Jean De Brébeuf
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Jean de Brébeuf () (25 March 1593 16 March 1649) was a French
Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who 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.Thoma ...
who travelled to
New France New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, 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 Kingdom of Great Br ...
(Canada) in 1625. There he worked primarily with the Huron for the rest of his life, except for a few years in
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
from 1629 to 1633. He learned their language and customs, writing extensively about each to aid other missionaries. In 1649, Brébeuf and another missionary were captured when an
Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...
raid took over a Huron village (referred to in French as St. Louis). Together with Huron captives, the
missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group who 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 Miss ...
were ritually tortured and killed on 16 March 1649. Afterwards, his heart was eaten by Iroquois tribesmen. Brébeuf was
beatified Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "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 name. ''Beati'' is the ...
in 1925 and with eight Jesuit missionaries was
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 sa ...
in the
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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 forme ...
,
Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...
,
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
(He was the uncle of poet Georges de Brébeuf.). He joined the
Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...
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 Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...
. Brébeuf was nearly expelled from the Society when he contracted
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
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 The Indigenous languages of the Americas are the languages that were used by the Indigenous peoples of the Americas before the arrival of non-Indigenous peoples. Over a thousand of these languages are still used today, while many more are now e ...
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 deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...
at Pontoise Cathedral 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
New France New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, 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 Kingdom of Great Br ...
. In June 1625, Brébeuf arrived in
Québec Quebec is Canada's largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, New Brunswick to the southeast and a coastal border ...
with Fathers Charles Lalemant and Énemond Massé, together with the lay brothers François Charton and Gilbert Burel. He worked at the Sainte-Marie among the Hurons. 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, almost all surviving I ...
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. He reached Québec on 17 July 1628 after an absence of two years. On 19 July 1629,
Samuel de Champlain Samuel de Champlain (; 13 August 1574#Fichier]For a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see #Ritch, RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December ...
surrendered, and the missionaries returned to France. In Rouen, Brébeuf served as a preacher and
confessor In a number of Christian traditions, including Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Lutheranism and Anglicanism, a confessor is a priest who hears the confessions of penitents and pronounces absolution. History During the Diocletianic Persecut ...
, taking his final
Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
vows in 1630. Between 1631 and 1633, Brébeuf worked at the College of Eu (now in
Seine-Maritime Seine-Maritime () is a department of France in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre. Until 1955 it was named Seine-Infà ...
) 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 Immunity may refer to: Medicine * Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease * ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press Biology * Immune system Engineering * Radiofrequence immunity ...
to the diseases long
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...
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 Paul Ragueneau, SJ (; 18 March 1608 – 3 September 1680) was a Jesuit missionary in New France. Biography He was born in Paris and died in the same city. He is sometimes confused with his elder brother François, also a Jesuit. Father Franço ...
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 the conversion of the Huron to Catholicism. Brébeuf was known by the Huron for his apparent
shaman Shamanism is a spiritual practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with the spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritual energies into ...
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 (W ...
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 Baptism (from ) is a Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by sprinkling or pouring water on the head, or by immersing in water either partially or completely, traditionally three ...
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, a mass reburial of remains of loved ones after a community moved the location of its village. It was accompanied by elaborate rituals and gift-giving. In 1638, Brébeuf turned over the 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 ) was a tribal confederation of Iroquoian peoples. Its heartland was in the floodplain of the Grand River in what is now Ontario, Canada. At its height, its wider territory extend ...
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 women that in 1572 branched off from the Angelines, also known as the Company of Saint Ursula. The Ursulines trace their origins to th ...
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 (L1), native language, native tongue, or mother tongue is the first language a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period hypothesis, critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' ...
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 horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...
song, " Une Jeune Pucelle" (A Young Maid).


Linguistic work

The educational rigour of the Jesuit
seminaries A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clerg ...
prepared missionaries to acquire native languages. But, as they had learned the classical and
Romance languages The Romance languages, also known as the Latin or Neo-Latin languages, are the languages that are Language family, directly descended from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-E ...
, 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 is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
of the
tower of Babel The Tower of Babel is an origin myth and parable in the Book of Genesis (chapter 11) meant to explain the existence of different languages and cultures. According to the story, a united human race speaking a single language migrates to Shin ...
, 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 usually meant to cr ...
, circumlocution 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 Franciscan Recollects () were a French reform branch of the Friars Minor, a Franciscan order. Denoted by their gray habits and pointed hoods, the Recollects devoted their lives to an extra emphasis on prayer, penance, and spiritual reflecti ...
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 t ...
in Huron, which may have been his major
linguistic Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
contribution. This breakthrough had enormous consequences for further study, becoming the foundation for all subsequent Jesuit linguistic work. He translated Ledesma's
catechism A catechism (; from , "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of Catholic theology, doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult co ...
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
Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...
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. The Iroquois then cannibalized his body. Three priests had been killed in Mohawk 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 (Tobacco People) village, and Noël Chabanel 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. Then they cannibalized him. 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, 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 A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', ''Chasse (casket), chasse'', or ''phylactery'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary, or the room in which one is stored, may also be called a ''feretory''. Relics may be the purported ...
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 ...
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 , "blessed" and , "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 name. ''Beati'' is the p ...
. 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 ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...
(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, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Heresy in Christian ...
". Jean de Brébeuf was canonized by
Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 â€“ 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...
on 29 June 1930, and proclaimed one of the patron saints of Canada by
Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...
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), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...
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. The Jesuits of Canada and the United States announced a tour of Brébeuf's relics throughout both countries in 2024.


Modern era

It is said that the modern name of the Native North American sport of
lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact 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 w ...
was first coined by Brébeuf who thought that the sticks used in the game reminded him of a bishop's
crosier A crozier or crosier (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 Catho ...
(''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 Sainte-Marie among the Hurons across Highway 12 from the Martyrs' Shrine Catholic Church near Midland, Ontario. 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 (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...
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 a major city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a Metropolitan area, metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the List of ...
* St. John Brebeuf Regional Secondary School in
Abbotsford, British Columbia Abbotsford is a city in British Columbia next to the Canada–United States border, Greater Vancouver, and the Fraser River. With a census population of 153,569 people (2021), it is the most populous municipality in the province outside metropol ...
. * St. John Brebeuf School in
Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...
, 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 D ...
in
Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
* 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 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...
* St. Jean de Brébeuf Catholic Elementary School in
Brantford, Ontario Brantford (Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River (Ontario), Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by County of Brant, Brant County but is politically separate wi ...
(Closed 2009) * St. Jean de Brebeuf Catholic High School in
Vaughan, Ontario Vaughan ( ) (2022 population 344,412) 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 increa ...
* St. Jean Brebeuf Catholic School in
Brampton, Ontario Brampton is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario, and the regional seat of the Regional Municipality of Peel. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#L ...
* St. John Brebeuf Catholic School in Erin, Ontario, which is part of St. John Brebeuf Catholic Parish, part of the Roman Catholic Diocese in Hamilton, Ontario *
Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf () is a subsidized private, previously Jesuit French-language educational institution offering secondary school and college-level instruction in Quebec. It was originally a boys' school, became partially mixed in 1968 a ...
in
Montreal, Quebec Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
* École Jean-de-Brébeuf in Gatineau, Québec * Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis, Indiana There is the Église St-Jean de Brebeuf in Sudbury, Ontario, and a St. John Brebeuf Catholic Parish in Niles, Illinois, USA. There is also a unit at Camp Ondessonk in the Shawnee National Forest 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 municipality (Quebec), municipality in the Laurentides region of Quebec, Canada, part of Les Laurentides Regional County Municipality. It is located along the Rouge River (Quebec), Rouge River (''Rivière Rouge''), near Mont-Trem ...
, is named after him, as is rue de Brébeuf on the
Plateau Mont-Royal Le Plateau-Mont-Royal () is a borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The borough takes its name from its location on a plateau, on the eastern side of Mount Royal and overlooking downtown Montreal, across its south ...
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 Fre ...
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 In poetry, 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. With regard to ...
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.


See also

*
List of incidents of cannibalism This is a list of incidents of cannibalism, or anthropophagy, the consumption of human flesh or internal organs by other human beings. Accounts of human cannibalism date back as far as prehistoric times, and some anthropologists suggest that c ...


References


Citations


Sources

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External links

* * Bimbenet-Privat, Michèle, Â
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, Â
Le buste-reliquaire de saint Jean de Brébeuf, histoires et mythes
», Bulletin de la Société nationale des antiquaires de France 1995, Paris, Édition-diffusion de Boccard, 1997, p. 236–253, 6 ill. * Rev.
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 1,240 pu ...
(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 17th-century Canadian Jesuits 17th-century Christian saints 17th-century French Jesuits 17th-century Roman Catholic martyrs Battles of the Beaver Wars Canadian Roman Catholic saints Cannibalised people Catholic Church and minority language rights French murder victims French Roman Catholic missionaries French Roman Catholic saints French torture victims Jesuit martyrs Jesuit missionaries in New France Jesuit saints Martyred Roman Catholic priests People murdered in Canada Roman Catholic missionaries in Canada