Pareja, Francisco de
PAREJA, FRANCISCO DE
Franciscan missionary in Florida; dates of birth and death unknown. He was a native of Auñon, Spain, and joined the Franciscan Order in the Province of Castile. Pareja went to Florida as an Indian missionary in 1595 and served at San Juan del Puerto (in the area of modern Jacksonville) until 1616. He was then elected provincial of the Province of Santa Elena, which comprised Cuba, Florida, and Georgia. According to Fray Luis Gerónimo de Oré, visitor general to Florida in 1616, Pareja was a missionary of great sanctity and incredible zeal; he had expert knowledge of the Timucuan language. He wrote valuable mission reports and made frequent trips into the interior. Pareja composed the following works, all of which were printed in Mexico: Cathecismo en lengua castellana y timuquana (1612), Cathecismo y breve exposición de la doctrina Christiana (1612), Confessionario en lengua castellana y timuquana (1613), Arte y pronunciación en lengua timuquana y castellana (1614), and Cathecismo y examen para los que comulgan en lengua castellana y timuquana (1627).
Bibliography: l. j. de orÉ, Relación histórica de la Florida, escrita en el siglo XVII, ed. a. lÓpez, 2 v. (Madrid 1931–33); The Martyrs of Florida (1513–1616), tr. m. j. geiger (Franc Studies 18; New York 1936). m. j. geiger, The Franciscan Conquest of Florida (1573–1618) (Washington 1937).
[m. geiger]