Jean de Brébeuf () (25 March 1593 16 March 1649) was a French
Jesuit missionary
A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...
who travelled to
New France
New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to King ...
(
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...
) in 1625. There he worked primarily with the Huron (
Wyandot people
The Wyandot people, or Wyandotte and Waⁿdát, are Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands. The Wyandot are Iroquoian Indigenous peoples of North America who emerged as a confederacy of tribes around the north shore of Lake Ontario ...
) for the rest of his life, except for a few years in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
from 1629 to 1633. He learned their language and culture, writing extensively about each to aid other missionaries.
In 1649, Brébeuf and another missionary were captured when an
Iroquois
The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...
raid took over a Huron village (referred to in French as St. Louis). Together with Huron captives, the
missionaries
A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
were ritually tortured and killed on 16 March 1649. Brébeuf was
beatified
Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to Intercession of saints, intercede on behalf of individua ...
in 1925 and among eight Jesuit missionaries
canonized
Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of s ...
as
saints in the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
in 1930.
Biography
Early years
Brébeuf was born 25 March 1593 in
Condé-sur-Vire,
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
. (He was the uncle of poet
Georges de Brébeuf). He joined the
Society of Jesus
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
in 1617 at the age of 24, spending the next two years under the direction of Lancelot Marin. Between 1619 and 1621, he was a teacher at the college of
Rouen
Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the region of Normandy and the department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe, the population ...
. Brébeuf was nearly expelled from the Society when he contracted
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in w ...
in 1620—a severe and usually fatal illness that prevented his studying and teaching for the traditional periods.
His record as a student was not particularly distinguished, but Brébeuf was already beginning to show an aptitude for languages. Later in New France, he would teach
Native American languages to missionaries and French traders. Brébeuf was ordained as a
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
at
Pontoise Cathedral in February 1622.
Missionary
After three years as Steward at the College of Rouen, Brébeuf was chosen by the Provincial of France, Father
Pierre Coton, to embark on the missions to
New France
New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to King ...
.
In June 1625, Brébeuf arrived in
Québec with Fathers
Charles Lalemant
Charles Lallemant (or Lalemant), (November 17, 1587 – November 18, 1674) was a French Jesuit. He was born in Paris in 1587 and later became the first Superior of the Jesuit Missions amongst the Huron in Canada. His letter to his brother, ...
and
Énemond Massé, together with the lay brothers Francois Charton and Gilbert Burel. He worked at the
Sainte-Marie among the Hurons. For about five months Brébeuf lived with a tribe of
Montagnais, who spoke an
Algonquian language. He was later assigned in 1626 to the
Huron with Father Anne Nouée. From then on Brébeuf worked mostly as a missionary to the Huron, who spoke an
Iroquoian
The Iroquoian languages are a language family of indigenous peoples of North America. They are known for their general lack of labial consonants. The Iroquoian languages are polysynthetic and head-marking.
As of 2020, all surviving Iroquoia ...
language. Brébeuf briefly took up residence with the Bear Tribe at
Toanché, but met with no success in trying to convert them to Catholicism. He was summoned to Québec because of the danger to which the entire colony was then exposed by the
English. He reached Québec on 17 July 1628 after an absence of two years. On 19 July 1629,
Samuel de Champlain surrendered, and the missionaries returned to France.
In Rouen, Brébeuf served as a preacher and
confessor, taking his final
Jesuit vows in 1630. Between 1631 and 1633, Brébeuf worked at the College of
Eu, Seine-Maritime in northern France as a steward, minister and confessor. He returned to New France in 1633, where he lived and worked for the rest of his life.
Along with
Antoine Daniel and Ambroise Davost, Brébeuf chose ''Ihonatiria'' (Saint-Joseph I) as the centre for missionary activity with the Huron. At the time, the Huron suffered epidemics of new Eurasian diseases contracted from the Europeans. Their death rates were high, as they had no
immunity to the diseases long
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...
in Europe. They, with our hindsight, rightly blamed the Europeans for the deaths, with none of the parties understanding the causes.
Called ''Échon'' by the Hurons, Brébeuf was personally involved with teaching. His lengthy conversations with Huron friends left him with a good knowledge of their culture and spirituality. He learned their language and taught it to other missionaries and colonists. Fellow Jesuits such as
Paul Ragueneau describe his ease and adaptability to the Huron way of life.
His efforts to develop a complete ethnographic record of the Huron has been described as "the longest and most ambitious piece of ethnographic description in all ''
The Jesuit Relations''". Brébeuf tried to find parallels between the Huron religion and Christianity, so as to facilitate conversion of the Huron to the European religion. Brébeuf was known by the Huron for his apparent
shaman
Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a Spirit world (Spiritualism), spirit world through Altered state of consciousness, altered states of consciousness, such as tranc ...
istic skills, especially in rainmaking. Despite his efforts to learn their ways, he considered Huron spiritual beliefs to be undeveloped and "foolish delusions"; he was determined to convert them to Christianity. Brébeuf did not enjoy universal popularity with the Huron, as many believed he was a sorcerer. By 1640, nearly half the Huron had died of
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) ce ...
and the losses disrupted their society. Many children and elders died. With their loved ones dying before their eyes, many Huron began to listen to the words of Jesuit missionaries who, unaffected by the disease, appeared to be men of great power.
Brébeuf's progress as a missionary in achieving conversions was slow. Not until 1635 did some Huron agree to be
baptized
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
as Christians. He claimed to have made 14 converts as of 1635 and, by the next year, he claimed 86. He wrote a detailed account in 1636 of
The Huron Feast of the Dead, a mass reburial of remains of loved ones after a community moved the location of its village. It was accompanied by elaborate ritual and gift-giving.
In 1638, Brébeuf turned over direction of the mission at Saint-Joseph I to
Jérôme Lalemant; he was called to become Superior at his newly founded Saint-Joseph II. In 1640, after an unsuccessful mission into
Neutral Nation
The Neutral Confederacy (also Neutral Nation, Neutral people, or ''Attawandaron'' by neighbouring tribes) were an Iroquoian people who lived in what is now southwestern and south-central Ontario in Canada, North America. They lived throughout t ...
territory, Brébeuf broke his collarbone. He was sent to Québec to recover, and worked there as a mission procurator. He taught the Huron, acting as confessor and advisor to the
Ursulines and
Religious Hospitallers. On Sundays and feast days, he preached to French colonists.
Brébeuf is credited with composing the "
Huron Carol", Canada's oldest Christmas song, written around 1642. He wrote the lyrics in the
native language
A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tong ...
of the
Huron/
Wendat people. The song's melody is based on a traditional
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
folk song, "
Une Jeune Pucelle" (A Young Maid).
Linguistic work
The educational rigor of the Jesuit
seminaries prepared missionaries to acquire native languages. But, as they had learned the
classical and
Romance languages
The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language f ...
, they likely had difficulty with the very different conventions of the New World indigenous languages. Brébeuf's study of the languages was also shaped by his religious training. Current Catholic theology tried to reconcile knowledge of world languages with accounts in the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts o ...
of the
tower of Babel, as this was the basis of European history. This influence can be seen in his discussion of language in his accounts collected in ''The Jesuit Relations.''
Jean de Brébeuf's remarkable facility with language was one of the reasons he was chosen for the Huron mission in 1626. He is distinguished for his commitment to learning the
Huron (Wyandot) language. People with a strong positive attitude towards the language often learn the language much more easily. Brébeuf was widely acknowledged to have best mastered the Native oratory style, which used
metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...
,
circumlocution
Circumlocution (also called circumduction, circumvolution, periphrasis, kenning, or ambage) is the use of an unnecessarily large number of words to express an idea. It is sometimes necessary in communication (for example, to work around lexical g ...
and
repetition
Repetition may refer to:
*Repetition (rhetorical device), repeating a word within a short space of words
* Repetition (bodybuilding), a single cycle of lifting and lowering a weight in strength training
*Working title for the 1985 slasher film '' ...
. Learning the language was still onerous, and he wrote to warn other missionaries of the difficulties.
To explain the low number of converts, Brébeuf noted that missionaries first had to master the Huron language. His commitment to this work demonstrates he understood that mutual intelligibility was vital for communicating complex and abstract religious ideas. He believed learning native languages was imperative for the Jesuit missions, but noted that it was so difficult a task that it consumed most of the priest's time. Brébeuf felt his primary goal in his early years in New France was to learn the language.
With increasing proficiency in the Wyandot language, Brébeuf became optimistic about advancing his missionary goals. By understanding Huron religious beliefs and communicating Christian fundamentals, he could secure converts to Christianity. He realized the people would not give up all their traditional beliefs.
Brébeuf worked tirelessly to record his findings for the benefit of other missionaries. He built on the work of
Recollects priests but significantly advanced the study, particularly in his representations of sounds. He discovered and reported the feature of
compound words in Huron, which may have been his major
linguistic contribution. This breakthrough had enormous consequences for further study, becoming the foundation for all subsequent Jesuit linguistic work.
He translated Ledesma's
catechism from French into Huron, and arranged to have it printed. It was the first printed text in that language (with French orthography). He also compiled a dictionary of Huron words, emphasizing translation of religious phrases such as from prayers and the Bible.
Death
Brébeuf was killed at St. Ignace in
Huronia on 16 March 1649. He had been taken captive with
Gabriel Lalemant when the
Iroquois
The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...
destroyed the Huron mission village at Saint-Louis. The Iroquois took the priests to the occupied village of
Taenhatenteron (also known as St. Ignace), where they subjected the missionaries and native converts to ritual torture before killing them.
Three priests had been killed in
Mohawk country at
Ossernenon in 1642 and 1646.
Antoine Daniel had been killed in a similar Iroquois raid in 1648.
Charles Garnier was killed by Iroquois in December 1649 in a
Petun
The Petun (from french: pétun), also known as the Tobacco people or Tionontati ("People Among the Hills/Mountains"), were an indigenous Iroquoian people of the woodlands of eastern North America. Their last known traditional homeland was so ...
(Tobacco People) village, and
Noel Chabanel was also martyred that year in the conflict between the Mohawk and other tribes. The Jesuits considered the priests' martyrdom as proof that the mission to the Native Americans was blessed by God and would be successful.
Throughout the torture, Brébeuf was reported to have been more concerned for the fate of the other Jesuits and of the captive Native converts than for himself. As part of the ritual, the Iroquois drank his blood and ate his heart, as they wanted to absorb Brébeuf's courage in enduring the pain. The Iroquois mocked baptism by pouring boiling water over his head.
The Jesuits Christophe Regnault and Paul Ragueneau provided the two accounts of the deaths of Jean de Brébeuf and Gabriel Lalemant. According to Regnault, they learned of the tortures and deaths from Huron refugee witnesses who had escaped from Saint-Ignace. Regnault went to see the bodies to verify the accounts, and his superior Ragueneau's account was based on his report. The main accounts of Brébeuf's death come from ''The Jesuit Relations.'' Jesuit accounts of his torture emphasize his stoic nature and acceptance, claiming that he suffered silently without complaining.
Potential martyrdom was a central component of the Jesuit missionary identity. Missionaries going to Canada knew they were at risk from harsh conditions, as well as from confronting alien cultures. They expected to die in the name of God; they believed the missionary life and its risks were a chance to save converts and be saved.
Relics, beatification and canonization
Fathers Brébeuf and Lalement were recovered and buried together in a Sainte Marie cemetery. Brébeuf's relics later became important religious objects within Catholic New France. Historian Allan Greer notes that "his death seemed to fit the profile of a perfect martyr's end" and was preceded by what were considered religious signs pointing to correspondences with the
Passion of Christ, which added to the significance of Brébeuf. On 21 March 1649, Jesuit inspectors found the bodies of Brébeuf and Lalement. In the late spring of 1649, Christophe Regnault prepared the skeletal remains of Brébeuf and Lalemant for transportation to Québec for safekeeping. Regnault boiled away the remaining flesh and reburied it in the mission church, scraped the bones and dried them in an oven, wrapped each relic in separate silk, deposited them in two small chests, and sent them to Québec.
Brébeuf's family later donated his skull in a silver
reliquary
A reliquary (also referred to as a '' shrine'', by the French term ''châsse'', and historically including '' phylacteries'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary may be called a ''fereter'', and a chapel in which it is housed a ''fe ...
to the Catholic church orders in Québec. It was held by the women of the
Hôtel-Dieu de Québec and the Ursuline convent from 1650 until 1925, when the relics were moved to the Québec Seminary for a ceremony to celebrate Brébeuf's
beatification
Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their na ...
. According to Catholic belief, these relics provide physical access to the influence of the saint of whom they are a part.
In 1652 Paul Raguenau went through the ''Relations'' and pulled out material relating to the martyrs of New France. He formalized this material in a document, to be used as the foundation of canonization proceedings, entitled ''Memoires touchant la mort et les vertus (des Pères Jesuits),'' or the ''Manuscript of 1652.'' The religious communities in New France considered the Jesuit martyrs as imitators of previous saints in the Catholic Church. In this sense, Brébeuf in particular, and others like him, reinforced the notion that "...Canada was a land of saints".
Catherine de Saint-Augustin
Mary Catherine of St. Augustine, OSA, (french: Marie-Catherine de Saint-Augustin) (3 May 1632 – 8 May 1668) was a French canoness regular who was instrumental in the development of the Hôtel-Dieu de Québec in service to the colony of Ne ...
said that Brébeuf appeared to her in a vision at the Québec Hôtel-Dieu while she was in a state of "mystical ecstasy," and he acted as her spiritual advisor. According to one account, Catherine de Saint-Augustin ground up part of Brébeuf's relic bone and gave it in a drink to a heretical and mortally ill man. It is said that the man was cured of his disease. In another instance, in 1660–61, a possessed woman was
exorcised by the aid of one of Brébeuf's ribs, again while under the care of Catherine de Saint-Augustin. The exact circumstances of this event are disputed. Brébeuf's relics were also used by nuns who were treating wounded
Huguenot
The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Bez ...
(Protestant) soldiers, and they "reported that his assistance
one slivers put in soldiers' drinks
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length  ...
helped rescue these patients from
heresy
Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...
".
Jean de Brébeuf was canonized by
Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fr ...
on 29 June 1930, and proclaimed one of the patron saints of Canada by
Pope Pius XII on 16 October 1940. A contemporary newspaper account of the canonization declares: "Brébeuf, the '
Ajax of the mission', stands out among them
thers made saints with himbecause of his giant frame, a man of noble birth, of vigorous passions tamed by religion," describing both the man and his defining drive according to formal terms of hagiography.
Modern era
It is said that the modern name of the
Native North American Native North American may refer to:
* Indigenous peoples in Canada
*Native Americans in the United States
** Alaska Natives
*Indigenous peoples of Mexico
Indigenous peoples of Mexico ( es, gente indígena de México, pueblos indígenas de Méx ...
sport of
lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensi ...
was first coined by Brébeuf who thought that the sticks used in the game reminded him of a bishop's
crosier (''crosse'' in
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
, and with the feminine definite article, ''la crosse'').
He is buried in the Church of St. Joseph at the reconstructed Jesuit mission of
Sainte-Marie among the Hurons across
Highway 12
Route 12 or Highway 12 can refer to:
For a list of roads named A12, see A12 roads.
International
* Asian Highway 12
* European route E12
* European route E012
Argentina
* National Route 12
Australia NSW
* Western Sydney Airport Motorway ( ...
from the
Martyrs' Shrine Catholic Church near
Midland, Ontario. A plaque near the grave of Jean de Brébeuf and Gabriel Lalemant was unearthed during excavations at Ste Marie in 1954. The letters read "P. Jean de Brébeuf /brusle par les Iroquois /le 17 de mars l'an/1649" (Father Jean de Brébeuf, burned by the Iroquois, 17 March 1649).
In September 1984,
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
prayed over Brébeuf's skull before fully joining in an outdoor ecumenical service on the grounds of the nearby Martyrs' Shrine. The service was attended by an estimated 75,000 and mixed pre-Christian first-nation ritual with Catholic liturgy.
Numerous schools are named in his honour:
* St. Jean Brebeuf School in
Calgary, Alberta
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Canadian Prairies, Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population ...
* St. John Brebeuf Regional Secondary School in
Abbotsford, British Columbia.
* St. John Brebeuf School in
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...
, which is part of the St. John Brebeuf Catholic Parish
*
Brebeuf College School in
Toronto, Ontario
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
* St. Jean de Brébeuf Catholic Secondary School in
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of ...
* St. Jean de Brébeuf Catholic Elementary School in
Brantford, Ontario (Closed 2009)
*
St. Jean de Brebeuf Catholic High School
St. Jean de Brebeuf Catholic High School, also known as SJB, is a Catholic high school located in Woodbridge, Ontario, Canada. Opened in September 2005 to about 600 students, it has since grown to about 1500 enrolled students. The school starte ...
in
Vaughan, Ontario
Vaughan () (2021 population 323,103) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increas ...
* St. Jean Brebeuf Catholic School in
Brampton, Ontario
Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a lower-tier municipality within Peel Region. The city has a population of 656,480 as of the 2021 Census, making it th ...
* St. John Brebeuf Catholic School in
Erin, Ontario, which is part of St. John Brebeuf Catholic Parish, part of the
Roman Catholic Diocese in Hamilton, Ontario
*
Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf in
Montreal, Quebec
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-p ...
* École Jean-de-Brébeuf in
Gatineau, Québec
*
Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School
Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School (BJPS) is a private college-preparatory school founded by the Jesuits and located on the northwest side of Indianapolis. It is a part of the Midwest Province of the Society of Jesus and geographically located ...
in Indianapolis, Indiana
There is Eglise St-Jean de Brebeuf in
Sudbury, Ontario
Sudbury, officially the City of Greater Sudbury is the largest city in Northern Ontario by population, with a population of 166,004 at the 2021 Canadian Census. By land area, it is the largest in Ontario and the fifth largest in Canada. It is ...
, and a St. John Brebeuf Catholic Parish in
Niles, Illinois, USA. There is also a unit at
Camp Ondessonk in the
Shawnee National Forest named after Jean de Brébeuf. The Catholic camp is named for all of the
North American Martyrs
The Canadian Martyrs, also known as the North American Martyrs (French language, French: ''Saints martyrs canadiens'', Holy Canadian Martyrs), were eight Jesuit missions in North America#Missions, Jesuit missionaries from Sainte-Marie among the H ...
and those who helped them.
The
parish municipality of
Brébeuf, Quebec, is named after him, as is rue de Brébeuf on the
Plateau Mont-Royal in Montreal. Parc Brébeuf in the
Hull
Hull may refer to:
Structures
* Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle
* Fuselage, of an aircraft
* Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds
* Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship
* Submarine hull
Mathematics
* Affine hull, in affi ...
region of Gatineau, Quebec is named in his honour, and features a statue.
The character of Christophe in ''
The Orenda
''The Orenda'' is a historical novel by Canadian author Joseph Boyden. It was published by Hamish Hamilton in 2013.
Summary
The novel takes place in what was to become Canada in the early 17th century and is narrated by a Huron warrior named B ...
'', a 2013 novel by Joseph Boyden, is based on Jean de Brebeuf.
The novel won the 2014
Canada Reads competition, a reality show with elimination-style voting on CBC Radio.
Jean de Brébeuf is the subject of ''Brébeuf and his Brethren'', a blank-verse
epic poem by the Canadian poet
E. J. Pratt
Edwin John Dove Pratt (February 4, 1882 – April 26, 1964), who published as E. J. Pratt, was "the leading Canadian poet of his time." ,
FRSC, for which Pratt was awarded one of his three
Governor General's Awards for Poetry in 1940.
See also
*
Saint Jean de Brébeuf, patron saint archive
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
* Bimbenet-Privat, Michèle,
Le buste reliquaire de saint Jean de Brébeuf par Charles de Poilly (1664), Un chef-d'œuvre de l'orfèvrerie parisienne conservé au Québec», Bulletin de la Société nationale des antiquaires de France 1995, Paris, Édition-diffusion de Boccard, 1997, p. 229-235, 4 ill.
* Derome, Robert,
Le buste-reliquaire de saint Jean de Brébeuf, histoires et mythes», Bulletin de la Société nationale des antiquaires de France 1995, Paris, Édition-diffusion de Boccard, 1997, p. 236-253, 6 ill.
* Rev.
Sabine Baring-Gould
Sabine Baring-Gould ( ; 28 January 1834 – 2 January 1924) of Lew Trenchard in Devon, England, was an Anglican priest, hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist, folk song collector and eclectic scholar. His bibliography consists of more than 1, ...
(M.A.). "THE JESUIT MARTYRS IN CANADA. (A.D. 1644-1649.)." In: ''
The Lives of the Saints.'' Volume the Eighth: July - Part II. London: John C. Nimmo, 1898. pp. 733–788.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brebeuf, Jean De
1593 births
1649 deaths
Battles of the Beaver Wars
Jesuit martyrs
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17th-century French Jesuits
Martyred Roman Catholic priests
Roman Catholic missionaries in Canada
17th-century Canadian Jesuits
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