El Cisma del Socorro: poder local y patronato republicano

Abstract

In late 1810 the Junta of the Socorro Province decreed the creation of a Bishopric without the approval of the clerical authorities of Santafé, much less that of Rome. This paper studies the so-called Socorro Schism, proposing that this was a moment where some of the central points of the Republican Patronage were raised early on, at a moment when local powers were flourishing. After the break with Spain, the Socorro Junta, as a sovereign institution, considered itself the heir to the rights of the Patronage, previously exercised by the monarch. As a new governmental entity, the Junta had to face problems such as the administration of tithes and sacraments, which had historically depended on Santafé. Given the abandonment of the capital, and seeking to solve these problems, the provincial power was awarded the powers of the Patronage of Socorro. But the Schism was above all a challenge to the power of Santafé -city that had been creating the largest State of Cundinamarca- before that of the Vatican, so the creation of the Bishopric of Socorro is a fact that allows us to aproach the problem of sovereignty premises during the time of the First Republic.