Jean-Baptiste Du Tertre
Encyclopedia
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
and botanist.
In 1633 he joined the Dutch army where he worked in the headquarters in Maastricht
Maastricht
Maastricht is situated on both sides of the Meuse river in the south-eastern part of the Netherlands, on the Belgian border and near the German border...
. Subsequently he joined the Dominican Order
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
where he adapted his first name Jean-Baptiste.
In 1640 he was sent as missionary to the Antilles
Antilles
The Antilles islands form the greater part of the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea. The Antilles are divided into two major groups: the "Greater Antilles" to the north and west, including the larger islands of Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola , and Puerto Rico; and the smaller "Lesser Antilles" on the...
from where he returned to France in 1658.
He is the author of several works about the Antilles where he described the indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
, the animals, and the plant world, including Histoire générale des îles Saint-Christophe, de la Guadeloupe, de la Martinique et autres de l'Amérique (Paris, 1654), Histoire naturelle et morale des îles Antilles de l'Amérique avec un vocabulaire caraïbe (1658), La Vie de Sainte Austreberte (1659) and l’Histoire générale des Antilles habitées par les Français (four volumes, 1667 – 1671). Particularly in has last work Du Tertre created the myth of the "Bon Sauvage" where he placed "the virtuousness of the heathen
Paganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
caribs above the immoral life of the Europeans"
Du Tertre was the first who described the yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
when several epidemics burst over Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...
and Saint Christopher
Saint Kitts
Saint Kitts Saint Kitts Saint Kitts (also known more formally as Saint Christopher Island (Saint-Christophe in French) is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean...
in 1635, 1640, 1648 and 1667.
Biography (selected)
- 1654: Histoire générale des îles Saint-Christophe, de la Guadeloupe, de la Martinique et autres de l'Amérique
- 1658: Histoire naturelle et morale des îles Antilles de l'Amérique avec un vocabulaire caraïbe
- 1659: La Vie de Sainte Austreberte
- 1667 – 1671: l’Histoire générale des Antilles habitées par les Français (vier Bände)
Reference about Jean-Baptiste Du Tertre
- Maurice Boubier (1925). L’Évolution de l’ornithologie. Librairie Félix Alcan (Paris), coll. Nouvelle collection scientifique : ii + 308 p.