with the name of San Luis Cuahmanco as the successor to Tzatlán, one of the indigenous power centers. Permission was granted in 1535, but Antonio de Mendoza ignored the royal seal and assigned lands here to Alonso Muñoz Camargo, Francisco Luca García, Eugenio Leal Chocolatzin, Diego Guevara and Juan de Aquino in the center of the new town as founders and outlying lands to forty other families between 1539 and 1543. The following monarch Phillip II disavowed the order. This prompted the Cabildo de Indios (Indian Council) to send an ambassador to Spain, with the Lienzo de Tlaxcala to remind the Crown of its obligations. Evangelization of the area was done by the Franciscans starting in 1524. The order began construction of the San Luis Obispo monastery in 1567 by Friar Pedro Meléndez. It was completed in 1585 and replaced the ceremonial center of Tizatlan as the area's major religious center. This was followed by the establishment of school and eleven hermitages and churches around the city still found in the neighborhoods of El Calvario, La Trinidad, La Santa Cruz, San Miguel, San Juan, San Francisco, San Sebastián, Santa Ana, San Antonio, La Caridad and San Diego. Huamantla quickly became the regional center for eastern Tlaxcala with an agricultural economy that converted the valley from forest to farmland by the end of the 16th century producing corn, wheat, sheep and more. Spanish incursion here was mostly due to the buying of land from indigenous authorities, but the labor supply on which these Spanish depended was mostly controlled by the Cabildo de Indios in the city of Tlaxcala. For this reason, the Spanish in Huamantla petitioned colonial authorities to divide the province, separating Huamantla from the city of Tlaxcala. However, in 1654, viceroy Duke of Albuquerque denied the petition. Despite this, Spanish landholdings continued to rise. Another tactic by the Spanish was to move control of parish churches from the Franciscan friars to regular clergy under the control of the bishop of Puebla in the mid 17th century. This was opposed by the Franciscans and caused instability as the regular priests did not speak Otomi and did not comply with promises to protect the indigenous against Spanish abuses. They also appropriated belongings of indigenous brotherhoods. Despite setbacks, indigenous authorities managed to maintain more influence here than in other parts of New Spain in keeping Spanish landholders in check. It even allowed