Jacob the Dacian

Jacob the Dacian (Spanish: Jacobo Daciano; Latin: Jacobus de Dacia; c. 1484 – 1566) was a Danish-born Franciscan friar.

A number of modern authors[3][4][5] have counted Jacob – or James – as a Danish-Norwegian-Swedish prince and one of the legitimate children of King John and Queen Christina, but Rasmussen's thesis was also met with scepticism.

Entering the Franciscan Order as a young man, Jacob received a good education studying Latin, Greek and Hebrew as well as his mother tongues German and Danish.

Jacob stayed in Denmark until the fall of Malmø in 1536 when the region's Lutheran Reformation was completed and the proscription of Mendicant orders forced him into exile.

In 1542, Brother Jacob arrived in Veracruz, and was to remain in New Spain for the rest of his life, learning several indigenous languages and founding several convents.

He learned the Purépecha language and worked ardently to improve Indian rights, causing problems with the colonial authorities and with local church leadership, alike.