Jerome Xavier

Jerome Xavier, born Jerónimo de Ezpeleta y Goñi (1549 – June 27, 1617), was a Spanish Jesuit missionary to the Mughal court of Akbar (1542–1605) and his son Jahangir.

After ordination he spent a number of years teaching "elementary subjects"[2] in Villarejo de Fuentes in Cuenca, Spain, before being sent east, arriving in Goa in September 1581.

Upon arrival in Portuguese Goa Father Jerome was "appointed as master of novices",[2] but quickly had to relinquish the position due to illness "as a consequence of the difficult sea-voyage and the troubles of acclimatization".

In early 1584 Xavier was installed as the Rector of the Bassein College, though poor health hampered his duty once again and forced his transfer to the "more favorable climate"[2] of Cochin, where he occupied the same position from 1586 to 1592.

The tension of a Castillian ruling a Portuguese population was eased when Mughal Emperor Akbar (1542–1605) called for the third mission of Jesuit priests to his court[3] and Father Jerome was sent, by popular election, to Lahore where he arrived on May 5, 1595.

[4] During the conquest Akbar moved his permanent residence to Agra, providing stability that allowed Father Jerome to "devote much of his time to the creation of a Christian religious literature written in the Persian tongue".

While Xavier was accompanying the army, and with his two original companions sent elsewhere, he was notified by Father Francesco Corsi (1573–1635) of the declining atmosphere of religious freedom in Lahore under the "intolerant attitude of the Viceroy"[6] put in place by Akbar.