New World preferment drained priests away from converting Spanish Moors.

Evidence

It was frequently asserted later in the century that any ignorance among the New Converts concerning their new religion was in part the result of inadequate instruction at the outset. That was no doubt the case in some areas, for it was not easy to recruit priests to labor in such an unrewarding mission field, especially at a time when in the New World relatively easy ecclesiastical preferment beckoned, but as early as 1514 we find Fernando de Toledo issuing the following proclamation. The document acknowledges frankly that the inhabitants of Hu´escar, although already baptized, were still in need of elementary instruction. — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 281

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the general pattern in colonial history where easy overseas advancement siphoned labor from domestic projects.