Tolomato, the mission of Friar Pedro de Corpa, was also home to don Francisco, the paramount chief (mico mayor) of Guale territory, and his heir, don Juanillo. Two months before the murders, don Francisco and 25 other Guale travelled to St. Augustine to meet with the governor of Spanish Florida. The governor provided the men with more than 300 pounds of flour to sustain them during their eight-day visit, as well as gifts of blankets and steel hoes. He presented don Francisco with suit fabric, shirts, hats, and silk buttons, and the paramount chief returned to Tolomato in a finely-tailored outfit.
Shortly thereafter, the governor enlisted young don Juanillo to lead an expedition to the interior village of La Tama (near present-day Macon) to scout locations for a new mission. One of the two friars accompanying don Juanillo was Friar Francisco de Veráscola from the mission of Asao.
Don Juanillo’s final recorded visit to St. Augustine took place on August 2, 1597. In gratitude for don Juanillo’s service on the expedition to La Tama, the governor presented him with a new hat and a cotton shirt from Ruan, France. Barely a month later, don Juanillo led the uprising that resulted in the deaths of the Georgia Martyrs. Although Indians testified that each cacique was ordered to kill his village’s resident friar, the governor of St. Augustine determined that it was ultimately don Juanillo who bore the most responsibility for the slaughter. The 1597 Uprising is also known as “Juanillo’s Revolt.”
Don Domingo was the cacique of the mission village of Asao, which was served by Friar Francisco de Veráscola. Roughly three weeks after the murder of the friars, the Guale war party – including don Domingo – moved south into Mocama territory and attacked the mission of San Pedro on modern-day Cumberland Island. A Spanish brigantine anchored nearby caused most of the attackers to flee, but don Domingo stood in defiance at the front of his canoe, wearing Friar Francisco’s hat and armed with Friar Francisco’s gun. “What you see here is all that remains of that priest,” he taunted. “Come forward and feed him maize cakes!” Eventually don Domingo and the rest of the unsuccessful war party retreated into Guale territory.
In 1601, the governor made a secret agreement with don Domingo and authorized him to assemble an expedition to capture – or kill – don Francisco and don Juanillo. Within eight days, don Domingo assembled an army of over 500 warriors, some from chiefdoms outside Guale territory. The forces marched to Yfusinique, the fortified settlement where don Domingo, don Juanillo, and their followers from Tolomato retreated after the death of the friars. Attempts to negotiate a peaceful surrender failed, and at the end of the battle, don Francisco, don Juanillo, and 22 of their relatives – Tolomato’s elite – lay dead. The remaining villagers escaped with their lives but were forced by don Domingo to scalp their dead.
The following month, the governor of St. Augustine received from don Domingo, the new (self-proclaimed) paramount chief of Guale territory, a gift: don Juanillo’s scalp.
In 1606, the Bishop of Cuba and Florida conducted an ecclesial visitation into Guale territory, where he was received “with great cheer and with customary celebrations.” He was there to inspect four new Franciscan missions, including the new mission in don Domingo’s own village of Santo Domingo de Asao, and to preside over the confirmations of at least eight caciques, all of whom were loyal subjects of the paramount chief.
