An early account of the establishment of Jesuit missions in America

r

KM
.D94

1 „'-

'> ■"•--■. ...:n

r '''■' '. .■■ ■■■ T

^ '^Vimm

iy.y^

I

An Earl>rAccount

of the Establishment

of Jesuit Missions in America

BY
HENRY F. DEPUY

^mttitan Jlnltquattan ^oeietli

An Early Account

of the Establishment

of Jesuit Missions in America

BY

HENRY f; DEPUY

RaPBIMTBD FBOM THB PROCBBDINOe OW TBS AmSRICAN AirnQUAJUAK SoonTT

FOB April 1920

WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A.

PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY

1921

The Davis Pbess
Worcester, Massachusetts

Bare

AN EARLY ACCOUNT

OF THE ESTABLISHMENT

OF JESUIT MISSIONS IN AMERICA

BY HENRY F. DEPUY

FEW subjects in American history have had more
careful study from eminent scholars both historically
and bibliographically than the Jesuit missions in
North America. The Jesuits were by no means the
first mssionaries to the new world, but they had a
system of reports to the head of the order and many of
these reports were printed for public distribution.
These reports from the fact that they contain des-
criptions of the country and its inhabitants are among
the most important sources of our early history. It
is therefore with good reason that these books and
anything relating to the Jesuit missions have been
sought with avidity by historians, libraries and collec-
tors. The discovery of hitherto unknown books or
manuscripts relating to these Missions is today an
event of importance both historically and bibliograph-
ically. It is the purpose of this paper to call attention
to an authoritative source of information as to the
Jesuit missions till now almost entirely unknown to
American investigators — the Life of Francisco de
Borja, the third General of the Jesuits, written by
Father Ribadeneyra and printed in Madrid in 1592.
The complete title and collation of this book is:

Vida del P. Francisco de Borja, que fue Duque de Gandia, y
despues Religisos y III. General dela Compaiiia de lesvs.
Escrita per el P. Pedro de Ribadeneyra de la misma Compania
Dirigida al Catolico Key Don Felipe II nuestro Senor. [cut]

Con privilegio real En Madrid, En Casa de P. Madrigal.
Ano de 1592. Esta tassada en papel en cinco Reales, y 19
mrs.

Quarto; ff [12], 237 [3]; 193 x 140 mm.

Father Pedro de Ribadeneyra, the author, was born
in Toledo, November the first, 1527, and died at
Madrid on the twenty-second of September, 1611.
He served in several important posts in the Company
of Jesus, and besides other works was the author of
the Lives of Loyola, Laynez, and Borgia the first
three Generals of the Order.

The ^^Vida de Borja" was first printed in Madrid in
1592, the foregoing being the title to the first edition.
The other editions that I have been able to trace are:
Verdun, 1596, in French; Douai, 1596 and 1603, in
French; Florence, 1600, in Italian; Ingolstadt, 1613,
in German; Mentz, 1603, in Latin; Rome, 1616, in
Italian, cited by Backer; and Antwerp, 1598;
Mayence, 1613; Douai, 1603; Lyons, 1609, cited by
Nicolas Antonio. These are all separate editions of
the Life of Borgia. The three '^Vidas'' of Loyola,
Laynez and Borgia appear together in several editions,
the earliest being 1594. P6rez Pastor in Bihliografia
Madrilena, Madrid, 1891, gives the interesting infor-
mation about this edition of 1594, that the Duke of
Gandia, son of Francisco de Borgia, gave 1500 reals
to assist the printing ^Me ce livre. '^ This sums up the
bibliographical information that I have found in
regard to the book. As to the book itself, I have not
been able to locate a copy of any edition in any public
library in America. The British Museum catalogue
has two editions, Madrid 1592 (imperfect) and Mentz
1603.

The copy which I owned and from which the
chapters quoted in this article are taken is now in the
library of Mr. Henry E. Huntington. I obtained it
through Mr. Robert Dodd, and a name on the title
indicates that in the early part of the 19th century it
was the property of Alfred Hennen of New Orleans.

V I D A

DEL. p. FRANCISCO

de Borja , que fue Duque ds

Gadia,yderpiics Rcligiofo y.III.

General dcla Compania de
I E s V s.

Efcritapor el P. Pedro, de Rikidenejra
"• de Li mifma Qcm^ariia.

Dirigida al Catolico Rey Don Felipe J I.^
nueftroSenor.

CON PRIVILEGIO REAL.

EN MADRID,
En cafa de P. Madrigal. Aiio de 1 5 p 2

£j}ataJfiu{o en^afjcl en ciijco %ealcf,y 19. mrt*

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2007 with funding from

IVIicrosoft Corporation

http://www.archive.org/details/earlyaccountofesOOdepurich

It contains four chapters on the establishment of
Jesuit missions in America. They are as follows:

"The Entrance of the Company into the West Indies, and
the death of nine of them in Florida, Chapter VI.

''Our men go to Peru and to New Spain, Chapter VII.

"The Death which the heretics gave to thirty-nine of the
company who were going to Brazil. Chapter X.

"Concerning twelve others of the Company who likewise
died at the hands of the heretics." Chapter XI.

These chapters are, as far as I know, the earliest
printed accounts of the Florida mission. There are
earlier accounts of the South American missions; and
in this connection it is worthy of remark that although
Ribadeneyra distinctly says in Chapter VI: ''When
Father Francisco was first General of the Company
none of the Company had entered the West Indies
which were subject to the Crown of Castile. They
had only sent forth and scattered our men through the
East Indies'* etc. Yet it is undoubtedly a fact that
there were Jesuit missionaries in South America prior
to 1550. I am indebted to Mr. Eames for the three
titles as follows :

(1) Avisi Particolari delle Indiedi Portugallo, Roma, 1552,
(This contains seven letters from Jesuit missionaries in Brazil.
1549-1551.)

(2) Novi Avisi di piu lochi de Tlndia et massime de Brasil
receuuti quest' anno del M. D. LIII, Roma, 1553. (Contains
eleven letters from Jesuit missionaries in Brazil, 1551-1552.)

(3) Copia de unas Cartas de algunos padres y hermanos dela
compania de Jesus que escrivieron dela India, Japon, y Brasil,
[Lisbon,] 1555. (Contains four letters from Jesuit missionaries
in Brazil written in 1555.)

All three are in the Lenox collection of the New York
Public Library, and all were printed before Francisco
de Borgia became General of the Company in 1565.

It is remarkable that in studying the history of the
Jesuit missions scholars should have failed to consult
the life of the General of the Order under whom they
were established. It seems hardly credible that a

book of that character, which went through at least
ten editions in twenty-four years, should be extremely
rare. Yet no reference is made to it by Shea or
O'Callaghan, who were both intensely interested in
the subject, and who were both members of the Order.
Buckingham Smith is supposed to have ransacked
Madrid for early books and documents relating to
Florida and evidently did not discover it. The facts
given in the chapter on Florida are simply confirma-
tory, though in more detail, of the account given by
Shea in his chapter on Ancient Florida in Winsor's
Narrative and Critical History ^ Volume 2. Shea cites
as his authority a letter of Menendez dated in October
1566, and printed in Madrid, 1710 [Winsor II, 279.]
In fact, I have been able to learn of but one American
reference to this book. This morning, our associate
Mr. George Parker Winship, has called my attention
to the fact that it was cited in 1905 in a footnote on
p. 266 of Woodbury Lowery: ^^ Spanish Settlements
within the limits of the United States; Florida, 1562-
1574.^^

The story of the attempt to establish the mission in
Florida as told by Father Ribadeneyra is well worth
reprinting. I have had it translated by a well-known
student of Spanish literature and give it entire.

The Entrance of the Company into the West Indies,
AND the Death of Nine of them in Florida

Chapter VI

When Father Francisco was first General (of the Company)
none of the Company had entered the West Indies, (which
were) subject to the crown of Castile. They had only sent
forth and scattered our men through the East Indies, and
arrived at the gates of China, and founded houses and churches
in Japan, with the result that is known. There were many in
the Company to whom our Lord had given an ardent desire to
die for him, and a particular aptitude to labor in (fol. 140a)
the West Indies, in the same manner in which their other
companions and brethren labored in the East Indies. And

they implored our Lord that he might open the gates for them
and fulfil in them his desires. And the charity and zeal for the
glory of God our Lord, with which Father Francisco was
burning, was so great that he had, even before he became
General, offered up many prayers, sacrifices and penances for
this purpose. The Lord heard them and waited (for the most
.opportune time) until the Father was appointed General, in
order that by his hand and to his contentment he might send,
for this enterprise, the fathers and brethren who should seem
best to him. Almost at the same time or a Uttle later, which
was on May 3, 1566, he induced the Catholic King don Felipe
to write a letter, in which, among other things, he said: on
account of the good reports which we have of persons in the
Company, and of the good they have done and are doing in
these Kingdoms, I have desired that an order be given that
some of the Company be sent to our Indies of the Atlantic
Ocean. And in order that the necessity for such persons shall
constantly be increased and that our Lord may be served by
the said father's going to those parts, on account of the
Christianity and kindness they have and because they are
persons fit for the conversion of those natives, and on account
of the devotion I have to the said company (fol. 141) I desire
that some of them go to those regions. I therefore beg you and
charge you to appoint and command 24 persons of the Com-
pany to go to our said Indies to wherever our Council shall
indicate to them. That they shall be learned persons of good
life and example and such as you may judge fitting for such an
undertaking. For besides the service which you will do to the
Lord in this matter, I shall receive great satisfaction and I
shall command that they be provided with everything neces-
sary. In addition, that country to which they may go will
receive great happiness and benefit through their arrival.

In fulfilknent of what the King commanded, father Fran-
cisco chose some fathers of the Company for this mission. The
first were the fathers Maestro Pedro Martinez (who was an
Aragonese from the town of Teurel) and Juan Rogel, and the
brother Francisco de Villareal, who left in that same year on
July 28th for Florida, where they arrived on September 24th
of the said year. And our Lord was pleased to receive as the
first fruits of the Company the first one of the Company who
set his foot on that new world. For Father Martinez in
leaping ashore in the Floridas in order to preach and to give
news of the Gospel to the barbarous natives who were (fol.
141a) on the sea-shore, was beaten to the ground with the
clubs they carried, and seizing him, half dead, they threw him
into the sea, our Lord thus giving him as a reward for the
hardships he had suffered in the Company in his religious and

8

exemplary life, so happy a death and the grace of dying for his
love. But this frightened neither his companions nor the
others of his Brethren who had remained in Europe, nor did
this death of Padre Martinez intimidate them; on the contrary
it animated them more, knowing that they were more easily
able to attain in Florida what they desired, which was to die
for Christ. And so in the year 1568 Father Francisco, in
order to continue the work they had undertaken, sent eleven
of the Company, the Superior of whom was Father Juan
Baptista de Segura; these were to be joined by father Rogel and
brother Francisco or Villareal, companions of father Pedro
Martinez, who, after the latter's death, retired to the port of
Habana, and had already returned to Florida, whither the
eleven fathers and brothers departed from Saulucar on March
13, 1568. There went with them a Cacique or chief of the
country of Florida, whom the Governor Pedro Melendez had
brought with him from Florida to Spain. And having been
instructed in the matters of our holy religion, (fol. 142) he
received with great expressions of joy and happiness the
waters of holy baptism and was called don Luys. For it was
believed that because he was familiar with that country and a
high personage who had many relations, that he would be able
to help our men in the conversion of his subjects and friends,
as he had promised to do.

Father Baptista de Segura and seven of his companions
having arrived in Florida (for the rest of them remained in
Habana), they courageously penetrated the country, guided
by don Luys, without permitting a single Spanish soldier to
accompany them, altho many had offered to do so. They
wore their ornaments (vestments) and whatever was necessary
for saying mass, and some devotional books. They passed
through great deserts and swamps, of which there are many in
that country. Their provisions were soon exhausted and they
had to support themselves on the herbs they found in the fields
and on the water they found in the pools. They arrived in
the country of don Luys, which was a considerable distance
from the sea and from every human shelter, and was inhabited
by naked savages. Don Luys informed them that they should
await him in a half deserted village, and he went to another,
where his people were, five leagues further on. (fol. 142a) And
when the fathers had waited six days longer then had been
agreed upon, father Baptista de Segura sent a father and one
of the brethren to learn why he did not come and whether he
wished that they should come to where he was. On arriving
(whether it be because don Luys had apostatized and returned
to his idolatries and was confused, or because he had already
planned and plotted the wickedness), he and his relatives

9

fell upon the padre and the brother and killed them. And at
dawn of the following day, with don Luys as captain and
guide, they fell upon and killed the rest of them, whom they
found, all six of them, kneeling, and awaiting death with joy
and devotion. Then they stripped them of their garments,
stole their ornaments and altar accessories, put on the clothes
of the dead and danced in their intoxication. Three of them
went to open a little chest of the fathers, thinking to find some
valuables in it. But they found in it a book of the holy Scrip-
ture, a missal, and devotional books, rosaries, images, hair
cloth, discipUnes and a sacred crucifix, which they looked upon
very intently, and as they looked, they fell suddenly dead.
Those of their companions, who were present, were so wonder
struck (fol. 143) and amazed at what they saw, that without
touching a thing they each went their way. All this was
seen and noted by a Spanish boy, whom the father's had with
them, and whose life was spared because he was a boy and
because they knew that he could not preach to them. He
remained a captive among them for several years until the
Lord freed him from such a barbarous, fierce nation, and he
related what we have just told.

Those who died there for the propagation of our holy faith
were: father Baptista de Segura, a native of Toledo (who,
because of his virtues and his religious life had been much
loved in Spain by father Francisco); father Luys de Quiros,
and the brethren Gabriel Gomez, Cauallos, Juan Baptista
Mendez, Pedro de Linares, Christoual Redondo, and Gabriel
de Solis. I have set down their names here in order that the
memory of these fortunate clerics may be preserved, who in
their zeal for souls shed their blood with such constancy and
joy.

And for the same reason I here wish to mention father
Francisco Lopez, who, in the previous year, 1567, in going from
the College of Cochin to Goa with three companions, fell into
the hands of the moors, (fol. 143a) He was known to them on
account of the tonsure he wore, and was importuned by them
to forsake the faith of Jesus Christ. But as, with great
confidence and fortitude he persevered in the love and confes-
sion of his Lord and offered himself to every kind of torment
and death for it, the barbarians pierced his side with a lance
and decapitated him; and so he passed from this brief and
miserable life to the reward of eternal happiness. Of his three
companions, one was captured by the Moors; the other two
disappeared.

This was in the year 1567, in which father Francisco sent
fathers Pedro Domenech, and Geronymo Mur to Oran to
assist Pedro Luys de Borja, his brother. Master of the Knights

10

of Montesa (who was Governor and Captain General of that
city for King Philip, and who is now Viceroy and Captain
General of Cataluna), and to help the soldiers and men in his
charge in their spiritual affairs and matters appertaining to our
ministry, as they did for some years while they were there, to
the advantage of both soldiers and people. (Fol. 144)

Our Men go to Peru and to New Spain
Chapter VII

In this year, 1567, King Philip wrote another letter to
father Francisco, in which he said: On account of the need
there is in the province of Peru for clerics to attend to the
conversion and instruction of the natives and on account of the
devotion which his majesty has for the Company, he begs and
charges him that he order twenty monks of the Company to
go to Peru. They are to occupy themselves in the conversion
and instruction of the Indians, and are to build houses and
colleges, for he will command that they be supplied with every-
thing necessary for their journey. In fulfilment of this, in
the same year 1567, there departed from the port of San Lucar
on November 2, fathers Geronimo de Portillo (who goes as
Provincial), father Antonio Alvarez (who died in Panama),
father Maestro Luys Lopez, and father Miguel de Fuentes,
beside the brothers Diego de Bracamonte, Juan Garcia de
Yanguas, Francisco de Medina and Pedro Lobet. These were
the first of the Company to enter Peru, and they built houses,
founded colleges and opened schools, in which were taught
and are taught today the sciences and faculties which the
Company is wont to teach to the great benefit of the youth and
of the Spaniards who reside in that very extensive Kingdom,
and of the Indians themselves, who are converted to our holy
faith through the teaching of the fathers.

So much was the Lord our God pleased with the going of
these fathers and brethren of ours to Peru, and so favorable
the beginnings of their preaching, that the Catholic King,
don Felipe, was induced to ask the Company to send more
people. And so on March 19, 1659, there left with don
Francisco or Toledo (who went as Viceroy to Peru), the
fathers Bartolome Hernandez, Juan Garcia, the 'Maestro
Barzana, Hernan Sanchez, Rodrigo Alvarez, and the brothers
Sebastian Amador, Juan de Zuiiiga, Juan Gomez, Antonio
Martinez, Juan de Casasola, Diego Ortun, Diego Martinez
(of whom father Juan Garcia died in Panama), and afterwards
in the year 1571, on June 8, there left for the same province of
Peru, fathers Joseph de Acosta and Andres Lopez and brother

11

Diego Martinez. On June 23, 1572 at the same instance and
command of his Majesty there left for New Spain fourteen
fathers (fol. 145) and brethren, who were the first of the
Company who entered into that province. They took with
them, as their Provincial, father Doctor Pedro Sanchez (who,
having been Rector of the University of Alcald, and holding a
chair therein, had entered the Company some years before),
and with him were the fathers Diego Lopez, Diego de Fonseca,
Pedro Diaz, Concha, Baca, Camargo, and the brethren Juan
Sanchez, Mercado, Curiel, Matilla, Bartolome Larios, Lope
Nauarro, Martin Goncalez ; whom I have wished to name with
the rest in this chapter in order that there may remain a
memorial of the first of the Company who went to enlighten,
with the light of the holy gospel, the souls of the dwellers in
this new world, who were captives under the tyranny of Satan.
These fathers and brethren having reached New Spain, settled
in the city of Mexico, the chief city of that Kingdom, and
afterwards were spread and scattered in other cities and
provinces, to the great edification and benefit of the natives
and of the Spainards who reside in it, the number of our people
being increased every year by those who were sent thither.

How the divine goodness has been served by the agency of
the members of the Company in the Western Indies of Peru
and of New Spain (fol. 145a) by helping the other clerics in
the conversion of the heathen, and in the education of those
already converted, and by the reformation of the customs of the
Spanish colonists, and by the teaching of youth and by all the
other works of charity, (all this) I do not wish to mention here,
because it is so well known, and because it is too long for a
brief narrative. This was the beginning and the first entry
of the Company into the Kingdom of Peru and of New Spain,
subject to the crown of Castile; which (Kingdoms) were
closed for its sons (i. e. sons of the company), until the Lord
through the prayers of father Francisco, who was then Presi-
dent General, opened them, as we have just related. But here,
in Europe, the Company also extended its activities and
foimded colleges in various provinces as will be seen in the
following chapters.

The Death Which The Heretics Gave to Thirty-nine of
The Company Who Were Going to Brazil

Chapter X

Not only did our Lord God increase the Company that we
have on earth by increasing the number of colleges and
founding new houses in various Provinces (as we have seen),

12

but he cherished and favored it much more by peopling
Heaven with its sons and by enriching and augmenting the
Company of those who already enjoy the rewards of their
victories, giving to their brethren new victories and crowns,
as he did in the year 1570, by a notable event which I wish to
relate here. Because it is not just that we pass in silence an
inestimable benefit which the Company received from the
hands of the Lord, by means of certain French heretics, who,
in hatred of our holy Catholic faith, killed fifty-one of its sons,
father Francisco being then President General. For one of
the greatest fruits that the Company has reaped from the
labor and industry of our people (who go among the heathen
and heretics, enlightening them and converting them to our
holy faith) , has been that many of them have shed their blood
for the very faith which they were preaching, and that they
have confirmed (fol. 152) the truth of their doctrine by their
deaths. This has happened in many places and at different
times. Among them is the one I here relate. Father Francis-
co sent father Ignacio de Azeuedo, a Portuguese of the city of
Puerto (a man no less illustrious in holiness than in blood) to
the province of Brazil to visit and console those of the Com-
pany who were there, and to note what their needs are to carry
on the enterprise that had been begun, and to convert that
barbarous people to our holy Religion. The father went
thither and performed his duty well; then went to Rome to
report to the General what he had done, and the extreme need
there was in Brazil of persons to cultivate that deserted vine-
yard, since for lack of workers, many souls were being lost.
It seemed (fitting) to father Francisco to send father Ignacio
de Azevedo again as Provincial to Brazil, with a goodly number
of fathers and brethren to help him in that spiritual conquest.
And he commissioned him to take with him from the
provinces of Spain some who were desirous and inclined for
that opportunity; and that he should receive others into the
Company who may request it, if they should have a desire to
accompany him and offer their lives to the Lord for the benefit
and conversion of the Brazils, for there were not so many
qualified clerics who could go to Brazil without leaving other
enterprises of much service to our Lord, upon which they were
now engaged. Likewise it was fitting that some of those who
are to go should be young, in order to accustom themselves
the more readily to the climate and to the living in the new
country, and to learn the language of the natives. The Pro-
vincial Azevedo brought together sixty-nine of the Company,
in compliance with the order that he had received. He
distributed them in three vessels: in one, called the Santiago,
he took with him forty-four; in another went others, and as

13

their Superior, father Pedro Diaz, in another went the rest.
They left Lisbon on June 5, with Don Luys de Vasconcelos, a
vaUant Christian Knight, who with the three vessels and four
others went as Governor of Brazil, and well pleased he was to
have in his company so many and such clerics. They went on
their voyage with as much good fellowship as if each one of
the vessels were a college of the Company. They had their
appointed hours of prayer, of examination of conscience, of
reading at table, prayed each day their htanies and the Salve
Regina to our Lady; instructed the sailors, soldiers and passen-
gers in Christian Doctrine, and preached to them, read the
Uves of the Saints and gave them (fol. 153) rosaries, images,
beads that had been blessed, devout and profitable books
instead of those that were not so, and which they took from
them with kindly words. With this harmony and concord all
the vessels reached the Island of Madeira, where it was
necessary that the Santiago, which bore father Ignacio de
Azevedo and his companions, had to separate from the rest,
and went alone to the island of La Palma, one of the Canaries.
Being obhged to leave, father Ignacio called all his companions
and told them he believed that on that voyage there would not
be lacking heretical corsairs who would pursue them, and for
all that might happen it was fitting that all should be well
prepared and resolved to die for Christ. And if, by chance,
there should be anyone among them who should not have this
spirit and courage, and should wish to remain with the other
vessels, that he would be pleased that he do so. Among all
the forty-four whom he brought, there were only four (who
were novices and afterwards went out of the Company) who
showed any weakness, and plainly said that as men they
feared that danger which the father had placed before them,
and begged him that he leave them on the island of Madeira,
and so they remained. The rest of them offered themselves
to any hardship and danger, and followed their Provincial;
and they (fol. 153a) and the rest who went in the vessel,
confessed themselves at the advice of the father before sailing
from the port, and received the body of Christ our Lord on the
eve of the apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul. The father
distributed among them some Agnus Dei and some holy
articles that he had brought from Rome. All prepared them-
selves and armed themselves for any danger of death.

Those who went with father Ignacio de Azevedo, took leave
of the others, their brethren who remained with father Pedro
Diaz and in the other vessel, with extraordinary tenderness
and an abundance of tears, Uke those who devined that they
were never to see each other again till the other life. And sailing
around the Canaries their familiar conversations were about

14

martyrdom, and speaking among themselves, said: 0 if it
should only please God our Lord that upon this sea, we should
meet with someone who, for the cause of the Catholic faith
would take our lives! What a happy fate and what a joyous
day it would be for us, and of how many and how cruel enemies
we should free ourselves with this one enemy of our bodies!
While engaged in these conversations, finding themselves very
near the port of La Palma, they saw bearing down upon them
five French vessels, in which was Jaques Soria, a famous
corsair, and subject of the Queen of Navarre; he and his (fol.
154) Queen professed heresy and were capital enemies of the
Catholics. He came in a large, powerful galleon with much
artillery and many men. Father Ignacio, when he saw the
danger, knew that this was what his heart had previously told
him and what the Lord had given him to understand. And
after encouraging his people to fight and die for the faith,
showing them that they could not fail to gain the victory,
either conquering their enemies or dying at the hands of the
heretics for Jesus Christ, he drew forth a portrait of our Lady,
painted by Saint Lucas, which he had brought from Rome,
and turning to his companions who were singing the Litany,
and with copious tears asking the Lord for mercy and for
forgiveness of their sins, and with cheerful mien and courageous
heart, said to them: Up, my dear brethren! My heart
tells me that on this day, just as we are, we are all to go to
dwell in Heaven with Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, and with
the glorious Virgin Mary, his mother and all that blessed
company. Do you not see how greatly we are favored, for
instead of Brazil we are making port in Heaven? Let us
pray, brethren, and bear in mind that this is the last hour that
God gives us, to deserve and prepare ourselves to die for love
of him. (fol. 154a) All raised their hands, and with eyes
filled with tears raised to heaven, said in a loud voice: ''Let
it be so. Lord: may thy holy will be fulfilled in us, for we are
all here ready to give our blood for you." To be brief, the
heretics came and grappled with the Santiago and although
there was some resistance and there were some deaths among
the enemy, they boarded the ship and overpowered it. And
when Jaques Soria learned that there were fathers of the
Company of Jesus on board, he commanded that they be
all killed, without sparing anyone, saying in a loud voice:
"Kill, Kill the Papists who are going to sow false doctrine in
Brazil." And though he had spared the lives of two secular
clerks and other fathers of Saint Francis who had fallen into
his hands a few days before, so great was the hatred and rage
he had against the Jesuits (for so he called the members of the
Company), that he did not wish to pardon any, although many

15

of them were young and novices. After the vessel had been
captured Jacques himself approached with his galleon and
cried: ''Throw these dogs of Jesuits, these papists and
enemies of ours into the sea." As soon as they heard this
command of their captain, his heretical soldiers, (Calvinists,
like himself) grappled with our men, and stripping them of
their poor cassocks, and giving them many wounds, especially
to those (fol. 155) who were priests and wore the tonsure, and
cutting off the arms of some of them, threw them into the sea.
But because father Ignacio de Azevedo like a valiant soldier
of God and a priest and Captain of the others, was encouraging
them with the image of our Lady in his hands and saying:
"Let us die cheerfully, brethren, for the service of God and for
the confession of his faith which these, his enemies, impugn,"
one of the heretics slashed his holy head so fiercely that it was
cleft open to the brain. And the valiant priest without
withdrawing nor moving from the spot awaited the blow; and
there they gave him three lance thrusts, so that he fell, saying
in a loud voice: ''May men and angels be my witness that I
die in defence of the holy Roman Church and all that it
confesses and teaches." And turning to his companions and
embracing them with singular charity and cheerfulness, he
said: "Children of my heart, have no fear of death; be
grateful for the mercy which God shows you in giving you the
fortitude to die for Him, and since we have so faithful a witness,
and so liberal a remunerator, let us not be faint-hearted nor
weak to fight the battles of the Lord. " And having said these
words, he expired. The heretics attempted to wrest from his
hands the image of our Lady, but were unable to do so.
Brother Benito de Castro, who, bearing a crucifix in his hand
and showing it, said : " I am a Catholic and son of the Roman
Church," him they pierced with three shots of an arquebus.
And seeing that he was still upright and continuing in his
confession, they gave him many sword-thrusts, and before he
expired, they cast him into the sea. Another brother, named
Manuel Alvarez, who was burning with living flames for the
love of Gd and desired to die for him, and who rebuked the
heretics for their blindness, him they wounded in the face, and
being stretched on the ground, they broke his legs and arms.
They did not kill him, in order that he might suffer greater
pain, and he, turning his peaceful eyes upon his brethren, said:
"Envy me, I beg you, brethren, and do not pity me, for I
confess that I never deserved of God so much good as he does
me in these torments and this death. Fifteen years I have
been in the Company, and for ten years I have wished and
prepared myself for this voyage to Brazil and with this happy
death I consider myself well rewarded by God and the

16

Company for all my services." And breathing his last breath,
they cast him into the sea. And because they found two
brethren kneeling in prayer before the images which they
(the heretics) so hated, they attacked them with diabolical
rage and fury, breaking the skull of (fol. 156) one of them with
the pommel of a sword, and scattering his brains, so that he
fell dead. This brother's name was Bias Ribero. The other
brother, who was named Diego de Fonseca, received such a
dagger-thrust in the mouth that it severed his tongue, and
crushed his jaw-bone. And father Diego de Andrada (who,
father Azevedo being dead, was the chief and head of the rest),
because they saw that he was a priest and had confessed some
of his companions, and was encouraging them, saying: " Pre-
pare your souls, my brethren, for your redemption is close at
hand, " him, after giving him many stabs, they cast, still living,
into the sea. While this was happening two of the brethren
named Gregorio Escrivano and Alvaro Mendez were sick in
their beds, and though they might have concealed their fear
and remained quiet, yet with the desire they had of dying for
Christ, they arose as best they could and putting on their
cassocks, with bare feet and half naked, they joined their
brethren, that they might not lose so good an opportunity,
and so they died with them. The heretics had carried another
brother named Simon de Acosta to the galleon of Jaques,
thinking that he was the son of some gentleman or titled
personage, for he had thife appearance and was only 18 years
old, and of good manners. Jaques called him aside and asked
him whether he also (fol. 156a) belonged to the Jesuit priests.
And though by denying it he could have escaped with his life,
he would not, but rather confessed that he was a companion in
religion and a brother of those who died for the Catholic,
ApostoUc and Roman faith. This so enraged Jaques that he
had him beheaded and cast into the sea. In this manner the
heretics, on account of their hatred and abhorrence of our holy
religion, killed thirty-nine fathers and brethren of our Com-
pany. It is not right that we should keep silent as to their
names, for they are written in the book of life. They were:
the Provincial Ignacio de Azevedo, Diego de Andrada, Antonio
Suarez, Benito de Castro, Juan Fernandez de Lisboa,
Francisco Alvarez Covillo, Domingo Hernandez, Manuel
Alvarez, Juan de Mayorga, Aragonese; Alonso de Valera, of
the Kingdom of Toledo, Gonzalo Enriquez Diacono, Juan
Fernandez de Braga, Alexo Delgado, Luis Correa of Evora,
Manuel Rodriguez de Halconete, Simon Lopez, Manuel
Hernandez, Alvaro Mendez, Pedro Munoz, Francisco Magal-
lanes, Nicolas Diney de Verganza, Caspar Alvarez, Bias
Ribero de Braga, Antonio Hernandez de Montemayor,

17

Manuel Pacheco, Pedro de Fontaura, Simon de Acosta,
Andrez Gonzalez (fol. 157) de Viana, Amaro Vaz, Diego Perez
de Mizca, Juan de Baeza, Marcos Caldera, Antonio Correa del
Puerto, Hernan Sanchez of the province of Castile, Gregorio
Escrivano of Logrono, Francisco Perez Godoy of Torrijos,
Juan de Zafra of Toledo, Juan de San Martin, native of lUescas
and Estevan Zurayre Vizcaino. The latter was a very artless
man, and when he left Plasencia for this voyage he said to
father Joseph de Acosta, who was his confessor, that he was
going cheerfully to Brazil, because he was certain that he was
to die a martyr. And being asked how he knew it, he replied
that God had revealed it to him. So that of forty of the
Company who were in that vessel, one man alone, Juan Sanchez
escaped death, and it was in this manner. When the heretics
separated the men, putting on one side those who were to be
killed and on the other those who were to be spared, they
examined their hands and garments. And when they saw
that the brother was young, that his hands were dirty and
callous and that he wore a short beggarly jacket, they asked
him whether he was the cook, he answered yes, which was the
truth. They therefore kept him to make use of him in the
kitchen (fol. 157a) and he remained with them until they
returned to France, where our Lord freed him of their control,
that he might be a witness and relate to us what we have here
told of the death of his companions, although not he alone,
but many others were present and afterwards gave an account
of all that had happened. But in order that the number
should be exact, and that there should be forty crowns for the
forty of the company who had entered into the vessel with the
purpose of dying for Jesus Christ, in place of this brother Juan
Sanchez, who escaped, the Lord gave us another who was
called San Juan, a virtuous and upright youth, and nephew of
the Ship's captain. He took such a liking to the brethren of
the Company, that he asked to be admitted to it. And
although father Ignacio did not receive him, he never left his
side, nor did he cease to take part in the prayers and penance
of the brethren, and he considered himself as one of them,
and as such was treated. At the time when the heretics
separated those of the company from the secular persons, he
passed over to their side (i. e. of the fathers), and without a
word allowed himself to be lead to death, in order, by this
means, to enter into the Company of the blessed in Heaven.
So that if we count San Juan as one of the Company, there
were forty (fol. 158) who died. And if we do not consider
him as such (for he had not yet been admitted) there were
thirty-nine. All the rest of them the heretics spared. For
they were all corsairs and heretics; in so far as they were

18

corsairs they wished to rob and not kill; and in so far as they
were heretics, to kill and rob those who made any resistance.
With these they wage a war with fire and swords (as they say)
and proclaim that, because of them, their false gospel no
longer prevails and rules in the world.

Concerning Twelve Others of the Company Who
Likewise Died at The Hands of The Heretics

Chapter XI

We must not forget the other fathers and brethren whom we
left on the Island of Madeira with father Pedro Diaz, for they
are no less worthy of memory than those who are already gone.
But passing over in silence the hardships which they and those
in the other vessel suffered in their voyage (which was long
and dangerous), let us mention only what is to our purpose.
After having been fifteen months at sea, and on the Islands of
Barlovento, San Domingo and Cuba, with frightful storms
and (fol. 158a) many dangers, and arriving at the Island of
Terceiva, fourteen of the Company with father Diaz were
taken on the leading ship of the Governor, don Luys de
Vasconcelos. The latter was obliged to leave the other ships
he had, on account of the many men who had left him and
others who had died, and with those who were left manned one
vessel, with which he sailed, on Sept. 6, 1571, from the Island
of Terceira for Brazil. After sailing with prosperous winds
for eight days, they suddenly discovered five vessels, four
French (commanded by Juan Cadavillo, a Frenchman and
great heretic, and as cruel an enemy of the Catholics as
Jaques Soria) and one English, and all of them heretical
corsairs and capital enemies of our holy religion. Don Luys
at once recognized his danger and exhorted his men to fight
valiantly for their faith and their lives. Those of the Com-
pany he admonished with earnestness to make their peace with
God if they wished to fight well and hoped to be favored.
The Governor confessed first, and after him the soldiers and
the others, and there was time to do it, for night had inter-
vened a short time after our ship discovered those of the enemy.
But in the morning, at dawn (fol. 159) the heretical corsairs
fell upon them, and though they met with great resistance and
lost many men, they boarded the vessel and overcame it.
In the battle, which was very bitterly contested, they first
killed the Governor, who, fighting valiantly, fell pierced by
two shots, and received many other wounds, and, without
being recognized by his enemies, was stripped and cast into the

19

sea. The Captain having been killed, the enemies overcame
the ship and took possession of it, and entering with great fury
into a little cabin where father Castro was hearing the penance
of the master of the vessel, who was severely wounded and
about to die. On seeing him (father Castro) they recognized
that he was a Catholic priest and that he was adminstering
the sacrement of the confession, which they so much hated.
'They fell upon him with great rage and killed him. They did
the same to father Pedro Diaz, who up to that time had Hke-
wise been confessing, and who had hastened up to where father
Castro and brother Caspar Goes were. As the latter was a
youth of tender years the father had ordered him not to part
from his side. The other eleven who remained aUve
encouraged one another to be constant and to die cheerfully
for the Catholic faith. The heretics, after (fol. 159a) striking
them with their fists, insulting and maltreating them, bound
their hands behind their backs and locked them up in a
compartment and placed guards over them. But because
brother Miguel Aragones, as his hands were being tied,
uttered a groan of pain (for he was badly wounded in the arm)
they threw him, and another brother who was by his side,
into the sea. The rest remained bound that night, listening
to the greatest insults and reproaches, and to frightful blas-
phemies against God our Lord and his Church, as they were
uttered by those infernal furies. Day having come, the first
prayer the heretics made was to condemn to death all Jesuits,
their enemies, for so they call them and for such they hold
all members of the Company. At first they resolved to hang
them all to the yards of the vessel, but afterwards, thnking
they might get great wealth of gold and silver from them,
(which they thought they were bringing to Brazil to adorn the
Churches), they gave up their plan, until, realizing that they
were disappointed, they attacked them with the greatest
barbarity, insulted them and beat them with clubs, calling
them dogs, thieves, Papists (fol. 160) and enemies of God.
Those of the Company neither defended themselves, nor did
they avoid death, but meek as lambs they permitted them-
selves to be cast into the sea. Five of the fortunate brethren
who knew how to swim, came together, and being in the water
encouraged one another to die, until strength and breath
faiUng them, they said: '^Tibi soli peccavi,'' and three of
them expired. Of the other two, one, named Diego Hernandez
swam so long till he reached one of the smaller French vessels
which was lagging behind, and into which he was taken up and
sheltered by the will of the Lord. The other, who was named
Sebastian Lopez remained in the sea that night, which was
very dark and much rain was falUng. But seeing a light on

20

one oi the vessels about half a league off, he followed it till he
reached it, and entreated those on the vessel to help him and
take him on board. But he found only cruel words and
worse deeds (as those of the heretics are wont to be) and as a
last remedy he went to one of the barks or small boats, and
into it he was received by a man who, although a heretic and
an enemy, was not so cruel nor furious as the rest, in a word,
was more human. The latter received him and hid him in a
corner, giving him (fol. 160a) something to eat and some
clothing. Twelve men died on this ship: father Pedro Diaz,
father Francisco de Castro, and the following brethren:
Alonso Hernandez, Caspar Cois, Andres Pays, Juan Alvarez,
another Pedro Diaz, Fernando Alvarez, Miguel Aragones,
Francisco Paulo, Pedro Hernandez, Diego Carvallo, and the
two who escaped by swimming ( from whom and from others
this story was learned) were named Sebastian Lopez and
Diego Hernandez, as we have said.

This time the heretics were not satisfied with shedding the
innocent blood of so many servants of Cod because they
defended and preached the holy Catholic faith, but they also
showed their rage and fury against Cod himself and against
his Saints. For, having found some relics and images of
Saints and Agnus Dei and consecrated beads and other
articles of devotion (which our men carried with them for
their comfort and consolation and to awaken the piety of the
faithful in Brazil) the heretics showed their impiety and hatred
toward them by dragging them about, stamping upon them
and subjecting them to all the contempt and insult that they
were able, finally casting them into the sea. So that by his
own w^orks we may know who he is who guides them and
induces them to commit such impious, cruel and grievous
acts. (fol. 161)

I have dwelt upon this narrative because the martyrdom of
these fifty-one fathers and brethren of the Company is such an
exemplary matter for all who read it. And for those of the
Company, especially, it is an inestimable benefit which we
have received from the Lord, and a great incentive to imitate
those who have gone before us, and to seek new opportunites
to increase and extend throughout the world the light of the
holy Cospel and to wrest from the claws of Satan the souls
which Christ our Lord redeemed with his blood, although it
be at the cost of our own and with the loss of all that the
world promises and cannot fulfil. But it is now time that we
again take up the thread of our story and continue what we
have begun concerning the life of father Francisco. The
latter, when he received the news of the happy death of those
his doughty warriors and blessed sons, although on the one

21

hand he felt great sorrow because Brazil had need of them,
on the other he rejoiced much more on seeing that, in his time,
the Lord deigned to accept this offering and sacrifice of blood
which the Company offered him. And with great tenderness
and feeling he commended the dead and praised their virtues
and supphcated the Lord that he should give grace to those
who remained.

'iv.*:-:^:^* 'i'

m^\' 'J' '- /*-i

<*

iV\

pyic^-A

ut^