Note 2 — Jesuit Missions in 1656

Corcuera’s endowment of these fellowships raised a great storm in the islands, especially among the Dominicans, who claimed that it was aimed at their college of Santo Tomás; while in Spain the king and his council were equally indignant because they had not been previously consulted in the matter, an indignation that was carefully fostered and increased by the Dominicans. The lawsuit in this case was bitter, and was conducted in the supreme Council of the Indias by Juan Grau y Monfalcon, procurator of the cabildo of the city of Manila; Father Baltasar de Lagunilla, procurator-general of the Society of Jesus, for the college of San José; and father Fray Mateo de Villa, procurator-general of the Dominican province of the Rosario, for the college of Santo Tomás. The case was prolific in documents from all three sources. The Dominicans remained masters of the field, and this case contributed to the downfall of Corcuera, who was finally superseded in 1644 by Diego de Fajardo, who had been appointed some years before, but might never have gone to the islands had it not been for the lawsuit over the fellowships. See Pastells’s Colin, iii, pp. 763–781.