Civil Archives 415 
PRESENT CLASSIFICATION. 
The classification of the contents of the archive since 1886 is indicated by 
the following titles, taken from the records for 1906: 
Alcaldes primeros, arranged alphabetically by places, ministerios, varias 
carpetas, expedientes concluidos, jueces locales, jueces de letras, 
gobernadores, comandancia de policia, cartas, congregacién de 
Colombia, direccién general de la penitenciaria, direccion general 
de instruccién publica, Hospital Gonzalez, Loteria de Monterrey, 
minutas, jueces civiles, registradores, recaudadores, supremo 
tribunal de justicia, tesoreria general del estado, El Honorable 
Congreso, ramo militar y operaciones federales, monthly reports 
of the alcaldes, since 1882 (separate index). 
THE ARZOBISPADO DE LINARES. 
The bishopric of Nuevo Reyno de Leén, or Linares(now an archbishopric), 
was established by the papal bull of Dec. 16, 1777. To form it there were cut 
off from the bishopric of Guadalajara the colony of Nuevo Santander, the 
provinces of Nuevo Reyno de Leon, Coahuila, and Texas, and the district 
of Saltillo ; from the bishopric of Michoacan, the pueblos of Jaumave, Palmil- 
las, Real de los Infantes, and Tula; and from the archbishopric of Mexico, the 
district of Santa Barbara. The seat of the diocese was at first established at 
San Felipe de Linares, which was changed by royal provision from a villa to 
a city for that purpose. In 1779 the commandant-general, Theodoro de 
Croix, recommended changing the capital to Valle de Santa Rosa (Coahuila), 
or to Saltillo. The second bishop of the diocese, Verger, recommended Mon- 
terrey instead, and as a result the cabildo was temporarily moved in 1791 to 
that place, which, after much discussion, was by royal order of Nov. 10, 1792, 
made the permanent episcopal seat, although a subsequent attempt was made 
to remove it to Saltillo. A cathedral was begun north of the city in 1794, with 
the hope that the city would expand in that direction, but it was soon aban- 
doned. The cathedral first used and still occupied to-day is in reality the old 
parish church. Western Louisiana was within the diocese till the boundary 
settlement of 1819. Texas remained within it till the revolution of 1836. 
Since that time the jurisdiction has been curtailed by the erection of the 
dioceses of Saltillo and Tamaulipas. 
The principal archives of the diocese are those of the Secretariat of Govern- 
ment and the the cabildo, and the papers in the Claveria. 
ARCHIVO DE LA SECRETARIA DE GOBIERNO DEL ARZOBISPADO 
DE LINARES. 
(Archive of the Secretariat of Government of the Archbishopric of Linares.) 
This archive is preserved in the residence of the archbishop, adjacent to the 
Cathedral. Hours may be arranged with the bishop’s secretary. 
There is an indice general of the contents of the archive, which lists 234 
legajos between 1779 and 1892. The usual division of the materials in the 
legajos is as follows: 
Matrimoniales (Nuptials) ; 
Decretos (Decrees) ; 
