TAMARON Y ROMERAL, PEDRO

16th bishop of Durango; b. Villa de la Guardia, Toledo, Spain, c. 1695; d. Bamoa, Sinaloa, Mexico, Dec. 21, 1768. In 1719 he went to America as a companion of Bishop Escalona, who had been named to the see of Caracas, and he completed his studies there at the University of Santa Rosa, receiving a doctorate in Canon Law. Subsequently he taught at the university. He remained in Caracas, holding a number of important ecclesiastical posts, until he was named bishop of Durango, New Spain, by Benedict XVI on December 21, 1758. He arrived in Durango in March 1759 and that autumn began his first general visitation of the diocese. He was more than 60 at the time, but his age did not handicap him; he inspected his vast diocese six times and as a result was referred to as the "restless bishop." When Tamarón took possession of his bishopric, the cathedral was almost finished. Commenting that the lateral sides of the facade were built with "notorious ugliness," he obtained the services of architect Pedro de Huertas to change them. Under his direction Huertas achieved a marvelous building, combining the baroque and churrigueresque styles of the period. Tamarón wrote a number of books, the most valuable being his description of his diocese, which he dedicated to the King of Spain, Charles III.

Bibliography: p. tamarÓn y romeral, Demostración del vastísimo obispado de la Nueva Vizcaya, 1765, ed. v. alessio robles (Biblioteca histórica mexicana de obras inéditas 7; Mexico City 1937); Bishop Tamarón's Visitation of New Mexico, 1760, ed. e. b. adams (Albuquerque 1954).

[i. gallegos]