Unaccounted Participants on the 1559 Luna Expedition to la Florida:
Mexican Indians Serving the Dominican Frays
In the records of the Luna expedition—lacking an official muster roll—it is generally written that there were around 1,500 total participants. This would include about 500 soldiers and approximately 1,000 settlers. However, these numbers are unclear if the 100 Aztec warriors and their servants were included as part of the total group. We also know that many of the captains and other officers brought along serving people. Thus, there is this undercurrent of inferred information of a class of serving people and slaves that seems to be unaccounted for. That could raise the total amount of people on the expedition upwards toward 2,000. Only through hints here and there has their existence become evident.[1]
This is also true concerning the religious people aboard—the Dominican frays—who initially numbered six (five full frays and one donado, or lay brother [2]). In all the mentions of the six men—whether in The Luna Papers by Herbert Ingram Priestley or Historia by Dávila Padilla—there is no reference to any associated serving people, and one would merely take the “religious contingent” to be made of only the six frays. However, in one of the financial records of the expedition—AGI. Contaduria 877—the evidence is given of a much larger religious contingent, which, when compared with other period convents, makes better sense for the care of the frays, as well as for the care and maintenance of the religious ornaments and vestments.
The record states:
(Francisco Pacseco) was also paid 9 pesos of the said common gold that he was owed for the contract to transport 5 loads of goods belonging to the Indians (naturals) that went in the company of the said members of religious orders that were going to convert the natives of the said Province of Florida on the said voyage, (which he brought) from the pueblo of Xalapa to the said port of San Juan de Ulúa an amount of 2 pesos per load as it appears by warrant of the said Alcalde Mayor dated on the 4th of the said month (of June 1559) and his letter of payment before the notary.[3]
Sorting out the entry, it reveals that the six Dominicans brought some existing Native servants from their convent in Mexico City to assist them in the daily chores while the frays themselves proselytized the native populations in la Florida. This would include experienced servants who could cook their food, perhaps till a small garden, attend to the personal needs of the frays, as well as keep the religious ornaments, vestments, and any church in fine order.[4] The latter religious duties were fully spelled out in the Provincial Council of 1555 and not to be carried out haphazardly.
Further, the Indian servants were most likely single men, very religious, and devoted, for the Rules of Order at the time did not permit such servants to become frays or priests. It was not until the Dominican General Chapter Meeting of 1618 in Lisbon, Portugal, that non-Europeans—or mixed bloods of European descent, and even Africans—were finally considered for some entry position in the religious order primarily as lay brothers, which, as noted above, were known as donados. This allowed the Natives and decedents from Africans to profess as a Dominican, but limit their authority and influence. And while the Dominicans of European descent were permitted to present two generations of “purity” and allowed some taint of Moorish blood from Spain—as a grandmother who was a morena, or of mixed Spanish-Arab-African blood[5]—the rules of 1618 required four generations of a lineage of “Catholic purity.” This helped ensure that there were no remaining influences—or at least few influences—from the prior religions of the Native populations.
Also, the mention of Xalapa refers to the final encampment and assemblage of the people of the expedition. From there, the expedition would travel from the comfortable climate of the central plateau and over the mountains and down into the humid environment and embarkation point at the port of Veracruz. The mule drover Francisco Pacseco was therefore paid for hauling the five loads of the servants’ personal belongings from Xalapa to Veracruz, with the five loads being what five mules or donkeys could carry, which was typically around 100-150 pounds. Such an amount could indicate that there were probably at least five or six Indian servants for the religious coterie—one for each fray.
The Native servants—like the six Dominican frays—were intended to remain permanently in la Florida, or at least for a long time—to implement the proselytizing, conversion, and maintenance of the Catholic faith. Another entry attests to the great quantities of goods and ornaments the six Dominicans brought with them to la Florida.
Bartolome de Valderas, drover, was paid 100 pesos of the said common gold that were owed to him by written order of the said Viceroy, don Luis de Velasco, for the contract to transport 200 fanegas or rather arrobas that the necessary ornaments and vestments for the divine offices weighed that the Father Fray Pedro de Feria of the holy Dominican order had for the said voyage and the members of religious orders that were going with him (also) for the said voyage at an amount of 4 reales per arroba as it appears by warrant of the said Alcalde Mayor dated on the 2nd of the said month of May of the said year of 1559 and his letter of payment before the notary.[6]
The 200 arrobas[7] was the equivalent of 5,000 pounds or 2½ tons of religious-related supplies and ornaments, which probably also consisted of religious books, including the findings and rules formulated in the Provincial Council of 1555. Such a large amount of goods and the payment in gold versus silver indicates that both the viceroy and the religious (Catholics) were very serious in their appointed endeavor for la Florida. It is surmised that it would have taken approximately 25 to 30 mules and/or donkeys to accommodate the needs and religious plans of the six Dominicans.
As related before, the number of civilian colonists is generally given at 1,000, so if the servants of the Dominican frays were not included in the official count of the total civilian participants, the question begs of just how many other servants and slaves were also not included!
[1] See Herbert Ingram Priestley, The Luna Papers, II, 9, Memoir Of What Is To Be Given To
The Hundred Soldiers, Polonça, ca. August 28, 1560, whereby the servants of the soldiers are given a half-ration.
[2] For decent biographies of these frays—albeit incomplete—See the Very Reverend V.F. O’Daniel, Dominicans in Early Florida, The U.S. Catholic Historical Society, New York, 1930.
[3] AGI. Contaduria 877, as translated by R. Wayne Childers.
[4] See Celia Cussen, The Black Saint of the Americas, the Life and Afterlife of Martín de Porres, Cambridge University, 2014, 41-42.
[5] This was the case as testified by Fray Agustín Dávila Padilla to become a full-fledged maestro or master teacher in the Dominican Order in 1591.
[6] AGI. Contaduria 877, as translated by R. Wayne Childers.
[7] Arroba—Derived from Arabic, it referred to a unit of weight or mass of
volume equal to 25 pounds in Spain, 32 pounds in Portugal. Also, another definition from 1726, in a solid, an arroba equaled “a quarter of a hundred weight” or 25 pounds, and in a liquid measurement an arroba “equaled eight azumbres, about 12 English quarts,” or 3 gallons.
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In the records of the Luna expedition—lacking an official muster roll—it is generally written that there were around 1,500 total participants. This would include about 500 soldiers and approximately 1,000 settlers. However, these numbers are unclear if the 100 Aztec warriors and their servants were included as part of the total group. We also know that many of the captains and other officers brought along serving people. Thus, there is this undercurrent of inferred information of a class of serving people and slaves that seems to be unaccounted for. That could raise the total amount of people on the expedition upwards toward 2,000. Only through hints here and there has their existence become evident.[1]
This is also true concerning the religious people aboard—the Dominican frays—who initially numbered six (five full frays and one donado, or lay brother [2]). In all the mentions of the six men—whether in The Luna Papers by Herbert Ingram Priestley or Historia by Dávila Padilla—there is no reference to any associated serving people, and one would merely take the “religious contingent” to be made of only the six frays. However, in one of the financial records of the expedition—AGI. Contaduria 877—the evidence is given of a much larger religious contingent, which, when compared with other period convents, makes better sense for the care of the frays, as well as for the care and maintenance of the religious ornaments and vestments.
The record states:
(Francisco Pacseco) was also paid 9 pesos of the said common gold that he was owed for the contract to transport 5 loads of goods belonging to the Indians (naturals) that went in the company of the said members of religious orders that were going to convert the natives of the said Province of Florida on the said voyage, (which he brought) from the pueblo of Xalapa to the said port of San Juan de Ulúa an amount of 2 pesos per load as it appears by warrant of the said Alcalde Mayor dated on the 4th of the said month (of June 1559) and his letter of payment before the notary.[3]
Sorting out the entry, it reveals that the six Dominicans brought some existing Native servants from their convent in Mexico City to assist them in the daily chores while the frays themselves proselytized the native populations in la Florida. This would include experienced servants who could cook their food, perhaps till a small garden, attend to the personal needs of the frays, as well as keep the religious ornaments, vestments, and any church in fine order.[4] The latter religious duties were fully spelled out in the Provincial Council of 1555 and not to be carried out haphazardly.
Further, the Indian servants were most likely single men, very religious, and devoted, for the Rules of Order at the time did not permit such servants to become frays or priests. It was not until the Dominican General Chapter Meeting of 1618 in Lisbon, Portugal, that non-Europeans—or mixed bloods of European descent, and even Africans—were finally considered for some entry position in the religious order primarily as lay brothers, which, as noted above, were known as donados. This allowed the Natives and decedents from Africans to profess as a Dominican, but limit their authority and influence. And while the Dominicans of European descent were permitted to present two generations of “purity” and allowed some taint of Moorish blood from Spain—as a grandmother who was a morena, or of mixed Spanish-Arab-African blood[5]—the rules of 1618 required four generations of a lineage of “Catholic purity.” This helped ensure that there were no remaining influences—or at least few influences—from the prior religions of the Native populations.
Also, the mention of Xalapa refers to the final encampment and assemblage of the people of the expedition. From there, the expedition would travel from the comfortable climate of the central plateau and over the mountains and down into the humid environment and embarkation point at the port of Veracruz. The mule drover Francisco Pacseco was therefore paid for hauling the five loads of the servants’ personal belongings from Xalapa to Veracruz, with the five loads being what five mules or donkeys could carry, which was typically around 100-150 pounds. Such an amount could indicate that there were probably at least five or six Indian servants for the religious coterie—one for each fray.
The Native servants—like the six Dominican frays—were intended to remain permanently in la Florida, or at least for a long time—to implement the proselytizing, conversion, and maintenance of the Catholic faith. Another entry attests to the great quantities of goods and ornaments the six Dominicans brought with them to la Florida.
Bartolome de Valderas, drover, was paid 100 pesos of the said common gold that were owed to him by written order of the said Viceroy, don Luis de Velasco, for the contract to transport 200 fanegas or rather arrobas that the necessary ornaments and vestments for the divine offices weighed that the Father Fray Pedro de Feria of the holy Dominican order had for the said voyage and the members of religious orders that were going with him (also) for the said voyage at an amount of 4 reales per arroba as it appears by warrant of the said Alcalde Mayor dated on the 2nd of the said month of May of the said year of 1559 and his letter of payment before the notary.[6]
The 200 arrobas[7] was the equivalent of 5,000 pounds or 2½ tons of religious-related supplies and ornaments, which probably also consisted of religious books, including the findings and rules formulated in the Provincial Council of 1555. Such a large amount of goods and the payment in gold versus silver indicates that both the viceroy and the religious (Catholics) were very serious in their appointed endeavor for la Florida. It is surmised that it would have taken approximately 25 to 30 mules and/or donkeys to accommodate the needs and religious plans of the six Dominicans.
As related before, the number of civilian colonists is generally given at 1,000, so if the servants of the Dominican frays were not included in the official count of the total civilian participants, the question begs of just how many other servants and slaves were also not included!
[1] See Herbert Ingram Priestley, The Luna Papers, II, 9, Memoir Of What Is To Be Given To
The Hundred Soldiers, Polonça, ca. August 28, 1560, whereby the servants of the soldiers are given a half-ration.[2] For decent biographies of these frays—albeit incomplete—See the Very Reverend V.F. O’Daniel, Dominicans in Early Florida, The U.S. Catholic Historical Society, New York, 1930.
[3] AGI. Contaduria 877, as translated by R. Wayne Childers.
[4] See Celia Cussen, The Black Saint of the Americas, the Life and Afterlife of Martín de Porres, Cambridge University, 2014, 41-42.
[5] This was the case as testified by Fray Agustín Dávila Padilla to become a full-fledged maestro or master teacher in the Dominican Order in 1591.
[6] AGI. Contaduria 877, as translated by R. Wayne Childers.
[7] Arroba—Derived from Arabic, it referred to a unit of weight or mass of
volume equal to 25 pounds in Spain, 32 pounds in Portugal. Also, another definition from 1726, in a solid, an arroba equaled “a quarter of a hundred weight” or 25 pounds, and in a liquid measurement an arroba “equaled eight azumbres, about 12 English quarts,” or 3 gallons.