Un salvavidas de plomo: Los curas rurales de Buenos Aires y la reforma eclesiástica de 1822

the available interpretations of the ecclesiastical reform of 1822 stretch from the idea of "expropriation" of the church wealth to the idea of "saving" part of the clergy. this article analyzes the impact of this reform -and others beyond the ecclesiastical sphere- on the rural parishes of buenos aires. here we show that the budget allocated to the church, one of the main innovations of this reform, hardly modified the income of parish priests. in addition, other measures of the program of rivadavia leading to reinforce the institutional order sought to subordinate these priests to the new local "jefes políticos" -the judges of peace