Juan de Páez’s appointment as steward was the direct consequence of a fight between the Ecclesiastic Town Council and the bishop, who was then Juan Ruiz Colmenero. The problem arose when the bishop took possession of the so-called “three-key box,” the box where the tithe money and other incomes collected were kept. Since 1622, the bishop had been the only person responsible for managing the tithe money because no steward had been appointed since that date, leading to charges by the Ecclesiastic Town Council (Cabildo Esclestiástico) that, with no one person permanently in charge of keeping the accounts in order, it was not possible to be apprised of expenditures and incomes. In view of this situation, the Council decided to appoint a steward in June of 1648, a move that Bishop Juan Ruiz Colmenero vehemently opposed. 

For two years, from 1651 to 1652, the dispute was argued before the Guadalajara Real Audiencia and the Council of the Indies, with final resolution in favor of the Ecclesiastic Town Council’s argument in favor of appointing a steward. On June 23, 1654, Juan de Páez was appointed steward of all the “tithe incomes” of the Guadalajara Cathedral. As recorded in the Ecclesiastic Town Council’s minutes, Juan de Páez would be “in charge of all the money in the three-key box and of all the income and expenditure papers since the moment that said Bishop [Juan Ruiz Colmenero] stopped being in charge of said box.”[31] As we can see, Páez would have broader responsibilities than indicated in the above description. 

Páez won the stewardship because he was the highest bidder: he offered to make a 10,000-peso deposit to obtain the position.[32] Of course, the good relations he had with several members of the Guadalajara clergy, some of whom had already appointed him as their executor, probably helped his case.[33] Another factor speaking in his favor was his prior experience with titles: by 1651 and 1652, Páez had obtained the leasing of the Compostela tithes.[34]