Inspiration and Institution in Catholic Missionary Martyrdom Accounts: Japan and New France, 1617–49

This article focuses on the martyrdoms of the French Jesuit Antoine Daniel in New France and the Spanish friars Alonso Navarrete and Hernando Ayala in Japan. Drawing upon the accounts written by the missionaries Paul Ragueneau and Jacinto Orfanel, it shows how they adapted apostolic teaching and the Tridentine vision of the priesthood to interpret the acts of their brethren as sources of inspiration and models of renewed institutional identity. It argues that martyrdom was viewed as a pastoral responsibility in the missions to New France and Japan. Martyrs were portrayed as divinely inspired to lay down their lives for their communities, while the act of martyrdom was viewed as a literal, semi-liturgical sacrifice imbued with the sacramentality of the priesthood. Martyrdom was perceived both to fulfil an urgent pastoral need within communities and to model the apostolic vision of the Roman Catholic Church.

Plantation as Mission: American Indians, Enslaved Africans, and Jesuit Missionaries in Maryland

Jesuit endeavors in Maryland are difficult to categorize as either missions or plantations. Archaeological sites associated with the Maryland Mission/ Province bear similarities to Jesuit mission sites in New France as well as plantations in Latin America and the Caribbean. It is clear that in Maryland, the Jesuits did not enforce a distinction between missions as places of conversion and plantations as sites of capitalist production. Moreover, people of American Indian, African, and European ancestry have been connected with Maryland’s Jesuit plantations throughout their history. Archaeological evidence of Indian missions in Maryland—however fragmented—contributes to a narrative of the Maryland mission that is at odds with prevailing nineteenth- and twentieth-century histories. Archaeology demonstrates the importance of critically reflecting on available historical evidence, including a historiographic focus on either mission or plantation, on the written history of Jesuits in the Americas. Furthermore, historical archaeologists must reconceptualize missions as both places and practices.

Introduction: The Archaeology of Jesuit Sites in the Americas

The archaeological record of Jesuit sites in the Americas preserves an essential resource for the study of daily life among individuals in the Jesuit sphere of influence. The full potential of an archaeological synthesis of these sites has yet to be realized, since systematic excavations have occurred at only a relatively small number of Jesuit sites in the American continents and the Caribbean. This essay serves to introduce a collection of five archaeological case studies and a conclusion, which show how archaeology complements the written histories of Jesuits from Nasca to New France. These case studies address several major themes, including the definition of mission sites, scales of analysis, the nature of missionary “success,” and overcoming historical silences. In particular, they articulate the influence of Jesuit missionaries on the material worlds of numerous cosmopolitan communities of colonists, enslaved Africans, and American Indians.

The First Evangelization of Indigenous Peoples of New France: The Radical Way to Martyrdom of Jesuit Missionaries

The French Jesuits played a significant role in the first evangelization of the indigenous peoples of North America in the early 17th century. They focused on the evangelization of the Huron and Iroquois tribes which remained in constant conflict with each other. In their work they cut themselves off from the commercial interests of colonial countries, especially of France. After a dozen or so years, they were already able to convey evangelical values in tribal languages, being firmly immersed in the local culture. Thus, they were precursors of the inculturation of the Gospel. The missionaries were characterized by deep Christological spirituality, founded on contemplation of the cross, and, therefore, able to endure boldly the hardships of evangelization. As the result of the vile strategies of colonial powers stirring up tribal disputes, they faced numerous misfortunes, and, ultimately, many of them suffered martyrdom. Consequently, their missionary effort became a path to personal holiness and an irreplaceable contribution to the strengthening of the newly established Church communities on the American soil.