Jacob the Dacian

Jacob painted in 1906 by an unknown Mexican artist

Jacob the Dacian(Spanish:Jacobo Daciano;Latin:Iacobus de Dacia;c. 1484 – 1566) was aDanish-bornFranciscanfriar. He achieved fluency in eight languages and fame among theindigenous peopleof Michoacán as a righteous and helpful man toward his flock. His relics, now lost, were kept for a long time by the indigenous people of Tarécuato (inTangamandapio) who still celebrate his birthday every year. Jacob has been identified as a son of KingJohn of Denmark.

Name

The translation of his name into Medieval Latin asIacobus de Daciastems from the fact that, during the Middle Ages in Scandinavian affairs, the Latin toponymDaciastood for Denmark-Sweden.

Brother Jacob also went by the nameIacobus Gottorpius,referring to the royal estate ofGottorp(now located in Germany), and also signed as Jacobus Danus "Jacob the Dane".

Royal descent

Danish historianJørgen Nybo Rasmussen(Rasmussen 1974, 1986) has asserted that Jacob was a son (possibly extramarital) of KingJohnof theKalmar Unionand a younger brother of KingChristian II,both Danes. This has not been mentioned by all historians but is also the basis for a novelBrother Jacobby Danish authorHenrik Stangerup.Key arguments in a case for Jacob's royal lineage are the facts that he described himself as coming from Gottorp, the estate of KingsChristian Iand John of Denmark; that he had an excellent education normally reserved for the higher nobility; and that he seemed to enjoy the protection of higher political forces. It was also common for younger sons of royalty to enter into the clergy, since they normally would not inherit the thrones. Jacob's position as an inter-continental missionary would have been very unusual for a royal prince.

A number of modern authorshave counted Jacob – orJames– as a Danish-Norwegian-Swedish prince and one of the legitimate children of King John and QueenChristina,but Rasmussen's thesis was also met with scepticism.QueenMargrethe II of Denmarkvisited his burial site, in respect to Jacob being a famous brother of one of herHouse of Oldenburgancestors and predecessors, while on astate visitto Mexico in 2006.

Life in Denmark until the Reformation

Entering the Franciscan Order as a young man, Jacob received a good education studyingLatin,GreekandHebrewas well as his mother tonguesGermanandDanish.In the years prior to the reformation he lived in a convent inMalmø(now in Sweden), where he argued against theLutheranleaders. In 1530 the Fransciscans were driven from the convent, as they were in the following from the other Danish towns. He described this in theChronicle of the expulsion of the Greyfriars,written to serve as evidence in a potential trial to attempt to reclaim the convents later. Such a trial never came. During the religious wars known as theCount's Feud,fought between the supporters of his deposed brother, theCatholicKing Christian II, and the forces of KingChristian III of Denmark,many Franciscans left Denmark and went to Catholic provinces in northern Germany.

Jacob stayed in Denmark until the fall of Malmø in 1536 when the region'sLutheran Reformationwas completed and the proscription ofMendicant ordersforced him into exile. First he went toMecklenburgunder the protection of DukeAlbrechtwho had fought on the Catholic side in the civil war. Here he was made the lastProvincial(head) of the Franciscan province of Dacia, whence his name. He subsequently went toSpainwhere he studied theArabic languageand was authorized by KingCharles V of Spainto go to New Spain as a missionary.

Missionary to Mexico

In 1542, Brother Jacob arrived inVeracruz,and was to remain in New Spain for the rest of his life, learning several indigenous languages and founding several convents. He spent three years at theColegio de Santa Cruz de TlatelolcostudyingNahuatlbefore being sent to Michoacán to work among thePurépecha,where the bulk of his missionary work was done. He learned thePurépecha languageand worked ardently to improveIndianrights, causing problems with the colonial authorities and with local church leadership, alike. He wrote a treatise,Declamacion del pueblo barbaro de los Indios, que habiendo recibido el bautismo, desean recibir los demas sacramentos,in which he argued thatIndiansshould be allowed to be ordained into the priesthood. In this question he was overruled by church authorities and had to do penitence for these actions – he had claimed that denyingIndiansthe right to ordination was in fact tantamount toheresy,a standpoint which has been vindicated in the modern Roman Catholic Church.

He died in the convent of Tarécuato, in thebishopric of Zamorawhere he had served as a guardian. Beginning in 1996, attempts have been made toward hiscanonization.

References

Sources

• Stangerup, Henrik, 1997 (1991),Brother Jacob,Marion Boyars Publishers
• Rasmussen, Jørgen Nybo, 1974,Bruder Jakob Der Dane OFM,Franz Steiner Verlag
• Rasmussen, Jørgen Nybo, 1986,Broder Jakob den Danske, kong Christian II's yngre broder,Odense University Studies in History and Social Sciences. Vol. 98. Odense Universitetsforlag
• S. Tibesar, Antonine, 1975,Review of: Bruder Jakob Der Dane OFM by Jorgen Nybo RasmusseninThe Americas, Vol. 32, No. 1,pp. 164–166
• "Den salige Jakob av Danmark (~1484-~1566)"(in Norwegian). Den katolske kirke.
• This article was originally based on thecorresponding articleat Danish Wikipedia.