Pedro de Corpa Killed in Georgia in 1597

Around 1597, in the Spanish settlements of what are now Florida and Georgia, Pedro de Corpa, a native of the Corpa region of Spain, was a Franciscan assigned missionary work with Native Americans at the Guale (pronounced WAL-ly) village of Tolomato, near modern-day Darien, Ga. His brethren were also friars of Spanish origin. The friars were dedicated to converting the Guale people to Catholicism and baptized members of the community, instilling in them such doctrines as monogamous marriage.

When Juanillo, the nephew of the chief, took a second wife, de Corpa warned him of dire consequences that could impede his plans to become chief. Juanillo fled in anger, then returned with a war party that eventually killed five friars, including de Corpa. Another friar escaped to tell his story to the Spanish crown.

De Corpa apparently was killed brutally, his face struck by a macana, a blunt tomahawk. He was decapitated and his head impaled on a pole. His decaying body was eventually buried in an unmarked grave.

In 1936, a writer named Luis Geronimo de Oré published Martyrs of Florida (1513-1616), a book that told the story of the fallen friars. But the whereabouts of their remains was a mystery, and the deaths became part of Georgia folklore.

In the early 1950s, American archaeologist Sheila Caldwell was exploring the Fort King George historical site, owned by the state of Georgia and probably dating to before the Spanish arrived. The spot was believed to be the location of the Guale village where de Corpa was killed. In a trash pit containing artifacts (waste materials, pottery shards, animal bones) from that time period, she found a skull that she surmised was that of de Corpa.

The skull was put on display and used in educational programs. Schoolchildren examined it. But no one seemed interested in its historical significance. No scientists analyzed it in that pre-DNA and forensics era. It was merely a curiosity.

Then modern-day Franciscans took up the cause.

Sainthood sought

In the 1940s, the U.S. Catholic hierarchy had petitioned the church in Rome to canonize about 300 people, including the Georgia Martyrs. Although that effort stalled, the cause of the Georgians continued.

In the 1990s, Harkins was named vice postulator for the Georgia Martyrs. A postulator is assigned to every would-be saint to promote his or her canonization. Through an archaeologist Harkins had worked with on the excavation of another former mission site, he was put in touch with Stojanowski and invited him to study the skull.

More here:
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/arizonaliving/articles/0221skullguy0221.html

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