Pedro de Gante

Fray Pieter van der Moere, also known as Fray Pedro de Gante or Pedro de Mura (c. 1480 – 1572) was a Franciscan missionary in sixteenth century Mexico. Born in Geraardsbergen in present-day Belgium, he was of Flemish descent. Since Flanders, like Spain, belonged to the Habsburg Empire and he was a relative of King Charles V (he was thought to be a bastard son of Emperor Maximilian I), he was allowed to travel to the colonies of New Spain as one of a group of Franciscan friars. Gante's group in fact arrived before the 12 Franciscans normally thought of as the first priests in New Spain. In Mexico he spent his life as a missionary, indoctrinating the indigenous population in Christian catechism and dogma. He learned Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, and composed a Christian "doctrina". One of his most significant contributions to Mexico was the creation of the School of San Jose de los Naturales. This was the first school set up by Europeans in the Americas.

In 1988 he was beatified, by Pope John Paul II. He was ranked 99th in a 2005 vote on the list of Greatest Belgians (De Grootste Belg).

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