PIETRO da CORDOVA. — Born circa 1482 in Cordova, he studied at Salamanca, where he entered the Dominican Order. With the first members of his Order, in September 1510 he landed in Espagnola (S. Domingo).
They soon began to defend the rights of the Indians, and matters almost reached the point of sending the missionaries back to Spain, when Father P., summoned by the King to provide information, succeeded in regaining royal favor. First of all, he obtained that no one should trade with the Indians in the places where Father P. was to establish his residence without his assent, under penalty of forfeiting half of his property (Royal Cedula of 2 June 1513). In the autumn of 1513 Father P. sent three Dominicans to the province of Piritu on the coast of Cumana, on the mainland. Nevertheless, some Spanish slave merchants entered the Dominican missionary territory: the Indians rebelled and two missionaries were massacred. P. da C. sent Father Antonio de Montesino to Spain in 1515; in S. Domingo he met the licentiate Bartolomeo de Las Casas (v. LAS CASAS), and together they set out to protest against the system of the Encomiendas (Commede). Before Father Antonio de Montesino’s departure for Spain, P. attempted a new mission on the mainland with Spanish Dominicans and French Franciscans. In September–October 1515 P. da C. landed with his missionaries on the peninsula of Araya. The Franciscans chose the Indian village of Cumana as their field of work, while the Dominicans chose that of Chirivichi. Spanish slave merchants also entered this territory, and the enterprise failed. It appears that P. made a third missionary attempt on the island of Margarita. He died in May 1521 (others say 28 June 1525) at S. Domingo.