STIPENDS Charles V, who made the original choice to use the mendicant orders for the conversion of the Indies and in 1522 established his right to license all missionaries destined for the Indies, also in the 1520s originated the practice of supporting them with sinodos, or stipends. The emperor respected the Franciscans' anti-pecuniary statutes by ordering that their stipends be paid in kind and be called "limosnas," or alms. Treasury officials in Peru created a crisis in the 1560s by trying to issue the Franciscans' stipends in money instead of food, clothing, and supplies. The friars refused to accede to this change, which compromised their strict and literal vow of poverty. When the matter came before Philip II, he assured the Franciscans that they were true beggars of the Lord and the stipend was a true limosna. He advised them to select lay custodians, or syndics, to handle their business affairs and distribute their alms to them daily, so that they themselves could "take no thought for the morrow." The king extended this solution to all the Indies, including Florida (Franciscans, 168la; Benavides et al., 1733). (Bushnell SS)