Alonso Manso

Alonso Manso (1460 – September 27, 1539) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as the first Bishop of Puerto Rico (1511–1539),[1] and first Bishop of Magua (1504–1511),[2] and as the eighth governor of Puerto Rico.

Most Reverend

Alonso Manso
Bishop of Puerto Rico
ChurchCatholic Church
DioceseDiocese of Puerto Rico
PredecessorNone
SuccessorRodrigo de Bastidas y Rodriguez de Romera
Orders
ConsecrationMarch 3, 1512
by Diego Labeaga
Personal details
Born1460
Becerril de Campos, Spain
DiedSeptember 27, 1539 (age 79)
San Juan Bautista
Previous post(s)Bishop of Magua (1504–1511)

Biography

Alonso Manso was born in Becerril de Campos, Spain[3] and studied theology at the University of Salamanca. He became the canon of Salamanca and the chaplain of the prince Don Juan. On November 15, 1504, he was appointed bishop of Magua, Dominican Republic.[3] On August 8, 1511, Pope Julius II created three dioceses in the New World, two in Hispaniola (Santo Domingo and Concepción de la Vega) and one in Puerto Rico (San Juan), and Manso was appointed bishop of the diocese of Puerto Rico.[3][4] On March 3, 1512, he was consecrated bishop by Diego de Deza, Archbishop of Sevilla.[3] Before even arriving to Puerto Rico on September 26, 1512, he founded the first school of advanced studies. In 1513, he became the first bishop to arrive in the New World. In 1519, at the request of Bishop Manso the diocese of Puerto Rico was expanded to cover all the Leeward Islands. That same year he was appointed as the first Inquisitor General of the Indies and two years later he directed the construction of the Cathedral of San Juan. However, the cathedral would be completely destroyed by a hurricane in 1539, shortly after his death.

Bishop Manso, as was customary at the time, became involved in politics. He became the eighth governor of Puerto Rico[5] in 1523.[6] However, his stay in power was short lived as he was replaced a year later by Pedro Moreno, the man who, incidentally, he had replaced.

Bishop Manso was the precursor of many acts in the New World. Aside from establishing the first advanced studies school he performed the first episcopal consecration in the New World when in 1529, at the Cathedral of San Juan, he consecrated Sebastián Ramírez de Fuenleal, elected bishop of Santo Domingo. He also founded two hospitals, Concepción (which was the first hospital built in Puerto Rico) and San Ildefonso hospital. Bishop Manso died in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1539 at the age of 79. He was succeeded as bishop of Puerto Rico by Rodrigo de Bastidas y Rodriguez de Romera in 1541.

References
  1. Eubel, Konrad (1923). Hierarchia catholica medii et recentioris aevi. Vol. III (second ed.). Münster: Libreria Regensbergiana. p. 278. (in Latin)
  2. Eubel, Konrad (1923). Hierarchia catholica medii et recentioris aevi. Vol. III (second ed.). Münster: Libreria Regensbergiana. pp. 232 (see Magarinen-note 1). (in Latin)
  3. Cheney, David M. "Bishop Alonso Manso". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. Retrieved June 16, 2018. [self-published]
  4. Historia general y natural de las Indias, islas y tierra-firme del mar oceano. Madrid, Impr. de la Real academia de la historia. 23 October 1851. p. 466. Retrieved 6 November 2019 – via Internet Archive.
  5. Bishop Manso was officially the 10th governor of Puerto Rico but Vicente Yáñez Pinzón, the first appointed governor, never arrived on the island and Juan Ponce de León held office as the 2nd and 6th governor of Puerto Rico.
  6. Sources vary on whether he became governor in 1522 or 1523.
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