Fray Luis Cancer: A Brief Biography

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Fray Luis Cancer was a Dominican that was born in the 1500s in Barbastro, now modern day Spain. . Luis Cancer was a priest and was best known for his expeditions as a Spanish missionary around the New World. He first lived in the convent of Santo Domingo located in Mexico. Early in his life he was influenced by ruling by terror and force. He had heard of Vaca and Moscoso’s voyages (two ministers before Luis Cancer), and the horror and violence they had used terrified him. Because of this, his main goal as a missionary was to convert Indians to Christianity by kindness and being a good example, rather than with force or violence. Fray Luis Cancer first preached and ministered in Puerto Rico to the Taino Indians, which was a success. He believed …show more content…

Luis Cancer had become familiar with the language they spoke here and persuaded the chief to allow permission for the monks to enter and preach to the people of the province. He had been granted permission after he had also brought gifts, trinkets, mirrors, and beads to aid the persuasion of the chief. Within only a few years the feared “Land of War” and now owned the name “Land of the True Peace.” Following the successful expedition of Guatemala he traveled to the City of Mexico in 1546 to see what new countries had been founded. It was here Fray Luis Cancer became aware of all of the failed expeditions to Florida and he believed it was his calling to make an expedition here. He had always yearned to minister and preach to the Indians of Florida and even an early historian had said that he stated that Florida had “always held deep in his heart.” Finally, in the late 1547s he had received permission from Spain to venture to Florida under the orders of Las Casas. Two years later he and three other Dominicans set sail for Florida from Vera Cruz,

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