UN ESPACIO DE REFUGIO. EL ASILO ECLESIÁSTICO EN LA ISLA DE SANTO DOMINGO

Despite the privileges that the crown obtained with the Patronato Real, the church tried to maintain authority in its spaces and the freedom to grant asylum to whoever they considered deserved it, regardless of the Royal opinion and desire or of the local government. Despite this, the religious sites continued to play a very important role for the population of Santo Domingo, who found in them a space of refuge, protection and where they could elude civil justice during the period of Spanish domination. For this reason, the objective of this study is to show the struggle between the Church and government institutions to control and enforce the right to asylum or ecclesiastical refuge on the island of Santo Domingo seen from the historical aspect and considering certain canonical norms that were emerging parallel to the events. Sin embargo, en la isla de Santo Domingo, el estudio sobre el asilo eclesiástico se ha abordado de manera tangencial, a pesar de haber sido allí donde se aplicó por primera vez este derecho en América.