Christianity in the Caribbean

[Monterey Jack]

Greetings all~

I'm currently working on adding some depth to a piratical persona. The character started out as a priest or vicar in Port Royal and is forced by circumstances to go on the account. Aside from the usual accoutrements of a man of the cloth, what items would mark him as a former man of the cloth? Items he would keep on himself regardless of his current line of work? How does the clothing differ in, say, 1720, from other GAoP clothing?

Thanks in advance,

MJ

[kass]

Hi Jack,

I can't tell you anything about the special accoutrements of a priest in this period since I have little knowledge of 18thc Catholicism, but I can help you a bit with clothing and hopefully someone knowledgeable about priestly things will come by presently... :)

The fashionable jackets of the 1720s had much wider/fuller skirts than those of 1700, but the cut was mostly the same. The waistcoats were slightly more curved in the breast than those of earlier in the century, but they were still long. Breeches don't appear to have changed, and I believe the shoes did not materially differ either.

However, these are all fashionable things in the 1720s. As a former man of the cloth, would you be dressed in cutting edge styles? Would he shun ostentatious display or would his former alliance with Rome have given him a love of the shiney...

That's for your persona story to determine, I guess. :angry:

Kass

[Monterey Jack]

That's certainly a help, Kass; thanks! I'm figuring he'd likely lose a lot of the flash, partly out of a sense of guilt (or possibly anger at this point), but would keep some material possessions of his faith.

I'm on the right path at least......

:angry:

[kass]

Generally speaking, when people fall away from the Church, the more intrenched they were in it, the farther away they fall -- at least in the short term. So I would expect such a man to be the most drinkin-est, whorin-est, dirty-mouthed, ostentatious, flashy dude around. And then, as the years go on, you can mellow him out... :)

[Monterey Jack]

I'm thinkin more along the lines of Mr. Echo's (sp?) character on Lost.

The guy has a lot of baggage and isn't even sure which way his faith is leading him. He's(the pirate) still got his cross, his leatherbound prayer book and the remnants of his faith. I'm still working out why he had his falling out, though.......

[kass]

I've never seen the show so I'm flying a little blind here.

But a great reason people lose their faith is that a loved one dies suddenly. Since he's a priest, it couldn't be his child, but perhaps a younger sister or brother was killed senselessly and he's mad at God for "letting it happen". The usual stuff...

Sounds soap opera-y though... :angry:

[oderlesseye]

Who's been spyin on me Aurrgg... Sounds much like the state I am currently in.

[Jib]

"Lost" just rocks!

Maybe you could have some sort of item that you can't seem to part with from your earlier vocation? It need not be a bible. An altar cloth that you have turned into a shirt? Perhaps you drink from a chalice?

[Monterey Jack]

Good idea; I also can get my hands on the stole that goes with the Chasauble robe which would be a fantastic sash.

Walking a thin line PC-wise, though. Publicly in this garb I wouldn't want it to be considered a mockery of any kind, which is how it'd most likely be perceived.

[Story]

You may wish to read up on Santeria, the combination of 17th century Roman Catholicism and African paganism that more or less started in Cuba.

[Captain Bob]

Wasn't Port Royal British territory? If so, your priest or vicar would likely be Anglican, not Catholic. Anglican clergy can marry if they want to, and an up-and-coming young vicar might be considered a quite advantageous match in some circles

Perhaps his wife left him for a Royal Navy officer (or a Spanish nobleman or some other convenient villain), thus precipitating both his crisis in faith and providing him motivation to go on the acount, seeking revenge. Of course, if he was Catholic, perhaps the critical event could be that his lovely younger sister was abducted, ravished, and abandoned by one of the above villains.

Keep us posted on what you decide, k?

~~Cap'n Bob

[PirateQueen]

If you were Catholic, one of the items you'd most likely keep close sentimentally would be a rosary. Prayer book or bible not so much. That would be more of a Protestant thing.

Just my 2 sous.

[Slopmaker Cripps]

Santeria is still practiced in Miami as well as other places down there. When my Dad was teaching down there, he had a student that was a practitioner of Santeria. The kid showed up everyday wearing white, and if I remember correctly some of their practices involve chicken sacrifices. You might also find hoodoo somewhat interesting. It is a Christian/voodoo cross that you can still find in the lowcountry regions in South Carolina. Not sure if you can still find hoodoo remnants down in the caribbean or not.

Cheers,

Adam C.

[kass]

A rosary! Yes! Or perhaps the medal of a favourite saint... Was the Miraculous Medal around in the 1700s I wonder? Or is that one of those post-Lourdes things?

Merci, Madame de la Mer!

Jack, if you wanted a chausible sash, you could order a bit of ecclesiastic brocade from one of the on-line stores. However I doubt this would have been in the possession of any priest. Ecclesiastic garments were generally locked up the in the church (since they were originally made with silk and gilt threads). Of course your character might have the keys. But even though he'd lost his face, it wouldn't mean he'd stoop to sacriledge...

I'd stick with the rosary.

[Slopmaker Cripps]

I'm not sure if I saved it or not, but I came across a sketch of everything needed to hold mass aboard the ships of the Spanish navy in the 1720's. The sketch included everything from vestments to a chest to hold it all in. I'd try and find it again, but I'm in the process of packing to leave the country in the morning, so will have to get back to you on that.

Cheers,

Adam C., Slop-man

[PirateQueen]

Another item you might have, were you Catholic, would be a religious medal or two, maybe of a saint that could represent your struggle with your faith. Maybe St. Michael.

On the other topic, voudoun still has a significant presence in the Caribbean, in places like Haiti and elsewhere.

[Monterey Jack]

All great suggestions, thank'ee!

I'm more likely to go with the Protestant Deacon angle, mostly because a am one. Just not a lot out there on any non-catholic christian influence in the Caribbean. Still, the suggestions have given me several new directions to work on. I'll try and get back here to post my decisions once I finish the first draft of the character and see if it jibes historically.

[Story]

Always On the Move

How 17th-century migration led to our multicultural society. By David Espey

MIGRATION AND THE ORIGINS OF THE ENGLISH ATLANTIC WORLD

By Alison Games Gr’92.

Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1999. 322 pp., $45.00.

For the non-specialist in early American history, one surprise in the book is Puritan settlement in the Caribbean. The island of Barbados—not New England or Virginia—was England’s most valuable colony in the 17th century, enriched by sugar cultivation. A map of Barbados, created around 1650 to entice settlers from other destinations, pictured Europeans on horseback to convey privilege, black and Indian figures as reminders of the slave population, and even camels to suggest the exotic. The Caribbean competed with New England both for settlers and for the intensity with which Puritans battled each other in church fights over doctrinal matters. (It is amazing, given the effort it must have taken merely to survive in America, that the Puritans had so much energy for religious debate. Games quotes with approval one scholar’s observation that a "Puritan who minds his own business is a contradiction in terms.")

Puritan quarrels in New England led to the expulsion of figures like Thomas Hooker to Connecticut or Anne Hutchinson to Rhode Island. But in the Caribbean, the Puritan dissenters were banished to other islands, some inhospitable. As Games notes, the Puritan nature of islands like Bermuda or Providence has been overshadowed by "the historical interest accorded the New England colonies." Puritans seem as if they belong only in cold, stony New England. It is odd to think of them in what are now vacation paradises like Bermuda or the Bahamas.

One Caribbean Puritan spoke of "the desire to have religion … planted among us." The metaphor of plantation suggests that the Puritans grew some rather exotic religious notions. "One place’s heresy was another’s orthodoxy." Islands like Bermuda "provided laboratories for Puritan experiments that could then be reexported, like tobacco or sugar, back to England." Indeed, Puritan conflicts in the Atlantic colonies foreshadowed Cromwell and the religious war in England.

http://www.upenn.edu/gazette/0100/0100books.html

[Monterey Jack]

Ahh those pesky puritans....

Thanks, Story! One more bit of the puzzle in place!

[Story]

Thanks, Story! One more bit of the puzzle in place!

Careful - every answer tends to breed at least three more questions.

[PyratePhil]

Jack -

You might want to take a peek at ULC Forum - it's a nondenominational discussion board with everything from Catholics to atheists and everything in between. I'm sure they'd be glad to offer up some opinions and, more importantly, some expert knowledge.

You have to sign up to post a question, but it's a quick and painless process and you won't be innundated with junk mail.

[Monterey Jack]

Thanks for the lead! I didn't know the forum even existed.

[Matty Bottles]

I know you said you were going to pursue the Protestant (as opposed to the Catholic) angle, but for those of you who want to do a Captain Mission impersonation, a scapular to go with the already suggested rosary would be a good angle. One of the miracles attributed to God, granted through Mary's intervention as symbolized by the scapular (see, we don't worship Mary; she's like, uh, our congresswoman ) was the quelling of an angry sea.

[Capt. Sterling]

All great suggestions, thank'ee!

I'm more likely to go with the Protestant Deacon angle, mostly because a am one. Just not a lot out there on any non-catholic christian influence in the Caribbean. Still, the suggestions have given me several new directions to work on. I'll try and get back here to post my decisions once I finish the first draft of the character and see if it jibes historically.

If you are one in the real world, why not think of putting yourself in a situation that would force you to question your faith and then just find a comparison from the earlier period... After all your faith has carried you to a rather high position in your local church (according to Scripture Deacons are supposed to be living a good life as an example to the others in their congregations) and after all these years it would most likely take something rather devasting to "chuck it all in" and go to the other extreme. Verily you would be torn between your new chosen life style and your old one, and God, if you believe in Him as I do, is not going to want to let you go. You would have a nagging doubt about what you are doing and a strong need to get your life back in order. I also believe, if your charactor's faith was genuine to begin with and not just in the church for the job and cash, he would be the first to try and help out another.... You would go to the extremes in your new life as a way of "justifiying your sin" to yourself, hoping to make yourself feel good about your new life... but every so often, believe me, you would come crashing down and a VERY HARD crash it would be.

Hector

[Monterey Jack]

.

If you are one in the real world, why not think of putting yourself in a situation that would force you to question your faith and then just find a comparison from the earlier period... After all your faith has carried you to a rather high position in your local church (according to Scripture Deacons are supposed to be living a good life as an example to the others in their congregations) and after all these years it would most likely take something rather devasting to "chuck it all in" and go to the other extreme. Verily you would be torn between your new chosen life style and your old one, and God, if you believe in Him as I do, is not going to want to let you go. You would have a nagging doubt about what you are doing and a strong need to get your life back in order. I also believe, if your charactor's faith was genuine to begin with and not just in the church for the job and cash, he would be the first to try and help out another.... You would go to the extremes in your new life as a way of "justifiying your sin" to yourself, hoping to make yourself feel good about your new life... but every so often, believe me, you would come crashing down and a VERY HARD crash it would be.

Hector

I like it; thanks for the perspective. I don't know that Protestant deacons hold that much authority. It may be different with the Catholic deacons. Translated from the Greek "diaconis" deacon means simply Servant of the Church...and mine sure isn't a paid one. I can officiate in the absence of a pastor, and I have certain duties regarding communion, but that's about it.

Still, you've given me some interesting angles to ponder; thanks!