Dominicus Corea

Who was Dominicus Corea?

Dominicus Corea also known as Domingos Corea and Edirille Rala, was the son of Don Jeronimo Corea and Anna Corea. Don Jeronimo Corea was also known as Mudaliyar Vikramasinha, Commander-in-Chief of King Mayadunne's army. Jeronimo Corea was assassinated by King Mayadunne's son, Rajasinghe. Dominicus Corea was born in Colombo in 1565. At that time, the Portuguese had colonised Ceylon, and his parents converted to Catholicism.

Following the murder of Don Jeronimo Corea, his two sons, Dominicus and Simon were sent to Colombo for safety - at the time King Dharmapala was reigning in the Kingdom of Kotte. Dominicus and Simon were baptised as Catholics and grew up with the young Prince Konappu Bandara - later on he reigned as King Vimala Dharma Suriya of the Kandyan kingdom.

De Queyroz, the great Portuguese historian writing about Dominicus Corea noted that "he was able to read and write like a well bred man." Trained from boyhood warlike pursuits, he was skilled in arms, and was dreaded as being one of the most expert swordsmen in his time.