Somewhat nearer in miles but culturally more distant from _Hispano penitente_ experience was mortification practiced by Indians in New Spain. In the 16th century, Spanish chroniclers reported incidents ranging from sanguinary ceremonies of central Mexican tribes to whippings witnessed in the northern provinces of Sonora and New Mexico. While of peripheral interest to this study, these activities of American Indians had no direct bearing on _Hispano_ cultural needs in early 19th-century New Mexico. It is more significant that _Hispanos_ already knew a lay religious institution that very easily could have served as a model for the _penitente_ brotherhood--the Third Order of St. Francis. Established in 13th-century Italy and carried to Spain by the Gray Friars, the Order is recorded in contemporary histories of New Mexico before 1700. Materials in the archives of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe also document the presence of the Franciscan Third Order in New Mexico and suggest to me its influence on _penitente_ activity.[14] In March 1776, Fray Domínguez, an ecclesiastic visitor, recorded Lenten "exercises" of the Third Order under the supervision of the resident priest at Santa Cruz and, two weeks later, in April, Domínguez visited Abiquiú, where he commended the Franciscan friar, Fray Sebastian Angel Fernández, for "feasts of Our Lady, rosary with the father in church. Fridays of Lent, _Via Crucis_ with the father, and later, after dark, discipline attended by those who came voluntarily."[15] Domínguez, however, described the priest as "not at all obedient to rule"[16] when Father Fernández, acting in an independent manner, proceeded to build missions at Picuris and Sandia without authorization. But in 1777, he again praised Fray Fernández for special _Via Crucis_ devotions and "scourging by the resident missionary and some of the faithful."[17] Domínguez thus documented flagellant practices and _tinieblas_ services at Abiquiú and his approval, as an official Church representative, of these activities. Father Chavez, O.F.M., protests the theory of _penitente_ origins in the Third Order of St. Francis and counters with the idea that "penitentism" was imported directly from Mexico in the early 1800s.[18] I note, however, that the bishops seated in Santa Fe after 1848 recognized the strength of this lay socio-religious movement and tried to deal with it in terms of the Order. At a synod in 1888, Archbishop Salpointe pleaded for _penitentes_ "to return" to the Third Order. Some degree of direct influence of the Third Order on "penitentism" seems fairly certain. [8] ANGÉLICO CHAVEZ, _Archives of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, 1678-1900_ (Washington, 1957): "Books of Patentes," 1833: books xi, xii, xix, lxxiii, and lxxxii. (Original documents from archives noted hereinafter as AASF.) [9] EDMONSON, p. 33. [10] Ibid., p. 18.