Power and clergy in Pasto during the formation of the Republic of Colombia, 1821-1831

Abstract

This article shows the exercise of the power of the clergy in the city of Pasto during the process of conformation of the Republic of Colombia between 1821 and 1831.

The city maintained a position of resistance against the revolutionary and independence process of the Viceroyalty of New Granada, however, this attitude is hardly explained apart from the economic power and ideological power exercised by the clergy. which made it a social sector important and involved in the social, political and economic processes given in the city. From the methodological perspective of Social History, the study was based on the documentary analysis of primary sources and archival documents, such as letters, reports, memoirs and correspondence of the time, consulted in Ecuador, Colombia and Spain, allowing to relate aspects of the social field , political and economic. The attributes and economic and social characteristics of the members of this group allowed them to establish reciprocal, clientelistic and domination relations, at the same time as accumulating, conserving and maintaining a position of power and influencing social behavior.