Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/713

Rh In 1699 ten arches of the crypts and a portion of the portals had been built. It was completed during the administration of Bishop Zubiría and consecrated in 1844.

In 1777, pope issued a bull for the erection of the see of Nuevo Leon. In February, 1779, Oidor Beleña defined its territory, which was detached from other dioceses. The first bishop of this diocese was Juan Antonio Sanchez de Alozen, who on becoming a Franciscan had taken the name of Antonio de Jesus Sacedon.

The first cathedral in Monterey was begun by Bishop Ambrosio Llanos y Valdés, who appears to have lacked the physical strength needed for visiting his vast diocese and making himself acquainted with its condition and needs, for the Franciscan commissary of missions, referring to his decease in 1789, speaks of the necessity of having a young and robust man for prelate.

In 1779 Pope Pius VI. ordered Sonora, Sinaloa, and the two Californias to form a bishopric with its cathedral in Arizpe. This was carried out in 1781, under a royal cédula, and the first prelate was the