Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/734

714 The progress made by the Franciscans had ensured to them at the close of the sixteenth century an influential position which was further developed in the following years. From their first entry into New Spain their aim had been the extension of their order throughout the entire country; and not confining themselves to any special district, their convents were found in almost every town or pueblo of importance, though naturally those in the capital and neighborhood were most prominent. At the beginning of the seventeenth century the extension of the order had assumed such dimensions that, in 1604, the provincia de San Francisco de los Zacatecas was established, and in 1607 that of Santiago of Jalisco. To illustrate how vast was the influence of the Franciscan provincials at Mexico, I may mention that on several occasions the king requested them to support viceroys in their administration. Indeed, such was the appreciation of the order by the crown, that the authorities in New Spain were instructed not to interfere in the least with its internal government.

While the Franciscans were thus steadily gaining ground in Mexico and its environs, their progress encountered more serious obstacles in the missionary field of the central and northern regions. Effective aid in this direction was obtained from the Franciscan college for missionaries of Querétaro, established in 1683, under the name of Colegio de propaganda fide, by Fray Antonio Linaz de Jesus María.