Miguel Hidalgo Y Costilla - Education and Ordination

Education and Ordination

At the age of fourteen Hidalgo was sent to Valladolid (now Morelia), Michoacán to study at the Colegio de San Francisco Javier with the Jesuits, along with his brothers. When the Jesuits were expelled from Mexico in 1767, he entered the Colegio de San Nicolas. There he chose to study for the priesthood. He completed his preparatory education in 1770. After this, he went to the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico in Mexico City for further study, earning his degree in philosophy and theology in 1773. His education for the priesthood was traditional, with subjects in Latin, rhetoric and logic. Like many priests in Mexico, he learned some Indian languages, such as Nahuatl, Otomi and Tarascan. Along with these he also studied Italian and French, which were not commonly studied in Mexico at this time. He was considered cultured and clever, earning the nickname El Zorro (the fox) from those at his school. Hidalgo's study of French allowed him to read and study the thought and works of the Enlightenment that were current in Europe even though these ideas were forbidden at the time in Mexico.

Hidalgo was ordained as a priest in 1778 when he was 25 years old. From 1779 to 1792, he dedicated himself to teaching at San Nicolas as a professor of Latin grammar and arts, then as a theology professor. Beginning in 1787, he was named treasurer, vice-rector and secretary, working his way up to becoming dean of the school in 1790 when he was thirty-nine. While he was dean, Hidalgo continued studying the liberal ideas that were coming from France and other parts of Europe. This, as well as his mismanagement of school funds, put him in conflict with his superiors, leading to his ousting. The Church sent him to work at the parishes of Colima and San Felipe Torres Mochas until he became the parish priest in Dolores, Guanajuato, succeeding his brother Felipe (also a priest), who died in 1802.

Although Hidalgo was educated as a priest in the traditional way, he did not advocate or live the lifestyle expected of 18th-century Mexican priests. Instead, his studies of Enlightenment-era ideas caused him to challenge traditional political and religious views. He questioned the absolute authority of the Spanish king and challenged numerous ideas presented by the Church, including the absolute power of the Pope, the virgin birth, and clerical celibacy. He enjoyed behavior regarded as outside the parameters of priests, including dancing and gambling. He openly lived with a woman named Maria Manuela Herrera, fathering two daughters out of wedlock with her, and later fathered three other children with a woman named Josefa Quintana.

These behaviors resulted in his appearance before the Court of the Inquisition, although the court did not find him guilty. Hidalgo was also egalitarian. As parish priest in both San Felipe and Dolores, he opened his house to Indians and mestizos as well as creoles.