HIDEYOSHI AND HIS EDICTS AGAINST CHRISTIANITY 1583-1598
TOYOTOMI HIDEYOSHI, who succeeded in gaining for himself the power formerly possessed by Nobunaga, seemed at first to regard the Christians with much favour. According to some Japanese writers, he believed that the foreign religion was a source of danger, and so he was only waiting for a favourable opportunity to drive the missionaries from the land. However this may have been, it was worth while to secure the good will of the Christian lords and warriors. Among these Takayama Ukon held a prominent place. In 1583 Konishi Yukinaga, who became commander of Hideyoshi’s fleet, was converted through Takayama’s influence. Under the name Augustine, which he took at baptism, he has frequent mention in the letters of the Jesuits. They give him the title of Grand Admiral. In connection with the expedition to Korea he holds a prominent place in Japanese history. Another conversion occurring at about the same time as Konishi’s was that of Kuroda Yoshitaka, whom the Jesuits term the General of the Cavalry. In their accounts he is called Simon Kondera. The governors of the important cities of Osaka and Sakai were Christians, as were also the officers whom the missionaries call the Secretary of State and the Grand Treasurer. Several daimyos and other men of high rank were either baptised believers or students of Christianity. Magdalen, the secretary of Hideyoshi’s wife, and Jane Onogi, wife of the Daimyo of Fukuchiyama and considered the best poetess of that time, held important places among the ladies in Hideyoshi’s court.
As soon as Hideyoshi’s power over central Japan had become thoroughly established, he made a redistribution of the lands. Takayama Ukon was removed from Takatsuki to Akashi, in the province of Harima, where he was in receipt of larger revenues. Most of his retainers followed him thither. On arriving in his new possessions he gave notice to the Buddhist priests that they must remove all their idols from the land. When they saw that their attempts to resist this order were vain, they put the images on boats and sailed with them to Osaka, which Hideyoshi had made his headquarters. Here they appealed to Hideyoshi’s mother, a devout Buddhist, and got her to intercede in their behalf; but it was all in vain, for Hideyoshi refused to interfere, saying that Takayama was free to rule his own territory as he pleased and that, if the priests did not know what to do with their idols, they would better drown them in the sea or use them for firewood. The report of this reply encouraged Takayama to go on in his efforts to make his fief wholly Christian.
After Nobunaga’s assassination, Akechi and his followers had pillaged the palace at Azuchi. The establishment of the Jesuits had also been ravaged either by the soldiers or by the populace. The seminary with thirty of the pupils was therefore removed to Takatsuki. One of the missionaries wrote at this time in the following enthusiastic terms concerning the students:
“These youths progress greatly in virtue and in letters, and are of such good parts that what is learned in three years in the schools of Europe they easily master in four months. Already some of them begin to show themselves adapted for preaching and for confuting the falsity of the bonzes, with great hope of notable service to the Lord”
On Takayama’s transfer to Akashi, it was decided to remove the school to Osaka. Hideyoshi gave land near his castle for the erection of the school and a church, he himself going in person with Father Organtin to select a suitable site.
A conversion that attracted much attention about this time was that of Imaoji Dosan, Hideyoshi’s physician, a man who had been educated in the best schools of Japan and China, and who was the most celebrated practitioner in the country. Father Figueredo had occasion to consult this physician. Dosan, surprised to see a person of so great age whose general health seemed so good, asked him how he had preserved his strength. The Father replied that from childhood he had lived an abstemious life, had subdued his body by labour, and above all had learned the secret of contentment so well that, even though the ailment which brought him to seek advice should cut short his days, he would not be troubled thereby, since this would introduce him to a life incomparably better than the present and one that had the great advantage of being endless. Dosan, who did not believe in the immortality of the soul, began to argue and to ask questions which received such answers as finally led him to put himself under the Father’s instruction with the result that after a while he received baptism. His pupils, said to number eight hundred, were also baptised, while many other persons were led to say: “If such a wise man as this believes the Christian doctrines, they must be true.”
In May, 1586, Father Coelho, the Vice-Provincial, accompanied by eight Jesuits and a number of Japanese Christians, was received at the Osaka Castle by Hide-yoshi, who the previous year had been made Kwambaku, or Regent, thus attaining the highest office open to a subject of the Emperor.* In a familiar conversation with the missionaries he was remarkably frank in telling his plans for the future. Father Froez, who was present, says:
“He told its how he was resolved to divide the southern kingdoms, minishing somewhat of the state of all the lords there and how he would destroy and ruin with a great army every one of them who refused to obey him. This lord evinced such liveliness in his countenance and such frankness as he uttered these words that we could perceive without the least doubt that he had not a shadow of suspicion of us. He also added that in the division of Japan he wished to give Justo Ucondono (Takayama) and Ryusa, the father of Augustine (Konishi), who were present, the kingdom of Hizen, leaving the port of Nagasaki to the Church, and for that letters paient would be issued,—but this, it was to be understood, was to be after he had thoroughly settled the affairs of Japan and taken hostages, because he wished to do everything in such a way that the Fathers should not be hated by the lords of Hizen. And he wished them further to understand that he made that donation to them on his own initiative and not at the instance of others…
“He also said that he had reached the point of subjugating all Japan; whence his mind was not set upon the future acquisition of more kingdoms or more wealth in it, since he had enough, but solely upon immortalising himself with the name and fame of his power; in order to do which he was resolved to reduce the affairs of Japan to order and to place them on a stable basis; and, this done, to entrust them to his brother Minodono, while he himself should pass to the conquest of Korea and China, for which enterprise he was issuing orders for the sawing of planks to make two thousand vessels in which to transport his army. And for himself he wished nothing from the Fathers except that through them he should get two great and well-equipped ships from the Portuguese, whom he would pay liberally for everything, giving the very best wages to their officers; and if he met his death in that undertaking, he did not mind, inasmuch as it would be said that he was the first lord of Japan who had ventured on such an enterprise; and if he succeeded and the Chinese rendered obedience to him, he would not deprive them of their country or remain in it himself, because he only wished them to recognise him for their lord; and that he would build churches in all parts, commanding all to become Christians and to embrace our Holy Law.”
A few days after this Hideyoshi gave the missionaries a patent in which he granted them permission to preach in his states, exempted their establishments from the necessity of lodging soldiers, and released Japanese members of the Society from certain obligations to their feudal lords. He signed and sealed two copies of the document, expressing his wish that one should be sent to Europe in order to show Christian kings how much he favoured their religion.
The progress of events in Kyushu helped on Hideyoshi’s plans for that island. The Otomos of Bungo had been so much weakened that the strife for supremacy among the daimyos was chiefly confined to those of Satsuma and Hizen. There were constant wars, into whose particulars it will not be necessary for us to enter. In 1586 Bungo was invaded by Satsuma, It is said that with the latter’s army came many Buddhist monks, who delighted in the opportunity that was afforded them to destroy Christian churches. The missionaries, forced to flee, escaped to Shimonoseki and Yamaguchi.
In these straits Otomo Yoshishige went to Osaka and begged Hideyoshi to intervene. Nothing could have been more pleasing to the latter. The first generals whom he sent to oppose the forces of Satsuma were defeated. Funai was captured and Yoshimune fled to Nakatsu in the province of Buzen. Kuroda, who hastened thither, reproved the young man for his evil deeds and urged him to become a Christian. As a result of this exhortation, Yoshimune was baptised April 27, 1587, together with his wife, three children, and several retainers. He took the name of Constantine, Soon after this, Satsuma was driven back. Partly by force of arms and partly by diplomacy Hideyoshi succeeded in making all the daimyos of Kyushu submit to him. He then made a re-distribution of the territory. To Otomo Yoshimune was left only part of the province of Bungo. The Christian lords of Amakusa and Omura were not disturbed, while Arima recovered a part of the territory that had been taken by Satsuma. To Konishi was given the southern part of Higo and he was made a sort of supervisor over the whole of Kyushu. Kuroda was rewarded with a large part of Buzen. One of the Mori family, who had been converted through Kuroda’s influence and who now married a daughter of Yoshishige, was given a fief in Chikugo. Another Christian received estates in Hyuga. Thus a considerable part of Kyushu came under the rule of Christian daimyos. It must have seemed to the missionaries that Hideyoshi had made a good beginning in carrying out the promises given to the Vice-Provincial.
It was about this time that the Christians of Kyushu lost the two men who had hitherto been their most illustrious leaders, Omura Sumitada died May 24, 1587, at the age of fifty-five; while a fortnight later followed the death of Otomo Yoshishige, who was fifty-eight years old. During the last part of his life Yoshishige had shown much zeal in the observance of religious ceremonies. Crasset says of him:
“He lived eighteen years after his baptism in piety and devotion, more like a perfect religions man than a worldly prince. He began his conversion by afflicting his weak and infirm body with cruel and continual penances. He fasted several days in the week, disciplined himself daily, and frequently too in public, to repair (as he used to say) the scandal he had given by his loose and libertine life…..He confessed and communicated five or six times a week. He recited his rosary daily on his knees, and over and above, another pair of beads with his domestics. . . . Every year he retired for eight or ten days to make the Spiritual Exercises. . . . Though he was naturally of a warlike disposition, yet after the unction of grace had penetrated into his heart he never waged war but in his own defence, and the fruit he reaped by it was extirpation of idolatry and the establishment of the Christian religion. This was his pleasure and glory above all other conquests. He hunted the bonzes like savage beasts and, in a word, took singular satisfaction in exterminating them out of the land.”
While Hideyoshi was in the city of Hakata, the Vice-Provincial went thither to present his congratulations on the recent victories. The Regent, who appeared as friendly as he had formerly been in Osaka, promised to give him land in Hakata and assured him that he would always protect the Christian religion. How great then was the consternation of the missionaries when, in a single night, Hideyoshi’s attitude towards them was entirely altered and an edict was issued in which they were ordered to leave Japan within twenty days.
What was the cause of this sudden change? As has already been noted, some Japanese historians state that Hideyoshi from the first was opposed to Christianity and had been waiting some good opportunity to declare his enmity. Another or an additional explanation given by some is thus expressed in the “History of the Empire of Japan,” prepared by the Japanese Department of Education for the Columbian Exposition of 1893:
“When Hideyoshi in the course of his campaign against Shimazu reached Hakata, the Christian priests showed such an arrogant demeanour that Hideyoshi, enraged by their conduct, ordered that they should leave Japan by a certain day and prohibited the people from embracing Christianity.”
Mr. Murdoch calls attention to Hideyoshi’s custom of using outbursts of simulated fury to conceal his deep designs, and holds that Hideyoshi did not wish to extirpate Christianity, but only to reduce it to the position of a serviceable political tool. This led him to take active steps against Takayama, whom he regarded as too much under the control of the foreigners, while Konishi and Kuroda, as men that could be trusted, were left undisturbed.
Roman Catholic historians say that several causes united to arouse the enmity of Hideyoshi. The first was the evil conduct of the European merchants, most of whom gave themselves up to such debauchery as made the Japanese despise a religion that had so little good effect on the lives of its adherents. Thus Hideyoshi was led to think that the missionaries could not believe that the religion they taught was a help to virtue.. He one day dropped the remark that he greatly feared the upright conduct of the missionaries themselves was nothing more than a mask of hypocrisy used to conceal the plans of the Europeans to gain possession of Japan.
A second cause of distrust is said to have arisen in connection with an unusually large Portuguese ship that came to Hirado. Hideyoshi, who was thinking of having some vessels built in European style, asked Father Coelho to induce the captain to bring this ship to Hakata. The captain came in a small vessel, alleging that the shoals outside the harbour did not give sufficient water for the larger one. Hideyoshi spent three hours with Father Coelho and the captain on board the small boat, apparently satisfied with the excuse and pleased with the entertainment offered him; but it was afterwards thought that he suspected the merchants and missionaries had some secret reason for not wishing to accede to his request.
Most stress is laid by the Jesuits upon Hideyoshi’s anger at the obstacle which Christianity offered to his own debaucheries. According to their account, a man named Yakuin, who had formerly been a Buddhist priest, had now become the procurer for Hideyoshi’s licentious pleasures. Some Christian maidens of Arima, whom he urged to go to Hakata, rejected his offers with so much contempt that he returned baffled and angry. He arrived on the evening after Hideyoshi’s visit to the Portuguese ship. The Regent was still making merry with some wine that he had received from the captain. When Yakuin told his adventures and declared that the Christians had treated him with such insolence and violence that he had been glad to escape with his life, Hideyoshi roared out that he would cut the throats of all the Christian women of Arima. Then Yakuin joined with others that were present in declaiming against the foreign religion whose followers, they alleged, were preparing to join the Portuguese in overthrowing Hideyoshi. There was even the pretence of disclosing a plot already formed for this purpose, with Takayama Ukon for its leader.
Hideyoshi was quick to take action. In the middle of the night Father Coelho, who had remained on the ship where the Regent had just shown himself so gracious, was aroused from his sleep and called on deck, A voice from the shore commanded him in very impolite language to come at once to land in order to receive a communication from Hideyoshi. The message proved to be a demand for answers to the following questions: “Why do you force the Japanese to become Christians? Why do you make your followers destroy the temples? Why do you persecute the Buddhist priests? Why do you violate Japanese customs by eating meat? Who has given the Portuguese permission to buy Japanese and carry them as slaves to India?” Shortly afterwards another messenger arrived, read an order that had just been issued for the banishment of Takayama, and departed without saying anything more.
The Vice-Provincial was overwhelmed with astonishment. He at once set to work at the preparation of a long letter in answer to the questions that had been asked. In it he said that Hideyoshi himself had given permission for the preaching of Christianity; that since this religion taught the existence of only one God, it was to be expected that those who followed it would renounce all idols and seek to overthrow the buildings in which they were enshrined, although the missionaries had never taken part in destroying temples except so far as the daimyos approved; that while it was not to be supposed that teachers of two religions so different as Buddhism and Christianity could work in harmony, the Jesuits had never maltreated the bonzes; that, although the missionaries according to the customs of their own country had eaten meat when entertained by the Portuguese merchants, they were willing to abstain from it hereafter; and that they were not accountable for the conduct of the merchants, whom they had often reproved for their traffic in slaves, an evil that could easily be prevented if Hideyoshi would prohibit the daimyos and others from selling captives and criminals to the foreigners.
The next morning (July 25, 1587) the following edict was published:
“Having learned from our faithful counsellors that foreign religious teachers have come into our estates, where they preach a law contrary to that of Japan, and that they have even had the audacity to destroy temples dedicated to our Kami and Hotoke; although this outrage merits the most extreme punishment, wishing nevertheless to show them mercy, we order that under pain of death they quit Japan within twenty days. During that space of time no harm nor hurt will be done them, but at the expiration of that term, we order that if any of them be found in our states, they shall be “seized and punished as the greatest criminals. As for the Portuguese merchants, we permit them to enter our ports, there to continue their accustomed trade, and to remain in our estates provided our affairs need this; but we forbid them to bring any foreign religious teachers into the country, under the penalty of the confiscation of their ships and goods.”
Orders were sent to Takayama Ukon, who was encamped near Hakata, that be must give up his fief in Akashi and go into exile. For some time he dwelt on an island belonging to Konishi’s estate. He was then ordered to remove with his family to Kanazawa in the province of Kaga. The daimyo of that place received him as a retainer, giving him a revenue that enabled him to support the faithful vassals that followed him into exile.
Coelho hoped to avert the threatened disaster by making a show of submission. As no ship was ready to sail to the Indies, he succeeded in having the time permitted to elapse before the departure of the missionaries changed from twenty days to six months. In response to his summons, all but two of the European missionaries assembled in Hirado for a conference. There were then in Japan forty Fathers and seventy-three Brothers, forty-seven of the latter being Japanese. It was decided that for the present it was advisable to refrain from all open exercise of their ministry. While awaiting the time set for leaving Japan, they accepted the asylums offered by the Christian daimyos of Kyushu.
There were still many conversions to comfort the hearts of the missionaries in these dark days. Among the prominent persons baptised was a nephew of Hideyoshi’s wife. Another was the wife of Hosokawa,* a daimyo whose possessions were in the province of Tango. She had first learned of Christianity by hearing her husband’s account of Takayama’s vain attempt to convert him. Hosokawa went with Hideyoshi to Kyushu, leaving his wife at Osaka and giving strict orders that she was not to go out from his mansion in that city. She, however, was so desirous to hear the preaching of the Christians that she managed to elude the guards and went with a few attendants to the church, where she was much impressed with the decorations and especially with an image of Christ that stood over the altar. The meaning of the emblems was explained to her by Father Cespedes. Afterwards she heard a sermon fay a Japanese Brother who, at its close, answered many questions that she propounded. She and her companions then asked for baptism. As she declined to give her name, it was thought that she might be one of Hideyoshi’s concubines, and the missionary was therefore unwilling to grant her request. Meanwhile the guards at her mansion had become aware of her absence. When at last they discovered her in the church, they sent a litter to bring her home. After this she daily sent to Father Cespedes a trustworthy maid, with some attendants, to receive his instruction and then report it to her. Ere long this maid and sixteen of her companions were baptised in the church, but their mistress found it impossible to leave the house. When news came of Hideyoshi’s edict for the expulsion of the Jesuits, her fear that the opportunity to receive baptism would be lost led her to devise a plan for going to the church by night. This was discouraged by the missionary, who gave the above-mentioned maid such instructions as enabled her to perform the rite. The character of the lady, who took the name Grace, is highly praised by the Jesuits. When her husband returned, his anger at what had been done led him to treat her for a while with great severity.
Of quite a different nature were the conversions forced upon the people of three cities that in the recent conflicts had come into the possession of the Daimyo of Arima. He ordered all to become Christians, and it is said that two thousand of them were baptised in the year 1587. He also aided one of his relatives to regain certain territories on receiving his promise that the inhabitants should be made Christians.
Though the Daimyo of Hirado destroyed several churches and overthrew the crosses that had been erected in the cemeteries, the only feudal lord that was led by Hideyoshi’s edict to engage in active persecution of the Christians was Otomo Yoshimune. It was represented to him that as a baptised follower of the foreign religion he was likely to be treated in the same way that Takayama had been. Alarmed at this danger and pushed on by “Jezebel” and her brother, he refused to shelter the missionaries any longer, and issued orders to his subjects of such a nature that obedience on the part of Christians would have been equivalent to apostasy. Two of his retainers who refused to obey were put to death, as were also the wife, two children, and a servant of one of them; but this did not suffice to shake the constancy of others.*
Yoshimune’s brother, sister, stepmother, and some of his leading retainers set the example of disregarding his orders. A certain noble lady appeared in his presence with a rosary hanging from her neck. When Yoshimune, who had lately gone before Hideyoshi displaying ostentatiously a Buddhist emblem, asked how she dared to wear this badge of Christianity, she replied: “Sir, we ought to value the presents received from our lords. Since you yourself not very long ago presented me with this rosary, I show my appreciation of your gift by wearing it where all may see it. “It was probably fear of an uprising of the Christians that prevented Yoshimune from pressing measures against them.
Meanwhile, Father Coelho was endeavouring through the intercession of powerful friends to secure a withdrawal of the edict. All his efforts were vain. The six months of respite quickly passed away, and a Portuguese vessel was ready to set sail. The Vice-Provincial induced the captain to declare that the ship was so full of merchandise that he could not take many passengers. Only three Jesuits embarked, and they were Brothers who intended to go to India for ordination and then return to Japan. Though the captain sent messengers to Hideyoshi bearing excuses and gifts, the latter was so angry at the disregard for his commands that he destroyed the residences of the Jesuits in Osaka, Sakai, and Kyoto, together with twenty-two churches. Led probably by the suspicion that the foreigners were conspiring with the Japanese Christians, he somewhere about this time took Nagasaki away from the Daimyo of Omura, making it one of the imperial cities, such as were directly under his own control.†
On learning of Hideyoshi’s anger, the Vice-Provincial called the Jesuits to Arima for another conference. It was decided that it would be better for all to assume a secular dress, to scatter more widely than before, and to avoid everything that would call attention to themselves. The Christian daimyos were ready as ever to furnish them refuge. Arima sheltered seventy, Omura twelve, Amakusa nine, Bungo five; while four remained in Hirado and two went to Kurume in Chikugo. As the separation of his islands from the main part of Kyushu made John of Amakusa feel more free to do as he liked, he insisted that the churches should not be closed and that as formerly the bells should be rung to call believers to the religious services, A display of independence in other matters soon brought him into trouble. He had declared that he was under no obligation to assist in the construction of a castle that Konishi, his suzerain, was erecting. Afterwards he disregarded Hideyoshi’s orders that he come and give an explanation of such conduct. Hideyoshi therefore commanded Konishi to join with others in punishing him. Pie was soon forced to surrender to Konishi, who, after rebuking him for disloyalty, spared his life and even allowed him to retain his castle (December, 1589). Konishi also placed Christian governors over several other strongholds in the Amakusa archipelago.
News of Hideyoshi’s opposition to the Jesuits reached Goa while the ambassadors who had been sent to Europe were tarrying in that city on their return journey. Following a suggestion sent by Father Coelho, the Portuguese Viceroy appointed Father Valegnani his envoy who should go to Japan for the purpose of expressing thanks for past favours shown to the Portuguese, and to request a continuance of the former relations. It was hoped that by going in this official position Valegnani could gain access to Hideyoshi, and it was believed that according to Japanese custom the admission of one of the Jesuits to the Regent’s presence would be considered as equivalent to a revocation of the edict for their banishment.
Valegnani and the ambassadors tarried for some time in Macao. This gave opportunity for sending a letter to Hideyoshi asking if the envoy would be received. As the reply was favourable, the journey was continued so that in July, 1590, they reached Nagasaki, where they were joyfully welcomed by the Christians. Hideyoshi’s attention was occupied with a military expedition and the illness of Valegnani caused further delay, so that it was not until January, 1591, that the envoy and the Japanese ambassadors set out toward Kyoto, where Hideyoshi then had his headquarters. Accompanied by a number of Portuguese, they made their way to Murotsu in the province of Harima. The deaths of Plideyoshi’s son and half-brother caused a delay of two months to be made at this place, where Takayama Ukon and many other prominent Christians came to confer with Valegnani. Among the visitors was Otomo Yoshimune, who had previously sent a letter asking that his great sin in persecuting the Christians be forgiven. Many daimyos that were on the way to pay their respects to Hideyoshi came to hear from the ambassadors an account of what they had seen in Europe.
Various difficulties which at one time made it seem likely that Hideyoshi would withdraw his assent for an audience having been overcome, the envoy and his associates finally entered Kyoto with that display and splendour in which both Portuguese and Japanese delighted. This was considered the more necessary because some of the courtiers were endeavouring to persuade the Regent that the embassy was not genuine, but only a trick of the Jesuits. At the head of the procession two Indians led a richly caparisoned horse that the Viceroy had sent as a present to Hideyoshi. Two pages preceded Mancio Ito and his associates, who wore the robes of black velvet trimmed with gold lace that they had received from the Pope. Valegnani and two other missionaries were carried in litters, and the rear of the procession was brought up by the Portuguese merchants “in so rich attire that they might have appeared before the greatest monarch in the world. “Hideyoshi did his part to honour the occasion by a display of luxury and by bestowing rich gifts on his visitors. After the formal ceremonies were concluded, he spent some time in familiar conversation with them. He gave Valegnani permission to remain in either Kyoto, Osaka, or Nagasaki, until return presents for the Viceroy of India had been prepared. He himself was about leaving Kyoto for a short visit to his native town.
During Hideyoshi’s absence, the missionaries and their companions were visited by large numbers of people who were interested in examining the maps, terrestrial globes, clocks, musical instruments, and other curiosities that had been brought. The Japanese ambassadors did their best to describe the wonders of Europe in such a way as to impress their auditors with a sense of the prosperity of Christian lands and the glories of the Roman Church. At this time, too, So Yoshitomo, the Daimyo of Tsushima, who promised that he would make his whole island Christian, was baptised, but in secret from fear of irritating Hideyoshi.
On the Regent’s return to Kyoto, Valegnani took leave of him and went to Nagasaki. He then accompanied the ambassadors as they returned to their homes carrying the gifts that had been sent to their daimyos and making a report of the way they had fulfilled their mission. When all was over, the four young men made known the resolution taken while in Europe that they would renounce the world and seek admission to the Society of Jesus, Resisting the opposition of some of their relatives, they entered the seminary at Amakusa for study preparatory to taking upon themselves the vows of the order. In due time they entered the Society, though Chijiwa afterwards left it.
The two Governors of Nagasaki now caused such representations to reach Hideyoshi as were calculated to renew his suspicions concerning the missionaries. The explanation of their action that is given by the Jesuits is that these officials felt aggrieved because they had been omitted in the distribution of presents brought by Valegnani and also because they had not been given the honour of presenting him at court. However this may be, they informed Hideyoshi that the missionaries had paid no attention to his order for leaving the country and that since the coming of Valegnani they were openly holding religious services and baptising many converts. Arguments were also advanced to show that the professed embassy from India was only a trick for keeping the foreign priests in Japan, It was not difficult to arouse the suspicions of Hideyoshi, who now threatened to have the missionaries put to death. When rumours of the impending danger reached Valegnani, he at first proposed that all the Jesuits should withdraw to some island off the coast of China and there await better times. As the Christian daimyos opposed this proposition, it was finally decided that most of the missionaries should go to Amakusa, where they would attract less attention. Owing to this change, Amakusa became the centre of Japanese Christianity. Here were the leading schools and here was set up a printing press from which, in the coming years, were issued not only religious books but also a Latin-Portuguese-Japanese dictionary and a Latin Grammar in Japanese.
At about this time Kuroda induced one of the Governors of Kyoto to exert his influence in favour of the missionaries. Rodriguez had remained in Kyoto at Hideyoshi’s request, and the Governor seconded his shrewd suggestion that, if there were doubts about the genuineness of Valegnani’s mission, the Jesuits who had accompanied him might be retained as hostages until there had been time to communicate with the Viceroy, As this plan was adopted, there were left in Nagasaki several priests who were under no necessity to disguise themselves. The same Governor induced Hideyoshi to revise the letter that he had intended to send to the Viceroy. It had been written in a haughty tone and accused the missionaries of many evil deeds. The letter as finally sent was without these charges and, as the following extract shows, the objections urged against the work of the Jesuits were substantially the same as Japanese have brought against Christianity in modern times:
“With respect to religious matters, Japan is the realm of the Kami, that is to say of Skin [the Chinese word for Kami, the deities of Shinto], which are the origin of all things; the good order of the government which has been established here from the beginning depends on the exact observance of the laws on which it is founded, and whose authors are the Komi themselves. They cannot be deviated from without involving the disappearance of the difference which ought to subsist between sovereign and subject, and of the subordination of wives to husbands, of children to fathers, of vassals to lords, and of servants to their masters. In a word, these laws are necessary for the maintenance of good order at home and of tranquillity abroad. The Fathers of the Company, as they are called, have come to these islands to teach another religion here; but as that of the Kami is too surely founded to be abolished, this new law can only serve to introduce into Japan a diversity of cults prejudicial to the welfare of the State. It is for this reason that by Edict I have forbidden these foreign doctors to continue preaching their doctrine. I have even ordered them to leave Japan and I am resolved no longer to allow any one to come here to spread new opinions, I nevertheless desire that trade between you and us should always be on the same footing as before.”
It was not until October, 1592, that Valegnani set out on his return to India. Meanwhile, the attention of Hideyoshi and of the Japanese was being taken up with the expedition against Korea. Many Christian warriors took a prominent part in this enterprise. Hideyoshi, who in giving over the title of Kwambaku to his nephew had taken that of Taiko by which he has since been commonly known, did not himself go to Korea as he had at first planned to do. The command of the two most important divisions of the army was given to Konishi Yukinaga, the Christian, and to his rival, Kato Kiyomasa, who hated the foreign religion. In order that each might feel himself equally honoured with the other, and perhaps for the purpose of increasing their emulation, the Taiko gave orders that their divisions should take turns in leading the vanguard of the army. In Konishi’s division were four Christian daimyos, and a large number of the eighteen thousand soldiers were also Christians.* They left Japan in May, 1592. The earliest successes were won by Konishi. Later honours, so far as honours could come from a war that in its motives and final outcome was little to Japan’s credit, were somewhat equally divided between the two leaders, Japanese historians giving the greater praise to Kato.
It will not be necessary to describe the progress of this war, which lasted until the death of Hideyoshi in 1598. In 1594, Father Cespedes and a Japanese helper went by Konishi’s invitation to Korea, where they not only cared for the spiritual welfare of the Christian soldiers but also gained many new converts. They remained in Korea, however, only two months, Kato while on a furlough in Japan tried to convince Hideyoshi that Konishi was engaged in a conspiracy by which he intended to make his followers all Christians and then lead them back to take part in a movement for overthrowing the Taiko’s power. Hideyoshi, who had always been suspicious of Christianity, gave a ready ear to these accusations or, at least, pretended to do so. Konishi, on hearing what was being done, sent away Father Cespedes and soon after went to Kyoto, where he was able to re-establish confidence in his loyalty.
About the year 1590, John de Solis, a Spanish merchant who came to Nagasaki, considered that he was unjustly treated by the Portuguese traders. He was also angry with the Jesuits because they had sided against him in the controversy. At about the same time an apostate Christian named Harada, who had formerly been to the Philippines, managed to get access to Hideyoshi and suggested that it would be easy for the latter to bring those islands under his sway. Accordingly the Taiko, in 1591, sent a letter to the Spanish Governor demanding that tribute be paid to himself as suzerain. As Valegnani learned that this letter was to be sent, he wrote to the Jesuits in Manila informing them of what was being done. It was feared that the Governor in his indignation would write in such a way as would excite Hideyoshi’s wrath against all foreigners, and the Jesuits therefore urged that the affair be so managed as not to prejudice the work of the missionaries.
The Governor sent to Japan one of his officials together with Father Cobo, a Dominican, with orders to tell Hideyoshi that a letter bearing his name had lately been received, but its contents were such as could be most easily explained by supposing that the document was a forgery. The two messengers landed at Kagoshima, where they found De Solis superintending the building of a ship in which he intended to leave the country. Seeing an opportunity to repay the Portuguese and Jesuits for their treatment of him, he went with the messengers to Hideyoshi, Harada served as interpreter It is asserted that he took advantage of his position to translate the words of the Spaniard so as to signify that the Governor was not averse to Hideyoshi’s proposal, while on the other hand he put the Spaniards in good humour by an equally free rendering of what was said to them. De Solis’s charges against the Portuguese were then presented. He said that they acted as though they were the lords of Nagasaki, that they prevented merchants of other countries from trading, that they treated the Japanese with cruelty, and that it was they who had kept the missionaries in Japan after Hideyoshi’s orders of banishment. As a consequence of these denunciations the Taiko appointed a young man named Terasawa to be Governor of Nagasaki, ordering him to have the churches and other buildings of the Jesuits torn down, and to examine carefully into the conduct of the Portuguese merchants. Hideyoshi had a second letter written to the Governor of the Philippines in even more arrogant terms than the first.
The missionaries hidden in different parts of the country were in constant danger of being discovered by Hideyoshi’s officials, who were travelling through the provinces to obtain supplies for the Korean expedition and to make out lists of able-bodied men. At one time a certain person had learned the names and hiding-places of all the priests; but they were able by means of bribes to induce him to keep silence. Those concealed in Nagasaki were in great peril, because a charge that the Christians were providing themselves with arms led to an order that every house in the city should be searched.
There began to be considerable anxiety among the Japanese lest news of the destruction of the religious establishments in Nagasaki should lead the Portuguese merchants to give up coming thither to trade. Among the upper classes had arisen a craze for Western ideas, which was even more intense than those which in modern times have swept over the land. European dress became common; crucifixes and rosaries being worn as a part thereof. It is said that the Kwambaku and even Hideyoshi himself followed the custom of wearing these religious ornaments. Some of the fashionable people carried their imitation of the Portuguese to the extent of repeating Paternosters and Ave Marias. Such was the demand for foreign goods that it would have been regarded as a grave misfortune if the Great Ship sent annually from Macao to Nagasaki should fail to come. As it was now overdue, people began grumbling at Hideyoshi for having offended the Portuguese. Terasawa, as the one responsible for carrying out the Taiko’s orders, had to bear more unpopularity than was his due. This led him to suggest to Hideyoshi that steps should be taken to conciliate the foreigners. He also made advances to the Vice-Provincial, suggesting ways in which the priests ought to conduct themselves so as to regain favour. It was in accordance with his advice that when the Great Ship arrived Father Paez went with the captain to pay his respects to Hideyoshi under the pretence that he had just arrived in the country. Terasawa told Hideyoshi that the Portuguese were anxious to have the large church at Nagasaki rebuilt and to have ten resident priests to conduct its services. Consent was given and the church was quickly erected. This arrangement took away the need for concealment on the part of missionaries living in Nagasaki.
It is hard to believe that Hideyoshi did not know that Paez was no new arrival in Japan or that he was not well-informed concerning what the missionaries were doing. Indeed, many things in his conduct seem to show that he was not opposed to Christianity so long as it could be kept in subjection. When Konishi’s father, who was the Governor of Sakai, died, Hideyoshi said to another son who was appointed his successor: “Remember that you are a Christian, and take heed to perform the duties of your office with the care and fidelity that your religion inculcates. “Thousands of converts were made between the issuing of the edict in 1587 and the death of Hideyoshi in 1598. Many people of high rank were baptised, and though in many cases the rite was performed in secret, it is not likely that what had been done could long remain unknown to the rulers of a country where the art of espionage was so well developed. Among the secret baptisms was that of Terasawa in 1595. Other noted converts were the lords of Gifu, Aizu, Obi, and Ina. Many converts of high rank were made by Father Organtin, whom Hideyoshi had permitted to reside in Kyoto upon the conditions that he should have no church and should not perform the rite of baptism. The second of these restrictions appears to have been lightly regarded, or it may be that the letter of the prohibition was observed by having the actual baptisms administered by others. Father Organtin had qualities that enabled him to gain many friends among the noble and wealthy families. He won to Christianity the man that was reputed to be the richest merchant of Kyoto. Organtin also understood how to inspire others with missionary zeal. A converted priest, six blind men of high rank, and Hideyoshi’s master of the tea ceremony, are mentioned as being specially successful in winning members of noble families.
The last part of Hideyoshi’s rule was marked by a new persecution, whose immediate object was not the Jesuits but the members of another religious order. In connection with this and subsequent events it is necessary to speak of the rivalry that existed between the religious orders and between the traders of different countries. We have seen that at first the Portuguese were the only Europeans who engaged in trade with Japan. In 1580, Philip II. of Spain became also King of Portugal. One article in the agreement made at that time was that to Portugal should be reserved the monopoly of commerce with Japan. In 1585, Pope Gregory XIII. issued a brief forbidding under pain of major excommunication that any but Jesuits should teach Christianity, administer sacraments, or perform any other ecclesiastical function in Japan except as special permission might be given by the Pope. Philip II. sent a copy of this brief to the Viceroy of India, enjoining him to see that it was strictly observed.
The Spanish merchants that had established themselves in the Philippines had long been turning their eyes towards Japan. They very naturally thought that if missionaries holding such relations to them as the Jesuits did to the Portuguese could get a footing in the land it would help toward the establishment of commercial relations. Hence it was that, as we have seen, a member of the Dominican order was sent in company with the Governor’s envoy to inquire the meaning of Hideyoshi’s letter and to see if an opening could not be found for trade. Both of these messengers were lost at sea on their return voyage. Harada, the rascally interpreter, had gone to the Philippines on another vessel, and he took advantage of this opportunity to pretend that he was Hideyoshi’s ambassador and that his credentials were on the ship that was wrecked. A paper that he presented declared that Hideyoshi desired trade and also wished that there might be sent some Franciscan monks, since he had learned that that order was highly reputed for sanctity and devotion. The friars were the first to whom this document was shown and they were so delighted with the prospect opening before them that they helped to quiet any suspicions that the Governor had concerning Harada. It was decided that another official, together with Father Pierre Baptiste and three other Franciscans, should be sent to inquire the contents of the Taiko’s letter that had been lost at sea. They reached Japan in June, 1593. Hideyoshi graciously received them and the presents they brought, but said he must insist upon being recognised as ruler of the Philippines, Father Baptiste, who apparently served as spokesman for the envoys, said that the Governor of the Philippines could not give his assent to this claim without first consulting the King of Spain, and he asked that the Spaniards be permitted to engage in trade until a reply could be received. Meanwhile, he and his companions were willing to remain as hostages. Hideyoshi consented to this arrangement, but imposed the condition that the envoys should not attempt to teach their religion to the Japanese. They chose to remain in Kyoto, but requested that they be given a residence in the suburbs, since, as monks accustomed to a quiet life, they found it unpleasant to live among people of the world. As their petition was granted, they at once proceeded to build a chapel where, in October, 1594, they began to say mass in the presence of Japanese Christians. Though the friendly Governor of Kyoto and many of the believers told them that they were running great risks of exciting Hideyoshi’s anger, they paid little heed to such warnings. They were joined very soon by three more of their order, who came bringing a message from the Governor of the Philippines to the effect that he could not acknowledge Hideyoshi as his sovereign. Whether owing to the skilful way in which the refusal was expressed or to the promises of favourable commerce that were made, Hideyoshi showed no special resentment, but allowed these Franciscans to remain with the others. They now opened houses in Osaka and Nagasaki. They also became bolder in their preaching. When the Jesuits called their attention to the Pope’s brief, they said they had done nothing contrary to its decrees; for it was not as missionaries but as ambassadors that they had come, and it could never have been the Pope’s intention to prevent the clergy from performing the functions of their ministry wherever they might be. Probably they also used an argument that is found in books upholding their action on the ground that Sixtus V. in 1586 had issued a bull authorising the Franciscans to labour in the Philippines and other lands of the East Indies. It is claimed that this as a later decree repealed the prohibition of Gregory XIII.
The Jesuits were naturally very much irritated by what they considered an intrusion on territory reserved to them. They realised, too, that the course pursued by the Franciscans in openly disregarding the orders of Hideyoshi was likely to lead to more active measures against Christianity. In fact, after the Franciscans began work in Nagasaki, the officials of that city issued orders threatening punishment to any who attended mass; and in other ways they so interfered with the Franciscans that the latter decided to return to their brethren in Kyoto. There they did not hesitate, even before the Japanese Christians, to accuse the Jesuits of having been the means of putting an end to their labours in Nagasaki. A letter of Father Organtin tells of the great sorrow it gave him “to behold the best-founded hopes of soon seeing Christianity dominant in the empire vanish by reason of this fatal dissension.”
The Jesuits had long desired to have a bishop appointed for Japan. The first to whom the Pope turned was so loath to leave his work in Africa that he was excused from taking the office, and two others that were successively chosen died on their journey to Japan. The next one appointed was Father Pierre Martinez, who arrived in Nagasaki August 13, 1596. Though the Christians did not venture to make in public so full a display of their joy as they would have liked to do, the Bishop on landing was met by the clergy in their robes and was preceded by crosses and banners as he was escorted to the church.
According to the stories preserved among the Japanese and by them repeated to Kaempfer, this Bishop and his successors acted in an arrogant way, being “carried about in stately chairs, mimicking the pomp of the Pope and his cardinals at Rome,” and thus helping to increase the ill-feeling against Christianity. Soon after his arrival in Japan, so it was said, he “met upon the road one of the Councillors of State on his way to court. The haughty prelate would not order his chair to be stopped in order to alight and to pay his respects to this great man, as is usual in this country, but without taking any notice of him, nay indeed, without showing him so much as common marks of civility, he very contemptibly bid his men carry him by. . . . This great man, exasperated at so signal an affront, thenceforward bore a mortal hatred to the Portuguese, and in the height of his just resentment made his complaints to the Emperor [Taiko] himself. “Father Steichen in “The Christian Daimyo “doubts this story, declaring that the Bishop” was not, any more than any bonze of the lowest position, obliged by Japanese custom to descend from his litter under such circumstances;”* that as bearer of despatches from the Viceroy of India he would be released from such a necessity, had it otherwise existed; and that the honour with which he was treated by Hideyoshi during the year of his stay in Japan shows that he had not incurred the Taiko’s disapproval.
Bishop Martinez had indeed followed the example of Valegnani by coming with political as well as religions functions. While he was at Goa on his outward journey, Valegnani had arrived there with the letters in which, among other things, Hideyoshi asked whether that priest was in truth an official envoy. The Viceroy now entrusted his answer and many rich presents to the new Bishop, hoping thus to pave the way for him to gain the good will of Hideyoshi for both the missionaries and the merchants. While their official relations may have helped Valegnani, Martinez, and the Franciscans to get a foothold in Japan, it is easy to see that they would also tend to strengthen the growing suspicion that the missionaries were all emissaries of foreign governments and that their labours had some political object in view.
In July, 1596, the San Felipe, a Spanish galleon that was on its way from Manila to Mexico, was driven by a storm to Urado in the province of Tosa. Among its passengers were six priests. The local officers declared that by the laws of Japan the vessel should be confiscated. The captain sent two of the ship’s officers and two Franciscans to ask the Taiko’s permission to refit the galleon and proceed upon the voyage. These messengers had orders to do nothing except by the advice of Father Baptiste, the Commissary of the Franciscans. The Daimyo of Tosa, who professed to be friendly, had recommended them to the favour of an official named Masuda, who deceived them and advised Hideyoshi to have the vessel seized. The Jesuits assert that when this treachery was discovered an appeal was made by the Spaniards to Bishop Martinez, Father Rodriguez, and Father Organtin, all of whom were in Kyoto, where they possessed much influence. They accordingly did all they could, but it was now too late to effect anything. Masuda was sent to take possession of the wreck and its rich lading. In an endeavour to deter the Japanese from their purpose, the pilot declared that the King of Spain would certainly take vengeance upon those that so wronged his subjects. To prove to them the extent of that monarch’s power, a map was spread out so as to show that he ruled not only over Spain and Portugal, but also over the Philippines, Mexico, Peru, and other lands. When Masuda asked how it had been possible to get such great possessions, the pilot replied: “The kings of Spain begin by sending out teachers of our religion, and when these have made sufficient progress in gaining the hearts of the people, troops are despatched who unite with the new Christians in bringing about the conquest of the desired territory.” Whether the pilot hoped that his words would serve to excite suspicion only against the Jesuits and their Portuguese allies, or whether he was the forerunner of the many haters of all missionary work, who delight in disparaging the preaching of Christianity, it is certain that the remark had great influence upon Hideyoshi, to whom it was reported. Not only do European historians consider it one of the chief causes of the persecution that immediately followed, but Japanese accounts of the early missions describe the Spanish policy in terms almost identical with those used by the pilot.
An account of the confiscation of the ship that was printed in the Philippine Islands and sent to Europe held the Jesuits and their Portuguese partisans responsible for the misfortunes of the Spaniards. It declared that Bishop Martinez joined with others in petitioning Hideyoshi to drive the Franciscans from the land, and that they spared neither accusations nor promises in the attempt to induce him to do this, one of their assertions being that the Spaniards, instead of being driven to the land by a tempest, had intentionally come to Japan for the purpose of stirring up a revolt. This account went on to say that Hideyoshi, greatly scandalised at the baseness of the Jesuits, declared that the Franciscans were holy men whose virtues their rivals would do well to imitate. Nevertheless, the Bishop succeeded in exciting his desire to gain possession of the Spaniards’ goods.
At about this time other attempts to arouse opposition against the Jesuits took the form of memorials, one addressed to the King of Spain and another to the Pope. The former made the surprising statements that, although it had been in the power of the Jesuits to have the daimyos of Kyushu recognise the Governor of the Philippines as their suzerain, they had been so lacking in loyalty to the King of Spain and Portugal as to invite Hideyoshi to Kyushu; that the missionaries themselves possessed estates that on the death of Hideyoshi they could render tributary to any ruler whom they wished; that they had thirty thousand armed men in their employ; and that of the Japanese who had professed Christianity all but six had abandoned the faith.
The other memorial, which was presented to the Pope in March, 1598, said that it was not hatred of Christianity but fear of the excessive power of the Jesuits that led Hideyoshi to oppose their teaching; that the Jesuits alone were proscribed, while the Franciscans had been treated with honour and given liberty to preach the Gospel, which they did with so much success as to lead back many that had apostatised; and that Valegnani when in Japan had appeared in court with an equipage not becoming a priest, for he wore pontifical garments, had a mitre on his head, and was followed by two hundred men in livery.
The Jesuits, aware of these attacks, took means for defending themselves; but ere either the charges or the defence could have reached Europe, both Jesuits and Franciscans were feeling the force of Hideyoshi’s wrath. No sooner had the Taiko been informed of what the Spanish pilot had said than he took action. On the evening of December 9, 1596, the establishments of the Franciscans and Jesuits in Kyoto and Osaka were surrounded by guards. The governors of the two cities were ordered to draw up lists of persons who were in the habit of frequenting the churches. In a few days three Franciscan Fathers (Baptiste, Aguirre, and Blanco), three Franciscan Brothers (Las Casas, Parilha, and Garcia), Paul Miki, who was a lay brother of the Society of Jesus, two other Japanese who were novices preparing to enter the same Society, and fifteen persons in the employ of the missionaries were arrested. In the last group were boys only twelve, thirteen, and fifteen years of age. The Jesuit missionaries were left unmolested. There is reason to think that Hideyoshi did not care to have any harm come to the latter at this time. He is reported to have said to one of the officials in Kyoto that it was his desire to have only the priests from the Philippines apprehended. Apparently his irritation at the unwillingness of the Governor of those islands to acknowledge him as suzerain, as well as the suspicions aroused by the words of the Spanish pilot, led him to order the arrests. It is said that the setting of the guards about the establishments of the Jesuits and the apprehension of some of their Japanese followers came from a misunderstanding of his commands.
There was great excitement among the Christians, who at first thought that all of them would be arrested. Either to share in the glory of martyrdom or to exert their influence in favour of their brethren, many prominent believers, such as Takayama Ukon and the son of the Governor of Kyoto, hastened to the capital. A letter, of Father Organtin represents the Christians of all ranks as being ready to lay down their lives for the Faith.
The prisoners that had been arrested in Osaka were taken to Kyoto, There Organtin tried to obtain the release of the three Jesuits on the ground that they were held contrary to Hideyoshi’s wishes. The Governor declared that, though he would be glad to free them, he could not do so without consulting Hideyoshi; and this, by calling attention to the Jesuits, might lead to more arrests.
On the third of January, 1597, the twenty-four prisoners were led through the streets of Kyoto to the northern part of the city, where the executioner cut off portions of their ears. They were then put on carts, three in each cart, and drawn through the city in order to expose them to the derision of the populace. Before each cart was suspended a placard which said in substance: “The Taiko has condemned these men to die because, though coming from the Philippine Islands as ambassadors, they have disobeyed bis commands by preaching the Christian religion. Therefore, they and the Japanese that have become their followers shall be crucified in Nagasaki.”
The next day they were put on pack-horses and sent to Osaka. They were led through the principal streets of that city and Sakai, after which they were taken by land to Nagasaki. Everywhere they were subjected to the insults of the people, although in some places through which they passed the Christians came to speak words of cheer and exhorted them to be faithful unto death. By this protracted journey, which took over two months, a large part of the country was warned of the danger of following the foreign religion, while the place of execution was evidently chosen with the thought of having the Portuguese report to the people of Christian lands that missionaries could come to Japan only at peril of their lives.
The prisoners had at first numbered twenty-four: there were twenty-six when they reached Nagasaki. Father Organtin had sent two persons to follow after the captives in order to minister so far as possible to their necessities. On being discovered by the guards, these persons confessed that they were Christians, and accordingly, they were added to the others. An attempt was made in Nagasaki to secure their release; but the officials in that city feared trouble for themselves if they failed to execute all who had been delivered into their hands.
Father Baptiste had sent a letter to the Jesuits of Nagasaki asking that, if possible, arrangements be made for administering the sacraments to the prisoners. All that the officials would grant was that Father Paez might go to one of the towns through which the captives would pass and there shrive Miki and his two companions. Paez received the vows of the two latter, thus admitting them into the Society. Father Rodriguez, who had come to Nagasaki, managed to gain access to the prisoners and to administer the sacraments to some of them. As Terasawa, the Governor of Nagasaki, who had been secretly baptised, was absent at this time, the care of the execution came upon his brother Hasaburo. He as a boy had been a playmate of Pau! Miki, and for years he had seen nothing of him until he met him among the captives that he must put to death.
There were fears that the Christians of Nagasaki might seek to rescue their fellow-believers. The prisoners were not brought into the city until the day (February 5, 1597) that they were to die, and then, instead of being taken to the usual execution-ground, they were led to a hill whose approaches could be easily guarded by men with muskets and spears. Death was by crucifixion, a method of punishment said to have been unknown among the Japanese until they heard of it in connection with Christianity. It afterwards became a common form of executing those guilty of heinous crimes. As it was practised by the Japanese, the victim was tied by ropes to a cross and, instead of being left to suffer for a long time, his body was pierced with a spear that was first thrust from the right side upwards towards the left shoulder and then from the left side towards the right shoulder. Thus the heart was usually pierced, causing instant death. It may be that this use of the spear was borrowed from representations that had been seen of the crucifixion of Christ.
After the martys had been bound to the crosses, some of them, especially Paul Miki, addressed the crowd of Christians and others who were pressing up as near as possible to them. Fathers Paez and Rodriguez had obtained permission to remain with the sufferers. Two Franciscans in disguise were in the crowd that stood outside the cordon of soldiers. When at last the execution was over, the Christians, unmindful of the blows that the guards bestowed upon them, pressed forward through the lines to dip kerchiefs in the. blood of the martyrs or to obtain shreds of their clothing.
In after times various stories were told of bright lights that shone over the martyrs, of the bodies that did not suffer corruption in the two months that they were left on the crosses, of blood that remained in a liquid state, and of a dumb woman who received the power of speech when she kissed Father Baptiste’s cross. Two witnesses declared that ere the bodies were removed they saw Father Baptiste celebrating mass in the church, assisted by one of the martyred children. Amazed at this, they went to the execution-ground, where the cross of the Father seemed to be empty. The guards told them that the body often vanished and after a short absence returned to its place. These and other alleged marvels constituted a part of what was considered essential for justifying the canonisation of those who are now known as the Twenty-Six Martyrs, for it was not long ere steps were taken towards having them enrolled among the saints of the Roman Catholic Church. A brief issued September 14, 1627, by Pope Urban VIII. authorised the Franciscans to say the office and mass of the six priests and seventeen laymen connected with their order, and another issued the next day gave permission for the Jesuits to honour their martyrs in the same way. The canonisation to which this beatification formed a necessary prelude was long delayed; the chief reason, it is said, being the great expense involved. In March, 1862, Pius IX. pronounced the decree of canonisation, the imposing ceremonies connected therewith being performed the next June.
Soon after the arrest of the Franciscans, Hideyoshi issued a new edict in which he forbade any daimyo to become a Christian. He also directed that all the missionaries should be assembled at Nagasaki and at the first opportunity sent out of the country. He made an exception of Father Rodriguez, whom he used as an interpreter, of Father Organtin, and of a few others who were allowed to remain for the benefit of the Portuguese. Three or four Franciscans were at once deported.
There were now one hundred and twenty-five Jesuits left in Japan, of whom forty-six were priests. Terasawa, the Governor of Nagasaki, was still absent; but the Deputy Governor continued to demand that Father Gomez, who was then Vice-Provincial, should send these people out of the country. Gomez, after interposing all possible objections, thought it necessary to make a show of yielding. Though some of the missionaries remained in their places of concealment, most of them came to Nagasaki as though they were getting ready for their departure to Macao. The last vessel of that year weighed anchor in October, 1597. According to Charlevoix, “All the bridge seemed to be filled with Jesuits, although there were only a few students with their professors, two sick priests, and some catechists. The others were Portuguese disguised as Jesuits, and by this innocent stratagem, which had doubtless been concerted with Terasawa, Father Gomez saved his mission; but inasmuch as, in spite of the wise precautions he had taken to prevent the religieux from being discovered, it might happen that such a misfortune would overtake some of them, he caused the report to be spread that all of them had not had time to reach the port before the departure of the ship, and that he would profit by the first opportunity to make them embark.”
Rumours that Hideyoshi was soon coming to Kyushu made the officials think it wise to enforce the edicts against the Christians. Early in 1598, one hundred and thirty-seven churches, the college in Amakusa, the seminary in Arima, and many residences of the Jesuits were destroyed. In some places the Christians were subjected to severe persecution. Those missionaries that did not succeed in concealing themselves were brought to Nagasaki for deportation.
Bishop Martinez died in 1598 while on his way to India, and in August of the same year his successor, Mgr. Cerqueira, arrived in Japan. One of the first acts of the new Bishop was to call together the leading missionaries for a consultation upon the question of slaves. The Portuguese merchants had been in the habit of purchasing prisoners of war and criminals, who were sold by the feudal lords, sometimes as slaves, sometimes as servants for a limited number of years. Bishop Martinez at first had issued licenses for this trade, but had afterwards prohibited it under pain of a fine, major excommunication, and the loss of the slaves thus bought. The new Bishop now asked advice as to the policy that he should pursue. The conference was unanimous in its opinion that he ought to renew the prohibition made by his predecessor, and to abstain scrupulously from giving any of the Portuguese licenses to buy or take away from Japan persons purchased either as slaves or under the name of servants bound for a certain number of years. He ought also to urge the King of Spain to renew and enforce laws concerning the liberty of the Japanese that had formerly been published by King Sebastian of Portugal. The report of this conference shows that the trade had been attended by terrible evils.*
It was feared that Hideyoshi would be aroused to renewed activity against Christianity by an incident that happened about this time. Among the Franciscans that had escaped arrest in 1596, was one named Jerome de Jésus. Great efforts had been made to find him. According to one account, he was finally apprehended and sent to Manila; others say he had gone there of his own accord. However this may have been, in June, 1598, he, with another of his order, took passage from the Philippines in a Japanese vessel, whose crew betrayed them to the officials of Nagasaki. The Franciscans were arrested, but Jerome’s knowledge of the country enabled him to escape. The Vice-Provincial of the Jesuits sent a messenger to Terasawa begging him not to have this reported to Hideyoshi. Terasawa accordingly sent his officers orders to keep the affair secret, but to put forth every effort for recapturing the fugitive. Enemies of the Jesuits hint that the latter had a part in securing the original arrest of the Franciscans and would have been glad to hear that Jerome had been again apprehended.
Immediate danger of increased persecution was removed by the death September 16, 1598, of Hideyoshi. He was undoubtedly one of the shrewdest statesmen Japan has ever produced. A recent writer† goes so far as to call him “the greatest man Japan has ever seen,” and also, “the greatest statesman of the century, whether in Japan or in Europe, “Whatever his talents, there was much clay mingled with the iron; and it is not a cause for wonder that in the letters of the missionaries and in the histories founded upon them much emphasis is laid on the weak points in his character. In ecclesiastical history he will be remembered as a persecutor, and yet it should not be forgotten that throughout most of the time that he was in authority the teachers of a foreign religion were left unmolested, that he held some of them, as Organtin and Rodriguez, in high esteem, and that he appointed to important offices those that were recognised as leaders among the Christians. It is not strange that, seeing the splendour of some of the religious ceremonies and the honour shown by the believers to their teachers,* he feared lest Christianity would succeed to the political and even to the military power that had been held by some of the Buddhist sects ere they had been crushed by Nobunaga and himself.†
We may at first be inclined to smile at the suspicions aroused by the unfortunate remark of the Spanish pilot; yet the mere fact that within a hundred years the Spanish kings had gained possession of much of America and India as well as of the Philippines and other islands, might well give cause for apprehension. Hideyoshi knew that messengers had been sent by the Christian daimyos of Kyushu to greet the King of Spain, and to bow at the feet of the Pope. Had he been acquainted with what European rulers and the Popes had done in connection with new countries, his fears would not have been lessened. Pope Martin V., about 1418, had granted to the King of Portugal all the territories that might be discovered by his navigators between Cape Bodajor and India. This grant was afterwards confirmed by Eugene IV. Similar concessions were made to the Spaniards for any discoveries they might make in sailing westward. In 1479 the rulers of Spain and Portugal had agreed that each would respect what had been granted to the other by these papal decrees. In 1493 Pope Alexander VI. issued his famous Bull of Demarcation, authorising Spain, on condition of planting the Catholic Church, to take possession of all lands that lie beyond the meridian drawn one hundred leagues west of the Azores, so far as these lands were not already subject to Christian powers. Though Portugal was not mentioned, it was understood that she could have all lying east of that meridian. Of Cabral, who was sent out from Portugal towards India in 1500, it has been said: “The sum of his instructions was to begin with preaching, and, if that failed, to proceed to the sharp determination of the sword.”*
The history of Spain at that time abounds with examples of this vicious linking together of religion and the power of the sword. The civil and ecclesiastical counsellors drew up a form of proclamation to be used by the invaders of new provinces in America. In case the rulers and people hesitated to acknowledge allegiance to Spain and to the Church, the invader was to give this warning: “If you refuse; by the help of God we shall enter with force into your land, and shall make war against you in all ways and manners that we can, and subject you to the yoke and obedience of the Church and of their Highnesses; we shall take you and your wives and your children and make slaves of them, and sell and dispose of them as their Highnesses may command; and we shall take away your goods, and do you all the mischief and damage that we can, as to vassals who do not obey and refuse to receive their lord; and we protest that the deaths and losses that shall accrue from this are your own fault."†
Another proof that Hideyoshi’s fears were not altogether foolish may be found in the fact that in 1575, twenty years before the ambassadors came to Japan from the Philippines, Captain Maldonado had sent from the same islands a report in which he asked that five hundred soldiers be sent from Spain in order that he might attempt the conquest of Loochoo and Japan.
The remembrance that Philip II. of Spain died only three days before Hideyoshi, may suggest a comparison between the two men and lead us to ask what would have happened if conditions had been reversed so that Japanese teachers of Buddhism had attempted to carry their religion to Spain and had pursued the methods that were used by the Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries. One man’s errors do not excuse those of another; but a comparison of Hideyoshi and Philip may at least help to soften our condemnation of the former, who, whatever his faults, does not deserve to have his name placed high in the list of those who in the sixteenth century were noted for religious intolerance.
Footnotes
* This office could be held only by members of the Fujiwara family; but Hideyoshi had no great trouble in procuring genealogical tables that established his kinship and placed him among the nobility. The Shogunate was a military office and nominally upon a lower plane.
* She was the daughter of the Akechi who put Nobunaga to death.
* In a catalogue of Japanese martyrs, eight are mentioned as preceding these of Bungo. Five were martyred at Hirado in 1557, one at Amakusa in 1568. and two in Hizen in 1574
† A history of Nagasaki published in 1902 says that about 1573 the man who owned the territory where the city was built had been obliged to borrow money to pay his share of Omura’s military expenditures. He obtained the funds he needed from the Portuguese upon security of his land. When he failed to pay the debt and removed to another place to escape his creditors, they appealed to the Daimyo of Omura, saying that the money they had lent was not their own but had been entrusted to them by the Jesuits, to whom it had been contributed for missionary purposes. Hence, either the debt should be paid or the Jesuits should he put in possession of the land, Omura was not able to pay the money, and finally by the advice of Arima the land was given over to the missionaries, who governed it to suit themselves. The inhabitants, who were much displeased, awaited an opportunity to shake off the foreign yoke. In 1587 they appealed to Hideyoshi. After examining into the matter he declared that it was shameful to have Japanese territory ruled by foreign priests. He therefore made the land national property. The ancient records do not say what was done to settle the debt; but a fine was laid on each inhabitant for having allowed the evil to continue so long without informing the central Government, and it may be that the money thus secured was used to satisfy the claim of the Portuguese. Afterwards the fine was remitted. Tradition says that the people made some arrangement with the Christians for settling up the matter.
Could the facts underlying this story be sifted out, they might help to explain Hideyoshi’s action against the Jesuits in” 1587.
* It has been supposed by some writers that one of Hideyoshi’s objects in the war with Korea was to get rid of the Christian leaders. If Konishi and his fellow-believers were slain, an end would be put to the trouble feared from them; if they were victorious, they could be rewarded by lands in Korea, and Japan would be free from their presence. There is little reason for thinking that such considerations had much to do with the decision to undertake the war or with the prominent position that was given to Konishi.
* Whatever force the other arguments may have, those who remember that persons were expected to kneel beside the road when a daimyo’s train passed, and that in 1862 one foreigner was killed and others attacked for not dismounting from their horses at such a time, will not think it unlikely that, when the feeling against missionaries was so strong, resentment would be felt against one who was thought to show lack of respect to a person of high rank
* The report may be found in Pagés, “Histoire de la Religion Chrétienne au Japon,” vol. ii., p. 70.
† Murdoch, “History of Japan,” pp. 301, 386.
* Charlevoix, writing of the welcome extended to new missionaries in 1568, says: “Some prostrated themselves and even stretched themselves on the ground in the places where the missionaries were to pass, hoping to he trodden upon by the feet of those whose steps the Scripture says are full of charm; and, what ought to pass for a miracle of humility in a people so proud, a missionary never appeared in a street without all the Christians he met, even to persons of the highest rank, assuming a respectful posture. The Annual Letter of 1582 says of Takayama Ukon that in his intercourse with the Fathers he seemed more like a servant than so great a lord.”
† In 1584 Hideyoshi destroyed the powerful monastery of Negoro, after fifteen thousand of its monks had been defeated in an armed attack that they made upon Osaka.
* Quoted in Encyc. Brit., sub India.
† Helps, “Spanish Conquest in America,” vol. i., p. 8.