Abstract
The general commissioner for the Franciscan missions in Florida, Friar Luis Gerónimo de Oré, arrived in St. Augustine in 1614 where he conducted a brief ecclesiastical inspection before returning to Cuba. Oré came again to Florida in late 1616, reaching St. Augustine on November 6. Armed with powers of visitation and confirmation, he inspected the Franciscan missions in the area and confirmed hundreds of converts. He also presided over the First General Chapter Meeting of the Franciscan Order in the province. During his Florida travels, Oré collected reports on earlier attempts of conversion, and before returning to Europe he compiled a survey of the church’s work in Florida. That history, The Martyrs of Florida, 1513-1616, remains a basic primary source for the early religious experience in the southeastern part of the present-day United States.1 Little known are Oré’s youth and religious activities in the Andean heartland of the viceroyalty of Peru, his role as a Renaissance linguist and stirring preacher in the languages of Quechua and Aymara, his diplomatic missions in Spain and Rome, and his experiences as bishop of La Imperial (Concepción) on the Araucanian frontier of Chile.
Recommended Citation
Cook, Noble David
(1992)
"Beyond the Martyrs of Florida: The Versatile Career of Luis Gerónimo de Oré,"
Florida Historical Quarterly: Vol. 71:
No.
2, Article 5.
Available at:
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/fhq/vol71/iss2/5
