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Account of the Martyrs in the Provinces of La Florida

2018; Duke University Press; Volume: 98; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1215/00182168-4377080

1527-1900

Alejandra Dubcovsky,

Latin American and Latino Studies

This concise book provides a new translation of Luis Jerónimo de Oré's Relación de los mártires que ha habido en las provincias de La Florida. Oré was a Franciscan priest who surveyed Spanish missions and conversion efforts in La Florida in the early seventeenth century and produced a detailed account of his findings. Raquel Chang-Rodríguez and Nancy Vogeley have vast experience with early Spanish texts and materials. Their keen and careful approach provides an updated and much-needed translation and annotation of the document.Chang-Rodríguez and Vogeley showcase the uniqueness of Oré's Account of the Martyrs. This text is not concerned with justifying conquest, debating the humanity of native peoples, or describing early encounters; Oré wrote his account as the dust from those earlier debates settled. This document records the colonial endeavors that followed the first generations of Spanish exploration, missionizing, and settlement. Account of the Martyrs thus provides insight into both the interworking of the growing Spanish empire and the evolving role of the church in this imperial project. There are at least four different publication dates for this source. Chang-Rodríguez and Vogeley use internal evidence from the text to dismiss earlier dates and argue “that 1619 is the most probable date for the work's publication” (p. 17).Comprised of 11 chapters of different length and style, Oré's Account of the Martyrs might seem like “an uneven compilation,” but Chang-Rodríguez and Vogeley argue that “the narrative proceeds according to the logic of a primer,” giving readers an overview of the land, peoples, and history of the region before discussing issues of conversion and missionization (p. 19). Account of the Martyrs begins with two chapters of background information that describe the Jesuits' efforts to missionize Jacán (present-day Virginia) in the mid-sixteenth century. The text quickly transitions to the experiences of Franciscan missionaries in La Florida. Oré focuses on the 1597 native revolt in Guale, including the account by Father Francisco de Ávila, the sole Franciscan survivor of the uprising. Chang-Rodríguez and Vogeley point to the peculiarity of Oré calling the murdered Franciscans “martyrs.” The editors explain that as Oré wrote Account of the Martyrs the notion of martyrdom and sainthood was going through massive changes in Europe. Oré's description of these fallen Franciscans as martyrs can be then read as an argument to “rethink the criteria for sainthood” as well as a reflection of “current theological issues if not also . . . a proposal for La Florida martyrs' nomination to sainthood” (p. 45). The final two chapters of Account of the Martyrs are concerned with the enduring legacy of missionization in Spanish Florida.Chang-Rodríguez and Vogeley's translation of Account of the Martyrs makes this historical source more accessible to students and scholars of colonial America. Their annotations throughout the document are invaluable. From definitions of archaic Spanish terms to biographical sketches of individuals mentioned within the text and from geographical details to historical background, Chang-Rodríguez and Vogeley make Oré's Account of the Martyrs easily legible. The annotated source is preceded by a lengthy, and somewhat awkward, introduction. Divided into many sections, the introduction covers a wide variety of topics: Oré's writings, the court in Spain, Lima's clerical councils, and Spanish colonization of Florida. Chang-Rodríguez and Vogeley want to emphasize the importance of situating Oré's Account of the Martyrs in its historical context as well as the complexity of that context, but the introduction's uneven organization ends up muddling both those claims.The editors present Account of the Martyrs as a thoughtful, intellectual work reflective of both the evolving theological debates in the sixteenth century and the political developments within the Spanish empire in the decades after the initial waves of exploration and colonization. Chang-Rodríguez and Vogeley have produced a carefully annotated translation that merits the attention of those working on Spanish missions, theological thought, and early colonial literature and history. But this book also serves a wider readership, for it provides a compelling primary source from which to teach early (and failed) Spanish colonial endeavors, Spanish-native interactions, and native rebellions.