Claude d'Abbeville was a 17th-century French
Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...
friar who worked as a missionary with the
Tupinambá in
Maranhão
Maranhão () is a States of Brazil, state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of and it is divided into 217 municipalities. Clockwise from north, it ...
, modern
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
. He was part of a colonizing party and a mission of four Franciscans sent under a 1611 patent letter from the Regent
Marie de Médicis, and was also accompanied by Father
Yves D'Evreux.
[MacCormack (2000), p.110][Dickason (2001) pp.103ff]
Biography
The colonial enterprise to found "
France Équinoxiale" was led by
Daniel de la Tousche, sieur de la Ravardière, and
François de Razilly.
The outpost would later become the city of
São Luís do Maranhão.
The French arrived in the island in August 1612.
One of the objectives of the mission was to establish trade in
brazilwood and
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
.
The fathers worked on the island of
Maragnan in the mouth of the Amazon, where the French
Fort Saint Louis was founded as a
Roman Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
mission in 1612-15.
The two fathers Claude d'Abbeville and Yves D'Evreux learned the Tupinambá language and wrote about their experience.
The Catholic colonial endeavours of the early 17th century followed the earlier
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
attempts at establishing a colony in South America, especially the short-lived
France Antarctique, and marked the recent domination of the Catholic faith over Protestantism in France.
The Tupinambá were in alliance with the French, with the objective of resisting Portuguese encroachments.
The mission organized the dispatch of Tupinambá Indians from Maragnan to the court of
Louis XIII
Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown.
...
in France, where they created a sensation.
Père Claude d'Abbeville commented enthusiastically on the visit of the Indians in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
with the words: "Who would have thought that Paris, used to the strange and the exotic, would go so wild over these Indians?".
The Indians – only three out of a total six had survived the travel by that time – were baptized in the Church of the Capuchins.
When France and Spain (including Portugal in the
Iberian Union
The Iberian Union is a historiographical term used to describe the period in which the Habsburg Spain, Monarchy of Spain under Habsburg dynasty, until then the personal union of the crowns of Crown of Castile, Castile and Crown of Aragon, Aragon ...
) became allied through the marriage of Louis XIII with
Anne of Austria
Anne of Austria (; ; born Ana María Mauricia; 22 September 1601 – 20 January 1666) was Queen of France from 1615 to 1643 by marriage to King Louis XIII. She was also Queen of Navarre until the kingdom's annexation into the French crown ...
in 1615, support for the colony was discontinued and the colonists abandoned.
The Portuguese soon managed to expel the French from the colony.
The book by Claude d'Abbeville was removed from circulation, and similar work by Yves D'Evreux and Francois Huby was destroyed.
Works
*Claude d'Abbeville
''Histoire de la mission des pères Capucins en l'isle de Maragnan et terres circonvoisines''(''History of the Mission of the Capuchin Fathers to the Island of Maranhão''), Paris: F. Huby, 1614.
[de Asúa & French (2005) p.148]Other digitization
by etnolinguistica.org
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dabbeville, Claude
17th-century French clergy
Franciscan missionaries
French expatriates in Brazil
French Franciscans
French Roman Catholic missionaries
Roman Catholic missionaries in Brazil