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This article examines the practice of ordaining young men because of their personal language ability, a process referred to as an ordination a título de lengua. As a result of reforms codified by the Catholic Church in the Council of Trent, prospective priests were required to support themselves without assistance from the Church, a requirement called a title. This requirement was satisfied if an ordinand enjoyed a benefice or a chantry. Because of the need to have as many priests who knew native languages as possible, the crown ordered that the ability to speak a native language could be used in lieu of a title. Starting in the 1560s the bishops of Mexico began to keep track of clergy according to their ability to speak a native language. When the system of oposiciones (competitive placement exams) began in the 1580s, candidates for benefices would be tested on their language ability. This article traces the development of a bilingual secular clergy in order to evaluate whether royal officials responded to the widespread use of Nahuatl at the time of contact or whether those same officials encouraged the spread of Nahuatl through their policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue shows that Nahuatl was not a standard lingua franca spread across Mexico, but was used flexibly and spontaneously by people of many kinds for many different purposes, varying greatly according to the location, the ethnicity, and the social status of speakers and writers, as well as the passage of time. And the Nahuatl on the periphery showed archaic traits left over from the language's spread in preconquest times. The plasticity of Nahuatl is a key factor in its survival and success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]