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Juan Padilla
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Juan Padilla

Spanish missionary
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History

Juan Padilla (born c. 1500, Andalusia, Spain—died 1542, near modern Herington, Kan., U.S.) was the first Christian missionary martyred within the territory of the present United States. After serving as a soldier, Padilla joined the Franciscans in Andalusia. He went to Spanish Mexico in 1528 and in the following year accompanied an expedition to Nueva Galicia (northwestern Mexico). There he spent most of his remaining years, except for a trip in 1533 to Tehuantepec, in...

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