Damián Massanet was a Spanish

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 ...

priest who co-founded the College of Santa Cruz de Querétaro, the first missionary college in

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

Biography

Not much is known of Massanet's early life, but he is trusted to have been born in

Majorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

. After traveling to New Spain, Massanet was one of the Franciscan priests who founded the College of Santa Cruz in what is present day

Querétaro Querétaro, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Querétaro, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Querétaro, 18 municipalities. Its capital city is Querétaro Cit ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, in 1683. He would later establish Mission San Bernardino de la Caldera near the

Coahuila Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza, is one of the 31 states of Mexico. The largest city and State Capital is the city of Saltillo; the second largest is Torreón and the thi ...

–

Nuevo León Nuevo León, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nuevo León, is a Administrative divisions of Mexico, state in northeastern Mexico. The state borders the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí, San Luis ...

border. In April 1689, Massanet accompanied Alonso De León, the governor of Coahuila, on his fourth and final expedition in search of Fort St. Louis, which had been abandoned by the French by that time. The following year, after having been named ''comisario'' for the planned East Texas missions, he assisted in the creation of Mission San Francisco de los Tejas. Later that year saw the establishment of Mission Santísimo Nombre de María, also near the

Neches River The Neches River () begins in Van Zandt County west of Rhine Lake and flows for through the piney woods of east Texas, defining the boundaries of 14 counties on its way to its mouth on Sabine Lake near the Rainbow Bridge. Two major reservoirs ...

. Massanet would soon leave

East Texas East Texas is a broadly defined cultural, geographic, and ecological region in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas that consists of approximately 38 counties. It is roughly divided into Northeast Texas, Northeast, Southeast Texas, Sout ...

due to a disagreement with De León over the size of the military contingent at San Francisco de los Tejas. He would return to the region in 1691, but would continue to challenge authority; one such incident involved his unwillingness to provide horses to Domingo Terán de los Ríos, the first governor of Spanish Texas, for his return voyage to Mexico. In October 1693, after problems such as crop failure, floods, supply shortages, and hostilities with the Nabedache, who blamed the Europeans for bringing epidemics such as

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 (W ...

to the region, Massanet and the remaining priests chose to bury San Francisco de los Tejas's cannon and bells, and burned and abandoned the site. The party would reach Monclova in February 1694, at which point Massanet was asked by the viceroy to propose new sites for missions in Coahuila. He declined, noting that, without proper support, such efforts would be a failure similar to that seen at San Francisco de los Tejas. Massanet would later return to Querétaro, and it is surmised that he spent the remainder of his life there.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Massanet, Damian People of Spanish Texas 17th-century Spanish Roman Catholic priests Spanish Franciscans Year of birth missing Year of death missing Franciscan missionaries in New Spain