Blessed Petrus Bertholet

Pierre Bertholet, also known by his religious name Dionysius of the Nativity (Honfleur, December 12, 1600 – Aceh, November 1638), was a French-Portuguese navigator and Discalced Carmelite. He is venerated as a martyr by the Roman Catholic Church. Bertholet served in the employ of the French and Portuguese kings. He primarily worked in navigation and drew several nautical charts, which are currently preserved in the British Museum in London. In 1635, during one of his voyages, he joined the Carmelite Order in Goa. In 1638, while visiting the new Sultan of Aceh as a member of a Portuguese delegation, he was captured and murdered alongside his confrere Redemptus of the Cross. Bertholet and Redemptus were beatified by Pope Leo XIII on June 10, 1900. The feast day of Bertholet and Redemptus is November 29.