Zeno de Beauge (: 1603 – 21 January 1687) was a French Capuchin missionary, who spent his later life in India.

Missionary career

Zeno de Beauge was born in 1603 in

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the prov ...

in the region of

Pays de la Loire Pays de la Loire (; ; br, Broioù al Liger) is one of the 18 regions of France, in the west of the mainland. It was created in the 1950s to serve as a zone of influence for its capital, Nantes, one of a handful of "balancing metropolises" (). ...

, France. He was first sent as missionary to the Middle East countries in 1637. When the

Propaganda Fide Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

was created in 1622,

Pope Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII ( la, Urbanus VIII; it, Urbano VIII; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death in July 1644. As po ...

asked the newly ordained first Indian Bishop

Matheus de Castro Dom Matheus de Castro ( 1594–1679) was a native of Divar, Goa, Portuguese India. He was the first Indian Bishop of the Catholic Church. Consecrated Bishop of Chrysopolis in Rome by the Vatican and appointed Vicar Apostolic to the Kingdoms of Bi ...

to take the French Capuchin missionaries from Syria to Indian Missions. Three French Capuchin missionaries from Alep, the French Capuchin custody headed by Zeno de Beaugé, traveled with Matheus de Castro and reached

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

on 26 December 1639. The

Padroado The ''Padroado'' (, "patronage") was an arrangement between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Portugal and later the Portuguese Republic, through a series of concordats by which the Holy See delegated the administration of the local churches and gra ...

clergy of Goa opposed the Propaganda missionaries in India, so Zeno de Beaugé proceeded to

Surat Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now ...

and founded the first Capuchin Mission in India under the protection of the English in 1639. When Father

Ephrem de Nevers Ephrem de Nevers (between 1607 and 1610 - 13 October 1695) was a native of Nevers, France. He was a Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, Capuchin Franciscan priest and the first Christian missionary in Madras (Chennai), Tamil Nadu, India. De Nevers fou ...

was arrested by the Portuguese Inquisition in 1649, he went to

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

Capuchin mission to take steps for his release. Zeno remained there with him as his companion during the development of the first Christian Mission in Madras. He died at the age of 84, on 21 January 1687 and was buried at St. Andrew,

Fort St. George Fort St. George (or historically, White Town) is a fortress in the coastal city of Chennai, India. Founded in 1639, it was the first English (later British) fortress in India. The construction of the fort provided the impetus for further ...

, the first church of Madras.Felix of ANTEWRAP, Essays on the Capuchin Missions in India, Agra, Offprint from Franciscan annals of India, p. 2.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beauge, Zeno de Roman Catholic missionaries in India French Roman Catholic missionaries Capuchin missionaries in India 1603 births 1687 deaths French expatriates in India