Francisco Mendigaña y Armendáriz (17 May 1674 – 30 October 1728) or Francisco Mendigaño Armendáriz was a

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 ...

-born

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of the

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. ''(in Latin)''"Archbishop Francisco Mendigaño Armendáriz"
''

Catholic-Hierarchy.org ''Catholic-Hierarchy.org'' is an online database of bishops and dioceses of the Latin Church and the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches that are in full communion with Rome. The website, not officially sanctioned by the Church, is run as a private pro ...

''. David M. Cheney. Retrieved January 4, 2017 Born in

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

, he moved to

New Granada New Granada may refer to various former national denominations for the present-day country of Colombia: *New Kingdom of Granada, from 1538 to 1717 *Viceroyalty of New Granada, from 1717 to 1810, re-established from 1816 to 1822 *United Provinces of ...

as an adult, serving in leadership positions in the

Archdiocese of Bogotá In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

. Following Archbishop

Francisco del Rincón Francisco del Rincón, Minim (religious order), OM (29 January 1650 – 28 June 1723) was a Spain, Spanish-born Minim (religious order), Minim friar and prelate of the Catholic Church in the New World, in what is now the Dominican Republic, Venez ...

's death in 1723, he became the diocesan administrator of the archdiocese, and was appointed

Archbishop of Santo Domingo The Archdiocese of Santo Domingo (; ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the Dominican Republic. The see was erected 8 August 1511 as the Diocese of Santo Domingo and elevated to archdiocese on 1 ...

in April 1726. He remained in Bogotá until 1727 or 1728, when he left for his new position in Santo Domingo, but he died along the way in 1728.

Biography

Early life and education

Mendigaña y Armendáriz was born on 17 May 1674 in the village of

Astráin Astráin is a locality and ''council'' located in the municipality of Cizur, in Navarre province, Spain, Spain. As of 2020, it has a population of 330. Geography Astráin is located 17km southwest of Pamplona Pamplona (; ), historically a ...

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. His parents were Juan Mendigaña and Graciosa Armendáriz, and he had one sister, María Catharina. For secondary school, he attended the

Colegio Mayor de San Ildefonso The ''Colegio Mayor de San Ildefonso'' (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Colegio Mayor de San Ildefonso'') is a historic college and building located in Alcalá de Henares, Spain. It was declared ''Bien de Interés Cultural'' in 1914. Construction ...

Alcalá de Henares Alcalá de Henares () is a Spanish municipality of the Community of Madrid. Housing is primarily located on the right (north) bank of the Henares River, Henares. , it has a population of 193,751, making it the region's third-most populated Municip ...

, Spain. In his youth, he once traveled to the

Viceroyalty of New Granada The Viceroyalty of the New Kingdom of Granada ( ), also called Viceroyalty of New Granada or Viceroyalty of Santa Fe, was the name given on 27 May 1717 to the jurisdiction of the Spanish Empire in northern South America, corresponding to modern ...

, but returned to Spain.

Priesthood and episcopacy

Mendigaña returned to New Granada as an adult, this time permanently. He settled in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

where he spent much of his priestly career, serving in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santafé en Nueva Granada (now the

). By 1717, at the time of the death of Archbishop Francisco Otero y Cossío, Mendigaña was serving as

treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

of the archdiocese. On 28 June 1723, Archbishop

, died of illness.

Antonio Claudio Álvarez de Quiñones Antonio Claudio Álvarez de Quiñones (1670s – 21 October 1736) was a Spanish-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church in what is now the Dominican Republic and Colombia. Born in Alcalá de Henares, he taught law before becoming vicar genera ...

was appointed Archbishop of Santafé en Nueva Granada on 29 January 1725 in a

papal bull A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden Seal (emblem), seal (''bulla (seal), bulla'') traditionally appended to authenticate it. History Papal ...

Pope Benedict XIII Pope Benedict XIII (; ; 2 February 1649 – 21 February 1730), born Pietro Francesco (or Pierfrancesco) Orsini and later called Vincenzo Maria Orsini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 May 1724 to his death in ...

. However, he did actually take reach the archdiocese until 1731, due to an extended illness and travels to Europe. Following Rincón's death, Mendigaña, who had been previously the archdeacon, became

diocesan administrator A diocesan administrator (also known as archdiocesan administrator, archiepiscopal administrator and eparchial administrator for the case, respectively, of an archdiocese, archeparchy, and eparchy) is a provisional ordinary of a Catholic partic ...

of the archdiocese. On 8 April 1726, Mendigaña was appointed Archbishop of

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

. He remained in Bogotá in the meanwhile, continuing to serve as diocesan administrator while he awaited Álvarez de Quiñones' arrival so that he could

consecrate Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

him as bishop before he left for Santo Domingo. However, when Álvarez de Quiñones did not arrive, in 1727 or 1728 Mendigaña departed Bogotá for Santo Domingo, around two years after being appointed archbishop. His successor as diocesan administrator was Nicolás de Barasorda y Larrazabal. Meanwhile, while traveling to Santo Domingo, Mendigaña died along the way, on 30 October 1728 in the town of

Machetá Machetá is a municipality and town of Colombia in Almeidas Province of the department of Cundinamarca. Machetá is situated on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense at from the capital Bogotá and from Tunja. It borders Tibiritá and Manta in the eas ...

in what is now

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

References

Bibliography

* (for Chronology of Bishops) * (for Chronology of Bishops) {{DEFAULTSORT:Francisco Mendigaña y Armendáriz 1674 births 1728 deaths 18th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the Dominican Republic Roman Catholic archbishops of Santo Domingo Bishops appointed by Pope Benedict XIII Colegio Mayor de San Ildefonso alumni Viceroyalty of New Granada clergy People from Navarre Spanish emigrants to New Granada Spanish Roman Catholic bishops in South America Treasurers Spanish Roman Catholic bishops in North America