Costa oliveira iyasu

Source: TW

Bulletin of Portuguese - Japanese Studies

Universidade Nova de Lisboa
Portugal
Costa Oliveira e, João Paulo
Tokugawa Ieyasu and the Christian Daimyó during the Crisis Of 1600

The process of the political reunification of the Japanese Empire ¹ underwent its last great crisis in the period between the death of Toyotomi Hideyoshi 豊臣秀吉 (1536-1598),² in September 1598, and the Battle of Sekigahara, in October 1600. The entire process was at risk of being aborted, which could have resulted in the country lapsing back into the state of civil war and anarchy in which it had lived for more than a century.4 However, an individual by the name of Tokugawa Ieyasu 徳川家康 (1543-1616) 5 shrewdly took advantage of the hesitation shown by many of his rivals and the military weakness or lack of strategic vision on the part of others to take control of the Japanese Empire, which would remain in the hands of his family for more than 250 years.

This decisive victory affected Luso-Japanese relations in general and the Christian Church in particular, as the nanbanjin were deprived, once and for all, of any possibility of utilising the internal divisions of the

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Japanese.6 In addition, it was during this short period that the first Protestants arrived in the Japanese archipelago, which further accentuated the structural volte-face that had taken place in Luso-Japanese relations.7 At the same time that the political centralization of the Empire was being consolidated, the Portuguese lost their monopoly that controlled contact with the Japanese and were no longer able to hide the reality of the fragmented nature of European Christianity.8

These were, thus, two particularly intense and dramatic years. The fact that Christianity in Japan registered an extraordinary rate of growth, with the baptism of about 70,000 individuals,9 is an indication of this situation of vast uncertainties and rapid transformations.

Thus, it is precisely this short – but very intense and decisive – period that I shall be studying in this article, keeping in mind the Jesuits’ expectations in the light of the developments that unfolded and the political dimension of Japanese Christendom.

6 There is a very large bibliography about Christianity in Japan in the 16th and 17th centuries. I especially use the following: C.R. Boxer, The Christian Century in Japan, Manchester, 1993 (3rd edition); Johannes Laures S.J., Takayama Ukon und die anfänge der Kirche in Japan, Münster Westfallen, 1954; Michael Cooper S.J., Rodrigues, O Intérprete. Um Jesuíta no Japão e na China, Lisbon, Quetzal Editores, 1994 (original: Rodrigues, The Interpreter, New York, 1974); George Elison, Deus Destroyed, The Image of Christianity in Early Modern Japan, Cambridge (Mass.)-London, 1988 (original, 1973); Neil Fujita, Japan’s Encounter with Christianity. The Catholic Mission in Pre-Modern Japan, New York, 1991; J.F. Moran, The Japanese and the Jesuits. Alessandro Valignano in Sixteenth-Century Japan, London and New York, 1993. Also see my studies O Cristianismo no Japão e o episcopado de D. Luís Cerqueira… (cited above) and O Japão e o Cristianismo no século XVI. Ensaios de História Luso-Nipónica, Lisbon, 1999. For the early years of the Japanese mission Léon Bourdon’s book entitled La Compagnie de Jésus et le Japon. 1547-1570, Paris, 1993, is also very important. 7 About the beginnings of the Dutch and English presence in Japan see C.R. Boxer, Jan Compagnie in Japan. An Essay on the Cultural, Artistic and Scientific Influence Exercised by the Hollanders in Japan from the Seventeenth to the Nineteenth centuries, The Hague, 1950; Derek Massarella, A World Elsewhere. Europe’s Encounter with Japan in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, New Haven and London, 1990; William Corr, Adams, The Pilot. The Life and Times of Captain William Adams. 1564-1620, Sandgate, 1995. 8 For the Portuguese presence in Asia during the 16th and 17th centuries see Sanjay Subrahmanyam, The Portuguese Empire in Asia, 1500-1700. A Political and Economic History, London and New York, 1993. 9 In this essay, I shall focus upon the idea of “baptised” rather than “converted”. Actually, it is useless to try to define an “effective conversion” or to try to demonstrate the failure of missionary work with bad examples of “converted people”. Since the very beginning, Christianity has been a religion that has considered all its members to be sinners – most of them often fail in their commitment according to the Gospel. From a historical perspective, I think that the concept of a “converted person” corresponds to a baptised one. We cannot evaluate a “success”, especially if we focus upon the “quality” of the conversions. However, we can see where missionary activity had a greater or lesser influence and, obviously, they were more influential wherever they got more baptisms. The convictions each of them held are not the crux of the matter – what is relevant is their decision of making a formal change in their religious life. In all areas where mass conversions took place, such as Mexico, Goa or Japan, there were always many people who did not accept such orders, even if they suffered social discrimination or had to move from their homes to other places. The mass conversions that took place then were not very different, for sure, from those that had happened previously in many areas of Europe, during the Medieval period. Referring to Goa’s example, Rowena Robinson stresses that there was always an option. Therefore, mass conversions did not mean an absolute lack of freedom on the part of those who accepted baptism (cf. Rowena Robinson, Conversion, Continuity and Change. Lived Christianity in Southern Goa, New Delhi, 1998, pp. 47-58). I think that we can say the same with regard to Japan. It is possible that many of those conversions took place due to economic, political or social reasons, but we cannot eliminate the religious element. Actually, for many people, Christianity brought a new hope of salvation (cf. Alain Forest, “Catholicisme et sociétés asiatiques: quelques réflexions“, in Catholicisme et sociétés asiatiques (Eds. Alain Forest and Yoshiharu Tsuboi), Paris-Tokyo, 1988, pp. 205-218). Neil Fujita also stresses that many Japanese Christians who converted to Christianity were people who had hopeless lives and believed strongly in the Gospel’s promise of salvation and eternal life (cf. Neil Fujita, Japan’s Encounter with Christianity. The Catholic Mission in Pre-Modern Japan, New York, 1991, p. 48).

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1. The new political scenario

When D. Luís Cerqueira,10 the new Bishop, and Alessandro Valignano arrived in Japan on 15 August 1598,11 Toyotomi Hideyoshi was battling for his life and died a few days later. The Japanese Empire was handed over to the regency of the council of five elders (gotairó), which was to govern the country until Toyotomi Hideyori 豊臣秀頼 (1593-1615) came of age and consisted of the five most powerful daimyó of the time.12 As one is aware, they were great feudal lords who had survived Hideyoshi’s consulate and were now entrusted with taking important political decisions. As they were great rivals, it was hoped that they would mutually counterbalance each other, which would enable the political survival of the young Hideyori. This regency was assisted by five prefects (gobugyó).13 In stark contrast to the aforementioned daimyó, these prefects were all men who Hideyoshi

10 About D. Luís Cerqueira and his missionary activities see Inácia Rumiko Kataoka, A vida e a acção pastoral de D. Luís Cerqueira S.J., bispo do Japão (1598-1614), Macao, 1997. Also see my article “Bishop Cerqueira (1552-1614) and the Faith of the Japanese Christians” in St. Francis Xavier An Apostle of the East. vol. 2: Christian Culture in Sixteenth-Century Europe: Its Acceptance, Rejection and Influence with Regard to the Nations of Asia, Tokyo, 2000, pp. 105-121 (bilingual edition with separate pagination, the Japanese version is between pp. 84-103). 11 Valignano was then beginning his third visit to Japan (1598-1603). For information about his activities in Japan see Josef Franz Schütte S.J. Valignano’s Mission Principles for Japan, 2 vols., St. Louis, 1980-1985; J.F. Moran, The Japanese and the Jesuits. Alessandro Valignano in Sixteenth-Century Japan, London and New York, 1993; Pedro Lage Reis Correia, “Alessandro Valignano’s Attitude towards Jesuit and Franciscan Concepts of Evangelization in Japan (1587-1597)”, in Bulletin of Portuguese/Japanese Studies, Lisbon, vol. 2, 2001, pp. 79-108. 12 Tokugawa Ieyasu, Móri Terumoto 毛利輝元 (1553-1625), Ukita Hideie 宇喜多秀家 (1573-1655), Maeda Toshiie 前田利家 (1538-1599) and Uesugi Kagekatsu 上杉景勝 (1555-1623). 13 Asano Nagamasa 浅野長政 (c. 1544-1611), Masuda Nagamori 増田長盛 (1545-1615), Ishida Mitsunari 石田三成 (1560-1600), Maeda Munehisa Gen’i 前田玄以 (1539-1602) and Natsuka Masaie 長束正家 (c. 1562-1600). Antonio Cabezas states that Nagamasa was a Christian (cf. El siglo ibérico de Japón. La presencia hispano-portuguesa en Japón (1543-1643), Valladolid, 1995, p. 289), but none of the works that I have consulted confirms this.

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greatly trusted. Each of them had held active administrative positions since 1585 and had risen in the ranks of the political and military hierarchy on the basis of the services they had rendered. However, the political arrangements outlined by Hideyoshi were fragile and on 20 October 1598, Valignano predicted a resurgence of the civil war, as the events “would not proceed in the manner in which he had foreseen”14. Shortly thereafter, the Visitor affirmed that wars and revolts were foretold owing to the rivalries between the regents.15

Jesuit documentation is particularly useful for this turbulent period. The missionaries knew the country well enough to be able to express their personal opinions. Nevertheless, when explaining the evolution of the political situation in Japan to the outside world, they transmitted expectations that were very similar to those of the Japanese population in general. Thus, their accounts are particularly interesting and useful for our understanding of these decisive years that preceded the coming to power of the Tokugawa dynasty. A few months after the death of Hideyoshi, the Jesuits unanimously reported that Ieyasu was the principal figure of the regency. For example, on 26 February 1599, António Francisco Critana referred to him as Hideyoshi’s “successor” and “Governor of all of Japan”.16 A few days later, Diogo de Mesquita described him as “the principal Governor who succeeded the taikó and is almost like the lord of all of Japan”.17

2. Christianity in expansion

The death of the taikó had been anxiously awaited by the Jesuits for some years now as they admitted that his removal from the scene would lead to the end of the anti-Christian persecution 18 and on 26 September 1598,

14 “No le han de salir de la manera que el los traça”; cf. Alessandro Valignano’s letter to the Father General, Nagasaki, 20 October 1598, ARSI, Jap-Sin, 13 I, fl. 187. 15 Cf. Alessandro Valignano’s letter to the Father General, Nagasaki, 20 February 1599, ARSI, Jap-Sin, 13 II, fl. 258. 16 “Governador de todo o Japão”; cf. António Francisco Critana’s letter to the Father General, Nagasaki, 26 February 1599, ARSI, Jap-Sin, 13 II, fls. 278-280. 17 “El governador mayor que sucedio a taico y esta quasi como señor de todo Japon”; cf. Diogo de Mesquita’s letter to the Father General, Nagasaki, 7 March 1599, ARSI, Jap-Sin, 13 II, fl. 306v. 18 This idea that Hideyoshi’s death would correspond to the end of the persecution can be noted as early as the beginning of the 1590s. Cf. my study entitled “Aspectos do quotidiano dos jesuítas no Japão na conjuntura de 1587-1593” in O Cristianismo no Japão no século XVI…, pp. 159-188.

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Francisco Peres stated that, “now that Taikósama is dead we are free”.19 In reality, the anti-Christian edict was not revoked, but the state of political ambiguity that prevailed at the time momentarily relegated the question of Christianity to a secondary plane from a point of view of internal politics and none of the great regents showed ill will towards the missionaries, who made the most of the occasion to retrieve their position, to try and seduce other daimyó and to open new missions. In this manner, these tumultuous years witnessed the last great surge of missionary activities in Japan. For an instant, the mission returned to the rhythm of the golden years of the Nobunaga period. Political instability combined with the support of powerful lords proved, yet again, to be the ideal model for the propagation of Christianity in the Land of the Rising Sun.20 One can find repeated manifestations of rejoicing and hope in the correspondence that was sent to Europe immediately after Hideyoshi’s death; the Jesuits felt “relieved”.21 On 19 October 1598, Francisco Pasio stated that it was time to recruit more missionaries for the mission as, “the persecution is finished”,22 a notion that was repeated by others.23 At the time, Valignano noted that if Christianity had grown even during the period of persecution, one could now hope for years of great progress,24 especially as various

19 “Que agora he morto Taicosama com que ficamos em nossa liberdade”; cf. Francisco Peres’ letter to Father Giovanni Girolamo Centimano in Macao, Ósaka, 26 September 1598, ARSI, Jap-Sin, 13 I, fl. 151. 20 For further information about Oda Nobunaga and his relations with the Westerners, in addition to the works by George Elison that I have already mentioned see Johannes Laures, S.J., Nobunaga und das Christentum, Tokyo, 1950; Jeroen Lamers, Japonius Tyrannus. The Japanese Warlord Oda Nobunaga Reconsidered, Leiden, 2000; also see my study “Oda Nobunaga e a Expansão Portuguesa”, in O Japão e o Cristianismo no século XVI…, pp. 107-128. 21 Valignano utilised the term “desabafados” in a letter to Acquaviva dated 20 February 1599. Cf. ARSI, Jap-Sin, 13 II, fl. 257v. Shortly before this, on 4 February, another Jesuit commented that Hideyoshi “was very well disposed, and robust, and exercised moderation in his eating and drinking habits and, especially, this land is such that it is common for men of 70 years of age to be very robust and valiant” [“era muy bien despuesto, y robusto, y muy templado en el comer y beber, y sobretudo esta tierra es de tal temple que comummente los hombres de 70 años, estan muy robustos y valientes”] from which one can deduce that the “unfortunate one” could have lived another ten or twelve years. Cf. Belchior de Mora’s letter to the Father General, ARSI, Jap-Sin, 13 II, fl. 243. 22 “A perseguição está acabada”; cf. Francisco Pasio’s letter to the Assistant for Portugal, Nagasaki, 19 October 1598. ARSI, Jap-Sin, 13 I, fl. 181v. 23 This was the case with D. Luís Cerqueira in a letter to the Father General, written in Nagasaki on 25 October 1598 (cf. ARSI, Jap-Sin, 13 II, fl. 206v); and Father Organtino, in a missive penned in the same city the day before (cf. ARSI, Jap-Sin, 13 II, fl. 199). 24 Cf. Alessandro Valignano’s letter to the Father General, Nagasaki, 20 October 1598, ARSI, Jap-Sin, 13 II, fls. 189-189v. In effect, between 1587 and 1598 the number of baptisms did not diminish and various daimyó had adhered to Christianity despite Hideyoshi’s resolutions.

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Christian daimyó had large incomes.25 This information rapidly spread to Macao where, on 9 January 1599, Father Manuel Dias mentioned that ten missionaries had already been nominated to proceed to Japan on the next voyage of the Great Ship.26 There was, in fact, cause for such great optimism as shortly thereafter, on 26 September 1598, Father Francisco Peres gave an account of the progress that had been made in Bizen, a territory governed by one of the regents, Ukita Hideie, who supported the propagation of Christianity.27 A cousin of the daimyó, Ukita Nobuzumi,28 and Akashi Morishige 明石 守重,

29 Hideie’s brother-in-law, numbered amongst the nobles who had already converted. Later, on 20 February 1599, Valignano informed Acquaviva that Morishige, along with other Christian noblemen, had taken his oath of fidelity to the daimyó in the name of God instead of in the name of the Japanese divinities.30 A text dated 20 February 1599 31 gives us a precise picture of this new and increasingly optimistic scenario. The mission still had only a few active residences,32 which was a reflection of the recent wave of persecution, but the Jesuits had already realised visits to many regions and cities. The residence in Miyako, for example, supported the communities of Sakai and Ósaka,33 and some of its missionaries had already visited the provinces of Mino and Owari.

25 Cf. Alessandro Valignano’s letter to the Father General, Nagasaki, 25 October 1598, ARSI, Jap-Sin, 13 II, fl. 213. 26 Cf. Manuel Dias’ letter to the Father General, Macao, 9 January 1599, ARSI, Jap-Sin, 13 II, fl. 232. 27 Cf. Francisco Peres’ letter to Father Centimano, Ósaka, 26 September 1598, ARSI, Jap-Sin, 13 I, fl. 152. 28 The name given to him at the time of his baptism was either Paulo or Tomé. Cf. Johannes Laures S.J. Takayama Ukon und die anfänge der Kirche in Japan, Münster Westfallen, 1954, p. 252, note 95. 29 Akashi Morishige João (?-1618) was Ukita Hideie’s vassal and brother-in-law and converted to Christianity in 1596, when he was in Korea. He held the title of Kamon no suke, for which reason he is referred to in Jesuit documentation as João Akashi Kamon. In 1600 he fought against Ieyasu at the Battle of Sekigahara and his squadron defeated his opponents troops. However, owing to the defeat of his side he surrendered to Kuroda Nagamasa, one of the Christian lords who had fought on Ieyasu’s side. Nagamasa kept Morishige in his service, but when the final crisis between the Toyotomi and Tokugawa families broke out Akashi Morishige once again opposed Ieyasu. In 1615, he escaped the carnage of Ósaka and spent the last three years of his life in hiding. Cf. HGDJ, pp. 6-7. 30 Cf. ARSI, Jap-Sin, 13 II, fl. 258v. 31 Supplement to the annual letter dated October 1598, written by Father Francisco Rodrigues, Nagasaki, 20 February 1599, BL, Add. 9859, fls. 19-59. 32 The mission only had residences in the cities of Nagasaki and Miyako and in the lands of Bungo, Arima, Ómura and Amakusa. 33 On the same day, in a letter to the General, Valignano stated that the missionaries of Miyako divided themselves between Miyako and Ósaka, and that many of the houses that had been pulled down earlier were being reconstructed. Cf. ARSI, Jap-Sin, 13 II, fl. 258.

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Apart from this, the lords who had remained Christian during the period of persecution now requested missionaries for their dominions, as was the case with Só Yoshitomo 宗義友, 34 the daimyó of Tsushima, and it was expected that those lords who were returning from Korea would also do the same. Finally, other non-Christians had shown an interest in the religion and authorised the presence of missionaries in their territories, as was the case of the tono of Isahaya. In the following months, the Jesuits announced systematic advances, both in the number of adherents as well as in the number of residences scattered throughout the country. On 5 October 1599, the Visitor announced that they had achieved 40,000 baptisms 35 since February of the same year and, on 26 October 1599, in a letter to the Jesuit Provincial for India, expressed his satisfaction at the manner in which the first meeting between Father João Rodrigues Tçuzu and Tokugawa Ieyasu had proceeded.36 In subsequent months new residences were opened, namely, in Buzen, under the protection of the Christian daimyó Kuroda Nagamasa 黒田長政,

37 and in Yamaguchi and Hiroshima, in the dominions of Móri Terumoto, the second regent to tolerate the propagation of Christianity in his lands.38 At the same time, a church was built in Gifu, the capital of the 34 Só Yoshitomo Dário (1568-1615) inherited the fiefdom of Tsushima in 1577, but only began to govern when he removed the regent, Só Yoshishige 宗義調 (1532-1588), in 1588. He played an important role during the Korean campaigns and in 1600 fought against Tokugawa Ieyasu. Nevertheless, the latter kept him in his dominions after the Battle of Sekigahara. At that time, Yoshitomo apostatised and divorced his wife, Maria 宗マリア (?-1605), the daughter of Konishi Yukinaga. (cf. Lothar Knauth, Confrontación transpacífica. El Japón e el Nuevo Mundo Hispânico, Mexico City, 1972, p. 116; Mary Elisabeth Berry, op. cit., p. 208). 35 Cf. Alessandro Valignano’s letter to the Rector of Manila, Shiki, 5 October 1599, ARSI, Jap-Sin, 13 II, fl. 315v. In another missive, written five days later about the state of Japanese Christianity, the Visitor stressed the importance of these numbers, comparing them with the 7,304 baptisms of adults that had been registered throughout the course of 1598. Cf. ARSI, Jap-Sin, 54, fl. 75. 36 Ieyasu showed himself to be “very benignly inclined towards our affairs” [“mui benigno pera nossas cousas”], but asked the Jesuits to wait for some more time before being officially reinstated “and due to the different things that took place all the Christian lords began to understand that Ieyasu would not be against our things and that we could begin to relax”. [“e por ocasião de diuersas cousas que passarão forão entendendo todos os senhores cristãos que yyeyasu não seria contrario a nossas cousas e que poderiamos começar a descansar»], BL, Add. 9860, fl. 70. 37 Kuroda Nagamasa Damião (1568-1623) was the son of Kuroda Yoshitaka Simeão 黒田孝高 (1546-1604) and had been baptised even before the anti-Christian edict of 1587. Nevertheless, he kept his life disassociated from the Gospel. In 1600, he sided with Tokugawa Ieyasu and fought at the Battle of Sekigahara, as a result of which he greatly increased his properties and gained control of the province of Chikuzen with an annual income of 523,000 koku. After the death of his father, he continued to favour the missionaries and the Christians, which was partly due to the influence of his uncle Kuroda Soyemon Miguel, tono of Akizuki. He apostatised definitively on the occasion of the anti-Christian edict of 1614. Cf. HGDJ, p. 330; George Sansom, op. cit., p. 972. 38 Cf. D. Luís Cerqueira’s letter to the Rector of Manila, Shiki, 28 February 1600, ARSI, Jap-Sin, 20 II, fl. 66. 52

dominions of Oda Hidenobu 織田秀信, 39 the grandson of Nobunaga. During this period, the only serious setback was the expulsion of 800 Christians from Hirado. Banished by the local daimyó, these Christians remained in the Nagasaki area for four months, at the Jesuits’ expense, until Konishi Yukinaga 小西行長 40 later gave them refuge.41 A year after Hideyoshi’s death, Valignano expressed his hopes that the political impasse in Japan would continue despite the tension that marked the relations between the governing authorities. The Visitor mentioned that the country had almost been divided into two factions,42 but that the situation had later become clearer, owing to which the Napolitan predicted that: “Given that the affairs of the Japanese Empire are not entirely settled, nevertheless it appears and is almost certain that at least for some time there will not be any change because as, on the one hand, all the lords of Japan were so obliged to Taycosama, and determined to support his son while Ieyasu governs according to the order that Taycosama left, everyone will obey him without opposition and should he wish to take for himself control of the Universal tenka then all of them will oppose him and great wars will result. On the other hand, as Ieyasu is now 60 years old and 39 Oda Hidenobu Paulo (1580-1602), was the official heir of his grandfather, Oda Nobunaga, a fact that enabled Toyotomi Hideyoshi to take advantage of his tender age and the conflicts between his uncles to appropriate Nobunaga’s legacy. Despite this, Hidenobu received the fiefdom of Mino at a young age. Along with his brother, Oda Hidenori Vicente 織田秀則, (1581-1625), Hidenobu was baptised by Father Organtino. In 1600, he declared war against Tokugawa Ieyasu and was imprisoned. Ieyasu banished him to the monastery of Monte Kóya, where he died two years later. Cf. MHJ, p. 460; HGDJ, pp. 469-470. 40 Konishi Yukinaga Agostinho (c. 1555-1600) was the second son of Konishi Ryúsa Joaquim 小西隆佐 (c. 1520-c. 1593) and entered into Hideyoshi’s service in 1577. He converted to Christianity in 1583. In subsequent years he held the post of commander of the naval forces of the kanpaku and had a fiefdom on the island of Shódoshima. In 1587, he received the southern half of the province of Higo, with an income of 240,000 koku. He later distinguished himself in the Korean campaigns and, after the death of Gamó Ujisato, became the most powerful Christian daimyó. After Hideyoshi’s death, he promoted the general conversion of his vassals, but during the crisis of 1600 defended Toyotomi Hideyori’s rights and confronted Tokugawa Ieyasu at the Battle of Sekigahara in which he was imprisoned. Shortly thereafter, he was beheaded in a public square in Miyako on 6 November. Curiously, his life inspired the composition of a theatrical work, whose text was printed in 1607: Argomento della tragedia intitolata Agostino Tzunicamindono re giapponese composta de vno della Compagnia di Giesu nel collegio del Guastato. Da recitarsi alli di Guigno 1607. In Genova. Per Givseppe Pavoni. MDCVII. Cf., Johannes Laures S.J., Kirishitan Bunko. A Manual of Books and Documents on the Early Christian Mission in Japan (with special reference to the principal libraries in Japan and more particularly to the collection at Sophia University), Tokyo, 1957, pp. 113-114. 41 Cf. ARSI, Jap-Sin, 13 II, fl. 327v. 42 Letter from Alessandro Valignano to the Provincial of India, Shiki, 26 October 1599, BL, Add. 9860, fls. 70v.-72.

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the boy is almost seven, and he governs in his name, and is obeyed by everyone, as he is prudent and understands that if he wishes to usurp the empire of the tenka for himself he will run the risk of losing everything, he will prefer the certainty that he currently holds quietly, retaining the honour of being loyal to Taycosama who gave him so many kingdoms rather than putting himself in danger for something that is not certain, losing the peace and honour that he currently has”.43 Later, on 24 February 1600, Valignano informed the Rector of Malacca that Japan would remain at peace. At the same time, he provided even more encouraging tidings about the state of Japanese Christianity: “[Ieyasu authorised] that everyone can choose the faith that they thought best and gave the Christians of Nagasaki permission to live freely and in peace as Christians, and with this we consider ourselves to have all been reinstated, and as such we can reveal ourselves and are accepted by everyone wherever [we go]; diverse Christian and non-Christian lords asked for fathers for their lands and everyone has already spread out in such a way that there were none left at our disposal”.44 In the meanwhile, Christmas 1599 was celebrated “all over with great devotion, principally in Nagasaki as its freedom has been restored, the 43 “Posto que as cousas do imperio de Jappão não estão de todo assentadas, todauia parece e se tem por certo que ao menos por algum tempo não auera mudança algûa, porque como por hûa parte, todos os senhores de Jappão ficarão tão obrigados a Taycosama, e determinados de sostentar seu filho enquanto yyeyasu gouernar conforme a ordem que dexou Taycosama todos sem contradizer lhe obedeçerão, e querendo ele tomar para si o senhorio da tenca Universal então todos lhe contradirão e se causarião grandes guerras. Por outra parte como yyeyasu agora he de 60 annos e o menino vai por os sete, e elle em seu nome gouerna, e he de todos obedecido, como he prudente e entende que querendo usurpar pera si o imperio da tenca correra risco de se deitar a perder, querera antes o certo que tem na mão quietamente, ficando com a honra de ser leal de Taycosama que lhe deu tantos reinos que por se a perigo pollo incerto, perdendo a pax e a honrra que agora tem”, BL, Add. 9860, fl. 82v. Moran stresses that Valignano showed his optimism with regard to the evolution of events as early as February 1599. Cf. J. F. Moran, op. cit., p. 83. 44 “[Ieyasu autorizou] que cada hum pode escolher a ley que milhor lhe pareçer e deu licença aos christãos de nangasaqui que vivão liuremente como christãos em paaz, e com isto nos damos todos por restituidos, e como tais nos mostramos e somos tidos de todos por onde [passamos]; diuersos senhores gentios e christãos pedirão padres para suas terras e ja se espalharão todos de tal maneira que nenhum ficou de que possamos dispor”; cf. Alessandro Valignano’s letter to the Rector of Malacca, Nagasaki, 24 February 1600, BL, Add. 9860, fls. 84-84v. 54

students of the seminary staged a devout piece with so much pageantry and harmony that it could be held all over”.45 Shortly thereafter, Terazawa Hirotaka 寺沢広高, 46 the Governor of Nagasaki, authorised the construction of a new church in the city without any kind of restrictions.47 In the meanwhile, the mission had already expanded and now had thirty residences, the majority of which, however, continued to be on the island of Kyúshú. 48 This general growth was widespread and, as we have already mentioned, between February 1599 and October 1600 approximately seventy thousand conversions were recorded. However, this extraordinary figure was not the result of a relatively uniform expansion throughout the country. It was, above all, the result of Konishi Yukinaga’s diligent efforts to transform his dominions into a Christian territory. His fiefdom included a region that had been Christianised some years ago, i.e. the islands of Amakusa, and the southern part of Higo, where the evangelising efforts were currently concentrated. In October 1600, eleven fathers and seventeen brothers 49 worked 45 “Em todas as partes com grande deuoção principalmente em nangasaqui por ficar restituido em sua liberdade, representarão os alunos do seminario hûa deuota obra com tanto aparato e concerto que em toda a parte pudera aparecer”; cf. Alessandro Valignano’s letter to the Rector of Malacca, Nagasaki, 24 February 1600, BL, Add. 9860, fls. 84-84v. 46 Terasawa Hirotaka Masanari Agostinho (c. 1563-1633) was nominated Governor of Nagasaki in 1592. He arrived there in August and ordered that the city’s churches be pulled down. He later grew closer to the missionaries and was baptised in 1595, but was to later apostatise in the wake of the crisis of 1597. After the crisis of 1600 he received the islands of Amakusa as a fiefdom, although he had asked Ieyasu for the territories of Arima and Ómura. He initially maintained an ambiguous relationship with the Church and allowed the Jesuits to maintain residences in his lands, but when he was removed from the post of Governor of Nagasaki he began to persecute the Christians definitively. Cf. MHJ, p. 1307. 47 Cf. Michael Cooper S.J. Rodrigues, o intérprete…, pp. 196-197. 48 Twenty six of these residences were situated on the island of Kyúshú: the rectorial house of Nagasaki, with the residences of Fukahori, Uchime, Hokame and Koga; the rectorial house of Ómura with the residences of Kori, Sonogi and Suzata; the rectorial house of Arima with the residences of Arie, Shimabara, Katsusa, Chijiwa and Saigo; the rectorial house of Shiki with the residences of Hondo, Kózúra and Óyano; the rectorial house of Uto, with the residences of Yatsushiro, Notsu and Yabe. Also located in Kyúshú were the residences of Nakatsu in the province of Buzen, Kurume in the province of Chikugo and another in the vicinity of Funai, in Bungo. The other four residences were located in Yamaguchi and Hiroshima, in the provinces of Suó and Aki, in the dominions of Móri Terumoto, and in Ósaka and Miyako. Here, the missionaries had two houses, one in “upper” Miyako (kamigyó), the part of the city in which the imperial palace was to be found and another one in “lower” Miyako (shimogyó), where the missionaries habitually resided. Cf. annual letter dated 15 October 1600, BA, 49-IV-59, fls. 1-53; IHSJJ, pp. 477-678. 49 There were six fathers and ten brothers in the residences on the islands, which were subordinate to Shiki, and five fathers and seven brothers worked in the residences controlled by the rectorial house of Uto, in Yukinaga’s capital. Cf. annual letter dated 25 October 1600, BA, 49-IV-59, fls. 20v-24v.

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there, who were in charge of approximately 100,000 souls.50 Valignano spent Lent there that year,51 thus supporting the efforts of the daimyó and the missionaries who worked there. The rapid propagation of Christianity in this region was, naturally, the result of the efforts of the daimyó and his main vassals. In the annual letter dated 25 October 1600, in an account of an episode that took place in Yukinaga’s dominions, we come across a good example of the intolerance of Christian political power and the fragility of many of the conversions obtained in this kind of process. An elderly woman persisted in her long held beliefs and had kept a Buddhist image that escaped the general destruction of religious pieces that had taken place on the occasion of the conversion of the village. When the missionaries and the daimyó’s officials left, the woman put her image back together and worshipped it again as before and almost all her fellow-villagers returned to the Buddhist faith. A dojuku who had been sent there robbed her of the image and took shelter in a Christian’s house. Later, he reprimanded them and reminded them that they had been baptised and were subjects of a Christian lord, apart from which he mentioned that he himself had already destroyed that last image of their former religion. The Governor of the region was preparing to inflict an exemplary punishment upon the villagers, but the fathers intervened and obtained their pardon. Nonetheless, “So that the Governors could put up some demonstration of justice, they publicly ordered that the house of the old lady be burnt, saying that they pardoned the others on account of their love for the father who had implored so persistently on their behalf, owing to which they were all terrified and from then onwards very obedient to the Church”.52 The support of the political authorities enabled the formal advancement of Christianity and it was hoped that with time they would succeed in the catechisation of the inhabitants of the region, which had happened, for example, in the cases of Ómura, Arima and Amakusa, as would later be verified, during the period of the persecution. This did not come to pass in Higo as, at the end of 1600, the entire province submitted to Kató Kiyomasa 50 Cf. Alessandro Valignano’s letter to the Assistant for Portugal, Nagasaki, 1 February 1601, ARSI, Jap-Sin, 14 I, fl. 56v. 51 Cf. annual letter dated 25 October 1600, BA, 49-IV-59, fl. 26. 52 “Para que os governadores fizessem algûa demonstraçam de justiça, mandaram publicamente queimar a casa da velha, dizendo que perdoavam aos outros por amor do padre que rogara tam affincadamente por elles, com que ficaram todos atemorizados e dahi por diante muy obedientes a Igreja”; cf. BA, 49-IV-59, fls. 23-23v. 56

加藤清正, 53 an anti-Christian daimyó, which facilitated the retrocession of all those who had been obliged to baptise themselves. At the time, there were other Christian daimyó who were particularly zealous about the propagation of the Faith, as was the case with Oda Hidenobu, as the annual letter dated 25 October 1600 reported the destruction of idols in his lands. However, the Jesuits never managed to found a residence in Gifu, despite having built a church there and visiting the province regularly.54 As the mission did not receive reinforcements in 1599, owing to the absence of the Great Ship,55 Valignano apparently opted to concentrate his available personnel in Konishi Yukinaga’s territories, which were located in the vicinity of Nagasaki and areas that had already been Christianised. Thus, the mission grew but, for the time being, continued to be concentrated on the island of Kyúshú. * In 1600, Christianity seemed to have the necessary conditions to become a major religion in Japan. Apart from being professed by about 300,000 individuals, amongst whom were to be found a considerable number of nobles, at the time there were at least fourteen daimyó who had been baptised: 56 Konishi Yukinaga, Ómura Yoshiaki 大村喜前, 57 Arima Harunobu 有馬晴信, 58 53 Kató Kiyomasa (1562-1611) was orphaned at the age of three and was raised in Hideyoshi’s house. After the Kyúshú campaign, in 1587, he received the northern half of Higo. He participated in the Korean campaigns and in 1600 supported Ieyasu’s cause, and attacked Konishi Yukinaga’s positions. Cf. HGDJ, pp. 262-263. 54 According to this annual letter, in the last two years (1599-1600) a father and a brother had visited the provinces of Mino and Owari thrice. Cf. BA, 49-IV-59, fl. 49v. 55 The ship did not set sail from Macao because it was not known if the junk of Nuno de Mendonça, the Captain-Major for the 1598 voyage, was still in Japan. His vessel had left Nagasaki at the end of February 1599 and was lost in unknown circumstances, owing to which the news of its disappearance took time to be confirmed. Boxer further suggests that the large scale movements that took place due to the return of the expeditionary forces that were in Korea back to Japan could also have contributed towards the fact that Macao did not send a ship to Nagasaki that year. Cf. C. R. Boxer, The Great Ship from Amacon, Lisbon, 1963, pp. 61-62. 56 I am not including Terasawa Hirotaka who had already clearly abandoned his communion with the Church and openly opposed it. 57 Ómura Yoshiaki Sancho (c. 1569-1616) was the son of Ómura Sumitada Bartolomeu 大村純忠 (1533-1587), who he succeeded. In 1588, he married his cousin Catarina (?-1600), who was Arima Harunobu’s sister. In 1600, he maintained his neutrality during the crisis, but was forced to abdicate in favour of his son Ómura Sumiyori Bartolomeu (1592-1619). Despite this, he continued to govern the house of Ómura until his death. He supported the Church until 1606, the year in which he apostatised, on the pretext that the Jesuits had been responsible for the fact that the bakufu had deprived him of his lands around Nagasaki in order to enlarge the perimeter of the city. Cf. Josef Franz Schütte S.J., Erinnerungen aus der Christenheit von Ómura, Rome, 1972, pp. 150-280. 58 Arima Harunobu (1567-1612) was the son of Arima Yoshisada André 有馬義貞 (1521-1576) and inherited the latter’s fiefdom in 1577. He began by persecuting the Christians, but later

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Kuroda Yoshitaka,59 Itó Suketaka 伊東祐兵, 60 Móri Takamasa 毛利高政, 61 Kobayakawa Hidekane 小早川秀包, 62 Só Yoshitomo, Oda Hidenobu, Tsutsui Sadatsugu 筒井定次, 63 Hachisuka Iemasa 蜂須賀家政, 64 Tsugaru Nobuhira converted and was baptised in 1579, on the occasion of which he took the name Protásio, which he would later change to João at the time of his confirmation in 1596. He was one of the main pillars of the Church over the course of three decades (1580-1611). He was beheaded on 5 June 1612, after it was discovered that he had illegally tried to obtain some adjoining territories near his dominions. 59 Yoshitaka was the official head of his seigniorial house but his father, Kuroda Nagamasa was still alive and was also a Christian, as we have already seen earlier in this article. 60 Itó Suketaka (1541-1600) was the son of Itó Yoshisuke 伊東義祐 (c. 1512-c. 1585), daimyó of Hyúga, and had to flee along with his father to Bungo in 1577, when his territories were invaded by the Shimazu family. He participated in the Korean campaigns and was succeeded by his son Itó Sukeyoshi 伊東祐吉 (1588-1636), who made his military debut at the Battle of Sekigahara. Cf. HGDJ, p. 217. 61 Móri Takamasa (1556-1628), was a descendent of a daimyó family from Odawara and participated in Hideyoshi’s campaigns and fought in Korea. When Ótomo Yoshimune was deprived of the governance of Bungo, the Taikó granted him a third of the province, with its seat in Hita. He was baptised in 1595, and, in 1600, he opposed Ieyasu, who, as a result of his victory, transferred him to Saeki, also in Bungo, but with only a third of the revenues that he had earlier enjoyed. Under pressure from Ieyasu, he formally apostatised but continued to protect the Christians and even permitted the installation of an Augustinian convent in his dominions. Cf. MHJ, p. 473; HGDJ, p. 407; cf. Johannes Laures S.J., Takayama Ukon …, p. 253; Arnulf Hartmann O.S.A., “The Augustinians in the Land of the Rising Sun” in Agustinos en America y Filipinas. Actas del Congreso Internacional, 2 vols., Valladolid, s/d, vol. 2, pp. 801-826. 62 Kobayakawa Hidekane Simeão (1566-1601) was the 9th son of Móri Motonari, and was adopted by his brother Kobayakawa Takakage 小早川隆景 (c. 1533-c. 1597), 3rd son of Motonari, who had, in the meanwhile, been adopted by the Kobayakawa family. He governed almost the entire territory of the provinces of Chikugo and Chikuzen and participated in the Korean campaigns. In 1600, he allied himself with the Móri family against Tokugawa Ieyasu, and after the Battle of Sekigahara placed himself under the protection of Kuroda Nagamasa Damião who had won control of the province of Chikugo at the time. Cf. MHJ, pp. 765-766. In 1603, his first-born son, Francisco, had a small fiefdom, with an income of 6,000 koku, in the province of Nagato. Cf. IHSIJ, p. 596. 63 Tsutsui Sadatsugu (1562-1615) was the nephew and adopted son of Tsutsui Junkei 筒井順慶 (1549-1584), from whom he received his fiefdom in Iga, with its seat in Ueno. Later, in 1600, he was by Ieyasu’s side during the entire campaign of the summer of 1600. In 1608, he was accused of bad administration, deprived of his fiefdom and exiled to Matsuyama, in the province of Iyo. He was invited to commit suicide in 1615. For further information about his conversion see Luís Fróis S.J., Historia de Japam (Ed. José Wicki S.J.), 5 vols., Lisbon, 1976-1984, vol. V, pp. 430-432. Cf. HGDJ, pp. 706-707. 64 Hachisuka Iemasa (c. 1559-1639) was the son of Hachisuka Masakatsu 蜂須賀正勝 (c. 1525- -1586), who had successively served Saitó Dósan (also known as Toshimasa 利政) 斉藤道三 (c. 1494-1556), Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Iemasa participated in the invasion of Shikoku by Hideyoshi’s forces and established himself in Tokushima, in the province of Awa. He participated in the Korean campaigns and was baptised in 1596. He retired around 1598, but continued to look after his seigniorial house. Cf. HGDJ, pp. 135-136; Johannes Laures S.J., Takayama Ukon…, p. 253. In 1600, the fiefdom of Tokushima was governed by his son Hachisuka Yoshishige 蜂須賀至鎮 (1586-1620), who participated in the Battle of Sekigahara along with Ieyasu, however we do not have any knowledge of his religious convictions. 58

津軽信枚, 65 Kyógoku Takatomo 京極高友 66 and Gamó Hideyuki 蒲生秀行. 67 Their relations with the Church and with the Gospel, as well as their political weight were not uniform, but at this point in time all of them supported the missionaries’ activities or were, at least, figures who inspired optimistic expectations that could be realised if the political scenario did not change and if the Church managed to increase the number of clergymen in the Japanese archipelago.68 The Jesuits also had the support of the Governor of Sakai, who was one of Konishi Yukinaga’s brothers,69 and of the Governor of Miyako, Maeda Gen’i,70 whose children were Christians. 65 Tsugaru Nobuhira (1586-1631) was the son of Tsugaru Tamenobu 津軽為信 (1550-1608), lord of Tsugaru, in the province of Dewa, who had expressed his desire to be baptised in 1596, on the occasion of a visit to Miyako. However, he had to return quickly to his dominions and left Nobuhira there, who received the sacrament. Later, in 1614, Nobuhira would take in many exiled Christians, but would also later abandon Christianity. Cf. HGDJ, pp. 701-702; Johannes Laures S.J., Takayama Ukon…, p. 253. Despite the fact that it was not the titular head of the seigniorial house who was baptised, I thought it appropriate to include his territory amongst the fiefdoms who were under a Christian authority. 66 Kyógoku Takamoto João (c. 1571-1622) was the second son of Kyógoku Takayoshi 京極高吉 (c. 1504-1581), a daimyó who died shortly after being baptised in Azuchi. His mother, Maria, persevered with the Faith and Takamoto later converted at an unknown date but with the persecution disassociated himself from the Church. In 1600, he joined Ieyasu’s cause and laid siege to Gifu, where Oda Hidenobu, a Christian lord from the enemy camp was based. As a reward for his support, Ieyasu transferred him shortly thereafter to a fiefdom in the province of Tango, where Takamoto established his capital in Miyazu. He received an annual income of 123,000 koku, which was 23,000 koku more than he used to receive. In 1602, he again resumed his ties with the Church, at the same time that his elder brother, Kyógoku Takatsugu 京極高次 (1563-1609), lord of Obama, in Wakasa, was baptised. Cf. HJ, III, pp. 198-199; HGDJ, p. 344; Johannes Laures S.J., Takayama Ukon…, p. 253; George Sansom, op. cit., p. 972; annual letter dated 30 September 1601, BL, Add., 9859, fls. 175-175v. 67 Gamó Hideyuki (1583-1612) was the son of Gamó Ujisato Leão 蒲生氏郷 (1556-1595), and married Furuhime (1580-1617), the third daughter of Tokugawa Ieyasu. When Ujisato died, Hideyoshi transferred Hideyuki from Aizu to Utsunomiya, in the province of Shimotsuke, but after the Battle of Sekigahara his father-in-law again placed him in Aizu. We do not know the name he took when he was baptised. Cf. HGDJ, p. 114; Conrad Totman, op. cit., pp. 70 and 84. 68 On 13 October 1599, Valignano complained of precisely this lack of personnel as, “There is no father who does not have ten, twelve, fifteen or twenty villages in his care, enduring the most intolerable labour to assist the sick, and bury the dead and hear confession for so many people each year and owing to all this more than two thirds of the Christians are unable to confess.” [«não ha padre que não tenha dez, doze, quinze e uinte pouoações a seu cargo, padecendo trabalhos intoleraueis em acudir aos doentes, e enterrar os defuntos e confessar cada anno tanta gente e com tudo isto ficão mais de dois terços de christãos sem se poderem confessar.»], BL, Add. 9860, fl. 67. 69 Cf. Alessandro Valignano’s letter to the Father General, Nagasaki, 2 March 1601, ARSI, Jap-Sin, 14 I, fl. 67v. 70 Gen’i is mentioned in Jesuit sources as guenifoin, and had initially served the Oda family. In 1582, he saved the young Oda Hidenobu during Akechi Mitsuhide’s 明智光秀 attack on the castle of Nijó, where his father Oda Nobutada 織田信忠 (1557-1582), the first-born son of Oda Nobunaga, was staying, and later allied himself with Hideyoshi. He was the main person

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There were also other important Christians in the country, who were banished for the time being, but who could possibly regain their influence, as was the case with Takayama Ukon 高山右近, 71 Oda Nobukatsu 織田信雄 72 and Ótomo Yoshimune 大友義統. 73 There was also the case of Hosokawa Tadaoki 細川忠興, 74 daimyó of Tango; Tadaoki was not a Christian, but his wife, Graça Hosoentrusted with establishing relations with the courtiers and organising grand parties and had a fiefdom in Yakami, in the province of Tanba. He was the Governor of Miyako when Hideyoshi issued his decree persecuting Christians and executed his orders with great clemency. His children converted to Christianity in 1595. During the crisis of 1600 he maintained his neutrality as well as his fiefdom, which passed to his son, Maeda Munetoshi Paulo, in 1602. Maeda Munetoshi was later dispossessed in 1608, allegedly for madness. Cf. Francine Hérail, op. cit., 1986, p. 286; HGDJ, p. 350. 71 Takayama Nagafusa, Ukon, Justo (1553-1615), is mainly mentioned in Western texts as Takayama Ukon, or D.Justo and was one of the more prominent figures of the Japanese Christian nobility. As he was one of the most influential nobles at Hideyoshi’s court, when the latter began to persecute Christianity, D. Justo opted to maintain his loyalty towards his Faith, which resulted in his immediately losing all of his properties and being subject to internal exile. After seventeen years spent in one of the peripheral regions of the Japanese archipelago he left Japan, in 1614, for exile in the Philippines where he died the following year. For further information about this figure see the study by Johannes Laures S. J. which I have mentioned previously in this article. 72 Oda Nobukatsu (1558-1630) was the second son of Oda Nobunaga. After the death of his father, he accepted the responsibility of being one of the protectors of his father’s heir, the young Oda Hidenobu Sambóshi 織田秀信三法師(1580-1602), grandson of Nobunaga and son of Nobutada, who also played a part in Akechi Mitsuhide’s treachery. He then clashed with his brother, Oda Nobutaka (1558-1583), Sambóshi’s other protector. The conflict broke out rather quickly and Nobukatsu, supported by Hideyoshi, besieged his brother in Gifu who ended up by committing suicide after he was defeated. He later sought to increase his power by allying himself with Tokugawa Ieyasu against Toyotomi Hideyoshi, but ended up by accepting the hegemony of the latter and became the daimyó of Owari. At some point in time he became a Christian and participated in the kanpaku’s campaign against the Shimazu family, in 1587, and against the Hójó family, in 1590. He then fell out with Hideyoshi who dispossessed him of his fiefdom and exiled him to Kózura. He was rehabilitated shortly thereafter, but in 1600 opposed Ieyasu, a move that brought him new difficulties. Nevertheless, in 1615, he received a fiefdom with an income of 50,000 koku. Cf. HGDJ, pp. 468-469; Mary Elisabeth Berry, op. cit., pp. 78-96. 73 Ótomo Yoshimune Constantino (1558-1605), succeeded Ótomo Sórin as the daimyó of Bungo, in 1578. He was baptised on 27 April 1587, but reneged on his new Faith three months later, when Hideyoshi promulgated the anti-Christian edict. In the meanwhile, he recovered his province of Bungo, thanks to the victory of the kanpaku over the Shimazu family. In 1591, he reconciled with the Church and left shortly thereafter for Korea, where his military performance was condemned by Hideyoshi who, in 1593, deprived him of his governance of Bungo and sent him into exile in Aki. In 1600, he tried to recover his dominions: he allied himself with Tokugawa Ieyasu’s opponents and fortified himself in Ishitate, but was defeated and imprisoned. He was then exiled to Kinai, where he died in 1605. 74 Hosokawa Tadaoki (1564-1645) had been lord of Tango since 1580 and was attached to Akechi Mitsuhide, his father-in-law. However, when the latter fell out with Nobunaga, Tadaoki did not follow him. In 1600, he held his wife hostage in Ósaka, and when Ishida Mitsunari tried to capture her, as well as other family members of Ieyasu’s supporters, a servant of the Hosokawa family killed her, following instructions given by his lord who had ordered him to 60

kowa 75 was a devout Christian who had been baptised in 1587 and had promoted the baptism of her sons, Hosokawa Tadatoshi 細川忠利 76 and Hosokawa Tatsukata 77 in 1595. In the preceding year, Hosokawa Okimoto 細川興元, 78 Tadaoki’s brother, had likewise been baptised, owing to which the propagation of Christianity in this province seemed very possible, at least in the medium term. Finally, apart from the direct support of the Christian lords, at that time, the missionaries’ activities were clearly supported by Ukita Hideie, one of the regents of the Empire, and two of the most powerful daimyó had also shown themselves to be tolerant. Móri Terumoto had even permitted the establishment of residences in his dominions, including in his capital, Hiroshima, and although Tokugawa Ieyasu did not have missionaries in his provinces, “the fathers visit him in much the same way as they used to earlier with Nobunaga”.79 As one can observe from Map 1, these daimyó (baptised, supporters or at least “encouraging”) were scattered throughout the country, for which reason, in the medium term, their territories had the potential to become centres for the propagation of Christianity. Thus, it seems to us that the idea with which J. F. Moran concludes his study on Valignano, where he states that Christianity could have succeeded in Japan if a Christian lord had become the lord of the tenka, does make sense. Perhaps it would have sufficed that the Empire not fall into the hands of a government that was anti-Christian, for the missionaries to have had the opportunity to further develop the work they were carrying out with such remarkable success. As has been suggested by Moran, it was at precisely this ensure that she did not fall into enemy hands. After Sekigahara, he received the province of Buzen, in Kyúshú, and supported the missionaries’ activities there for more than ten years. In 1619, he abdicated from his dominions in favour of his son Hosokawa Tadatoshi. Cf. HGDJ, pp. 185-186. 75 Graça Hosokawa 細川ガラシヤ (1562-1600) is a prominent figure in Japanese Christianity. Apart from a scattered bibliography, one can find important biographical information in Alfons Kleiser S.J., “Doña Gracia Hosokawa”, in MN, No. 2, 1939, pp. 609-616. 76 Hosokawa Tadatoshi (1586-1641) was baptised in 1595 but did not persevere in his Faith and executed the orders of the bakufu in Buzen when he received the province in 1619. In 1632, he was transferred to Higo and participated in the crushing of the Shimabara rebellion. Cf. HGDJ, p. 186. 77 Hosokawa Tatsukata was called João upon his baptism. Cf. Johannes Laures S.J., op. cit., p. 302. 78 Hosokawa Okimoto (c. 1562-c. 1619) was a friend of Takayama Ukon and persisted with the faith. He adopted his nephew Hosokawa Tatsukata. Cf. Johannes Laures S.J., op. cit., pp. 253-254. 79 “Correm com ele os padres com suas visitas ao modo que faziam primeiro com Nobunaga”; Cf. annual letter dated 25 October 1600, BA, 49-IV-59, fl. 5.

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stage that Christianity had its great opportunity to transform itself into a national phenomenon, especially by means of Konishi Yukinaga’s efforts.80 However, this extremely propitious scenario only lasted a short while as with Tokugawa Ieyasu’s victory at the Battle of Sekigahara the Japanese Empire came definitively under the control of a sole lord and the Church lost the liberty it had enjoyed during the past two years. 3. The Christians and Tokugawa Ieyasu’s victory In the summer of 1600, the Japanese political crisis intensified and a military conflict became imminent81. At the time, few would have guessed that the campaign underway would lead to the consolidation of the political reunification of the empire. The Jesuits hoped that the evolution of events would favour them and that the country would not remain in the hands of a sole lord, as one can deduce from the references in the letter written by D. Luís Cerqueira to Father João Correia, shortly before they received the news in Nagasaki that the Battle of Sekigahara had broken out:

“Currently, wars are looming on the horizon as all of Japan is divided into two groups; and the cause was because Dayfu [Ieyasu], who was the main governor amongst the five governors who were managing this empire owing to the death of Taycó, wishing to be the sole and absolute [ruler], slowly went about removing some lords who could obstruct his designs, and for this reason he went to Quanto [Kantó] to destroy a lord of that region 82 who did not wish to come to Miaco [Miyako] when called for; the other Governors thought this to be a good opportunity and rebelled, fearing that if he returned victorious he would do the same to each one of them, and soon almost all the lords between Miyako and these kingdoms of the West joined this alliance, and with many warriors they have been gaining control over the trails he [Ieyasu] can use.

God willing everything will work out for the good of his Church, as we hope that the result will be according to what experience has shown that when there are wars the fathers always find that a few lords are added to their harvest and thus Christianity will never cease to advance, which is not the case when there is an absolute lord, who, if he is averse to the law of God, gives grief to all of Christianity as was seen with Taycó.” 83

80 Cf. J. F. Moran, op. cit., p. 191. 81 For further information about the military operations that unfolded at the time, apart from the bibliography that I have already cited, also see Stephen Turnbull, The Samurai. A Military History, Richmond, 1999 (2nd edition, magazine; original, 1977, pp. 224-236). 62

Three days later, in the annual letter, we find the same hopes expressed:

Ieyasu seemed to have lost control of the centre of Japan, and Fushimi had fallen into the hands of his adversaries, who also held sway over Ósaka.84 Konishi Yukinaga was one of the leaders of the opposition to Ieyasu, who tried, unsuccessfully, to win him over to his camp:

“What is now universally understood is that this dispute is not going to blow over quickly as Daifu is very great and powerful and is lord of eight kingdoms. However, it seems that for now he will be completely excluded from the government of Japan 85 as so many and such great lords have joined this alliance, that Daifusama will not be able to prevail against them, but as there are so many leaders in this alliance, even if one supposes that they are all united for the time being, with time it will be difficult to avoid them falling out amongst themselves, and thus it probably seems that slowly all of Japan will be caught up in wars, and will revert to its former state in which it was before Nobunaga and Quambacudono became lords of the Tenka.86 From Miyako to here it is peaceful, as only two or three lords are with Ieyasu and go on to Kantó.” 87

82 He was referring to Uesugi Kagekatsu, one of the members of the regency and lord of Aizu. 83 “Agora nos esta o tempo ameaçando guerras por estar todo Japão diuidido em dous bandos; e a causa foy porque Dayfu [Ieyasu] que era o principal de sinco gouernadores que por morte de Taycó meneauão este imperio, querendo ficar so e absoluto, pouco a pouco hia tirando alguns senhores que lhe poderião estoruar seu intento, e por esta causa se foy ao Quanto [Kantó] pera destruir a hum senhor daquellas partes que não queria uir ao Miaco por seu chamado; os outros gouernadores parecendo lhe este bom encejo, temendo que se elle tornasse com victoria faria o mesmo a cada hum delles leuantarãose logo entrando nesta liga quase todos os senhores que ha do Miaco pera ca pera estes reynos do oeste, e com muita gente de guerra lhe tem [a Ieyasu] tomados os passos por onde pode subir. Queira Nosso Senhor que tudo redunde em bem desta sua Igreja, como esperamos que redundara polla experiencia que ha que quando ha guerras sempre os padres achão a colheyta el alguns senhores e assi nunca a christandade deixa de ir por diante, o que não he quando ha hum senhor absoluto, o qual se he auerso a ley de Deus, a toda a christandade da trabalho como se uio em taycô.”; BPE, Cod. CXV/2-7, fls. 121-121v. 84 For the military campaigns of 1600 I have followed Conrad Totman, op. cit., pp. 1-88; A. L. Sadler, op. cit., pp. 185-223. 85 D. Luís Cerqueira also expressed the same notion in a letter to the Assistant for Portugal dated 20 October 1600. Cf. ARSI, Jap-Sin, 20 II, fl. 70. 86 Valignano conveys the same idea in a letter to the Father General dated 20 October 1600. Cf. ARSI, Jap-Sin, 14 I, fl. 35. 87 “O que universalmente agora se entende he, que esta contenda não se ha de acabar tão depressa por ser Daifu muy grande e poderoso e senhor de oito reinos. Mas todavia parece que

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This is, undoubtedly, a particularly interesting text, as it shows us what was the more desirable situation for the Jesuits – the absence of a strong central power. However, what we find most amazing is their incapacity to foresee Tokugawa Ieyasu’s quick and fulminating victory, which reveals how his strategy succeeded in confusing the enemy, insofar as he managed to achieve a victory that seemed impossible. *

During the campaign that culminated in the Battle of Sekigahara, the Christian daimyó did not form a block. As one can observe from Map 2, their positions varied, although some of them stood out in the camp opposed to Ieyasu, namely Konishi Yukinaga and Oda Hidenobu. We also know that some of them directly fought amongst themselves e.g. Kyógoku Takamoto participated in the attack on Gifu, which neutralised Oda Hidenobu’s forces. Kuroda Yoshitaka, in his turn, remained in Kyúshú while his son Kuroda Nagamasa allied with Ieyasu in Sekigahara. Yoshitaka fought beside Kató Kiyomasa, one of the most ruthless anti-Christian daimyó, against the forces that opposed Ieyasu, which included Ótomo Yoshimune, who was seeking to recover the province of Bungo.88 Apart from this, he invaded the territories of Kobayakawa Hidekane. However, the fact that Ieyasu’s allies included some Christians ensured that his victory did not imply a military defeat of Christianity. Map 3 shows us the new distribution of the Christian daimyó or protectors of Christianity as a result of Tokugawa Ieyasu’s triumph. The changes are significant, as only two daimyó continued as they were before the war – Arima Harunobu and Tsutsui Sadatsugu. The Ómura family who, like the Arima, had remained neutral 89 also managed to keep their fiefdom.90 However, in this case, Ieyasu por agora ficará de todo excluido do governo de Japão por entrar nesta liga tantos e tão grandes senhores, que Daifusama não poderá prevalecer contra eles, mas como nesta liga entrão tantas cabeças, posto que por agora estão todos unidos, será difícil cousa não haver com o tempo paixões entre eles, e assim provavelmente parece que pouco a pouco se irá revolvendo em guerras todo Japão, e que tornara a seu estado antigo em que estava antes de Nobunaga e de Quambacudono se fazerem senhores da Tenka. De Miyako para cá está em paz, pois só dois ou três senhores estão com Ieyasu e passam ao Kantô.”; BA, 49-IV-59, fl. 3. 88 Ótomo Yoshimune was exiled in Miyako at the time and the Governors (the members of the gobugyó who opposed Tokugawa Ieyasu) sent him to Bungo. Yoshimune had an army of 4,000 men at his disposal but was intercepted by Kuroda Yoshitaka and was imprisoned. Cf. supplement to the annual letter of 1600, BA, 49-IV-59, fl. 55. 89 Cf. supplement to the annual letter of 1600, Nagasaki, 21 February 1601, BA, 49-IV-59, fl. 15v. 90 Tokugawa Ieyasu went so far as to hand the Ómuras’ fiefdom over to Terasawa Hirotaka, transferring Ómura Yoshiaki to the islands of Amakusa, but the Christian lords managed to 64

forced Yoshiaki to abdicate in favour of his son Ómura Sumiyori 大村純頼, 91 a fact that did not prevent Yoshiaki from keeping control over his seigniorial house until his death in 1616. Ieyasu’s victory resulted in the disappearance of a Christian authority in Mino (Oda Hidenobu), and in Southern Higo and Amakusa (Konishi Yukinaga). In Southern Hyúga, the untimely death of Itó Suketaka resulted in the succession of his twelve year old son, Itó Sukeyoshi,92 who was at Ieyasu’s side in Sekigahara, but we presume that the new daimyó had not even been baptised. Likewise, Tsushima also ceased to be under a Christian daimyó, in the sole change that took place on the basis of an apostasy. In effect, Só Yoshitomo, Konishi Yukinaga’s son-in-law, maintained an ambiguous position during the crisis. As he controlled an area that was extremely sensitive from a strategic point of view, owing to the fact that his territory constituted a forward post with regard to Korea, Tokugawa Ieyasu kept him in his fiefdom. At this point in time, Yoshitomo, who had requested missionaries to be sent to his dominions shortly before this, apostatised and divorced his wife, who sought refuge in Nagasaki93. His baptism had clearly been a political act designed to please Konishi Yukinaga, however, this also signifies that if Konishi Yukinaga had not failed, Yoshitomo would have permitted the evangelisation of his lands even though he was not interested in the Christian Faith. Another Christian daimyó who lost his realm was Kobayakawa Hidekane, who governed almost the entire province of Chikugo. However, in this case, the new lord of the entire province,94 Tanaka Yoshimasa convince him to change his mind and finally it was Terasawa Hirotaka who ended up with those islands. Cf. Alessandro Valignano’s letter to the Father General, Nagasaki, 15 October 1601, ARSI, Jap-Sin, 14 I, fls. 73-73v. 91 Ómura Sumiyori Bartolomeu (1592-1619) was the son of Yoshiaki and Catarina, Arima Harunobu’s sister, and was baptised when he was just eight days old. Formally entrusted with heading the House of Ómura, he was able to effectively exercise his leadership during a threeyear period (1616-1619). When Yoshiaki died, Sumiyori immediately reduced persecution of Christians and even allowed his sisters to be baptised. He died on 13 December 1619. Cf. MHJ, pp. 724-726. 92 Itó Sukeyoshi (1588-1636) inherited the fiefdom of Obi, in Southern Hyúga, from his father in 1600, after participating in the Battle of Sekigahara and also participated in the Kyúshú campaigns against the Shimazu family. 93 Cf. supplement to the annual letter of 1600, BA, 49-IV-59, fl. 65. 94 Ever since Hideyoshi dominated the island of Kyúshú, the province of Chikugo had been governed by Kobayakawa Hidekane, who had his capital in Kurume, whose fiefdom was worth 130,000 koku annually, and by Tachibana Muneshige 立花宗茂 (c. 1569-1642), who had his seat in Yanagawa and whose territory was worth 132,000 koku. Both these daimyó opposed Tokugawa Ieyasu during the 1600 crisis and were deprived of their fiefdoms. Muneshige would later be rehabilitated, obtaining, in 1611, a small fiefdom in the province of Mutsu, and was later reinstalled in Yanagawa, in 1620. Cf. George Sansom, op. cit., p. 970; HGDJ, p. 614.

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田中吉政, 95 would maintain good relations with the missionaries and even permitted residences to be opened in his territory. Móri Takamasa was also penalised, losing his fiefdom of Hita and being transferred to that of Saeki, which was also located in the province of Bungo but was worth much less.96 Buzen also ceased to have a Christian daimyó, however, in much the same way as in Chikugo, the new lord of the province, Hosokawa Tadaoki, protected the missionaries from the very beginning.97 In this case, the former daimyó of Buzen had not been penalised, as the lord in question was Kuroda Nagamasa, one of Ieyasu’s allies, who had been transferred to Chikuzen, the other province that had been governed by Kobayakawa Hidekane until then. Four other Christian daimyó had allied themselves with Ieyasu and were rewarded for their support: on the one hand, Gamó Hideyuki, who was transferred from Utsunomiya to Aizu, the former fiefdom of his father,98 and Kyógoku Takamoto, who received a new territory in Tanabe, in the province of Tango; and on the other hand there were the Hachisuka, who maintained the same fiefdom in Tokushima, but received a higher income, which was also the case with the Tsugaru. Finally, it is important to note that, on the one hand, Ukita Hideie had also lost all his dominions and Akashi Morishige had taken refuge in Chikuzen, under the wing of the Christian lord Kuroda Nagamasa and, on the other hand, the Móri had lost almost all their provinces, as a result of which the vast area located in the Southeast region of Honshó that was seemingly permeable to Christianity almost completely disappeared. However, these substantial alterations had effects that were essentially political. The removal of Oda Hidenobu and Ukita Hideie and Só Yoshimoto’s apostasy implied the loss of any possibility of evangelising five provinces, but did not significantly affect Christianity, as the existing communities there were small. In these cases, especially, the missionaries’ hopes of creating new Christian communities were thwarted relatively quickly. 95 Tanaka Yoshimasa (?-1609) had earlier served under the orders of Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He had been the lord of Okazaki, in the province of Mikawa, since 1590. He was one of Ieyasu’s generals at the Battle of Sekigahara. With his transfer to Chikugo, he went from an annual income of 100,000 koku to 325,000. Cf. George Sansom, op. cit., pp. 749 and 972; HGDJ, p. 643; MHJ, p. 527. 96 While the fiefdom of Hita was worth 60,000 koku annually, that of Saeki was only worth 20,000 koku. 97 Apart from the province of Buzen, Tadaoki also received a third of the province of Bungo. Cf. supplement to the annual letter of 1600, BA, 49-IV-59, fl. 68v. 98 This change only took place in the summer of 1601, when Tokugawa Ieyasu authorised Uesugi Kagekatsu to leave Aizu and settle in Yonezawa, in the province of Dewa, but further to the North. Gamó Hideyuki then returned to Aizu. However, this fiefdom ceased to be associated with lands worth 1,200,000 koku, and was left with an annual income of 600,000 koku. Cf. Conrad Totman, op. cit., p. 84. 66

Thus, from the point of view of Japanese Christendom, Tokugawa Ieyasu’s victory had two momentous consequences. Firstly, a decisive structural alteration took place that was, however, not yet perceptible in 1600-1601 – Japan came definitively under the control of a sole lord (the least desirable political solution from the Jesuit point of view) who had fixed politico-religious convictions in which there was no place for Christianity. The second consequence had more immediate effects, the southern half of the province of Higo was handed over to Kató Kiyomasa, who persecuted Christians shortly thereafter, as a result of which, of the tens of thousands of souls who had been hastily baptised in the preceding two year period, only a few thousand persevered in their faith and that too in particularly difficult conditions. ABBREVIATIONS Add. – Addington ARSI – Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu BA – Biblioteca da Ajuda [Ajuda Library] (Lisbon) BL – British Library (London ) BPE – Biblioteca Pública de Évora [Évora Public Library] HGDJ – E. Papinot, Historical and Geographical Dictionary of Japan, Tokyo, 1972. IHSJJ – Josef Franz Schütte S.J., Introductio ad historiam Societatis Jesu in Japonia, Rome, 1968. MHJ – Monumenta Historica Japonica (Ed. Josef Franz Schütte S.J.), Rome, 1975. MN – Monumenta Nipponica.

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Abstract This article basically seeks to analyse the position of Christianity in the Japanese Empire in 1600. Before the Battle of Sekigahara, there were fourteen baptised daimyó, scattered throughout the country, and a new period of political instability was predicted. With about 300,000 followers, Christianity appeared to have the necessary political conditions at the time (the absence of a strong central authority and the solidarity and interest of various local leaders) to rapidly propagate itself from nerve centres dispersed throughout the Empire. The baptism of 70,000 individuals over the last two years was a clear indication of this tendency. Tokugawa Ieyasu’s unexpected victory at the Battle of Sekigahara radically altered this panorama. The Empire of the Rising Sun was now subject to one single lord who rejected Christianity, a fact that nullified the hopes of a general increase in the number of baptisms. This study also identifies the position of the Christian daimyó in 1600 and traces their activities during the Sekigahara campaign as well as their situation after Ieyasu’s triumph. Resumo Neste artigo, analisamos basicamente a situação da Cristandade no Império Nipónico em 1600. Antes da batalha de Sekigahara existiam 14 daimyó baptizados, espalhados por todo o país e adivinhava-se um novo período de instabilidade política. Contando com cerca de 300.000 fiéis, o Cristianismo tinha então condições políticas (a ausência de um poder central forte e o interesse e solidariedade de vários chefes locais) para se propagar rapidamente a partir de focos dispersos por todo o império. O baptismo de 70.000 indivíduos nos últimos dois anos era um sinal claro desta tendência. A vitória inesperada de Tokugawa Ieyasu na batalha de Sekigahara alterou radicalmente este panorama. O Império do Sol Nascente passou a estar sujeito a um único senhor que rejeitava o Cristianismo, o que anulou as expectativas de crescimento generalizado do número de baptizados. Este estudo também identifica os daimyó cristãos em 1600 e refere a sua actuação na campanha de Sekigahara assim como a sua situação após o triunfo de Ieyasu.

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要約 この論文では1600 年の日本におけるキリスト教の状況を分析する。関ヶ原の 合戦直前に全国に分散して洗礼を受けた14人の大名が居た。そしてまた政治 的には不安定な時期が予想された。 当時、キリスト教は30万人の信者を有し、全国に分散した拠点から急速に広ま る政治的状況（すなわち強い中央政権が存在せず、何人かの地方有力者の関 心と連帯があった）を集めていた。その時点までの2年間で7万人の洗礼がこ の傾向の証拠であった。 予想されなかった徳川家康の関ヶ原での勝利がこの状態を根本的に変えた。 日本がキリスト教を拒否していた一人の主君の支配下になったので洗礼者数 の全般的増加の期待は空しくなった。 この研究はまた1600 年のキリシタン大名を特定し、各々の関ヶ原での行動と 家康の勝利後の状況にも言及する。