Note 1 — Letter from the Sisters of St. Clare to Felipe IV
Reading edition
May all empires and kingdoms be made subject to your royal Majesty. We were sent here by the great king, Don Felipe, our sovereign (may he rest in peace), by his royal decree and favor he ordering the governor and royal Audiencia to receive us under his royal protection as nuns of the first rule of St. Clare,1 so that the daughters of the conquistadors who do not have the means for marriage may be aided; and [it was ordered] that, when the provincial of our order should be present they should make regulations according [96] to our rule and profession—his royal Majesty ordering the above with the earnestness that is made evident in his decree. We have found in this kingdom so friendly a disposition and so great abundance of what is necessary (with which we are supplied in the city), that although at present we number only thirty-three sisters, seventy could be supported on the alms that are bestowed upon us every week in small contributions—besides those given in quantity by private persons and bequeathed to us in wills; and those from women who are admitted to the order, who have wealth for this purpose.