Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/153

Rh 1659. His funeral took place with the ceremonies becoming his rank; the corpse was buried in the principal chapel, and an elaborate tombstone with a eulogy of his character placed over his grave. Thus ended in an insignificant town of Spain the career of a man who had been vested with the highest civil and ecclesiastical powers ever conferred by the sovereign on any of his vassals in the New World. After his death miracles were attributed to him, and these, in addition to his eminent virtues, were made the grounds of a request for his canonization. The demand was supported by testimony from Spain and the Indies, and favored by the king, the viceroy, and the ecclesiastical dignitaries. A congregation of cardinals having in 1691 discussed the matter and examined his writings reported favorably, and the prescribed proceedings were instituted. Intrigues in Rome and Madrid by the Jesuits and the descendants of the duke of Escalona frustrated, however, all efforts made at this period and at a later date.