What is the significance of Fray Damian Massanet?
1690: Father Damian Massanet established a mission at San Francisco de los Tejas. This mission is so significant because it was the first Spanish establishment in Teas and Damian Massanet became the first to start a Spanish mission in east Texas. This also marked the beginning of Spanish colonization of Texas.
When did Fray Damian Massanet come to the New World?
In 1683, Franciscan priest Damián Massanet left Barcelona to serve as a missionary in the New World. He lived the rest of his life in Mexico, and died in obscurity, but he holds an important place in the history of Spanish settlement in Texas. Massanet spent several years building missions in Mexico.
When did Damian Massanet set fire to Mission San Francisco de los Tejas?
October 25, 1693
On October 25, 1693, Massanet and the surviving priests set fire to the remaining mission, San Francisco de los Tejas, and left for Coahuila. The small party lost its bearings for several weeks and did not reach Monclova until February 17, 1694.
Why did Fray Damián Massanet want to establish the first mission in East Texas?
In 1689 Massanet joined an exploring expedition to Texas led by Alonso De León, the governor of the Spanish province of Coahuila (in northern Mexico). The expedition’s aim was to locate and destroy settlements of the rival French and to find places to build Spanish missions.
Why is Francisco Hidalgo important?
Francisco Hidalgo, a Spanish priest of the Franciscan order of Roman Catholicism, was a missionary to the American Indians in what are now northern Mexico and East Texas. His efforts helped lead to the long Spanish occupation of Texas. Hidalgo was born in Spain, probably in 1659.
What did Father massanet do?
Who abandoned San Francisco de los Tejas?
MISSION TEJAS Mission San Francisco de los Tejas was the first Catholic mission established in East Texas in 1690, but 41 years later — after a series of ups and downs — the mission was moved to San Antonio when Spain withdrew its military support from the mission.
What role did Father Damián Massanet play in the early Spanish settlement of Texas?
A Franciscan Priest who brought Spanish settlers to Texas in the 1600s and founded the first Spanish Mission in East Texas.
Why did the Spanish mission fail?
The Spanish Franciscans spent only a short time there in 1629 but promised to return. The 1632 mission existed for six months before it was abandoned because of its remoteness from the Franciscan home base in New Mexico.
Was Francisco Hidalgo a friar?
Francisco Hidalgo was a Spanish friar who was one of San Bautista’s missionaries. For over ten years he asked the Spanish officials to expand and build more missions past the Rio Grande. In 1711 he became frustyrated and sent a letter to the French government who liked his proposal.
What was Spain’s response to Father Francisco Hidalgo?
In 1725 he asked permission to go to the Apache Indians of Texas to try to convert them to Christianity, but his Spanish superiors refused his request. Hidalgo returned to San Juan Bautista, where he died in September 1726.
Was San Francisco de los Tejas successful?
The mission was never very successful, and after 1690 it was abandoned and re-established several times, with slight changes in name and location, before being transferred in 1731 to San Antonio, where it became known as San Francisco de la Espada.
