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/ Church and the Sugar Oligarchy in Cuba: Tithes, Plantations, and Conflicts in the Diocese of Havana, 1790-1835

Church and the Sugar Oligarchy in Cuba: Tithes, Plantations, and Conflicts in the Diocese of Havana, 1790-1835

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51274/ecosuasd.v2i30.pp45-61

How to Cite

Velázquez Leiva, Pablo. 2025. “Church and the Sugar Oligarchy in Cuba: Tithes, Plantations, and Conflicts in the Diocese of Havana, 1790-1835”. Journal ECOSUASD 2 (30):45-61. https://doi.org/10.51274/ecosuasd.v2i30.pp45-61.

Published

2025-12-15

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 30 (2025): ECOSUASD

Section

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

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Abstract

This article examines the interactions between Havana's high clergy, the sugar oligarchy, and Spanish colonial power between 1790 and 1835. Based on the analysis of archival sources and specialized bibliography, it studies church revenues—particularly tithes and chaplaincies—the collection mechanisms, and the conflicts arising from tax exemption policies, tax evasion, and resource redistribution. It argues that the Havana clergy deployed strategies of adaptation and negotiation in a context marked by the expansion of the plantation economy, Bourbon reforms, and imperial tensions.


Keywords:

Colonial Cuba, high clergy, Royal Patronage, plantation economy, tithe, chaplaincies, power relations

References

Fuentes documentales

Archivo del Arzobispado de La Habana (AAH)

Archivo Nacional de Cuba (ANC)

Fondos: Comunicaciones; Actas Capitulares; Oficios del MV Dean y Cabildo de la Catedral de La Habana

Fondos: Intendencia General de Ejército y Hacienda; Real

Consulado de Agricultura y Comercio de La Habana

Referencias bibliográficas

Fernández Mellén, C. (2014) Iglesia y poder en La Habana. Juan José Díaz de Espada, un obispo ilustrado (1800-1832). Bilbao: Universidad del País Vasco, Servicio Editorial de la Universidad del País Vasco.

González Cruz, P.L. (2020) Presencia económica de la Iglesia Católica en Vuelta Abajo (1688-1842). La Habana, pp. 41-49.

Moreno Fraginals, M. (2014) El ingenio. Complejo económico-social cubano del azúcar. Tomo 1. La Habana: Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, pp. 94-95.

Torres Cuevas, E. y Leiva, E. (2008) Historia de la Iglesia Católica en Cuba. La iglesia en las patrias de los criollos (1516-1789). La Habana: Ediciones Boloña y Editorial de Ciencias Sociales.

Velázquez Leiva, P. (2023) “El liberalismo pragmático: Claudio Martínez de Pinillos y el pensamiento económico de las élites criollas en Cuba”, en Memorias del XXV Congreso Nacional de Historia. Santa Clara.

Velázquez Leiva, P. (s.f.) “Resistencia a la autoridad eclesiástica. Los hermanos Font y la defensa de un espacio de poder conquistado”, Horizontes y Raíces, 7 (2).


Author Biography

Pablo Velázquez Leiva, Universidad de La Habana, Cuba

Center for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean, National Autonomous University of Mexico (CIALC-UNAM). Bachelor's degree in History from the University of Havana in 2017. Doctorate in Historical Sciences from the University of Havana in 2021. Deputy Director of the Department of Cuban History at the University of Havana and Professor of Colonial History of Cuba. Email: [email protected] . Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2892-3179


License

Copyright (c) 2025 Pablo Velázquez Leiva


This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/


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This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en


The Caribbean Educational Research Journal adheres to the standards of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE for its acronym in English, Committee on Publication Ethics). For more information, http://publicationethics.org


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