Religion in Europe: Catholicism: Missionaries: Efforts in St. Augustine

Sources

Beginnings. The first mission to the Timuca Indians of St. Augustine took place in 1565 as the Spanish reclaimed Florida from the Huguenots. Spain had first laid claim to the city, which its founder, Juan Ponce de León, believed held the Fountain of Youth, in 1513. In 1564, after the French Protestants established Fort Caroline twenty-five miles to the north, the Spanish became alarmed that the French might take control and that the Huguenots would have the chance to convert the Indians. Although the Jesuits had tried to convert the natives, they had been unsuccessful, and by 1572 the last of the Jesuits had left Florida. The Jesuits’ goal of converting large numbers of natives was hampered by the fact that several Jesuits were killed by the Indians and by the frequent disagreements between the soldiers and friars distracting the missionaries. This did not end the goal of converting the natives. Despite difficult living conditions, the Franciscans wanted to gain a foothold in Florida and continued to send friars. In May 1584 eight Franciscans sailed from Spain, but only three arrived. Three years later another twelve came to St. Augustine, and in 1590 eight more arrived. By 1592 only three remained. Twelve Franciscans arrived in 1595, and at last their missionary efforts began to take off in earnest.

Reasons for the Failure. Missionary efforts in St. Augustine ultimately did not succeed as the Spanish had hoped for several reasons. The Spanish government regarded Florida as a distant frontier and withheld financial and organizational support, and the missionaries themselves, both Jesuits and Franciscans, were unable and unwilling to build support among the native peoples. Rather than being eager and easy objects of conversion, the Indians manipulated the missionaries, often extracting Spanish goods in exchange for religious conversion. If the Spanish were to Christianize the Indians, it was in the settlers’ best interests to keep good relations with their neighbors. This was not to be the case. The missionaries exacted tribute—animal skins, corn, and labor—from the Indians. Finally, in the 1610s, missionaries in St. Augustine began to see the fruits of their labors

as the number of Indian conversions began to increase. Ultimately, however, these efforts were doomed to failure. The Timuca dwindled from six thousand to ten thousand (estimates vary) in 1600 to less than one hundred by the time the Spanish ceded Florida to the United States in 1821.

Sources

Charles E. Bennett, Laudonniere and Fort Caroline, History and Documents (Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1964);

Jerald T. Milanich, Florida Indians and the Invasion from Europe (Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1995).