Bernat Boïl (also spelled Boil, Boyl or Boyal) was a Catalan monk or friar, known as Fray Buil, who accompanied

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

on his second voyage across the Atlantic. On January 6, 1494 Buil conducted the first

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

held in the

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

, in a temporary church on

La Isabela La Isabela in Puerto Plata Province, Dominican Republic was the first stable Spanish settlement and town in the Americas established in December 1493. The site is 42 km west of the city of Puerto Plata, adjacent to the village of El Cast ...

. There is unclear evidence about his affiliation to a

religious order A religious order is a subgroup within a larger confessional community with a distinctive high-religiosity lifestyle and clear membership. Religious orders often trace their lineage from revered teachers, venerate their Organizational founder, ...

. He left the Indies after disagreements with Columbus, and his mission work came to little.

Identification

According to Stephen M. Donovan writing in the ''

Catholic Encyclopedia ''The'' ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'', also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedi ...

'', the accounts given of Buil are confused by a misidentification. He asserts that Bernardo Boil, a

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

, was a different person from a Bernardo Boyl, who was a

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

. It was to the former, according to Donovan, that

Pope Alexander VI Pope Alexander VI (, , ; born Roderic Llançol i de Borja; epithet: ''Valentinus'' ("The Valencian"); – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 11 August 1492 until his death in 1503. Born into t ...

addressed his Bull dated 25 June 1493, appointing him first vicar Apostolic of the New World. The latter, on the other hand, became first vicar Apostolic of the New World. Ferdinand II had employed Boyl, the Benedictine, in diplomatic negotiations and had sought his appointment as vicar Apostolic in America. Citing researches of the historian Roselly, Donovan concludes that Ferdinand deliberately misidentified the intended recipient of the bull, and that Bernardo Boil, the Franciscan, did not leave Spain. On the other hand, Livarus Oliger, also writing in the ''Catholic Encyclopedia'', states that Buil was a Minim, citing research of Fita for the view that the bull of Alexander had a clerical error in the phrase ''ordinis Minorum'' which would indicate that Buil was a Franciscan.

Voyage

The ''

1911 Encyclopædia Britannica Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are added to the Commonwealth of Australia. * January 3 ** 1911 Kebin earthquake: An earthquake of 7.7 Mom ...

'' states that twelve missionaries accompanied the second Columbus expedition of 1493, under the orders of Bernardo Buil, a Benedictine. On January 6, 1494 Buil conducted the first

held in the

, in a temporary church on

. James Reston, who calls him a Benedictine monk, says that Buil took a hard line against the

Taíno The Taíno are the Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, Indigenous peoples of the Greater Antilles and surrounding islands. At the time of European contact in the late 15th century, they were the principal inhabitants of most of what is now The ...

leader

Guacanagaríx Guacanagarix (alternate transcriptions: Guacanacaríc, Guacanagarí) was one of five Taíno caciques of the Caribbean island henceforth known as Hispaniola at the arrival of the Europeans in 1492. This was contemporaneous with the first of the v ...

, arguing for his execution. Later Buil returned from the Indies, and was one of those accusing Columbus of harshness and inconsistency. He resumed work as a diplomat. An account of Buil and the Benedictine mission was later written by a Benedictine abbot, Caspar Plautius (Kaspar Plautz) of Seitenstetten Abbey in Austria. A fanciful work with fictional parts and fantastic illustrations, it was published as ''Nova typis transacta navigatio novi orbis Indiæ occidentalis'' at

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

in 1621. Plautius used the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

Honorius Philoponus, dedicating the work to himself.

Notes

References

;Attribution * The entry cites: **F. Fita, ''Fray Bernal Buyl o el primer apóstol del Nuevo mundo'' (Madrid 1884)

Identification

Voyage

Notes

References

Further reading