Missions
Franciscan priests ventured into the frontier to reach Indigenous villages. They established missions across northern Florida and along the Georgia coast. The mission system endured for more than 100 years. In the process, the Indigenous cultures changed drastically and then nearly disappeared.
Motivations
The Spanish government, missionaries, and the Indigenous people of La Florida each had their own motivations for supporting or accepting the missions. The government believed that a population of peaceful, Christian converts would provide food, labor, and security to the colonists. Thus, soon after his arrival in St. Augustine, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés sent a request to Spain for Jesuit priests to begin missionary work among Florida’s Indigenous population. The missionaries wanted to convert the Native Floridians to Christianity. By allowing the missions and the religion they promoted, Indigenous leaders received gifts from the Spaniards and strengthened their positions.
The Jesuits
In 1566, the Jesuits began missionary work in the new colony, but some of them soon were killed by Native Floridians. They briefly attempted work among the Guale people in Georgia and some missionaries reached Chesapeake Bay but were killed. Jesuits also built short-lived missions in south Florida, but gave up their efforts, and left Florida in 1572.
The Franciscans
The first Franciscan missionaries reached Florida one year after the Jesuits departed. Initially, they focused on the Indigenous tribes around St. Augustine. New converts attended church services in town. Beginning in 1595, efforts intensified, and more Franciscans arrived in Florida. During the mission period, more than 270 priests worked in Florida.
Nombre de Dios
By 1587, the Franciscans had built missions at the Timucuan villages of Nombre de Dios, north of St. Augustine, and San Sebastian to the south.
Nombre de Dios, from map of the town, fort, and entrance to the harbor of St. Augustine and vicinity, Florida, 1595. Library of Congress Geography and Map Division
Doña Maria Meléndez
Life-cast figure representing Doña Maria Meléndez
Doña Maria Meléndez, the cacica, or woman chief, of the Nombre de Dios mission was a Timucua Indian and a lifelong Christian. Her mother, also a cacica, was one of the first converted leaders. Doña Maria provided aid to the Spaniards in times of need. When the town experienced a food shortage, she sent St. Augustine a supply of corn to fend off a possible famine. She married a Spanish soldier named Clemente Vernal, and the two lived at Nombre de Dios with their children. By 1606, her rule had extended to Timucuan groups along the coast from St. Augustine to Cumberland Island, in present-day Georgia, possibly reflecting her importance gleaned from association with the Spaniards.
Expansion
In the 1590s, Franciscans established missions among the eastern Timucua, along the northeast Florida and south Georgia coasts. As disease affected these populations, missionaries began making forays into western Timucua territory, which stretched across northern Florida. In the 1630s, missionaries turned to the Apalachee in the Panhandle. In south Florida, despite several attempts by missionaries, the Indigenous tribes rejected conversion.
South Florida
In 1697, the Franciscans sought to build a mission among the Calusa who lived in southwest Florida. At first the Calusa welcomed the missionaries because they were expecting gifts. They soon realized they would not be receiving goods and understood their traditional religion would be banned. The Calusa adhered strongly to their religious beliefs. They became increasingly hostile and finally forced the missionaries to leave.
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