Jean de Léry and the First Reformed Mission

 By Simonetta Carr - Posted at Place for Truth:

On March 7, 1557, a French ship landed into Guanabara Bay, near modern-day Rio de Janeiro, carrying fourteen French Protestant men ready to bring the gospel to this new continent. One of them, 23-year-old Jean de Léry, kept a detailed journal. These men, according to Léry, were sent in response to a request by Nicolas Durand, Chevalier de Villegagnon, a former Knight of Malta who had founded a colony in Guanabara the previous year. Villegagnon sent his request directly to John Calvin, whom he had met while they were both students. Calvin responded promptly.

Sending preachers for the spiritual sustenance of colonists or commercial ventures was a common practice at that time. But while this group of men included two ministers, the others were equally “anxious to establish the pure service of God”[1] both in the colony and among the Tupi people, one of the largest groups of indigenous people in Brazil at that time. Their mission, as the two ministers explained it, was “to establish a Reformed church according to the word of God in that country.”[2]

Villegagnon received them with eagerness, thanking God for their arrival and confirming their mission: “Because I want our church to be renowned as the best reformed of all, from now on I intend that all vices be repressed, that sumptuousness of apparel be reformed and, in short, that everything that could prevent us from serving God be removed from our midst.” He explained that he wanted his colony to become a refuge for victims of religious persecution in Europe, so that, fearing neither king, nor emperor, nor any other potentates, they can serve God purely according to his will.”[3]

His intentions didn’t last long, and he soon found himself clashing with the newcomers, particularly about the Eucharist (although Villegagnon rejected the doctrine of transubstantiation, he didn’t agree with Calvin’s views either). The disagreement escalated to the point that, after only eight months, Villegagnon had three of the fourteen men killed and plotted to kill the rest. The survivors then moved near the Tupi where they lived for two months in improvised shacks until the next commercial ship left for France. This allowed Léry to immerse himself in the Tupi culture, as disorienting as it was for a foreigner who didn’t speak their language.

When the ship arrived, it was leaky and unstable, so much that, only a few days into their journey, five of the Frenchmen decided to abandon the ship and take a boat back to shore. Three of them were then killed by Villegagnon, who had given to the captain a letter for the French authorities, instructing them to burn the whole group of French Protestants as heretics. The captain of the ship revealed the plot to the Frenchmen, and the burning was averted.

The ship ended up drifting off course. When their provisions ended, both crew and passengers had to survive on whatever they could find on board, including boiled leather, chamois garments, and tallow candles – while working hard to keep the boat afloat.

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