CORDOVA, Francisco de (cor'-do-vah), clergyman, born in Spain; died in Cumana, Venezuela, in 1514. He was sent by Peter de Córdova with Juan Garces to convert the natives of Venezuela in 1514. They arrived at Cumana, where the Indians received them with kindness, and were making numerous conversions when a Spanish vessel visited the coast with the object of carrying off and selling the natives. The captain and crew were well treated for the sake of the missionaries, and the captain invited the cacique and principal Indians on board. As soon as they were on deck they were seized and thrown into chains, and the vessel then sailed for Santo Domingo.

The Indians rushed to the house of the two Dominicans and were about to kill them, when the priests obtained a respite by promising that if the cacique and his companions were not restored in four months they would submit to their fate. Meanwhile another Spanish ship arrived, on which Francisco de Cordova and his companion could easily have made their escape; but they contented themselves with begging the captain to return promptly to Santo Domingo and state the facts to the admiral and Peter de Córdova. The captain executed his commission, but was too late. The cacique and his chiefs had been sold, and the purchasers refused to surrender them.

The king of Spain ordered the pirates to be tried and the cacique and his companions restored to freedom. The four months, however, had elapsed without the Indians hearing news of their countrymen, and Francisco de Cordova and his companion were slain, these being the first Dominican martyrs of the New World.