Fray Pieter van der Moere, also known as Fray Pedro de Gante or Pedro de Mura (c. 1480 – 1572) was a

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

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 ...

in sixteenth century

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

. Born in

Geraardsbergen Geraardsbergen (; french: Grammont, ) is a city and municipality located in the Denderstreek and in the Flemish Ardennes, the hilly southern part of the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Geraardsbergen pro ...

in present-day

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

, he was of

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

descent. Since

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

, like

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

, belonged to the Habsburg Empire and he was a relative of King Charles V (he was thought to be a bastard son of Emperor Maximilian I), he was allowed to travel to the colonies of

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the A ...

as one of a group of Franciscan friars. Gante's group in fact arrived before the 12 Franciscans normally thought of as the first friars in New Spain. In Mexico he spent his life as a missionary, indoctrinating the indigenous population in Christian catechism and dogma. He learned

Nahuatl Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have small ...

, the language of the

Aztec The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl ...

s, and composed a Christian "doctrina". One of his most significant contributions to Mexico was the creation of the School of San Jose de los Naturales. This was the first school set up by Europeans in the Americas.Torre Villar, Ernesto de la. 1974. Fray Pedro de Gante: Maestro y civilizador de America. Estudios de Historia Novohispana V. 9 – 77

In 1988 he was Beatification, beatified, by 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 ...

. He was ranked 99th in a 2005 vote on the list of Greatest Belgians (

De Grootste Belg ''De Grootste Belg'' (The Greatest Belgian) was a 2005 vote conducted by Belgian public TV broadcaster Canvas, public radio broadcaster Radio 1, and newspaper ''De Standaard'', to determine who is the Greatest Belgian of all time. It could be ...

Works

Manuscripts * ''Catecismo de la doctrina cristiana con jeroglíficos, para la enseñanza de los indios de México'': Madrid, Archivo Histórico Nacional, Códice 1257B. Published Works * ''Doctrina Christiana en Lengua Mexicana. Per signum crucis. Icamachiotl cruz yhuicpain toya chua Xitech momaquixtili Totecuiyoc diose. Ica inmotocatzin. Tetatzin yhuan Tepilizin yhuan Spiritus Sancti. Amen Jesús'' (first published ''ca.'' 1547, Mexico: Juan Pablos; 1553, Amberes; 1553, Mexico: Juan Pablos, 1555. Facsimile edition with comments by ed. Ernesto de la Torre Villar (Mexico, 1981). * ''Catecismo de la doctrina cristiana con jeroglíficos, para la enseñanza de los indios de México'', Facsimile edition with comments by Federico Navarro (Madrid, 1970) / Justino Cortés Castellanos, ''El catecismo en pictogramas de Fr. Pedro de Gante'' (Madrid, 1987). * ''Cartas, versos religiosos en mejicano'', ed. en: Joaquín García Icazbalceta, ''Códice franciscano'' (Mexico, 1941), 212ff.

References

External links

The Franciscan Encyclopedia on Pedro de Gante

Information at De Grootste Belg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gante 1480s births 1572 deaths People from Geraardsbergen Flemish Franciscans Belgian beatified people Translators from Nahuatl Novohispanic Mesoamericanists 16th-century Mesoamericanists 16th-century venerated Christians