Note XI-98 — Chapter XI · GODS, SUPERNATURAL BEINGS, AND WORSHIP.

Oviedo, Hist. Gen., tom. iv., pp. 46-7, 53; Andagoya, in Navarrete, Col. de Viages, tom. iii., p. 414; vol. ii., p. 728, of this work. Gomara, Hist. Ind., fol. 265, states that the priests were all married, while Herrera, Hist. Gen., dec. iii., lib. iv., cap. vii., asserts the contrary. The latter view seems more correct when we consider that women were not permitted to enter the temples, and that the high priest and devotees were obliged to leave their wives when they passed into the sanctuary. It is even probable that there was no distinct priesthood, since the temples had no revenues, and the temple service was performed in part at least by volunteers; to this must be added the fact, that although the confessor might not be connected with the temple, yet he ordered penance for its benefit. It must be considered, however, that without regular ministers it would have been difficult to keep up the routine of feasts and ceremonies, write the books of records, teach the children, and maintain discipline.