archaeological and textual records - eCommons@Cornell - Cornell ...

in the face of their extreme torture would have played on both Catholic and indigenous
sensibilities.
Jean de Brebeuf’s death was a gruesome spectacle. As he continued to preach
at his tormentors and fellow captives: “Those butchers, indignant at his zeal, in order
to hinder him from further speaking of God, girdled his mouth, cut off his nose, and
tore off his lips; but his blood spoke much more loudly than his lips had done; and, his
heart not being yet torn out, his tongue did not fail to render him service until the last
sigh, for blessing God for these torments, and for animating the Christians more
vigorously than he had ever done” (JR 34:141-143). At the height of his torture,
Brebeuf’s heart was torn out and eaten:
Those butchers, seeing that the good Father began to grow weak, made him sit
down on the ground; and, one of them, taking a knife, cut off the skin covering
his skull. Another one of those barbarians, seeing that the good Father would
soon die, made an opening in the upper part of his chest, and tore out his heart,
which he roasted and ate. Others came to drink his blood, still warm, which
they drank with both hands,—saying that Father de Brebeuf had been very
courageous to endure so much pain as they had given him, and that, by
drinking his blood, they would become courageous like him. (JR 34:29)
The intersection of Catholic martyrdom with Iroquoian torture ultimately
yields the sufferer a macabre, yet eminent posthumous distinction. Male warriors
especially may have found a certain kinship in the face of the crucified Christ, as
opposed to the gentle image of the Madonna and Child. The Biblical accounts of how
Christ bore the suffering leading up to his own gruesome death was quite similar to
what was expected of a captured Iroquoian warrior, bound to stake in a strange village.
No Jesuit martyrs were made at Seneca missions, but the realities of warfare,
as mentioned repeatedly in the Jesuit Relations, undoubtedly impacted the missions.
99