The Clergy an Education : Methods and Lessons in the Ancient Bishopric of Michoacán

Abstract

This article is based on a study of the doctrinal schools of the Bishopric of Michoacán in Mexico in the sixteenth century. It examines Franciscan and Augustine Foundations, as well as those secular parishes which data shows had schools for teaching Catholic doctrine, first letters, singing and music. It summarizes quantitative data on the important number of educational centers, based on the analysis of printed documents of the epoch, as well as bibliography on sixteenth century Michoacán. It is important to indicate that far from confirming the simplistic idea of that the education of the indigenous population of Michoacán of this period was non-existent or was limited to religious education, we found a wide variety of existing models responding to the characteristics of the gender and social class. However, on thing remains clear: religious orders dominated education.