishop always wants to be given to him. Thus, in 1185 he reached an agreement with the monastery of San Claudio de León on his church of San Clemente de Fortiñuelas, with the obligation to pay half of the tithe.

Some of the assets were leased or delivered to individuals under certain conditions.

Thus, in 1174, he sold one of the lands he owned for a low price, in exchange for the purchaser remaining with his children as parishioners of the church:

“uendo unum solarem ... ut tu et filii tuum ... in eo morantes ... aut prope semper sint feligreses illius ecclesie” , (buying a solar house ... so that you and your children ... stay in it ... or always near the parishioners of that church).

In 1182 two families donated vineyards, pausatas, land and a house, but retained the usufruct during the days of their lives, along with the possession of another salt mine in San Pedro:

“ et ego Ioannis Spora do et concedo uobis illam salinam quam de me tenetis ut omnibus diebus uite uestre” , (and I give Juan Spora and I give you that salt that you have from me, so that you can use it every day).

It seems that the delivery of these assets is made as compensation for debts that they had with the monastery of the third of the tithes that they had to pay to the church of Santa María where they were parishioners:

“et totum de nostra tercia erit et in nostra tercia erit recontum” , (and the whole will belong to our third party, and will be reconstituted in our third party).

In the year 1207, the Pontiff Innocent III issued a Brief of Commission to two Archdeacon and Chanter of the Cathedral of León, to understand in the lawsuit that D. Pedro IV, Bishop of Astorga , maintained: with the Abbot of the Monastery of Moreruela on the payment tithes of salt from La Lampreana, which used to belong to the church of Astorga [14] .

Lawsuits arose between D. Pedro IV, Bishop of Astorga and the council of Villafáfila over the amount of tithes and first fruits of salt that the neighbors had to pay to the bishop, in what King D. Alfonso IX had mediated, but it was not formalized in writing. In the year 1235 D, Nuño, successor of D. Pedro, with the agreement of his Cabildo, settled the controversy with the council of Villafáfila, signing the agreement in Villafáfila between the two [15 ] . In this agreement it is established that the Bishop of Astorga will receive 5 eminas of salt from each salt torva, and that he may have in Villafáfila and its term by any purchase, donation or other procedure, up to four yugadas of oxen and twenty aranzanas of vineyards and four torvadas of salt [16] .

“Dominicus Suárez, tenente domum sancte Marie. Martines, presbyter capellanus. Martinus Bartolomeus, monacus” [17] , (Dominicus Suarez, holding the house of Santa María. Martines, chaplain priest. Martín Bartolomé, a monk).

In 1228 the local administrative center of the income of Astorga in Villafáfila is the church of San Juan, the Apostolic legacy Juan, Bishop of Sabina, awarded the Episcopal Table of Astorga, among other goods, In Villafáfila and in Lampreana the church of San Juan with his belongings, vineyards, inheritance and lands, belonging to the Bishop's Cillero [18] :

"In Villa fafila et in Lampreana, ecclesiam Sancti Ioanis cum pertinenciis suis et vineas et hereditatem et tercias ad cellarium episcopi pertinentes" [19] , ( Villafafila and in Lampreana, the church of San Juan with its belongings and vineyards and patrimony and thirds belonging to the bishop's locker).

Over time, he continued to receive donations: in 1287, the priest of San Martín donated half of his assets to him at his death, and in 1307 they received an orchard with trees, a well and accessories in Villafáfila, which adjoins a vineyard belonging to already to the bishop.

The collection of tithes of salt belonging to the church of Astorga had been carried out since 1235:

"annually from the feast of San Juan to the feast of Saint Mary in August...if I found the collected salt" ;

and the priest of Santa María must deliver the salt from the tithes of his parish to the monastery of Eslonza before September 8:

“ties the feast of Santa Maria de Setembre”[20] , (formerly the feast of Santa María de Septiembre).

In 1310, the Cabildo of the Cathedral of Astorga and Bishop Don Alfonso II signed an exchange contract for the Cillero that they had in Villafáfila, with the Prince of Castile Don Juan [21] , the prince gave the bishop the martiniegas that he had in the bierzo, the Toral church (from that moment) with all the rights that belonged to said church and 2,000 maravedís that they would receive on the day of their burial. and Cabildo Promise to give place for the burial of D. Juan's body in the main church of Sta. María de Astorga, between the choir and the main altar; all the clergy of the town attend the suffrages that are celebrated for him on the occasion of his death; to celebrate the Anniversary of death forever and ever, etc... he delivered the Villafáfila Cillero for life.

"our Cillero de Villafáfila with all our rights that belong to our Messa" [22] , (our Cillero de Villafáfila with all our rights that belong to our Table).

“et from the Church of San Miguel a moyo de Sal; and the Alcipreste another moyo” [23] , (and from the Church of San Miguel a salt moyo; and the Archpriest another moyo).

"And we Don Alfonso Obispo above mentioned, with the granting and consent of the Dean and the Council of our Church, we promise to give you Infante D. Juan, that you have us for all your days, our Cillero de Villafáfila with all those rights which are from our Messa, which is what it will say here: The goal of the Church of San Martín, and an orchard that lies near Santa María la Nueva, taken from the offering, and the small Tithe and Tercias, and a Salina of Santa Marina carried by the clergyman of Sant Salvador. Another yes, a couple of houses and lots because they give each year five sueldos of law, and a land where Puebla was, and vineyards and houses in the Azogue, because they give to Loguer. And the meat of the third of the Church of Sant Andrés, except for the offering and the mortuary carried by the Clergyman of Meroria. another yes, the meat of the third of the Church of Sant Pedro. Another yes, the meat of the Third of the Church of Santa Martha, and the meat of the Third of the Church of Sant Salvador, and the meat of the Third of the Church of Rebillinos. Another yes, the entire third of the Church of Moral, and of Sant Pedro del Otero, and of the Church of Villarigo, and of the Church of Oter de Sirago, and of the Church of Sant Agostín, and of the Church of Videianes, Two moyos of wheat and three moyos of barley, and two moyos of salt by the Benavente mine at these Churches Bishop Oferenda does not carry any mortuary. And from the Cabanas that he earns from Salt, the Bishop takes five eighths per tithe. Et from the Church of San Feliz carries a moyo of salt, and from the Church of San Miguel a moyo of salt, and the Archpriest another moyo. Another yes, the Bishop in Muelledes, four yuguerías de heredad and one Salina and three parts of houses. And with this all the other things that are from the Bishop's Table that belong to this Cillero abovementioned, yes to the figure and ha. And by this grant we do not understand from you to give any, thing that belongs to the Table of the Cabildo or to the Chapels of Bishop Don Martín, nor to any other. And this Donation of the aforementioned Cellero of Villafáfila we force you today that this letter on date, for all your life, and after your death that it remains free and removed from Us and our successors without encumbrance (...). Given in Burgos on the first day of March. thing that belongs to the Board of the Cabildo nor to the Chapels of Bishop Don Martín, nor to any other. And this Donation of the aforementioned Cellero of Villafáfila we force you today that this letter on date, for all your life, and after your death that it remains free and removed from Us and our successors without encumbrance (...). Given in Burgos on the first day of March. thing that belongs to the Board of the Cabildo nor to the Chapels of Bishop Don Martín, nor to any other. And this Donation of the aforementioned Cellero of Villafáfila we force you today that this letter on date, for all your life, and after your death that it remains free and removed from Us and our successors without encumbrance (...). Given in Burgos on the first day of March.[24] .

The heirs of the Infante D. Juan intend to keep these assets upon his death, and the bishop obtains a confirmation privilege from King D. Enrique III:

"of the sentence in which the Villafáfila locker was declared to belong to His Excellency, which the heirs of the Infante D. Juan intended to enjoy" [25] .

Apart from these assets of the episcopal board, the council and the archdeacon of the Páramo, where the archpriesthood of Villafáfila was integrated, owned assets such as the church of San Juan, which is not mentioned in the list of the episcopal board because its income belonged to the archdeacon.

In 1495 the Catholic Monarchs sent a provision so that Don Pedro Pimentel and the council of Villafáfila could give inns to the servants of the Bishop of Astorga at their fair prices, bread and wine and maintenance at reasonable prices and barns to keep bread from their rents and tithes. [26] .

In 1499 the lands had been leased and brought by a hidalgo from Villafáfila:

"land of the Bishop who brings Mansilla" .

The vineyards were also in 1507 delivered to jurisdiction for a period of three lives to the cleric of Villafáfila, Juan González:

"I have the vineyards of the bishop in the terms of this town, which I have for three lives with his jurisdiction" ,

and surely the hut for making salt that this cleric had outside could be that of the Bishop [27] . Several inns and the Caño del Obispo, which must have been a piped artesian spring, are still cited from the bishop's cabin in 1522 and 1528. which I suppose that the tenants and foreros would end up taking effective possession of the old properties. If some type of tax was still in force or was a reminiscence of past centuries, in the 19th century with the confiscations they were abolished.

M ap of the Bishopric of Astorga, outlined by Manuel Sutil, priest of La Bañeza, 1761. Where Villafáfila is limited as archpriestate further east.

 

Clerics

The origin of the clerics, those who served churches owned by episcopal monastics, or monasteries, would be appointed by the owners of the churches and would generally exercise the benefits of foreign clerics, although in carrying out their duties they would join the Villa. Other times the cleric proposed for the curazgo is a resident of the town, but receives a lot from the owner of the church.

Thus, in Villafáfila, we can distinguish the local clergy in charge of the different parishes and who come from and form part of the community, and the delegated administrators of the great ecclesiastical owners.

The origin of the clerics had to be twofold:

-those who served monastic or episcopal owned churches would be appointed by the owners of the churches and would generally exercise the benefits of foreign clergy, although in the performance of their duties they would join the town. Thus, in 1287 Pedro Domínguez, priest of San Martín, promised to make his house and habitation there and to be a vassal of the Bishop of Astorga. Other times the cleric proposed for the priesthood is a resident of the town, but receives a plot of land from the owner of the church as in 1291 Juan Domínguez commits himself to the monastery of Eslonza, so that he can receive the abbot, monks or vassals in his house when they go to Villafáfila, as well as specifying the economic obligations that it contracts with the monastery. Still in 1332 the monastery of Sahagún presents Domingo Juan as priest of the church of San Miguel.

-those who served churches owned by the parishioners (San Pedro, San Andrés, San Salvador, Santa Marta) were to present themselves and were generally elected parishioners or neighbors.

The number of members of the local clergy increases as the number of churches grows, thus in 1156 three are documented and in 1235 the clergy of the town that confirm a document are ten. In 1201 at least three clerics lived in Santa Maria.

One of the main estates in the Middle Ages was the clergy. According to Pascual Martínez Sopena (1985) referring to the Western Land of Campos:

"Although perhaps the various territorial administrators of monastic property could be considered members of the local clergy, there is no doubt that this term refers mainly to parish clerics, the exercise of whose ministry is in close contact with the community" .

The clerics represent a privileged group within the town, which, as Martínez Sopena says:

 “They do not stop having a pre-eminent position within the community. Their income derived from their participation in tithes and income from the property owned by the churches they serve provide them with more abundant resources than the common neighbors” .

In addition, local clergy enjoy exemptions from certain benefits. This makes them form a separate group; and, in fact, in the confirmation of the agreement of 1235 on the distribution of tithes of salt, where lawsuits arose with the council of Villafáfila over the amount of tithes and first fruits of salt that the neighbors had to pay to the bishop, and in the year 1235 they signed an agreement between the two, which had already been established years before, during the life of the king Alfonso IX, and through his mediation, but then it had not been put in writing. In this agreement it is established that the Bishop of Astorga will receive 5 eminas of salt from each salt torva, and that he may have in Villafáfila and its term by any purchase, donation or other procedure, up to four yugadas of oxen and twenty aranzanas of vineyards and four torvadas of salt [28] , sign in a separate column, separated from the residents of the town and the episcopal clergy.

Sometimes the clergy are owners of churches, as is the case of Román Arias in 1165. Other times they own various episcopal assets in usufruct or rent, such as the Santa Marina salt mine that the clergyman of San Salvador rented in 1310.

The clerics of the town and the villages had some obligations with the Bishop of Astorga among which were:

"To attend His Excellency with the part of the proxy that corresponds to them as the clerics of that place and the archdeacon of that territory and the canons of Santa Maria are obliged to faithfully pay their forums annually",

In 1241 the clerics in Villafáfila were grouped in a council, made up of the clerics of the Villa, distinguishing them from other clerics of the municipality of Villafáfila, which should not have been established much earlier, since on that date it still did not have a seal and they must use the seal of the archpriest to confirm an agreement. Thus, the clerics associated in the council, and with their archpriest at the helm, are capable of suing the convent of San Marcos de León over the distribution of tithes in 1241 and in 1379.

These councils served to accumulate property, although in Villafáfila the assets of the brotherhood of clergy of San Gervás are documented in the 15th and 16th centuries, but the true accumulation of land and censuses did not occur until the end of the s. XVI, when a new council is constituted.

They participate in the daily life of the population, as we will see apart from governing the churches, also, brotherhoods, chaplaincies, etc.


Author:

Jose Luis Dominguez Martinez.

 

Bibliography - Texts:

 

Elias Rodriguez Rodriguez

History of the saline exploitations in the Villafáfila lagoons . P. 92 , 97 and 98 Zamora: Institute of Zamorano Studies "Florián de Ocampo", 2000.  ISBN  84-86873-87-8.

The Concord of Villafáfila. June 27. II Villafáfila in 1506. Page 88. Institute of Zamoran Studies, Florián de Campo. 2006.

 

Florez, E.:

Sacred Spain, Madrid, volume XVI, writing XLI. p. 508 and 509.

 

Photography:

Google Maps.

turismoastorga.es

Florez, Enrique, 1702-1773. Sacred Spain: geographic-historical theater of the church of Spain: volume XVI, From the Holy Church of Astorga... (1762) -, map of the Bishopric of Astorga, outlined by Manuel Sutil, priest of La Bañeza, 1761. where it limits Villafáfila as archpriestate more to the east.

Jose Luis Dominguez Martinez.

 

Transcription and montage:

Jose Luis Dominguez Martinez.

 

All text, photographs, transcription and assembly, the rights belong to their authors, any type of use is prohibited without authorization.

 

All text and photography has been authorized for storage, treatment, work, transcription and assembly to José Luis Domínguez Martínez, its dissemination on villafafila.net, and any other means authorized.

 

[1] Fernández Flórez, 1993 doc. 1544.

[2] Elias Rodriguez Rodriguez. History of saline exploitations in the Villafáfila lagoons. Reorganization of the territory s. XII, p. 92.

[3] Álvarez Palenzuela 1997: Doc. 2130.

[4] Elias Rodríguez Rodríguez. The Concord of Villafáfila. June 27, 1506: II Villafáfila in 1506. Page 88.

[5] Sopena Martínez, Pascual: The Western Land of Campos , page 40.

[6] Quintana Prieto, Augusto: The Bishopric of Astorga in the 12th century, p. 352.

[7] FLOREZ Sacred History Year 1742 Volume XVI. Appendix No. 29. The royal thirds or decimal thirds were an income granted by the Church to the Crown of Castile and later to the Hispanic Monarchy consisting of two ninths of the ecclesiastical tithes collected by it.

[8] The “Tertia eclesiasticorum” was one third of the value of the tithe.

[9] Henrique Florez. Spain Sacred T. XVI Appendix XXIX. Fidel Fita. Bulletin of the Royal Academy of History T. 24. p. 450. 1984. Augusto Quintana Prieto. The Bishopric of Astorga in the 12th century. p. 337. Pedro Rodriguez

[10] Rodríguez González Ángel: Tumbo de S. Martín de Castañeda. Archv. Lions nº XX 1966, page- 250.

[11] Tumbo Negro de Astorga p.245.

[12] National Historical Archive (AHN), Codex nº940, folios 20 and 372.

[13] Quintana p. 682.

[14] Pedro Rodriguez Lopez. Asturicense Episcopology. VOLUME II, -p. 254.

[15] Pedro Rodriguez Lopez. Asturicense Episcopology. VOLUME II, p. 269.

[16] Cabero 1989: Doc. IV.

[17] Vignau V. 1885: doc. XIV, LXXVIII and XCVI.

[18] Pedro Rodriguez Lopez. - Asturicense Episcopology. Volume II p.601.

[19] ADA Episcopal Chamber, per g. 2/40. Published by Cabero, 1989: 45.

[20] Vignau, 1882: doc. CLXXV.

[21] Juan de Castilla (the one from Tarifa)(1262 – Disaster of Vega de Granada, June 25, 1319). Infante of Castile and son of Alfonso X of Castile and Queen Violante of Aragon. https://dbe.rah.es/biografias/15389/juan-de-castilla 

[22] Flórez, E. España Sagrada, Madrid, volume XVI, writing XLI, p. 508 and 509.

[23] Flórez, E. España Sagrada, Madrid, volume XVI, writing XLI, p. 509.

[24] Manuel de la Granja Alonso: Personal documents.

[25] ADA Index. real. No. 6.

[26] AGSRGS 1495-XI 3878.

[27] OO.MM. Lawsuits 21933.

[28] Cabero 1989: Doc. IV.