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was never ordained priest, and the first seven generals or commanders were chosen out of the knights though the friars were always more numerous. The founder required of himself and his followers a special vow in addition to the usual three, to devote their "whole substance and very liberty to the ransoming of slaves", even to the point of acting as hostages in order to free others. According to records, the Order of the
Blessed Virgin Mary for the Ransom of Captives accomplished approximately 70,000 rescues-some 2,700 during the founder's lifetime.
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produced numerous war prisoners on both sides. Any
Christian or Muslim near the ever-shifting territorial borders was in danger of capture. Captives were considered war booty. Those not ransomed were sold as slaves. In the lands of Visigothic Spain, both Christian and Islamic societies had become accustomed to the buying and selling of captives. In the thirteenth century, in addition to spices, slaves constituted one of the goods of the flourishing trade between Christian and Moslem ports.
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mid-fifteenth-century
Mercedarian chroniclers Nadal Gaver and Pedro Cijar, declare the founder, the son of a merchant, to be from the French village of Mas-Saintes-Puelles, near the town of Castelnaudary, in the modern department of Aude. A fuller account of his life by Francisco Zumel appeared in 1588 and is the basis for the biography given in the Acta sanctorum.
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Sources for the origins of the
Mercedarians are scant, and almost nothing is known of their founder, Peter Nolasco. A narrative developed between the fifteenth and early seventeenth centuries that culminated in Nolasco's canonization as a saint in 1628. The two earliest accounts, those written by the
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In 1230, Nolasco became the first
Superior and also held the position of Ransomer, the order being concerned with the freeing of Christian prisoners from the Moors. He worked first in the Kingdom of Valencia and then in Granada. He made several other journeys to the coasts of Spain, besides a voyage
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The order originally attracted young noblemen, whose heritage equipped them to address the matter of ransom practically , and friars who were in holy orders and attended the choir. The knights were to guard the coasts against the
Saracens but were obliged to choir when not on duty. Nolasco himself
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was in a state of intermittent warfare between the
Christian kingdoms of southern Europe and the Muslim polities of North Africa, Southern France, Sicily and portions of Spain. According to James W. Brodman, the threat of capture, whether by pirates or coastal raiders or during one of the region's
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Alfonso VIII's incursions into
Andalusia in 1182 are said to have brought him over 2,000 captives and thousands in ransom, while in 1191 the governor of Córdoba, took 3,000 prisoners and 15,000 head of cattle in an attack on Silves. For over six hundred years, these constant armed confrontations
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The order spread throughout most of Spain and was closely associated with the "Reconquista" of the southern provinces under
Ferdinand and Isabella. The order flourished in France, England, Germany, Portugal, and Spain. From Spain, it provided a missionary presence in the New World.
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The order elected a habit of white, signifying innocence. Some histories claim that Mary provided such guidance during her appearance to
Nolasco. An enthusiastic King James authorized the members to wear on their and long scapulars his own distinguished arms of Aragon.
273:, Nolasco went to Barcelona, where he began to practice various works of charity. Nolasco became concerned with the plight of Christians captured in Moorish raids and decided to establish a religious order to succor these unfortunates.
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started a lay confraternity for ransoming slaves from the Moors and Peter became the procurator for this. Peter's plan, was to establish a well-structured and stable redemptive religious order under the patronage of Mary.
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Ibn Khaldun, Histoire des Berbères et des dynasties musulmanes de l'Afrique septentrionale, ed. Paul Casanova and Henri Pérès, trans. William MacGuckin, baron de Slane (Paris, 1925–56), 3: 116–17
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Nolasco died in 1256 in Barcelona, seven years after having resigned as Superior. According to tradition he died on 25 December, but recent studies of the
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and the other coastal provinces of medieval Christian Europe. Raids by militias, bands, and armies from both sides was an almost annual occurrence.
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to be kept on January 31, which was later moved to 28 January, when the former date was assigned to the liturgical celebration of
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Allaria, Anthony. "St. Peter Nolasco." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 11. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 22 Feb. 2013
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lbn Abi Zar' al-Fasi, 2: 213; Roudh el-Kartas , Histoire des souverains du Maghreb, trans. M. Beaumier (Paris, 1860), 307–8
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Stevens, Barbara E., "Our Lady's Coat of Arms", This article was taken from the December 15, 1996 issue of
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Ransoming Captives in Crusader Spain: The Order of Merced on the Christian-Islamic Frontier
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Ambrosio Huici Miranda, Historia política del imperio almohade (Tetuán, 1956–57), 1:286
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Saint Peter Nolasco as found in the Generalate of the Mercedarian Order.
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St. Pedro Nolasco – Capilla de Santa Teresa – La Catedral – Córdoba
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when he was a teenager and became part of an army fighting the
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Duffy, Patrick. "St. Peter Nolasco", Caitlicigh Ar An NGreasan
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Nolasco began ransoming Christian captives in 1203. In 1218,
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intermittent wars, was a continuous threat to residents of
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Though there is debate about whether Nolasco was born in
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13th-century Spanish Catholic religious founder and saint
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592:Medieval French saints
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264:Peter II of Aragon
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321:Veneration
205:Background
82:6 May 1256
258:. In the
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187:Barcelona
102:Canonized
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58:Confessor
277:Ransomer
164:Catholic
85:Valencia
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193:in the
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349:Legacy
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191:Moors
183:Spain
132:6 May
127:Feast
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112:Rome
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