Women and the Economic Administration in the Franciscan Missions of Valdivia, Chile: The Syndic Clara de Eslava y Lope

This article analyzes the role of women in the public space of a colonial frontier territory in Spanish America, focusing on the female syndics of the Franciscan missions of Valdivia, Chile near the end of the colonial era. The article develops the case study of Clara de Eslava y Lope, who, as a syndic, administered financial matters for the Chillán Franciscan College for the Propagation of the Faith in the Valdivia missions. While Clara de Eslava y Lope’s role as a syndic for the Franciscans was not unique in the Hispanic Catholic world, this essay sheds light on the position of female syndics, largely ignored by colonial and early modern historiographies. Through the lens of female syndics, this paper argues that women fulfilled an essential role within the Valdivia Hispanic-Creole population in the late colonial era, influenced not only by their economic power, but also their social recognition, education, and marital status as widows.