Jan de Witte O.P. (1475–1540), also Joannes Albus in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and Juan de Witte Hoos or Juan de Ubite in some Spanish sources, was a Flemish renaissance humanist and Roman Catholic prelate who served as the first Bishop of Cuba (1518–1525). ''(in Latin)''

Biography

Jan de Witte was the son of Maria Hoose and the merchant Jan de Witte, lord of Ruddervoorde, who was mayor of

Bruges Bruges ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is in the northwest of the country, and is the sixth most populous city in the country. The area of the whole city amoun ...

in 1473. The De Witte family traded with Spain and Jan was sent to

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

for training, where he ended up being ordained a priest in the

Order of Preachers The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilian priest named Dominic de Guzmán. It was approved by Pope Honorius ...

. In 1506 he was called back to Flanders, probably

Mechelen Mechelen (; ; historically known as ''Mechlin'' in EnglishMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical context. T ...

, to be the teacher Spanish and Dutch for the children of

Philip I of Castile Philip the Handsome (22 June/July 1478 – 25 September 1506), also called the Fair, was ruler of the Burgundian Netherlands and titular Duke of Burgundy from 1482 to 1506, as well as the first Habsburg King of Castile (as Philip I) for a bri ...

and

Joanna of Castile Joanna of Castile (6 November 1479 – 12 April 1555), historically known as Joanna the Mad (), was the nominal queen of Castile from 1504 and queen of Aragon from 1516 to her death in 1555. She was the daughter of Queen Isabella I of Castile ...

. On 15 May 1514, he was appointed during the papacy of

Pope Leo X Pope Leo X (; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political and banking Med ...

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

Selymbria Selymbria (),Demosthenes, '' de Rhod. lib.'', p. 198, ed. Reiske. or Selybria (Σηλυβρία), or Selybrie (Σηλυβρίη), was a town of ancient Thrace on the Propontis, 22 Roman miles east from Perinthus, and 44 Roman miles west from Cons ...

near Constantinople and on 11 February 1517 as Bishop of

Baracoa Baracoa, whose full original name is: ''Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Baracoa'' ("Our Lady of the Assumption of Baracoa"), is a municipality and city in Guantánamo Province near the eastern tip of Cuba. It was visited by Admiral Christopher ...

on Cuba. On 28 April 1522, during the papacy of

Pope Adrian VI Pope Adrian VI (; ; ; ), born Adriaan Florensz Boeyens (2 March 1459 – 14 September 1523), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 January 1522 until his death on 14 September 1523. The only Dutch people, Du ...

, this diocese was renamed and his title was changed to

Bishop of Santiago de Cuba The Archdiocese of Santiago de Cuba () (erected 1518 as the Diocese of Baracoa) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Cuba. It is a metropolitan see with four suffragan dioceses in its ecclesiasti ...

. He served in

Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains t ...

until his resignation on 4 April 1525. He retired to his native city where he lived in a stately palace later known as ' ("Cuba's court"). He died there on 18 September 1540 In his will he established a chair of literature and a chair of theology, named the "Cuba foundation".Dirk Sacré, Jan Papy
Syntagmatia: Essays on Neo-Latin Literature
Leuven University Press, 2009, page 462.

References

External links and additional sources

* (for Chronology of Bishops) * (for Chronology of Bishops) 1475 births 1540 deaths 16th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Cuba Bishops appointed by Pope Leo X Bishops appointed by Pope Adrian VI Dominican bishops Flemish Dominicans Roman Catholic priests from the Habsburg Netherlands Clergy from Bruges Roman Catholic bishops of Santiago de Cuba {{Belgium-RC-bishop-stub