“[Fr. Cáncer] always held [the people of Florida] deep in his heart” Fr. Bartolomé de las Casas (famed Protector of the Indians)."
Fr. Cáncer, a native of Barbastro, in the Kingdom of Aragón, joined the Dominican order and spent many years ministering in the Caribbean and Central America. Having heard reports of unsuccessful Spanish missions to Florida and having encountered native Floridians who had been dispossessed as a result of Spanish activity there, Fr. Cáncer and his fellow Dominican Fr. Gregorio de Beteta resolved to “plant the Gospel in the land of Florida.” In the late spring of 1549 Fr. Cáncer and Fr. Beteta left Veracruz on the Santa María de la Encina bound for Havana and then Florida. With them were the Dominican priests Juan Garcia and Diego de Tolosa and a lay brother named Fuentes.
Once in Havana the missionaries received further supplies, and they were also joined by a Christian Indian named Magdalena (or Madalena) who was to serve as their translator. Magdalena, a member of the Tocobaga tribe, had been captured by the Spanish in 1539 during the Soto expedition. On the Vigil of the Ascension (Wednesday, May 5, 1549), Fr. Cáncer’s expedition sighted the Florida coast at approximately 27º latitude, somewhere near present-day Bradenton.
Initial contacts with native peoples were apparently amiable and peaceful. On one occasion Fr. Cáncer knelt in prayer with his fellow missionaries and with Magdalena, and they were joined by many Indians. Fr. Tolosa and Fuentes were apprehended and killed shortly after they opted, against Fr. Cáncer’s judgment, to separate themselves from the rest of the missionary party and travel on foot to their destined port. Their deaths were later confirmed by a Spaniard named Muñoz, who had come to Florida with the Soto expedition and who now sought refuge with the Dominicans. Some time later Fr. Cáncer went ashore and was clubbed to death after having fallen to his knees in prayer.
The location of these killings was most likely present-day Safety Harbor, Florida. These Dominican missionaries have enjoyed a continuous fama (reputation for martyrdom) from an early date. A remarkable relic is the diary that Fr. Cáncer kept in his own hand, which was completed by Fr. Beteta, an eyewitness to his death.
” The admiral of the fleet credited Father Martínez’s infectious joy and holiness for “transforming my sailors into saints.”
Fr. Pedro Martínez, a native of Teruel in Aragón, was appointed Superior of the first band of Jesuits bound for Florida, who departed Spain in June of 1566. With him were two fellow Jesuits, Fr. Juan Rogel and Br. Francisco Villareal. When their ship was near the coast of Florida, Fr. Martínez volunteered to take a small party ashore in a smaller boat in order to seek directions and supplies.
On September 14, 1566 they made landfall, perhaps on Cumberland Island. As they traveled through native villages they were well received until they entered a region under the control of Saturiba, who was partial to the Huguenots. Near present-day Mount Cornelia, on the eastern outskirts of Jacksonville, Fr. Martínez’s companions went ashore in search of fish, leaving him and the remaining crew in their boat, which was soon surrounded. Not availing himself of an opportunity to escape, Fr. Martínez was eventually pulled from the boat, dragged ashore, and beaten to death. He has long been regarded as the proto-Jesuit martyr of the Americas.
"Thus with God's help, the work of conversion may be begun well in Florida, and those not so well disposed may enter one after the other like sheep into the fold of the Our Holy Church" - Segura letter to Fr. Jermone Ruiz de Portillo SJ (June 19, 1569)
These eight Jesuit missionaries were killed in February 1571 in present-day Virginia, which at the time was claimed by the Spanish and was part of La Florida. In the summer of 1570, frustrated with the slow progress of evangelization in the Spanish forts ringing the peninsula of Florida, Fr. Juan Bautista de Segura, a native of Toledo, opted to undertake a mission far to the north to a region known as Ajacán.
Apart from the long- standing Spanish interest in this region, Fr. Segura was attracted to this location by an Indian named Paquiquineo, a native of Ajacán, who had received baptism while in Mexico City, having taken the name Luis, and was now offering to assist the Spanish in the conversion of his tribe.
The eight Jesuits, accompanied by a young altar-server named Alonso Olmos, the son of settlers of Santa Elena, arrived in Ajacán in early September 1570. Paquiquineo/Don Luis remained with the Jesuits for only a few days; he soon returned to live with his tribe, and he rejected more than one entreaty by the Jesuits to return. Five months later he and some companions attacked the Jesuits on two separate occasions, killing them all. Only Alonso survived. These eight Jesuits have enjoyed a reputation for martyrdom from an early date.
Antonia (teenage daughter) and eight companions:
✝ three Franciscan friars (Feb. 14, 1647)
✝ Lt. Gov. Claudio Luis de Florencia (Feb. 14, 1647)
✝ Juana de Leiva y Arteaga, the wife of the Lt. Gov. (Feb. 14, 1647) ✝ Maria de Florencia, married daughter of Florencias (Feb. 14, 1647)
✝ unborn child of Maria (Feb. 14, 1647)
✝ young son of Maria (Feb. 14, 1647)
At least as early as 1607 it was reported that several villages in Apalachee—the region of northern Florida between the Aucilla and Ochlockonee Rivers—were requesting friars, but it was not until 1633 that the Spanish established a permanent missionary presence there. Initial reports indicated widespread conversions to Christianity, and by 1647 eight native chiefs (out of more than forty) had converted and had permitted the establishment of doctrinas in their villages. But in early 1647 Apalachee was the scene of a brutal uprising. The planned revolt began on the evening of February 14 in the newly-established mission of San Antonio de Bacuqua, where a large crowd, including the Florencia family, had assembled to celebrate the following day’s feast of the translation of the relics of St. Anthony. Five friars managed to escape with the help of Christian natives. Six Spanish soldiers also survived because they were at Governor Ruíz’s wheat farm at the time. But three friars were killed, as were the Lieutenant Governor and several members of his family. Seven of the eight churches in the region were burned. Regrettably, few of the names of those who were killed have survived. In addition to Ensign Claudio Luís de Florencia (b. 1597), who had been appointed Lieutenant Governor of Apalachee in April 1645, and his wife Juana de Leiva y Arteaga (b. 1598), we only know the names of two of their daughters: Antonia (b. 1632) and Maria (b. 1628). We know, however, that Maria’s infant son was killed, and we also know that her unborn child was killed, brutally cut from her womb. We also know that Antonia was particularly courageous and demonstrative in her testimony of faith. In retaliation for her proclamation of the “Law of God,” she was tied to a pillar of the bell tower of the church and her breasts and tongue were cut off. The bodies of the slain were tossed into a lake. They were discovered once the rebellion had been put down.
Return to 17th Century MartyrsEvidence of this event comes not only from Spanish sources but also from the journal of Jonathan Dickinson, a Quaker merchant who was shipwrecked off Jupiter Inlet in September of that year. Astonished with the depth of the indigenous leader’s “papist” faith, the Quaker Dickinson included the event in his journal.
Antonio Inija and three companions:
✝ (Galician) Fr. Juan de Parga Araujo, O.F.M. (Jan. 26, 1704)
✝ Apalachee man Cui Domingo (Jan. 26, 1704)
✝ Apalachee leader Cuipa Feliciano (Jan. 26, 1704)
Antonio Inija, Cuipa Feliciano, Cui Domingo, and Fray Juan Parga Araujo were martyred in the aftermath of the English and Creek attack on the Ayubale mission in January 1704. Antonio was an Inija (second in command) of the mission of San Luis de Talimali, the largest Apalachee mission in La Florida, with a population of approximately 8,000 Christian natives, among whom were Cuipa Feliciano and Cui Domingo.
San Luis was located on the site of modern-day Tallahassee. Their English and Creek captors tied them to stakes and lit fires at their feet. Despite this torture, these Catholic natives encouraged each other and attempted to evangelize their tormentors.
After suffering from dawn until dusk, Antonio received a great gift: the Blessed Mother appeared to him. Antonio declared that the Most Holy Virgin was helping him to endure his martyrdom. The extraordinary faith and holy death of these Florida natives captured the admiration of the Spanish King, Philip V, who directed his ambassador in Rome to inform the Pope of this event.
Return to 18th Century MartyrsFr. Mendoza and three companions:
✝ Apalachee Sacristan (June 3, 1704)
✝ two-year old Native American (June 3, 1704 or shortly thereafter)
✝ Native American woman of Patale (between June 3 and June 9, 1704)
Fray Manuel de Mendoza, a native of the Castilian town of Medina de Rioseco, served for 26 years in the Florida missions. Known for his generosity to the poor, Fr. Mendoza succeeded Fr. Parga at Mission Patale. Some four months after the carnage in January 1704, the English renewed their attacks on the Florida missions. Fr. Mendoza was shot and burned after he was lured out of his convent. Fr. Mendoza’s sacristan was also killed, and the convent was burned. Also killed were a two-year old and a woman who had been taken captive from Patale.
Balthasar Francisco and sixteen companions:
✝ Don Pedro Marmolejo (July 4, 1704)
✝ 15 Apalachee Indians (July 4, 1704)
These Spanish soldiers and Native Americans were tortured and crucified on July 4, 1704 a half league west of Mission Patale following the battle that marked the end of the Catholic missions in Apalachee. The English and their Creek allies tied fifteen faithful Apalachee men and two Spanish soldiers to the outdoor Stations of the Cross surrounding the plaza in Patale. They set fires at the foot of these crosses, slashed their captives, and put burning splinters in their wounds. Despite his intense suffering, Baltasar Francisco preached from the cross and called upon the Virgin Mary, confident that she would carry him to God.
The Timucuan Caciques (chiefs) of San Pedro and San Mateo missions suffered martyrdom as the English lead assaults on the Catholic missions continued past Apalachee. These faithful leaders were burned alive and their missions destroyed.
Fr. Agustín Ponce de León, O.F.M., a native of St. Augustine, had gone with Capt. Joseph Begambre in pursuit of some Native Americans who had taken numerous prisoners—women and children—from the town over which Fr. Agustín had care. During a battle at dawn on September 3, Fr. Agustín distinguished himself by encouraging the Spanish and Native Americans and by administering the sacrament of penance to the wounded. Like a “good pastor he gave up his soul in defense of his sheep and the children of his doctrina,” but he managed to bring about the release of the majority of the prisoners.
After the vicious massacres of the baptized Catholic natives of Apalachee and the martyrdom of his brother Franciscans there (Fr. Parga and Fr. Mendoza), Fr.Domingo could have gone to the (relative) safety of St. Augustine. Yet for the consolation of the families in his mission who were terrified and fled to the woods, he chose to risk his life and stay with his flock, bringing them the sacraments to the extent possible.
Fr. Domingo accompanied them as they wandered through the woods and eventually found refuge along a river some ten or twelve leagues from St. Augustine. He was subsequently captured and imprisoned and reduced to slavery. As a result of cruel treatment, he died after several months in captivity in present-day Macon, Georgia.
"May our sweat and toil be for God to whom we leave it all" - Don Patricio de Hinachuba, April 1699
In the aftermath of the English devastation of Apalachee in 1704 Don Patricio and an Apalachee remnant moved east and settled first in Abosaya, near present-day Gainesville, and then on the southern outskirts of St. Augustine. This Catholic cacique was killed in the spring of 1706 by a band of Creek warriors seeking to destroy the remaining Apalachee Christians.
By the time of Fr. Phelipe’s martyrdom of 1712, the once flourishing missions across much of La Florida were for the most part only a memory. The Spanish and refugee natives (Christian and non-Christian alike) lived in St. Augustine. On the west end, the Spanish had established Santa Maria de Galve, a fort and village in Pensacola. Some Catholic Apalachee did stay in Pensacola where friars were present for the sacraments. But Christian natives were few and residents of Santa Maria frequently suffered from attacks from English-led non-Christian natives.
Fr. Phelipe’s responsibilities as surgeon were to take care of the body and help the sick and wounded; as priest to take care for the soul, providing the sacraments. On September 1, 1712, Fr. Phelipe chose to risk his life and go outside of the fort to help, both as surgeon and friar. He was killed during an ambush, while taking care of the wounded: body and soul.
The missions from St. Augustine to Pensacola were now destroyed and gone - and being a priest or a Catholic native remained dangerous. On September 1, 1712, Creek natives attacked Santa Maria, killing Fr. Phelipe Orbalaes, and kidnapping Father Tiburcio. Father Tiburcio was killed in captivity before July of 1715 - the last known martyr of historic Florida.