THE MASSACRE AT MATANZAS INLET @ 20 September 1565

Down through the ages, the fallen man had used every and all means at his disposal, to promote himself and viciously preserve his self-interests, in utter disregard for the basic human courtesies and human rights. The spirit of Cain, is very much alive, and is actively pushing men to commit atrocious crimes, thinking all the while, that they are right, and are absolutely in no violation of any law.
– “8 Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. 9 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.” – Genesis 4:8-10

Charles Spurgeon, observing Cain’s response to God, comments at the appalling coldness in Cain’s heart…
– “The cool impudence of Cain is an indication of the state of heart which led up to his murdering his brother; and it was also a part of the result of his having committed that terrible crime. He would not have proceeded to the cruel deed of bloodshed if he had not first cast off the fear of God and been ready to defy his Maker.”

On 20th September, in 1565, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, the adelantado, massacres all the French Huguenots [Protestants] at St. Johns River, Florida, USA, which is famously known as, “The Massacre at Matanzas Inlet.” – Pedro Menéndez, in his own words writes to the king of Spain – “because they were Lutherans and enemies of our holy catholic faith.” The mass killing of French Huguenots by Spanish Royal Army troops in 1565, was under the direct orders from King Philip II to Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, the adelantado of Spanish Florida (La Florida).

Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, in his letter to king Philip II, just four days after the massacre, writes, 
– “I answered him [the French army captain] that we had taken their fort and killed all the people in it, because they had built it there without Your Majesty’s permission, and were disseminating the Lutheran religion in these, Your Majesty’s provinces. And that I, as Captain-General of these provinces, was waging a war of fire and blood against all who came to settle [in] these parts and plant in them their evil Lutheran sect; for I was come at Your Majesty’s command to plant the Gospel in these parts to enlighten the natives in those things which the Holy Mother Church of Rome teaches and believes, for the salvation of their souls. For this reason I would not grant them a safe passage, but would sooner follow them by sea and land until I had taken their lives.”

Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, further adds,
– “I put Jean Ribault and all the rest of them to the knife, judging it to be necessary to the service of the Lord Our God, and of Your Majesty.”

Bartolomé Barrientos, a Professor at the University of Salamanca, and a historian, records the incident, and his opinion on what Pedro Menéndez did, just two years after the event, which gives a clear insight into the Spanish contemporary opinion, in those years.
– “He acted as an excellent inquisitor; for when asked if they were Catholics or Lutherans, they dared to proclaim themselves publicly as Lutherans, without fear of God or shame before men; and thus he gave them that death which their insolence deserved. And even in that he was very merciful in granting them a noble and honourable death, by cutting off their heads, when he could legally have burnt them alive.”

It requires an extremely cold and inhumanly cruel heart to massacre people, that too, for a reason as simple as, someone not believing in our religion or doctrine, but rather believes in a different one. It also requires a committed devotion to one’s religion, church and the doctrine, and a total obedience…almost blind adherence, to all that is asked of the religion, to be so inhumanly cruel. 

What we have seen so far, in history, is nothing. In the coming days, the world is going to see cruelty like never before…in fact we are seeing it happening, right in front of our eyes, and we are blinded with raging anger and hate, for all who differ from us, merely on opinion and ideas, just like the people, during Pedro Menéndez times.

The Church, which should be agitated and angry at such atrocious behaviour, is sadly, a partner in crime…then, and even today. What should be appalling to every Christian is that such incidents are not one off…but rather the official policy of the king, empire, the government, and the church, and being committed, scarily, on a regular basis, with impunity and pious religiosity.

Be it the Roman Church or the Protestants, both have had their share of such atrocious behaviour. In fact, if we go back as far as the rise of the Greeks, and see till the rise of the Third Reich, and the few decades since then…till date…we see nothing but, most of the times, killings, bloodshed, and cruelty. We are talking about 2500 years…two and half millennias.
– “9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? 10 I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.” – Jeremiah 17:9-10