Juan María de Salvatierra
Encyclopedia
Juan María de Salvatierra (November 15, 1648 – July 17, 1717) was a Catholic missionary to the Americas.
His family was of Spanish origin, the name being written originally Salva-Tierra. Born in Milan
, Italy
, he studied in the Jesuit college of Parma
. It was there that he accidentally came across a book upon the "Indian missions," which fascinated him. He entered the Jesuit order in Genoa
and in 1675 he sailed for the Viceroyalty of New Spain, present day Mexico
. There he further studied theology
, and was for several years professor of rhetoric
in the College of Puebla.
Declining a position in the cathedral, he received permission to devote himself to the conversion of the indigenous people
of southwestern North America, and in June 1680, set out for the lands of the Tarahumara
people in the mountains of Chihuahua. He lived among them for 10 years, founding several Catholic missions along the way. He was subsequently appointed visitor of the Spanish missions in the Sonoran Desert
in the Sonora y Sinaloa
Province of the Real Audiencia of Guadalajara
in the Viceroyalty of New Spain (Mexico
). While there he formed a project for the "spiritual conquest" of Baja California
, as all the military expeditions to that region of Las Californias had been without success.
Soon afterwards, through conversations with the missionary explorer, Father Eusebio Kino
, he conceived an intense desire for the evangelization of the Baja California peninsula
, for which undertaking official authority was finally granted in 1697, all expense to be at the cost of the missionaries. After obtaining permission from his superiors, he sailed on 10 October 1697, for Baja California region of Las Californias
Province, to found the Spanish missions in Baja California
chain.
With one small boat's crew and six soldiers Salvatierra landed 15 October 1697, at Concepcion Bay, on the coast of the Baja Peninsula, and a few days later, on 19 October, he laid the foundation of Misión Nuestra Señora de Loreto, the first of the Baja California missions, which he dedicated to Our Lady of Loreto, his special patroness through life. For a time he acted as priest, captain, sentry, and cook, besides studying the language from a vocabulary prepared by an earlier Jesuit visitor, Father Juan Copart, and from local indigenous people
who could be induced to come near.
He soon mastered an indigenous language
, and in seven years established six other missions along the Baja California coast. He also made some important explorations. In the organization and later conduct of the work his chief collaborator was Father Juan de Ugarte
. The contributions for this purpose, by generous donors, formed the basis of the historic Fondo Piadoso, or Pious Fund of the Californias
. (Later for many years it was a subject of controversy with the republican government of Mexico and U.S.)
In 1704 he was appointed provincial of his order, and resided in Mexico, but when his term was concluded in 1707 he returned to his missions in Baja California
.
In 1717 he was called to the capital by the Viceroy Baltasar de Zúñiga y Guzmán, to provide material for the History of California, which King Philip V
had ordered to be written. Although suffering from illness, Salvatierra obeyed, and, crossing the Gulf of California
(Sea of Cortez), continued his voyage along the coast until he arrived in and died at the colonial city of Guadalajara
in New Spain
. The whole city assembled at his funeral, and the remains were deposited amidst ceremonies rarely seen at the burial of a Jesuit missionary, in the chapel which he had erected to the Lady of Loreto.
He wrote Cartas sobre la Conquista espiritual de Californias (1698) and Nuevas cartas sobre Californias (1699), which have been used by Father Miguel Venegas
in his Historia de Californias, and his "Relaciones" (1697–1709) in Documentos para la Historia de Mexico (1853-7).
Salvatierra is still known as "the apostle of California," a title he shares with Franciscan
Padre Junípero Serra
, who founded many of the Spanish missions in Alta California
.
is named for Fr. Salvatierra.
His family was of Spanish origin, the name being written originally Salva-Tierra. Born in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, he studied in the Jesuit college of Parma
Parma
Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....
. It was there that he accidentally came across a book upon the "Indian missions," which fascinated him. He entered the Jesuit order in Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
and in 1675 he sailed for the Viceroyalty of New Spain, present day Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. There he further studied theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
, and was for several years professor of rhetoric
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
in the College of Puebla.
Declining a position in the cathedral, he received permission to devote himself to the conversion of the indigenous people
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
of southwestern North America, and in June 1680, set out for the lands of the Tarahumara
Tarahumara
The Rarámuri or Tarahumara are a Native American people of northwestern Mexico who are renowned for their long-distance running ability...
people in the mountains of Chihuahua. He lived among them for 10 years, founding several Catholic missions along the way. He was subsequently appointed visitor of the Spanish missions in the Sonoran Desert
Spanish missions in the Sonoran Desert
The Spanish missions in the Sonoran Desert are a series of Jesuit Catholic religious outposts established by the Spanish Catholic Jesuits and other orders for religious conversions of the Pima and Tohono O'odham indigenous peoples residing in the Sonoran Desert...
in the Sonora y Sinaloa
Sonora y Sinaloa
Sonora y Sinaloa was a province in the Provincias Internas and under the jurisdiction of the Real Audiencia of Guadalajara of Viceroyalty of New Spain. After Independence Sonora y Sinaloa became one of the constituent states of the Mexican Republic...
Province of the Real Audiencia of Guadalajara
Real Audiencia of Guadalajara
The Real Audiencia of Guadalajara was the highest tribunal of the Spanish crown in what is today northern Mexico and the southwestern United States in the Viceroyalty of New Spain. It was created by royal decree on February 13, 1548, and was originally located in Compostela and permanently seated...
in the Viceroyalty of New Spain (Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
). While there he formed a project for the "spiritual conquest" of Baja California
Baja California Peninsula
The Baja California peninsula , is a peninsula in northwestern Mexico. Its land mass separates the Pacific Ocean from the Gulf of California. The Peninsula extends from Mexicali, Baja California in the north to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur in the south.The total area of the Baja California...
, as all the military expeditions to that region of Las Californias had been without success.
Soon afterwards, through conversations with the missionary explorer, Father Eusebio Kino
Eusebio Kino
Eusebio Francisco Kino S.J. was an Italian Roman Catholic priest who became famous in what is now northwestern Mexico and the southwestern United States in the region then known as the Pimaria Alta...
, he conceived an intense desire for the evangelization of the Baja California peninsula
Baja California Peninsula
The Baja California peninsula , is a peninsula in northwestern Mexico. Its land mass separates the Pacific Ocean from the Gulf of California. The Peninsula extends from Mexicali, Baja California in the north to Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur in the south.The total area of the Baja California...
, for which undertaking official authority was finally granted in 1697, all expense to be at the cost of the missionaries. After obtaining permission from his superiors, he sailed on 10 October 1697, for Baja California region of Las Californias
Las Californias
The Californias, or in — - was the name given by the Spanish to their northwestern territory of New Spain, comprising the present day states of Baja California and Baja California Sur on the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico; and the present day U.S. state of California in the United States of...
Province, to found the Spanish missions in Baja California
Spanish missions in Baja California
The Spanish Missions in Baja California comprise a series of religious outposts established by Spanish Catholic religious orders, the Jesuits, the Franciscans and the Dominicans, between 1683 and 1834 to spread the Christian doctrine among the local natives...
chain.
With one small boat's crew and six soldiers Salvatierra landed 15 October 1697, at Concepcion Bay, on the coast of the Baja Peninsula, and a few days later, on 19 October, he laid the foundation of Misión Nuestra Señora de Loreto, the first of the Baja California missions, which he dedicated to Our Lady of Loreto, his special patroness through life. For a time he acted as priest, captain, sentry, and cook, besides studying the language from a vocabulary prepared by an earlier Jesuit visitor, Father Juan Copart, and from local indigenous people
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
who could be induced to come near.
He soon mastered an indigenous language
Indigenous languages of the Americas
Indigenous languages of the Americas are spoken by indigenous peoples from Alaska and Greenland to the southern tip of South America, encompassing the land masses which constitute the Americas. These indigenous languages consist of dozens of distinct language families as well as many language...
, and in seven years established six other missions along the Baja California coast. He also made some important explorations. In the organization and later conduct of the work his chief collaborator was Father Juan de Ugarte
Juan de Ugarte
Juan de Ugarte was a Jesuit missionary-explorer in Baja California Sur, Mexico, and the successor to Juan María de Salvatierra as head of the peninsula's missions.Ugarte was born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras...
. The contributions for this purpose, by generous donors, formed the basis of the historic Fondo Piadoso, or Pious Fund of the Californias
Pious Fund of the Californias
The Pious Fund of the Californias, is a fund, originating in 1697, to sponsor the Roman Catholic Jesuit Spanish missions in Baja California, and Franciscan Spanish missions in Alta California in the Viceroyalty of New Spain from 1769 to 1823, and originally administered by the Jesuits...
. (Later for many years it was a subject of controversy with the republican government of Mexico and U.S.)
In 1704 he was appointed provincial of his order, and resided in Mexico, but when his term was concluded in 1707 he returned to his missions in Baja California
Spanish missions in Baja California
The Spanish Missions in Baja California comprise a series of religious outposts established by Spanish Catholic religious orders, the Jesuits, the Franciscans and the Dominicans, between 1683 and 1834 to spread the Christian doctrine among the local natives...
.
In 1717 he was called to the capital by the Viceroy Baltasar de Zúñiga y Guzmán, to provide material for the History of California, which King Philip V
Philip V of Spain
Philip V was King of Spain from 15 November 1700 to 15 January 1724, when he abdicated in favor of his son Louis, and from 6 September 1724, when he assumed the throne again upon his son's death, to his death.Before his reign, Philip occupied an exalted place in the royal family of France as a...
had ordered to be written. Although suffering from illness, Salvatierra obeyed, and, crossing the Gulf of California
Gulf of California
The Gulf of California is a body of water that separates the Baja California Peninsula from the Mexican mainland...
(Sea of Cortez), continued his voyage along the coast until he arrived in and died at the colonial city of Guadalajara
Guadalajara, Jalisco
Guadalajara is the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, and the seat of the municipality of Guadalajara. The city is located in the central region of Jalisco in the western-pacific area of Mexico. With a population of 1,564,514 it is Mexico's second most populous municipality...
in New Spain
New Spain
New Spain, formally called the Viceroyalty of New Spain , was a viceroyalty of the Spanish colonial empire, comprising primarily territories in what was known then as 'América Septentrional' or North America. Its capital was Mexico City, formerly Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec Empire...
. The whole city assembled at his funeral, and the remains were deposited amidst ceremonies rarely seen at the burial of a Jesuit missionary, in the chapel which he had erected to the Lady of Loreto.
He wrote Cartas sobre la Conquista espiritual de Californias (1698) and Nuevas cartas sobre Californias (1699), which have been used by Father Miguel Venegas
Miguel Venegas
Miguel Venegas was a Jesuit administrator and historian, producing a standard geographical, historical, and ethnographic description of Baja California, Mexico -- a region he never personally visited....
in his Historia de Californias, and his "Relaciones" (1697–1709) in Documentos para la Historia de Mexico (1853-7).
Salvatierra is still known as "the apostle of California," a title he shares with Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
Padre Junípero Serra
Junípero Serra
Blessed Junípero Serra, O.F.M., , known as Fra Juníper Serra in Catalan, his mother tongue was a Majorcan Franciscan friar who founded the mission chain in Alta California of the Las Californias Province in New Spain—present day California, United States. Fr...
, who founded many of the Spanish missions in Alta California
Spanish missions in California
The Spanish missions in California comprise a series of religious and military outposts established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823 to spread the Christian faith among the local Native Americans. The missions represented the first major effort by Europeans to...
.
Monuments and memorials
Salvatierra Walk at Stanford UniversityStanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
is named for Fr. Salvatierra.
See also
- Spanish missions in Baja CaliforniaSpanish missions in Baja CaliforniaThe Spanish Missions in Baja California comprise a series of religious outposts established by Spanish Catholic religious orders, the Jesuits, the Franciscans and the Dominicans, between 1683 and 1834 to spread the Christian doctrine among the local natives...
- Spanish missions in Alta CaliforniaSpanish missions in CaliforniaThe Spanish missions in California comprise a series of religious and military outposts established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823 to spread the Christian faith among the local Native Americans. The missions represented the first major effort by Europeans to...
- Alta CaliforniaAlta CaliforniaAlta California was a province and territory in the Viceroyalty of New Spain and later a territory and department in independent Mexico. The territory was created in 1769 out of the northern part of the former province of Las Californias, and consisted of the modern American states of California,...