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710 sisterhoods increased in a corresponding degree. The several orders established during the sixteenth century founded additional nunneries in various parts, and the number of such institutions was further swelled by the arrival at intervals of sisters of other orders. In 1615 a convent of the barefooted Carmelite nuns was founded in the city of Mexico, and in 1666 that of the Capuchinas. During the period between 1588 and the middle of the eighteenth century the number of such religious houses increased from seven to twenty, of different denominations.

Nunneries were also founded in Puebla, Querétaro, Guanajuato, Michoacan, and Jalisco, the most notable of which were those of La Merced arid the Capuchinas in Michoacan, the first being established at the beginning of the seventeenth century, and the second in 1737.

It would be supposed that these religious establishments, designed as peaceful retreats for females, would be free from strife; but truth compels me to say that the nuns were as contentious as the friars. All the orders, in fact, incessantly endeavored to shake off' the control exercised over them by the provincial prelates, and free themselves from their supervision. Conspicuous among these restive female communities was the nunnery of Santa Clara. The governing members of that organization claimed exemption from