Palín is a
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
in the
Escuintla department
Escuintla () is one of the 22 departments of Guatemala. The capital of the department is the city of Escuintla. Escuintla covers an area of 4,384 km2 and is situated in the coastal lowland region, directly south of Guatemala City, and bord ...
of
Guatemala
Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...
. The town of Palín, which is the municipal seat, is located on the foothills of the Sierra Madre volcanic chain, south of
Guatemala City
Guatemala City (, also known colloquially by the nickname Guate), is the Capital city, national capital and largest city of the Guatemala, Republic of Guatemala. It is also the Municipalities of Guatemala, municipal capital of the Guatemala Depa ...
.
History
According to the ancient oral tradition, Palín was settled by the Spanish conquistadores on 30 July 1535, although there is not any written documentation on the exact date that would have taken place. There is, though, a property title from 1751, that references the loss of the original document of the foundation of San Cristóbal Palín.
[
]
Monastery and doctrine of Order of Preachers
After the Spanish conquest of Guatemala
In a protracted conflict during the Spanish colonization of the Americas, Spanish colonisers gradually incorporated the territory that became the modern country of Guatemala into the colonial Viceroyalty of New Spain. Before the conquest, this te ...
, the Spanish crown focused on the Catholic indoctrination of the natives. Human settlements founded by royal missionaries in the New World were called "Indian doctrines" or simply "doctrine
Doctrine (from , meaning 'teaching, instruction') is a codification (law), codification of beliefs or a body of teacher, teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a ...
s". Originally, friars had only temporary missions: teach the Catholic faith to the natives, and then transfer the settlements to secular parishes, just like the ones that existed in Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
at the time; the friars were supposed to teach Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
and Catholicism
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
to the natives. And when the natives were ready, they could start living in parishes and contribute with mandatory tithing, just like the people in Spain.
But this plan never materialized, mainly because the Spanish crown lost control of the regular orders as soon as their friars set course to America. Shielded by their apostolic privileges granted to convert natives into Catholicism, the missionaries only responded to their order local authorities, and never to that of the Spanish government or the secular bishops. The orders local authorities, in turn, only dealt with their own order and not with the Spanish crown. Once a doctrine had been established, the protected their own economic interests, even against those of the King and thus, the doctrines became Indian towns that remains unaltered for the rest of the Spanish colony.
The doctrines were founded at the friars discretion, given that they were completely at liberty to settle communities provided the main purpose was to eventually transfer it as a secular parish which would be tithing of the bishop. In reality, what happened was that the doctrines grew uncontrollably and were never transferred to any secular parish; they formed around the place where the friars had their monastery and from there, they would go out to preach to settlements that belong to the doctrine and were called "annexes", "visits" or "visit towns". Therefore, the doctrines had three main characteristics:
# they were independent from external controls (both ecclesiastical and secular)
# were run by a group of friars
# had a relatively larger number of annexes.
The main characteristic of the doctrines was that they were run by a group of friars, because it made sure that the community system would continue without any issue when one of the members died.
In 1638, the Order of Preachers split their large doctrines —which meant large economic benefits for them— in groups centered around each one of their six monasteries, including the Amatitlán monastery, to which Palín belonged:
In 1754, the Order of Preachers had to transfer all of their doctrines and convents to the secular clergy, as part of the Bourbon reforms.
After independence from Spain: Amatitlán Department creation
After the independence of Central America, and during governor Mariano Rivera Paz
Mariano Rivera Paz (24 December 1804 – 26 February 1849) was Head of State of Guatemala and its first president.
Biography
Mariano Rivera Paz was born in Guatemala City and studied law in the Royal and Pontifical University of San Carl ...
time in office, a decree issue on 6 November 1839, created a new independent Departament called Amatitlán which also included Palín and Villa Nueva.[ The decree says:
# "The city of , San Cristóbal Palín, Villa Nueva, San Miguel and Santa Inés Petapa and all the annexed locations to these settlements will form an independent district for its political government and will be in charge of a Lieutenant Corregidor, who will act according to the applicable law starting on 2 October of this year and will earn a thousand pesos a year".
# "In the same district there will be a local court to impart justice".][
The district changed its name to Amatitlán Department according to the executive order of 8 May 1866 of field Marshall ]Vicente Cerna y Cerna
Vicente Cerna y Cerna (22 January 1815 – 27 June 1885) was president of Guatemala from 24 May 1865 to 29 June 1871. Loyal friend and comrade of Rafael Carrera, was appointed army's Field Marshal after Carraera's victory against Salvadorian lea ...
government.[
]
Amatitlán Department dissolution and creation of the Palín municipality
Amatitlán Department was abolished by decree 2081 of 29 April 1935 of president general Jorge Ubico
Jorge Ubico Castañeda (10 November 1878 – 14 June 1946), nicknamed Number Five or also Central America's Napoleon, was a Guatemalan military officer, politician, and dictator who served as the president of Guatemala from 1931 to 1944.
A ge ...
regime. This decree literally reads:
Climate
Palín has a tropical savanna climate
Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry "winter") and ''As'' (for a dry "summer"). The driest month has less than ...
(Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
: ''Aw'').
Geographic location
Palín is completely surrounded by Escuntila Department municipalities, except at North, where it borders Villa Canales
Villa Canales is a city and municipality in the Guatemala department of Guatemala, situated 22 km south of the capital Guatemala City. As of the 2018 census, the city had a population of 124,680,Guatemala Department
Guatemala Department is one of the 22 departments of Guatemala. The capital is Guatemala City, which also serves as the national capital. The department consists of Guatemala City, its suburbs and other municipalities.
The department covers a ...
municipality:[
]
See also
*
*
* Escuintla Department
Escuintla () is one of the 22 departments of Guatemala. The capital of the department is the city of Escuintla. Escuintla covers an area of 4,384 km2 and is situated in the coastal lowland region, directly south of Guatemala City, and bord ...
* List of places in Guatemala
This is a list of places in Guatemala.
List of most populous cities in Guatemala
Population data up to number 30 is based on the 2018 census.
Ancient cities and important ruins
* Cancuén
* Dos Pilas
* El Baul
* Iximche
* Kami ...
Notes and references
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Municipalidad de Palín
Arte Palineco
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palin, Escuintla
Amatitlán Department
Municipalities of the Escuintla Department