When Benavides assumed the governorship in 1718, he tolerated no interference with his rule and believed that his success as governor depended upon his ability to rid the colony of all those who had even the remotest possibility of challenging him. In his first years as a governor he indicted his sergeant major, treasurer, and several experienced military officers on vague, unsubstantiated charges and sent them away to Spain, New Spain, and Cuba for trial. Also included in Benavides’ purge were two successive curates of the parochial church, whom the governor saw as a threat to his authority in Florida. The curate Pedro Lorenzo de Acebedo was the first secular clergyman to clash with Benavides. In 1719 the governor accused the priest of drunkenness and summarily sent him to Havana for trial by an ecclesiastical court. [Note: 55: fiscal 1/8/1721] Determined to protect the privileges and station of those in his diocese, the bishop of Cuba made a quick investigation of the case, exonerated Acebedo, and ordered him back to Saint Augustine. [Note: 56: Consejo 2/5/1721] (Tepaske GSF)