Jean de Brébeuf () (25 March 1593 16 March 1649) was a French Jesuit

missionary 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 ...

who travelled to

New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by 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 Great Britain and Spa ...

(

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 tot ...

) 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 area ...

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 were ritually tortured and killed on 16 March 1649. Brébeuf was beatified 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 Condé-sur-Vire (, literally ''Condé on Vire'') is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, the former commune of Le Mesnil-Raoult was merged into Condé-sur-Vire. On 1 January 2017, the former ...

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 ...

. (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. 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, i ...

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 language Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and enterta ...

s 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 partic ...

Pontoise Cathedral Pontoise Cathedral (french: Cathédrale Saint-Maclou de Pontoise) is a Roman Catholic church located in the town of Pontoise, on the outskirts of Val d'Oise in Paris, France. The cathedral, dedicated to Saint Maclovius otherwise Saint Malo (''Sai ...

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 Pierre Coton (7 March 1564, at Néronde in Forez – 19 March 1626, at Paris) was a French Jesuit and royal confessor. Life Coton studied law at Paris and Bourges, entered the Society of Jesus at the age of twenty-five, and was sent to Milan to ...

, to embark on the missions to

. In June 1625, Brébeuf arrived in Québec with Fathers Charles Lalemant and

Énemond Massé Énemond Massé (3 August 1575 – 12 May 1646) was a French Jesuit missionary, one of the first Jesuits sent to New France. Life Nesmes Massé was born 3 August 1575 at Lyon. He was the eldest son of François and Philippe Bica Massé. His f ...

, together with the lay brothers Francois Charton and Gilbert Burel. He worked at the

Sainte-Marie among the Hurons Sainte-Marie among the Hurons (french: Sainte-Marie-au-pays-des-Hurons) was a French Jesuit settlement in Wendake, the land of the Wendat, near modern Midland, Ontario, from 1639 to 1649. It was the first European settlement in what is now the ...

. 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 Iroquoian ...

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 English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. 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 Confessor is a title used within Christianity in several ways. Confessor of the Faith Its oldest use is to indicate a saint who has suffered persecution and torture for the faith but not to the point of death.Jesuit vows in 1630. Between 1631 and 1633, Brébeuf worked at the College of

Eu, Seine-Maritime Eu () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. Eu is located near the coast in the eastern part of the department, near the border with Picardy. Its inhabitants are known in French as the ''Eudo ...

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 else ...

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 through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spir ...

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) c ...

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 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 The Huron Feast of the Dead was a mortuary custom of the Wyandot people of what is today central Ontario, Canada, which involved the disinterment of deceased relatives from their initial individual graves followed by their reburial in a final commun ...

, 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 ...

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 The Ursulines, also known as the Order of Saint Ursula (post-nominals: OSU), is an enclosed religious order of consecrated women that branched off from the Angelines, also known as the Company of Saint Ursula, in 1572. Like the Angelines, they ...

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 tongu ...

of the Huron/ Wendat people. The song's melody is based on a traditional French

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

song, " Une Jeune Pucelle" (A Young Maid).

Linguistic work

The educational rigor of the Jesuit

seminaries A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

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 ...

, 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 ...

of the

tower of Babel The Tower of Babel ( he, , ''Mīgdal Bāḇel'') narrative in Genesis 11:1–9 is an origin myth meant to explain why the world's peoples speak different languages. According to the story, a united human race speaking a single language and mi ...

, 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 wi ...

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 ga ...

and repetition. 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 The Recollects (french: Récollets) were a French reform branch of the Friars Minor, a Franciscan order. Denoted by their gray habits and pointed hoods, the Recollects took vows of poverty and devoted their lives to prayer, penance, and spiri ...

priests but significantly advanced the study, particularly in his representations of sounds. He discovered and reported the feature of

compound words In linguistics, a compound is a lexeme (less precisely, a word or sign) that consists of more than one stem. Compounding, composition or nominal composition is the process of word formation that creates compound lexemes. Compounding occurs when ...

in Huron, which may have been his major

linguistic Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

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

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 Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans * Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people * Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been ...

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 sou ...

(Tobacco People) village, and

Noel Chabanel Noel or Noël may refer to: Christmas * , French for Christmas * Noel is another name for a Christmas carol Places *Noel, Missouri, United States, a city *Noel, Nova Scotia, Canada, a community * 1563 Noël, an asteroid *Mount Noel, British ...

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 In Christianity, the Passion (from the Latin verb ''patior, passus sum''; "to suffer, bear, endure", from which also "patience, patient", etc.) is the short final period in the life of Jesus Christ. Depending on one's views, the "Passion" m ...

, 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 to the Catholic church orders in Québec. It was held by the women of the

Hôtel-Dieu de Québec The Hotel-Dieu de Québec is a teaching hospital located in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, and affiliated with Université Laval's medical school. It is part of the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Québec (CHUQ), a network of five teaching hos ...

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 nam ...

. 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 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 Be ...

(Protestant) soldiers, and they "reported that his assistance one slivers put in soldiers' drinkshelped 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 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 Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Gree ...

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 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 extensiv ...

was first coined by Brébeuf who thought that the sticks used in the game reminded him of a bishop's

crosier A crosier or crozier (also known as a paterissa, pastoral staff, or bishop's staff) is a stylized staff that is a symbol of the governing office of a bishop or abbot and is carried by high-ranking prelates of Roman Catholic, Eastern Cathol ...

(''crosse'' in French, and with the feminine definite article, ''la crosse''). He is buried in the Church of St. Joseph at the reconstructed Jesuit mission of

across Highway 12 from the Martyrs' Shrine Catholic Church near

Midland, Ontario Midland is a town located on Georgian Bay in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. It is part of the Huronia/Wendat region of Central Ontario. Located at the southern end of Georgian Bay's 30,000 Islands, Midland is the economic centre of the region, ...

. 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 Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

* 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 749,6 ...

, which is part of the St. John Brebeuf Catholic Parish *

Brebeuf College School Brebeuf College School (Brebeuf College, BCS, or Brebeuf) is a publicly funded Roman Catholic all-boys high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada endorsed by the Jesuits of Canada. Founded by the Jesuits in 1963, it is part of the Toronto Catholic Di ...

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 Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a Canada 2016 Census, population of 569,353, and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington, ...

* St. Jean de Brébeuf Catholic Elementary School in

Brantford, Ontario Brantford ( 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by Brant County, but is politically separate with a municipal government of its own that is fully indepen ...

(Closed 2009) * St. Jean de Brebeuf Catholic High School 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 As of October 5, 2021, the Catholic Church in its entirety comprises 3,171 ecclesiastical jurisdictions, including over 652 archdioceses and 2,248 dioceses, as well as apostolic vicariates, apostolic exarchates, apostolic administrations, ap ...

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-pe ...

* École Jean-de-Brébeuf in

Gatineau, Québec Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in western Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region and is part of Canada's Nat ...

* Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis, Indiana St Jean de Brébeuf mosbo6

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 a ...

, and a St. John Brebeuf Catholic Parish in Niles, Illinois, USA. There is also a unit at Camp Ondessonk in the

Shawnee National Forest The Shawnee National Forest is a United States National Forest located in the Ozark and Shawnee Hills of Southern Illinois, United States. Administered by the U.S.D.A. Forest Service, it consists of approximately 280,000 acres (1,100 km²) ...

named after Jean de Brébeuf. The Catholic camp is named for all of the North American Martyrs and those who helped them. The parish municipality of

Brébeuf, Quebec Brébeuf is a parish municipality in the Laurentides region of Quebec, Canada, part of Les Laurentides Regional County Municipality. It is located along the Rouge River (''Rivière Rouge''), near Mont-Tremblant. Demographics In the 2021 Cen ...

, is named after him, as is rue de Brébeuf on the Plateau Mont-Royal in Montreal. Parc Brébeuf in the Hull region of Gatineau, Quebec is named in his honour, and features a statue. The character of Christophe in '' The Orenda'', a 2013 novel by Joseph Boyden, is based on Jean de Brebeuf. The novel won the 2014

Canada Reads ''Canada Reads'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC. The program has aired in two distinct editions, the English-language ''Canada Reads'' on CBC Radio One, and the Frenc ...

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 An epic poem, or simply an epic, is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. ...

by the Canadian poet E. J. Pratt, FRSC, for which Pratt was awarded one of his three

Governor General's Awards The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

for Poetry in 1940.

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, �
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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 1,2 ...

(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 Jesuit saints 17th-century French Jesuits Martyred Roman Catholic priests Roman Catholic missionaries in Canada 17th-century Canadian Jesuits Canadian Roman Catholic saints French Roman Catholic saints 17th-century Christian saints 17th-century Roman Catholic martyrs French Roman Catholic missionaries People murdered in Canada French murder victims Jesuit missionaries in New France French torture victims